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We had wanted a Galley Shelf over the sink of our 1985 Catalina 30 mk I, so I decided to build one. It is 3/4 A-A grade plywood I had around trimmed with pieces made from some white oak floorboards I also had around. The shelf hangs from a 1/4 screen door turnbuckle that I modified for the purpose. I made an insert out of some 1/4 fiberglass I also had in the shop and put the pegs that hold the dishes in it. This way I can change it out later if we decide to change dishes or purposes without having holes in the shelf itself.

The deck is not parallel to the galley counter, so there is a tapered filler piece. This means the screws holding up that end are of different lengths. Be careful you do not use too long a screw, or you will penetrate to the outside. This shelf only comes out as far as the sink faucet so access to everything is unhampered. We added an LED strip light under the shelf wired into the galley light. This helps with illuminating the galley counter a lot.

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The screws are #8 Stainless; 2 each 1, 1.25 and 1.5. This is due to the slope of the area under the windows to make the shelf parallel to the countertop. I didnt want to extend much beyond .25. (The holes are counter-sunk.) Each size is installed near its mate. You will want to drill a pilot hole in the fiberglass to prevent it from splintering when you put in the screws. This is easier if you have someone to hold the shelf in place while you mark the holes. Only penetrate 0.125 or so. You do not want to go through the core to the outside.

The rod is a chromed screen door turnbuckle I got from Home Depot. I used this because it was cheap, and the rod ends have a flat end with screw holes already in them. I cut the flat end so there was only one hole. I then cut it to length and threaded the other end with a 1/4 x 20 die. Originally I was going to use a stainless rail tube and ends, but that turned out to be quite pricy.

The bracket is a piece of aluminum approximately 1.125 x 5.0 x 0.0625. (About the thickness of the backing washers.) I rounded the ends to about the diameter of the backing washers and bent one end down to the appropriate angle after drilling a small hole for the end of the turnbuckle to attach to. I drilled two holes to clear the bolts from the traveler and replaced their washers with the new bracket. (The third bolt still has its washer.) The turnbuckle is attached to this bracket with a small bolt and nylock nut.

I had to move the existing galley lamp over a short distance. I wired the strip lights to the lamp switch so they come on when the lamp is turned on.