The more comforts of home you can bring aboard your boat, the more likely it is that your finicky family members will want to join you on your next voyage.
In this article, we’ll focus on the galley with upgrades ranging from converting an ice box to a refrigerator or freezer, adding Dri-Dek Panel flooring underfoot and in other areas, improving ventilation, and an easy way to add countertop space.
(Credit: Vitrifrigo)
Keeping it Cool
Pick a boat size and it’s likely that someone will be wishing for more cold storage. Many older boats came from the factory with what’s called an icebox. As the name implies, it’s basically a built-in cooler. You place food, drinks and ice in an insulated box. When the ice melts, it drains into a hose that empties overboard or into the bilge.
“If all you have right now is an ice box, the upgrade would be to an icebox conversion,” said Gary James owner of Fleming Marine Refrigeration in San Diego. He explains that a built-in ice box does limit you in terms of size and capacity because you’re dealing with what you have. If the boat manufacturer built the boat with space for a freestanding under-counter refrigerator or full-sized unit, you would have more options.
Many suppliers of refrigerators and freezers offer icebox conversion kits including Isotherm, Dometic, Vitrifrigo, Nova Kool and more. What you need to determine is how the compressor gets cooled. There are three basic types, air cooled, water-cooled or keel-cooled.
“You need to get rid of the heat from the compressor,” explained James. “If you go with an air-cooled unit, it needs to be installed somewhere that you get good air flow. A keel-cooled or water-cooled unit has a small water pump.”
An air-cooled version is the easiest to install and set up because it doesn’t need a water line. A keel-cooled unit has a freon line that goes down to a cooling plate on the hull and this version is usually found on a trawler or sailboat keel. James isn’t a fan because the cooling plate can get covered in marine growth, rendering it less efficient.
With the water-cooled version, it has an inner and outer tube. The inside hose is made of cupro-nickel. Cooling water from a through-hull fitting is pumped through the system cooling the freon in the outer hose that’s made of copper.
James prefers a Vitrifrigo conversion kit and an air-cooled unit with an evaporator and a thermostat will cost about $1,500. It can be handled in a DIY job because it comes pre-charged and has a coupling that makes it easy to connect to the condensing unit. There are horizontal and vertical offerings that can be hung on a bulkhead under a galley sink.
Power demand with the conversion kits is minimal. You can get one with a 12- or 24-volt DC power module on the compressor. If you know you’ll be plugging into shorepower, you’ll want to upgrade to the AC/DC module that can work with 110- or 220-volt AC power or 12 or 24-volt DC. If the module senses AC power, it’ll run off shorepower, saving battery power. A boatowner will want to leave the AC and DC circuit breakers on at the same time in case the DC accidentally gets turned off. Then it will still run on AC unless that source is also eliminated.
If the boat is abandoned for months at a time, if the batteries run down to below 10.5 volts, the module will turn off the power from the batteries. Your food will go bad, but your batteries won’t be dead.
Equal Footing
Anyone who’s ever spent long hours standing on a hard surface will tell you that it’s more taxing on the body than expected. Additionally, a slick galley deck or sole is dangerous. This is where covering the walking surface in a galley in a product like Dri-Dek comes into play.
Many boat manufacturers had an OEM agreement with Dri-Dek’s parent company, Kendall Products, which is based in Florida. The good news is that it’s easy to measure your galley area and go dri-dek.com to order.
What makes Dri-Dek a good idea for a galley is that when it’s installed, the walking surface is slightly elevated, about 9/16”. It’s made from flexible polyvinyl chloride (pvc) and installs with a pin-and-tab system. If the sole under the Dri-Dek gets wet, just pick up the panels, clean up the water and put the Dri-Dek back down.
“If there’s water collecting underneath, it’s helpful,” said Ryan Dees, vice president of Kendall Products. He said that Dri-Dek also comes in handy in lockers and storage compartments to help cushion contained items like water or SCUBA tanks. Additionally, a good idea is to place Dri-Dek under a mattress to keep it well ventilated.
(Credit: Courtesy Camco)
Smart Ideas
Other handy tips to improve a boat’s galley include improving ventilation. This can be done by installing an opening port or replacing a fixed window with one that opens. You can also get a small adjustable galley fan so you can route the air out the salon door.
If galleys are notorious for not having enough cold storage, another big gripe is a lack of food-preparation space. A quick and easy way to supplement existing workspace is to get a cutting board that fills in the galley sink. Wood and plastic versions are available from companies like Camco who make a cutting board with a corner cutout that lets you drop scraps into the sink. There are also versions that fit over raised stove burners.
