Refit & Repairs: Interior Cabin

After purchasing our Tayana 37 in 2005, we undertook a few projects in the interior cabin: rebuilding the countertops in the galley and replacing cushions and coverings in the main cabin and forward cabin.

Galley Countertops

The countertops were in bad shape when we bought Gyatso in 2005.  We undertook the refit in two parts, the first in Annapolis in 2005 when we refinished the fridge countertop and the second in 2010 when we refinished the sink countertop.  Here are links to the logbook entries for the galley countertop refit projects:

• Galley countertop refit (part 1) -- fridge countertop (2005)

• Galley countertop refit (part 2) -- sink countertop (2010)

Cabin Cushions

We waited a year to replace the seat cushions in the main cabin.  The original cushions were in amazingly good shape after 20 years of use, but the blue velvet upholstery was worn and dated.  We briefly contemplated just recovering the existing cushions since they were hand-made very carefully at the yard in Taiwan.  However, water damage and the faint smell of cigarette smoke convinced us to make the change even though it meant that we would not be able to afford anything as fancy as the original cushions had been.

We shopped around to get quotes from several yacht canvas shops in Annapolis, and once again, we ended up with Diane at Alamo.  We briefly contemplated ultra suede fabric, but she convinced us to try a similar product which she had found to be almost as good but half the price.  We selected a sage green color to compliment the teak cabinetry finish and the patina on the bronze port lights.  We were able to re-design the cushions to make it easier to access locker space and were very pleased with the outcome, and after two years, the fabric has held-up to anything we have done to it, including coffee and red wine spills.  

	Main cabin settee (before):  This photo was taken when the cabin was a construction zone to remove and replace the chainplates which were buried behind cupboards and shelves.
	Main cabin dinette (before):  The royal blue velvet held up amazingly well for 20 years.  The cushions were hand-stitched and still held their shape.
	Main cabin settee (after): David selected the sage green color (called "willow" in the fabric swatches) for the new cushions.  We picked a very durable "faux" ultra suede for fabric to make the project more affordable.
	Main cabin dinette (after): The dinette also doubles as our "floating office" (note the two black file boxes of documents under the table) as we were still not completely retired from our work with LakeNet at the time of this photo.

Forward Cabin Cushions

We replaced the cushions in our forward cabin right away since this is where we sleep.  It was another two years before Lisa updated the look with new bed linens while we were in Portugal in 2008.  At the same time, we installed decorative tiles to cover-over the black plastic documentation numbers in the forward cabin.  We couldn't do away with the numbers, so we just made them pleasant to look at.

	With sister Suze's decorating talent, the forward cabin got a make-over in Lagos, Portugal with colorful new Portuguese bed linens.
	Our brother-in-law Jon and David gave Gyatso this added touch: Portuguese tiles framed in teak replacing the ugly, black plastic boat documentation numbers on the bulkhead in the forward cabin.

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