Peering into the Kitchen Bilge and Ice Chest

Here is a view from inside the kitchen bilge. This is the sea-cock for the little foot pump that feeds the sink with seawater. Some mold is visible due to dampness in the past as well as lots of minimally tabbed and painted plywood. Note the lack of reinforcements around the thru-hull.

The foot pump for the kitchen sink is barely visible in the back. We will double-clamp these connections, if possible. The gray tube in the back is one of a few conduits that Prout installed in the boat. When they are used, they provide an excellent means for wire management, etc. However, that's a big "if" since the conduits don't run everywhere, and aren't used much for the smaller gauge wire traffic.

We are going to retrofit some ventilation into these bilge spaces to reduce dampness and condensation. Furthermore, the bilge sensor for the gas solenoid is not exactly useful as long as the bilge is hermetically sealed from the rest of the kitchen.

Another source of amusement and dismay is the ice box. For some reason it was located in the port hull next to the navigation station while the kitchen is in the starboard hull... I guess the aim was to increase foot traffic? Space constraints aside, the amount of water that accumulates in this chest is pretty impressive. We can thank Prout for this, as their brilliant installation of the ice box drain ½" above the rest of the ice box floor guarantees plentiful water supplies as the ice melts.

We use floor mats as a standoff (green, to right) to keep food reasonably dry. Later this summer we'll either replace the current drain with a flush fitting one or raise the entire floor to the current drain level using epoxy. However, the unprofessional installation of the current drain leads me to suspect that the drain does not include a dip to prevent cold air from being lost to the bilge, etc. Thus the more comprehensive solution is probably the better one.

Wow. What a professional installation job.