Wednesday, November 19, 2014

IKEA stuff for Boats?

To do any fun cooking aboard, you need to have at least a basic assortment of kitchen tools (See?  This is a manly post - it's about tools!).  And more to the point, you must find a way to store them.  And there's the rub - there's never enough space for all your tools.  Aboard s/v Dulcinea, John found a solution, at IKEA of all places:

Dollar conscious IKEA Bling!

I have always had this annoying problem in the Galley... I had spatulas, serving spoon, Pasta Rake and so on, but they were just too big to fit in the Drawer.  So I stowed them under the stove, but that wasn't working out too well either.  they were hard to get to under there, and they seemed to always slide out onto the sole (floor) on a good starboard heel. I was also bothered by all the wasted space behind the stove... at least 8 to 10 inches of usable space...

Enter IKEA.  When he found out I had never been to this superstore before, My Brother in law took it upon himself to hijack me on the way back from Bellevue to take a look-see..... Wow, they had a LOT of cool stuff there.  I saw a closet organizer I really wanted, but it was too big and too much ($1500) to consider purchasing that day... but they did have something for Dulcinea that might ease my Galley Woes....


OK... I know what you are thinking.... what the .....? a towel bar?  well it is a bar, but it is for the Galley.... just the thing to organize my utensils that won't fit in the drawer.... watch closely!

Now this is a very simple install... 4 small screws hold the bar in place.  But.... NOTHING is simple on a Boat... First, I had to remove the stove so I could install this baby. I didn't want to completely disconnect the gas line or power, so I sat it on the sole...

the small space the stove fits into... with the stove on the floor in front

Next I had to put myself in the "Backwards cramming into impossibly small space" Boat Yoga pose, to awkwardly drill into the counter, and then put screws in to anchor the bar in place




My torso crammed into the small space



The only place for my legs was on top of the  stove and the Galley Counter...

Then, while in this really uncomfortable position, somehow measure, drill holes into but not through the counter, then screw in some small S/S Screws to hold the bar in place.  I was originally going to mount this to the back (really the port side), but why drill any more holes into the sides of your boat than you have to? 

about an hour later, the bar is secured
Now it was time for the Test... I also bought S hooks with the bar, as well as a little cup that hangs on the bar.  I put them on and hung some stuff... looks pretty good!

The test hang....

Finally, I had to consider that this is a Sail Boat, that, when underway with the sails up, will not stay level.  I didn't want all that stuff banging around back there, or falling off when in a steep heel, so I found a use for some really small Bungee cords I had laying around....

.... And a Bungee cord shall secure them....

Now, to put the stove back and see how it all fits...

all stored away... in some previously unused space!


My Initial impressions are that this will work well!  I will let you know more after I try it out on some extended trips...

OH!  and the best part of this whole thing was the price!  I got the Bar, the hooks and the hanging cup,  all for about 5 bucks!  with tax!  And Dulcinea gets some IKEA bling!


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