I’ve been knocking out the V-berth cabinetry one panel at a time, starting on the starboard side with the head (AKA the ‘throne room), followed by the bed foundation, the curvy side walls, the forward bulkhead, the closet, the upright walls around the bed, and finally the ‘desk-like structure‘. I just have one more cabinet to make, a few moldings, and some veneer work, and the V-berth cabinetry will be wrapped up. But as I was cutting the panels for that last cabinet and thinking about what shape to make the V-berth door moldings, it occurred to me that I’ve got to finish up the galley storage cabinet before I can complete the V-berth.
The porthole surround panel fits very nicely
It will look a lot better after I put the mahogany veneer on.
Next, I cut the lower cabinet upright panel
For angle cuts on plywood, I use the edge of my tracksaw as a guide for my old beater Skilsaw.
Not bad for the first cuts!
A few more slices, and it fits nicely
Yes, I use a level on a boat
Every six months or so, I check that the floors of the boat are level fore to aft and port to starboard. I adjust the boatstands as necessary. This allows me to use a level, which is something you could never do with a boat that was on the water. I used the level to mark the height of the lower cabinet panel on the porthole surround panel, so I could take measurements for the top panel.
Pocket screws will secure the aft edge of the panel
A mahogany cleat and screws will secure the forward edge.
Looks good
The reasons this cabinet is this shape…
The aluminum frames stick up proud of the floor here, and there’s an aluminum pipe welded to the hull that was originally the V-berth head sink drain outlet. I’ll use that as the raw water outlet coming from the marine air conditioner that will be inside the ‘desk-like structure.’ I need access to the raw water outlet for hose maintenance, so I’ll make a cabinet space in here with a removable bottom panel.
Then it dawned on me: gotta finish that galley storage cabinet
As I was doing all this cutting and fitting, I was thinking about the molding that will go around this door opening. There will be a sliding door, so on the left side the molding will have to have a pocket for the door to slide into. The molding will also cap the edge of the plywood. But the okume plywood is not pretty, which means I also need to cut and fit the 1/8″ mahogany plywood I bought for the galley bulkhead walls. I have some leftover ribbon-stripe veneer that I’ll use on the V-berth side of the door opening. But to install the mahogany plywood on the galley side, I first have to wrap up that storage cabinet over the door opening that I haven’t touched in more than a year.
So…that’s the path forward.
Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Wrapping Up the Galley Storage Cabinet.
1969chriscraftroamer46 
How are you going to keep Her Hull level in the water?
Water moves…can’t keep anything “level in the water” for any length of time. You know this. But the issue is parallel and perpendicular relative to the frame of reference, which is the floor, not level per se.
Float the boat and nothing is level. The upright panels will also no longer be aligned with the center of the planet. But that won’t matter, because the floors, upright panels, and top panels will all be at right angles relative to each other. Orient a panel ‘level’ some distance above a ‘level’ floor, and the two panels are ‘level.’ Whether you use a level to get your right angle or a framing square, perpendicular is perpendicular, and parallel is parallel. Just don’t try it with a level when your reference plane is in motion, which is what happens when the boat floats.
But you know all this. 😉
Cheer,
Q