Gimbaled, Longitudinal Stove Compartment (April 1992)

We had an idea that a two-burner Origo, non-pressurized, alcohol stove. with a gimbal mount would fit in the port side of the galley area. Careful measuring and investigation of the area proved the if we sacrificed one of the galley drawers and about 6 inches of length in the port settee the stove assembly would fit, be accessible and accommodate pots and pans at all heel angles. An appropriate section of the counter top, the cabinet forward face that surrounded the two drawers and the drawer hardware were removed. A small section of the bunk board was cut off and an athwartship beam added to permanently mount it and provide a ledge for the remainder of the bunk board. One of the three drawers was moved to a position above the inboard drawer so that two of the three drawers are still in use. The cut out, drawer rework and the bunk board support are shown below.

The stove compartment, shown below, is basically a box with the gimbals mounted to the fore and aft faces to hold the stove. The box has a cover, which is laminated with Formica that matches the counter top. The cover is stored vertically in slots at the outboard side of the box.When in place the cover very neatly and almost completely closes the stove compartment. The cover. if made larger, would block access to the storage lockers when the stove was in use. (see lower pictures)

The stove compartment is built as an assembly which is installed by sliding it rearward into the cut out area and is then fastened to the trap bulkhead. The rear wall of the compartment is removable to accommodate the fasteners. The stove compartment provided space below the stove shelf, between the former galley bulkhead and forward face of the compartment. We created a rectangular opening in the forward face for a removable panel that snaps into place. This provided what appears to be glove box for small items, including gloves! The picture below shows the compartment in place, before the stove installation. The “glove box” is visible in these shots. A GFCI electrical outlet was relocated to the inboard face of the compartment.

This photo shows the finished installation during use and underway. Time for tea!

{Lessons learned:

1. Athwartship mounted, fixed stoves do not belong on a sail boat.

2. Be willing to sacrifice a little seating space for a functional stove compartment.

1. Again, Consider the aesthetics and always attempt match the rest of the boat interior. This boat has mahogany stained teak which is very hard to match. We made up a bottle of our own special stain that we named “La Yu Hue” that was used for all of our projects.
2. Always provide safe stowage of loose items, e.g, the stove cover, so that they do not become dangerous objects when the going gets rough.

5, Do not pass up an opportunity to add useful storage space.}