Fridge drain pump and water pressure pump relocation = extra galley storage

[Rick Roberts]

I was looking at storage in the galley and thought the bottom cabinet space could be use more efficiently and used to store pots, pants, etc. Anyway looked around and had the idea of relocating the fridge foot pump, fresh water pressure pump and reroute some of the plumbing.



Step 1: Remove the teak cabinet if you would like to make thing easier for yourself. Be careful when removing the wood plugs. You only want to drill the plug while making sure to not damage the surrounding or ruining the screw under.

Step 2: Make sure to turn off your water pressure! Disconnect water pump plumbing, remove raw water pump and disconnect fridge/icebox plumbing.

Step 3: Now you have to replicate the cut off of the first raw water pump in the fiberglass. I used a sheet of paper, put my flashlight behind the fiberglass to be able to see the outline and create a stencil of the cut. Once you did that, use a X-acto knife and cut the outlines and replicate it to your new favorite location with a sharpie. I personally relocated it on the port side of the previous one. I used a Dremel tool to make the cut and used my shop vac vacuum to limit the amount of fiberglass dust in the galley.



Step 4: I relocated the fresh water pump under the sink and drilled holes for the bolts going thru the seating. Out of the way but a bit harder to access if the fresh water pump goes to sh*t, but I'm ok with that. I played around with the pump to determine the best location and marked the first screw hole location with a sharpie marker. Drilled the first screw hole, I measured the distance between the screws with a caliper gauge and drilled the 3 other screw holes from the seating side, much easier. Install new bolts and nuts.


Step 5: Replumb your pumps and take the time to inspect for leaks before reinstalling everything.

Step 6: Reinstall teak cabinets, I would recommend using bolts and nuts instead of screws. Like that you wouldn't have to pluck the wood plugs out again if you have to access it in the future.

Step 7: Enjoy your new storage space.

[Noah]

Interesting project. I would guess that only a small % of our boats have two foot pumps?  I bet the PO did a lot of mods to equip for his cruising. But everyone can use some extra storage!

[KWKloeber]

. Be careful when removing the wood plugs. You only want to drill the plug while making sure to not damage the surrounding or ruining the screw under.

FWIW, A trick to file under "next time." 

Plugs are press fit, not glued in. Drill a pilot hole and turn a screw into the plug. When it bottoms out, continued driving will back out the plug or loosen it so it can be pulled out using a locking pliers on your "handle. "

If it's varnished over it can peel the finish  around the plug.  If  that's an issue because  you're not  sanding/refinishing the teak, carefully cut around the plug with an X-Acto blade to break the varnish continuity.  Or if you can carefully mark the center, use a bread point grill which will cut  around  just  the edge of the plug.

kk

[Noah]

I hate to be a contrarian but in my 40+ years of boating experience having owned, worked-on and sailed many wooden boats, it is not uncommon to have glued-in plugs. Some capenters use glue others dip their plugs in mixture of varnish before inserting and hammering home with a mallet.

[KWKloeber]

 Noah

You may be right about that. I don't have as extensive experience on as many other boats as you.
I wasn't precise -- and was referring specifically to the Catalina brightwork that I've seen and none of its plugs were glued. Not to say that CTY never did it though.  :-)

kk

[Stu Jackson]

......................and was referring specifically to the Catalina brightwork that I've seen and none of its plugs were glued. Not to say that CTY never did it though.  :-)

Yeah, I could never figure out how all of mine have stayed in for the past 30 years.  Geez....