Genius (yes, I am easily impressed)
What’s the number one feature in an automobile’s interior? Stereo? Comfortable seats? Navigation computer? Nope. It’s cup holders. Come on, you know it’s true. Sometimes the car’s designers get it right and other times they totally screw it up, hiding the only spot large enough to control your steaming cup of coffee right behind the shifter. 🙁
I’m not going to say that the same thing isn’t just as important on a boat because it is, especially on those tippy boats. Spilled cocktails are nothing to laugh at! But what do you do when the party is over and all the beverages have been consumed? You have to do the dishes of course and this is where I think the Leopard 4600’s designers really hit a home run.
As most boat owners know, counter-top real estate in a galley is in high demand. Having enough of it available for the dish-drying racks that are commonly used in household kitchens is pretty rare, at least in the boats that I’ve had the pleasure of touring. This is why I thought that the folding dish rack that we installed above our sink was super clever. It takes up no counter space at all and allows the water dripping off the still-wet dishes to fall directly into our sinks.
Leopard went one better though. They actually built a permanent dish-drying station into a recess in the counter. The spot is large enough to hold an entire meal’s worth of dishes and it’s deep enough so that the plates and glasses won’t fall out if the boat is moving. In addition to that, it has its own drain so that the dish water has a place to go. When not in use this recess has a flush-fitting lid which fits over it so that it can be used for additional storage (they had a blender tucked into this spot on the 4600 we were on). In my mind this feature is genius. Now if they had only given the cup-holder thing a bit more thought!
This pic was snapped as the charter company’s cleaning crew was still looking after the galley. The appliances and counters were a LOT more shiny when we were on board.
Do you have an innovative dish-drying solution? If so, please post, I’d love to hear it.
Just get a woman! Just kidding!! Most designers today are incorporating a drying rack into the galley……
I guess I need to get out more (on new boats).
Yes- my kids! One washes the other drys. Couldn´t resist 😉
I hate drying dishes!
With a 360 degree panaramic view of crystal blue waters…..Would you like to be in my office instead…….I will do dishes anytime!!!
You do the dishes… I’ll do fun stuff outside the boat.
Same arrangement on our Lagoon. 3 compartment sink; 1 to wash, 1 to rinse & 1 to dry. You are welcome to test drive ours the next time we have dirty dishes. 😉
Deal. You cook, we’ll clean up.
When we lived on our houseboat (very small and old) for a while with two young children I had a lot of dishes. I would wsh/dry/stow the pots and pans by hand but the dishes and cups etc. I would put in a mesh bag and hang from a hook over the sink. When I got up in the morning they would be dry and ready to use again. If we were underway, the mesh bag could swing dry or get stowed. Necessity is the mother if invention. I love your folding rack!
When I worked on the yacht, years later… we had a dishwasher… ahhhhh luxury aboard. Hells Yeah!
dishwasher… 🙂
Very Cool! I will look for one for ‘DreamCatcher’, Maybe IKEA will have one.
If you do find one like we have, which I really like, shim the top a bit so that the water drains towards the front of the shelf instead of the back. This will keep the water off the cupboard. In addition to shimming it, I actually used my Dremel to grind off a tiny bit of it to achieve this water flow. When you get it you’ll see what I mean.
That drying rack is a really great idea! We’ve got a teeny galley which doesn’t really work for us at the moment. We will have to keep this idea in mind when we make much needed storage improvements.
Ikea has plenty of cool stuff.
It’s so odd that you should mention Ikea Mike, as Ben and I spent some time yesterday checking out their website for cool storage solutions, and I’m excited to say that after years of “lets head down to Ikea one weekend” I get to drag him there for some shopping fun. Turns out he just needed the right motivation – our precious boat!
I use to love going to iKea.