Sundown Sailing Adventures

One of the features I really love about our Hans Christian 33t is the floor plan, especially the Pullman berth (Master bedroom) that’s off to the port

Hans Christian 33t interior layout

side rather than jammed forward as a V-berth. If Sundown is going to be my full-time home one day (soon, I hope), then I want it to feel as “normal” as possible, which includes having a rectangular shaped bed like I’ve slept on my whole life.

The galley layout, on the other hand, needed some redesign. Since Clay and I like to cook and entertain, we need as much useable space in the kitchen as possible. Therefore, the bulkhead next to the stove that strangely divided the sink counter from the cooktop had to go. By opening up that space, we would shorten the possible sleeping area by the dinette, but we felt what we’d gain would be better than what we’d lose.

So, Clay started the remodel by removing the “fiddle” or sea rail trim around the top that met the bulkhead. Working very carefully with a stiff putty knife and some small wedges, he was able to get most of the pieces off intact including the radius-ed (sic) pieces on the inboard aft and forward corners. (For those of you trying this at home, whether you are able to salvage all the pieces you remove or not, you will still need to have more later during the reassembly phase and a good wood shop should be able to fabricate some for you to match the existing trim. In our case, Clay is the “good wood shop,” so we’re all set.)

Exhibit A – The way we could have done it

Cutting the bulk head was next. The bulkhead was cut close to flush—1/2” to 3/4″ from the cabin top and followed around to a point where a plumb cut was made leaving a small bulkhead against the hull and end of the starboard dinette settee. The fiberglass deck/cabin top is lined with 1/4″ luan* covered in white plastic laminate on the cabin sides (the walls), white beaded luan for the cabin headliner (what you think of as the ceiling above your head) and teak for the ceilings (the teak that covers the inside of the hull which my husband says is called the “ceilings”). The teak ceilings are the same strips used everywhere on the boat; they are about 1/4″ x 2″ wide and glued to the luan or plywood. The bulkhead is plywood that is fiberglass taped in.

(* Luan is an inexpensive alternative to pine or fir plywood. Luan typically has a solid core material sandwiched between two layers of veneer.  Learn more at GardenWeb – The Internet’s Garden Community…I know, it’s a weird place to go for an explanation of materials used on a boat.)

However, the headliner and cabin side luan are not exactly at the same planes on either side of the bulkhead. In retrospect, Clay says, “I would have left a section of the bulkhead that would not be obtrusive and cut it in a way to follow the other cabin top knees. [See Exhibit A] This would have prevented the need to remove and/or replace the teak handrail and cabin top crown.” But removing the handrail allowed us to replace the plastic laminate on the cabin sides, which was nice because it was cracked.

Putting It All Together

We extended the counter as far to portside as possible, mounting the counter substrate to the existing cabinet, remainder of the bulkhead and settee back. Clay explains, “I cut a new panel for the forward side. The connections for the front panel was glass taped and the counter substrate was connected with hardwood cleats and epoxy.”

Choosing to access the newly created storage space from the forward side as opposed to a top access, we purchased a pre-made teak louver cabinet door to mount on the forward panel. With the addition of a bottle rack, it will make a nice wine cellar.

The bulkhead area from the turn of the cabin sides to the cabin top are covered with an 8/4 (or 2″) teak knee designed after the existing knees. Clay routed out the mounting side to fit over the chopped bulkhead and fit it to the cabin top and sides. The knee is glued into place with filled epoxy; the handrail and crown are refitted and re-hung. The area that was cut from the underside of the deck will be capped with some teak trim and the exposed edge of the remaining bulkhead will be capped with comparable teak channel. Projects yet to come!

And There’s More…

Our Hans came with white plastic laminate counters in the galley and they were cracked and stained, so we decided to replace them. The head (bathroom) counter is green marble, so staying with that theme, we eventually chose green marble tile for the galley counters. (I wanted white marble to add light and brightness to our living space, but Clay really wanted the green, and remembering what I learned in my high school interior design class…that the smaller the space, the more important it is to keep with the same theme…I succumbed to the green.)

Plus the small double sink, which made up more of Sundown’s orignial equipment, would be very impractical for us. Even a small stock pot wouldn’t fit in it. So we replaced that with a shiny stainless steel single-bowl sink. The original brass faucet set stays. We have to preserve what we can of Sundown’s elegant charm and hopefully improve on areas that weren’t quite so charming to begin with.

For many more photos of Sundown’s refurbishment, visit the Photo Galley.

Note: A special thanks goes out Imi Loa for sending us an email asking about our galley remodel. Your inquiry made for educational blog fodder.