A bad place to store stuff in the galley (Or: how to remove the microwave in a 2007 Rinker 370)

LaRea

Funny thing happened on Day 1 of our recent 4-day cruise.  The Admiral and I were ready for one of our favorite underway breakfasts (egg salad with bacon on King's Hawaiian Rolls ... mmmm).  Unfortunately, she couldn't find the package of rolls.  This meal is a tradition for us, so we looked everywhere.  She said "This makes no sense ... I always store the rolls right there in that place above the microwave."

She crossed her arms and shot me a disgusted look that said "You animal -- did you stay up late last night and eat an entire 20-pack of rolls?"  Luckily for me, I was innocent.  

You can probably guess where this story is headed.  Playing a hunch, we got a flashlight and peeked in the gaps around the microwave.  Boom, there was the package of rolls.  

It turns out that if you put stuff on top of the storage rack (between the rack and the headliner), there's nothing to prevent it from sliding down and falling on top of the microwave.  Once that happens, you can't reach it unless you remove the microwave.

Fortunately, Rinker did a fantastic job integrating the microwave in this boat.  Removing it takes two minutes.  The microwave sits on a wooden shelf.  On the underside of the cabinet, remove the eight screws that hold the shelf in place, and slide the whole thing out (microwave and shelf together).

With the microwave out, we retrieved our 20-pack of King's Hawaiian rolls.  AND we were amused to find two more disgusting packages of rolls that were at least a year old, two oven mitts, and other stuff that had gone missing over the years.  Funny, but kinda gross too.  

And now I know how to take out the microwave.  

06Rinker270

Funny you mention this.  Just this morning I put my hand up there and found a whole range of weird items from the PO and from my admiral.  Apparently she's been storing things up there.  Makes me curious what had fallen behind mine?

LaRea

I'm planning to install a backstop so we can continue using that space for storage.  In the meantime, we had a good laugh about it.  

BellevilleMXZ

Same here! Found a bunch of stuff from PO also

randy56

Funny story, Hawaiian bread is a big hit in our family also, Cheese burger, sliders, and such.

skennelly

Ha same happened to me.  I put our boat registration and other docs in a zip lock bag.  One day couldn't find it anywhere.  Figured out it fell down the gap.

Used a vacuum cleaner hose to attempt to suck the bag and retrieve.  First attempt I grabbed a bag of plastic spoons dated 2007!!!!

Second attempt got the bag I was looking for.

Wife and I laughed so hard.

Dream_Inn

Pretty funny!  When we first bought our 400, the admiral wanted to put some type of greenery up there.  I looked in there and saw how stuff would disappear and said nothing to go up there.

Even funnier, on our last trip we just did.  Another 400 went with us.  They have been missing an entire loaf of bread since the first day of the trip.  I had suggested it went back in there, but they say they didn't see it there.  I'm still thinking it's back in there somewhere! 

Would love to see what you make up and how you attach a backstop!

Michael T

It should be real easy to fabricate a backstop using any number of materials. I like thin aluminum plate as it can easily be bent and painted, is light, rigid and resists water.

LaRea

I think I can reach it easily with the microwave out, and it doesn't have to be pretty.  I'll have another look this weekend.

Michael T

@LaRea...if you do a mod please post.... I have several friends who are considering the same thing and I always do a screen grab of the great mods on this forum and show-off all you guys' mods!

LaRea

Installed the backstop ... see details here:

http://rinkerboats.vanillaforums.com/discussion/6134/dyi-backstop-for-storage-space-above-microwave