Galley, Salon and Steps!

Now don't tell me you were beginning to lose hope!

  I rushed Wiggles through his grass (I stood with him while he sampled every blade of grass on the property for 40 minutes).  After all my barn rituals which went on for an additional hour and 10 minutes, THEN I did grocery shopping.  By the time I arrived home, it was 9:30.  More work putting groceries away, feeding the cat, pouring a glass of a lovely New Zealand savignon blanc and here I am.
Grueling day at work to boot.

But, there is a silver lining behind every cloud - during a call where I asked many questions about the galley and salon pics, Tom B. again casually mentioned that the boat is scheduled to ship on August 26th.  OMG! OMG! was about all I could manage to squeak out.  There are SO many things to do before that date, my head is spinning.  My new mantra is one day at a time.  If I look at the whole scenario head on, I'm likely to implode.

During some very frustrating work-related phone conversations today, I silently willed the person at the other end of the phone to please "shut up and get on with it" so I can get off the phone and deal with my much more important boat business.  If you happen to need to call me, please be brief, get to the point and know that while we're chatting, I'm looking a pictures of the boat and adding to my already very long "to do" list.

Enough prattling, and who cares anyway, so on to the pictures.  The yard sent about 15 pics of each section of the boat.   Oddly enough, there are no engine room access or even engine room pictures in Tom B.'s most recent batch.  Also disappointing, there is only one port side view of the exterior.  Tom B. already called the yard to rectify this and calm me down.  He assures me I'll have these pictures soon.

Tonight's pictures will center on the galley and salon.  The workmanship is absolutely amazing!  There is complete symmetry, flowing spaces and no sharp angles or edges.  Though I'm not so easy to please, I am totally purring here.

So, here we go.  I'll put the explanation caption under the pictures.  Sometimes saving the pics sent takes a ton of time - I haven't yet figured out why, but some swearing is involved during the process.

We are looking forward into the galley from the salon.  Note the household-size Jenn-Aire double door fridge with freezer drawer below.  The amount of space in this appliance is cavernous, enabling one to see everything at once.  Though Viking no longer makes a 24" stove, KKY selected a comparable, actually more expensive model from Blue Star.  I think it's Blue Star - if not, it's Blue something or other.  Lest you think I'm uncaring about food prep items, I actually did quite a bit of research on this item when Tom B. first mentioned it to me last year.  I had a spice rack built into the cabinet closest to the fridge - it rolls out when the cabinet door is opened.  The microwave-convection oven above the stove is what we had on Serenity - it is huge inside and doubles as a second oven for large crowds.  The lower cabinet between the stove and fridge cleverly opens out against the stove for full access.
You'll notice a rough area behind the stove - that's where I'm installing tumbled stone in a diamond-shaped pattern (I think) in a natural color, perhaps with a decorative tile or three in the center or creating a pattern. The thought of trying to maintain the standard stainless back splash kept me awake at night.
As mentioned in an earlier blog, I elected to forgo the standard white formica in the galley and continue with the cherry I so adore.  It's a lovely, warm look - no sudden breaks in color or texture for this girl!

Isn't this the most lovely picture of the salon???? We're looking aft to starboard as if standing in the galley.  The staircase creates the most beautiful focal point.  Instead of just having a cabinet on the aft bulkhead, I asked for a bookcase to be added.  This bookcase on the older 55s, was located adjacent to where the steps now are.  I have lots of books, even after downsizing - and I love the way books add warmth and personalization to a room.  Books plus a few interesting pieces secured with Museum Putty, and I'm happy.  The space in between the steps and aft bookcase/cabinet will be occupied by comfy leather club chairs, maybe even the same as I had on Serenity.  I'll get a feel for the space first.
I'm not sure if you noticed, but there are cherry frames built out of the windows.  I'm planning on taped wooden blinds, at least 1" wide, or however wide I have room for.  I've always admired this custom look on the mega yachts whose sites I visited.  The blinds actually sit behind and within the built out frame, so the look is smooth and elegant, with nothing flapping or banging around the windows.  This same treatment has been applied throughout the boat.  I must admit this decision was arrived out with a lot of back of forth between my Tom and I.  It wasn't cheap, so he kept asking if I really needed to have this.  My reply?  Simple - "yes, I really, really MUST have it".  The rest is history.

