Little Wins

Sometimes, completing even little projects can make you feel good.  The previous owner had converted a space below the top the step of the companion way into a utensil cabinet which is pretty handy.  However, the cabinet door latch is a brass version of one of these and you have to put your finger through a little hole with a teak trim ring and pull really hard, then once the latch finally disengages the door flies open (downward) and practically breaks your finger.  I’ve made it my mission to rid our boat of finger-break-holes (yes Yanmar engine control cover, I’m looking at you too!!!)

Jeanneau used a pretty slick push-button latch on pretty much all the cabinets and drawers on the boat and they seem to work great so I ordered a few of the latch mechanisms, as well as matching teak trim rings and buttons through our local Jeanneau dealer and after waiting for the shipment from France I set to work.  It turned out the teak trim ring, while not exactly like the other cabinets/drawers, has pretty much the same hole diameter as the Jeanneau teak trim rings.  But the latch required a slightly recessed space on back of the door to sit flat.  So I used my trusty digital Dremel tool with a router attachment and bit to create the inset back.  I ordered a piece of SeaTeak from Amazon.com and again used the Dremel to create a slot for the latch to engage with.  Then I cut a teak strip from the larger piece using my table saw and had a nice little teak door stop and catch.

Since I don’t have a countersink bit for my drill, I just drilled part way through the teak strip with a larger bit (to fit a screw head) and then a smaller bit afterward to drill the rest of the way.  I then replaced the brass catch on the underside of the step with my home-made teak catch and reinstalled the cabinet door.  After a little adjusting it all worked out great!  No more finger-break-hole and it’s nice and secure, and opens easily.   I through bolted the hinges on the bulkhead with washers and nuts on the backside as well since I noticed the old wood screws got loose fairly often.

Oh, and I installed the new toilet seat onto the aft head, after returning the first one I bought because it was the wrong size..  Turns out we have a “household” sized toilet, not a “compact”..  I’ll have to measure things more often I guess..  But now we have two fully functional and ready to use toilets again!

Yay!