Our galley (or kitchen) will be a central part of our daily life, making coffee, breakfast, lunch and diner. So it makes sense to us to have a galley that is pleasant and practical. Giramonda’s galley is unfortunately, like many areas of the boat, poorly maintained. Specifically it has two large irreparable cracks in the Corian worktop and a smaller but significant crack on the corner above the fridge. Even the infamous plastic surgeon can’t fix it. The fiddles, while functional also have small crack and discoloured joints, so we conclude that we must replace the countertop.

The oven is also functional but we’d like to replace it with a newer model, same with the hob. We had considered electric oven and hob but that would incur significant expense to upgrade and upgrade the inverter/charger and associated electrical components. So with an electric Ninja multi-cooker and other electrical appliances we have the means to cook using electric as well as gas.

We’ve explored repairing the galley with several Corian repair professionals and they reported that the size and nature of cracks made them too large to repair. So we have a quote to replace the top with an equivalent new material and have also decided to ‘wrap’ the existing cabinetry with an Ivory vinyl to match the sofa.

I discussed details of the new replacement galley with the kitchen man, Neil. Slightly larger fiddles, a different one and a half size sink, slightly thicker Corian to avoid future cracks, and vinyl wrapped cupboard doors to mast the upholstery of the leather sofa and lighten the galley as a whole. The challenge was to remove the existing worktop in as few pieces as possible to use them as a template for the new worktop. It took a few hours of hammer and chisel, small wooden wedge, and larger wooden wedge to gradually pry off the old worktop and I was amazed at how much the Corian flexed before it broke which made me wonder how the cracks originated.

So after we removed the old worktop and accepted Neils’ quote he says he can’t fit until into January. I had previously made contact with another fitter who didn’t have time to quote but has just now come back and we’re back on track. He’s already made a good start on the worktop in his workshop and will be ready install shortly after Christmas.