1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Still More Galley Pantry Panels

I’m still working on the galley pantry cabinets. I also finally found a fitting that works to attach the pump-out deck fitting to the 1-1/2″ PVC pipe I use for the plumbing.

2″ pump-out deck fitting

Fernco 1-1/2″ pipe coupler just fits

I use PVC pipe for blackwater plumbing

Back to the cabinets, the next step starts with 1″ x 1″ mahogany cleats

Next I fit the bottom panel

These cabinets are a bigger challenge than I wish they were. You may recall that I initially intended to install the upright panels perpendicular to the step from the salon to the galley. But to make the cabinets work with the original joinery that remains, I had to install the upright cabinet panels such that the bottom panels and top panels inside the cabinets aren’t simple 90° angles at the cabinet face; they’re parallelograms! It takes much longer cutting and fitting these parallelogram panels than it would with 90° angles.

Next the back panel gets cut

Lookin’ good!

The upper panel cleats went in next

You’d think these 1″ x 1″ mahogany cleats would be a breeze to cut and fit. But my table saw is under the bow of the boat at the front of the tent, as is my Shopsmith and its bandsaw, jointer, and other attachments. So if it’s not a simple cut (I keep my double miter chop saw up in the salon), to make each cut I have to go up the steps to the aft deck, across and down the ladder, then out of the tent at the stern, walk forward, re-enter the tent at the front, cut the piece, and schlep it back up to the salon. It only adds a couple of minutes for each cut, but when I’m doing multiple cuts and jointed edges just to get a few cleats installed, at the end of the day it’s consumed a lot of time.

Followed by the top panel

The top-to-back panel joint isn’t tight; the camera is too kind

There’s a good, solid 1/16″ gap in this joint, where the mahogany should touch. The back panel is angled to follow the curve of the hull from bottom to top, and the top panel angles up, which opens up the joint. So the top panel back edge needs to be trimmed at an angle to tighten up that joint.