Tayana’s have a lot of storage locker space, and yet, it never seems to be enough. We’ve completed a few projects where we were able to convert unused (or poorly used) space into useable storage lockers. And we’ve thought about changing the storage under the settees and engine room, but that’s for another post.
Once we moved the electrical panel from under the companionway steps, we thought that the area would make a good storage locker. There’s a shelf back there just above the engine where the water pump is located. The whole area is fairly big and seems like a good spot to store some tools. The first problem is the access door is small (the size of the old electrical panel). Rich decided to double the size of the access door by cutting the teak all the way down to the engine cover. He then installed a hinge in the door so we can still access that area quickly through the small door. For larger access, we can remove the companionway steps and open them fully.
In addition to wanting the remove the old electrical panel, the entire bulkhead wall was riddled with holes from old equipment. There was an old battery monitor, battery switches, engine hour counter, the old refrigerator doohickey, and the bilge pump switch in that one bulkhead. So when we removed them, it was like swiss cheese. Instead of patching the holes, we decided to recreate the teak slats. New teak rarely matches the existing teak, but over time it will start to blend in.
