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........................--- Food and Propane Stove Storage ---
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After enlarging the V-berth by taking the head out I had made a small storage area across from the sink and had also made a removable table for the stove. These mods were just temporary to go on our first trip. Before we took our long trip to Idaho and Canada I wanted to improve on this area with more food storage and a place to also store the stove. We still wanted to use the stove in this location as it proved to work very well there and freed up the counter next to the sink.
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The first piece of business was to replace the ugly particle board with a nicer looking piece of plywood.
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Then some storage containers we wanted to use along with a can and box were gathered up to measure their heights so that the spacing of the shelves could be determined.
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It was decided to take the top of the storage unit to right below the side window. Then the forward storage wall was made from plywood and screwed into place against a part of the V-Berth extension storage.
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A strip was added to the other side that the aft storage wall would be attached to.
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The aft wall cut and put into place. This was screwed from the inside so as to hide the screws.
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A top piece was made and these three pieces were stained and urethane with an out side urethane.
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They were reinstalled and shelves were positioned inside the unit. Next some hardware store aluminum pieces of channel were cut for tracks for the two sliding doors. The two strips laying in the foreground are placed in the tracks to keep the doors from sliding when underway. The top and two left side shelves are for can goods and.............
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.......the larger lower space on the right is for the 4 large canisters that we put cereal, crackers, and cookies in.
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The top is used to store the propane stove (top arrow). The bottom arrow points to one of the strips that keeps the doors from sliding open when not in use. The flat area under the bottom arrow gives you a place to put your hand to support yourself getting in and out of the V-Berth. We also place the GPS at the left side of that area with the anchor drag alarm turned on and the GPS will pickup the satellites there. We will place a light there at night for those night time trips to the head.
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Here the doors have been stained and sealed. There is a place below (behind the bungee cords) for two tubs that held the frying pans, pots, coffee pot and some other cooking utensils and containers. I was running out of time before we had to depart on our trip, so staining the bottom left had to be put on hold.
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I took the base that was on the stove before (top picture) and modified it to fit in the top of the storage unit.
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It still sits between the storage unit and sink when in use and doesn't side around since there are strips of 1 X 2's on the bottom of each side (arrows) that wedge it in place.
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The storage unit could of been brought a little further aft but it was decided that a shelf area there (to the left of the stove) was convenient for putting glasses, plates, etc. while cooking and eating and provided an arm rest when sitting on the seat just aft of it.
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Here the stove is in use on our Idaho/Canada trip and.........
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.....again making some toast and eggs. This location for the stove is very easy to use and frees up the cabin space. After using it for about 28 days we have no plans for further mods in this area.
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A couple of our pots/pans didn't want to slide around on the stove much, but others did, especially if we were on a rough anchorage. We had the metal clamps above on-board, so I used them to keep the pots/pans from sliding off the stove. I bent the ends up on a couple of them to aid in this.
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Here the slippery pan is on the left, but the clamps can be used on either or both burners.
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They are stored on one side so that they aren't in the way when the stove is put away on top of the storage cabinet.
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Here is the food storage in use on the same trip.
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We replenished some of the cans of fruit once, but other than that it held all of our packaged food for almost a month.
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