Repairing the Damage from the Maiden Voyage

I did find some time this week to address the damage to the galley side bench that happened during Frostbite's first outing.  Here is a shot of the damage:

The front face of the bench, which obviously wasn't strong enough to use, cracked in half nearly along it's entire length just underneath the converter box.  The caused the nails to pull apart from the top board that serves as the seat.  The entire face would have to be rebuild.

Using the broken piece as a pattern, I cut out a new piece from a large piece of bead board left over from the renovation.  Lucky I saved that! 

The new piece is on the left

another angle

I then reattached the inside dowels making it exactly the same  as the original. 

Here is a shot of the original supports for comparison. 

The one on the right was the original pre-renovation part from Frostbite.  The one of the left is the rebuilt one that broke.  The original, of course, didn't seem to have enough support so I added three vertical support dowels.

Hopefully, much stronger now!

I opted not to drill the large hole near the converter box opening since, and I can't remember exactly why now, I wondered during the trip why I had a hole there in the first place since it wasn't needed.  I'll cross that bridge later.  If I do need a hole there, I can add it later.

One important piece that is not in the picture is another vertical support dowel that will go at the very end after the converter box is installed in the hole.  I'll add that one as I am installing the bench back in Frostbite.  This is the piece that I neglected to add prior to our first voyage and was probably the cause of the damage in the first place.  I figure the extra 3 vertical supports couldn't hurt.

At this point, I was satisfied with my work.  However, I don't work very fast and, with the days starting to get shorter, I ran out of daylight.  My frequent beer breaks didn't help either.  I hope to raise Frostbite this weekend and install the newer and better bench this Sat.

My next project is figuring out a system for keeping the awning bag closed.  My in-laws are coming for a visit this weekend so they will get a chance to see Frostbite firsthand in all her glory.  I hope to solicit some advice about the awning bag from them as well.