Coffee vs. Dinner

I knew that we would find things that needed to be added to the to-do list once we moved aboard, but surprisingly we have only added one item. A big one, but only one. Redesign the salon.

The boat originally had a huge double drop leaf table in the center of the salon. It would have held a hell of a feast. You could barely move around it when it was down, and once it was up you were pretty much stuck sitting behind it. No one was getting up to go pee from behind this mammoth. I yanked it out leaving a hole in the sole of the boat and a dilemma of what to replace it with. Many, many cardboard templates later I made version 2.0. A smaller, non-folding table for just the starboard side. Unfortunately, It just wasn’t right. The size or shape or surface–it just wasn’t right. More cardboard template tables followed, and I thought I had it figured out. I bought some teak, learned some woodworking skills and turned out version 3.0. Keith, who has been ever so patient with my never-ending table project, suggested I mount this one with hose clamps before drilling holes into our mast support. They actually worked quite well…….And thankfully were a cinch to remove.

Within the first few days of being aboard, it was evident that the salon was not as comfy and loungy as we wanted. Quick to blame it all on the table, I started trying to figure out how to rework it. But the problem is more complex, the seat depths are not deep enough and the backs are not angled enough. Hmmm. Probably great for sitting and eating, but not so great for curling up to read or watch TV or playing on he computer.

So, I need to:
1. Deepen the seating
2. Angle the backrest more
3. Design a new table
4. Fix the hole in the floor from the old table base
5. Make a home for the freezer

(We’ll, I guess, that is more than one item on the list.)

While I was playing with different ideas, I slid the freezer into the middle of the salon, stacked some crap on it, and realized it would make a great ottoman/coffee table. I sat down, propped my feet up and thought “what if I don’t replace the dining table?”

At the house, we always ate on the couch. We had a dining room table, but never used it-just ate off our laps.

I am seriously contemplating having only a “coffee table”. I keep playing with the idea of a raisable table, but then it would have to fold open too, and still be able to access the freezer….and it just gets really complicated. Besides we have a cockpit table, and I did just make cockpit enclosure.

So, the brainstorming continues.

A not-so-good pic of the original table.

One of many cardboard tables I made.
Brainstorming session (also considering adding a filler cushion in front of the v-berth)



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