Charles Moorhead, on F46 Shadowfax has begun rebuilding his galley which includes a new refrigeration system, new countertops and total re-insulation of the refrigerator boxes. He writes:
Our '77 Formosa 46 has the refrigeration box on the port side of the galley counter, with the sink under the companionway hatch more or less amidships. The original reefer box had been insulated with styrofoam sheets & chunks with the voids filled with styrofoam BBs. Those !@#%* BBs found their way out of the box, and just got everywhere. We must have taken a bushel of them out when tearing into the project. The original refrigeration equipment died years ago (admittedly after a few years of living aboard and one Mexico trip), and the styrofoam does get sort of wet and mushy after many years of service, so it was time to do it. At this stage, we have built framing and plywood in the original (cleaned up) refrigeration space so the resultant cavity is rectangular in shape. We are going to insulate with Rparts.com vacuum insulation panels and a single vacuum panel hatch, and use Frigoboat keel-cooled refrigeration equipment. With the approximately R-28 insulation value of the vacuum panels, we can make the insulation thinner, hence the box bigger inside and should end up with just over 6 cubic feet of interior volume (about 1/3 more than we had). I'm going to split the box in half and use half for a freezer with a spillover fan for the refrigerator.
Note that the layout of Formosa 46 and Peterson 44 boats is different in the galley. The sink is more or less on the centerline with the refrigerator space outboard of it adjacent to the hull on the port side of the boat. As one faces aft standing in the galley, the refrigeration is to one's right. In these photos, we have already demolished the counter and cleaned out the old refrigerator, saving nothing. We then built a floor for the refrigerator, and a port side wall using 2x2 wooden cleats and marine plywood. The yellow paneling in the reefer space is 1/2" thick polyurethane foam glued to the inside with liquid nails. The blue panels are templates for the vacuum panels made from 1" thick styrofoam. Making templates is advised as one cannot modify the panels once they arrive, and the geometry is complex enough that it would be possible to mess up. Our countertop will be 1.25" thick hard rock maple, with the sink underhung. I'm concerned about end grain exposure on the underhung sink but will varnish that detail and hope for the best. My wife wants both the underhung sink and the maple countertop so we will see.
Charles Moorhead
F46 "Shadowfax"
