On Splendid, the galley is the center of our home. Both Carla and I are food people and believe the key to health is the food we consume. Many people treat food as just fuel and are more than willing to open and heat a store-bought can of something and consider it food. Not on Splendid!
As you have read over the years we make our own beer & wine, 
bread, pasta, tofu, hummus and lots of other home-made goodies. We even make our own candy.
Carla and I are always baking something, simmering, boiling, or frying. You should try her banana cake, YUMMMMMMY!
Our old Eno stove was down to it’s last burner and barely working at that. I’ve been researching marine stoves and fuels for 
years and have finally decided to get a propane, Dickinson (Mediterranean) 3 burner stove & oven. It’s constructed of 100% stainless steel. It also has an 11,000 and two 7,000 BTU burners, a thermostatically controlled 7,000 BTU oven, and a 4,500 BTU broiler. I’ve had Dickinson products on my various boats over the years and love the craftsmanship. They are built to last, and I don’t have any plans on ever changing our cooker again. 
We are expecting it to arrive in a few weeks and have opened Pandora’s box. We decided to build an entire new galley. Our faucets leaked, the sinks were shot, and the counters we pure evil.
A good relationship is a funny thing. I’m a carpenter among many other things but have never really been a good one as I lack patience. Well Carla has an abundance of patience and together we make a great carpenter.
We went into Colon to look at sinks. We saw many stainless sinks in the $25-$50 range. But there was a dusty one off in a corner that nobody wanted as it was $115. Colon is a very poor city and people don’t have that kind of money for a sink. Well it had been marked down to $75. When Carla saw it she went “Wow, this is a “Tramontina”, a very famous Brazilian brand, and it’s perfect!!!”
She had measurements of our galley and despite the fact I thought it was a little big we bought it. Guess what, she was right, it fits 
perfectly!
I pulled the old Formica off and found the plywood underneath was wet and rotten and decided we are doing a 100% galley restoration. Everything is getting replaced, rebuilt, repainted, and revarnished. That along with an icebox rebuild makes this a HUGE project but one that we will enjoy for years to come.
I found a guy in Colon who specializes in cutting and bending stainless and I’m having him cut us a piece for the countertop.
I must say I feel a little guilty as we are going to have a galley that looks as if it exceeds my income level but what the hell. It’s not costing much at all. Aside from the stove we will probably only have $300-$400 in the project, however it is quite time consuming. Our home has been transformed into a workshop!
Well that’s it for today guys, I’m off to work. Within the next few months I’m hoping to have a new galley, water maker, and a refrigeration system.
I still cant believe I’m getting married in November!
Peace.
– alex