We're now standing a bit to starboard looking into the galley - the staircase is to our right.  You can see where I had the counter sweep into the salon to accommodate 2 bar stools for casual dining or drinks when outside isn't an option.  Adjacent to the port side counter is the big wine fridge.  Believe me when I tell you friends - there will not be one open slot in this wine fridge.  I've already made a list of the must-have wines that will "live" here.  If you continue looking to port and now towards aft, you'll see the open spot in the port cabinet for the TV lift and TV when not in the up position (which will be the majority of the time unless crew is aboard).  I love the idea of the one level counter top.  I am painfully neat, so there is no need to have to hide "clutter" with a raised portion of the counter.  The arched faucet (with sprayer built into the faucet itself) will make filling huge pots of water for pasta and/or lobster feasts a breeze.  There will be only 1 deep stainless sink.  I found that the 2nd sink was always too small to be of real use and justify losing even a foot of counter space.

We're looking at the counter to port which accommodates a 2 door cabinet,  3 huge drawers and 2 smaller drawers.  I had these drawers on Serenity and stored my dishes in the middle drawer, pots and pans in the lower drawer and I don't remember what in the top drawer.  Way better than trying to hoist dishes into a top cabinet on tiptoe or on a wobbly stool.  The bottom drawers have 2 inset pulls installed in addition to the pull lock to make them easier to pull out when filled.  I always had trouble on Serenity and actually had to use 2 hands to pull out that bottom drawer.  You can appreciate the window build out here.  The odd-shaped window will appear perfectly square, just like all the other windows in this area.  See how warm the cherry looks in the galley?

This pic is self-explanatory - salon to port, looking aft.  You can see the wire hanging in the aft bulkhead wall for the swing arm lamp I want there.  This lamp will eliminate the need for at least one lamp - one less item to "lay down" before getting underway.  By the way, the lamp will actually be resting on the back of the steps leading up to the boat deck.  You can see the TV space from a different angle.  Enough room for the 46" Samsung Smart TV.  The settee dressed in a soft, neutral leather with colorful but tasteful pillows, will dress this space very nicely.  The hi-lo movable table will go in the space created by the settee's L shape.

This picture takes my breath away!   The symmetry and graceful sweep of steps and handrail is a work of art!  The cabinet you can see adjacent to the steps is where the electronics will go.  Very clever.  Now there will be no need to move furniture away from a cabinet to gain access.  It's all at eye level and couldn't be more convenient.  Note the way the floor of the pilot house forms a smooth sort of circle at the top of the steps!  The ability to "see through" the steps creates a spacious and airy feeling.  I am so thrilled!

Another fantastic photo shows the cleverly designed use of space for access to storage in several steps.  That curved door in the sweep of the base of the steps is actually storage.  Granted I can't store a Christmas tree in there, but I'm sure I will come up with the perfect item to "hide" there.  The cabinet to starboard houses an air handler in the bottom cabinet but there is storage on an upper shelf.  That little alcove will be the perfect place to display a beautiful spray of fresh or silk flowers or something equally elegant.  What an incredibly clever and lovely use of space!

This is a great shot of the sink area, dishwasher and cabinet housing the 2 roll out garbage/recycling bins.  Those bins are the best thing since sliced bread.  They eliminate the need for a garbage pail in its usual place under the sink, allows one to separate garbage from what the marina wants recycled and does it in a big way.  No need to always carry a gift of garbage to the trash every time one steps off the boat!  We had them on Serenity - I can't believe how I can wax poetic about garbage bins for Pete's sake.  Suffice it to say, they are a great invention!


Well folks that's it for the galley and salon photos.  It's heading towards 1 am and I still have a few things to do before calling it a day - wait, we're in a new day already, so my list just got longer!  There will be separate posts of the master and guest staterooms, heads and pilot house and one exterior view pic.  I don't think I can handle more than one of these marathon sessions anyway, at least not getting started until after 11 pm.  Golf and a graduation party tomorrow night, so not sure if I'll get to the blog.  Please understand if I don't make it.

Hope you enjoyed the picture show!