The first mate is particular about her spaces onboard Summer Dance, one being the sleeping area, the other being the galley. I’ve not seen the underside of the galleys in other boats, but ours is bare plywood except for the key strip that slides in the slot in the top of the starboard settee. It’s a simple, crude setup that works, I suppose, even though it has a lot of friction. Also, the fiberglass underneath is pretty scratched from protruding screws and staples; staples because the staples in the original teak key strip had rusted years ago and the strip had fallen off but not been replaced.

The short teak trim on the forward end of the galley was also broken from being used as a handle to pull the belligerent galley out for use. Together with the key strip, these two broken parts made using the galley harder than it needs to be and able slide off the settee into the cabin sole. I was able to solve these problems mostly with materials on hand.

The key to the key

To solve the key strip problem, I made a new one out of cedar finished with boiled linseed oil and glued in place. One down, one to go. The teak trim was easy to glue back together, refinish, and reattach. To avoid it getting broken again, rather than buy an expensive teak handle, I made a pull strap out of 1″ nylon webbing and screwed it to the bottom of the galley’s forward edge. And to make the galley slide easier and to stop the fiberglass damage, I attached strips of carpet to the front and back edges with carpet tape.

New key strip, strap, and carpet strips from beneath galley

Now the galley slides easily in and out of storage and stays in place.

For more galley mods, see How To Add a Galley Water Tank Drain & How To Replace Old Drain Tubing.

The Bottom Line

Suggested price: n/a
$tingy Sailor cost: <$1
Savings: grief from the first mate, priceless

What mods have you done to your boat to keep your first mate happy?