The MkI and MkII have a spot for a microwave. When we purchased the boat, the microwave was removed. It’s unclear as to why. Perhaps had broke and there was no need to replace.
However, we decided to install one. Whether it be warming your coffee, cooking up a bag of popcorn for a movie or simply reheating leftovers, we’ve found the microwave really adds to the galley.
The dimensions of the opening are 19 5/8″ wide, 12″ tall and around 13 3/4 at the shallowest point.
I did quite a bit of searching, trying to find a microwave with was:
- As large as possible internal dimensions
- Something less than 800W cooking power. Didn’t seem like I wanted to anything in excess than this despite my inverter were 2000W
- Reasonable clearance requirements as stated by the manufacturer. Many of the units I looked at required 3″ on both sides, the top and the back. This was clearly not going to work.
I settled with the Faberware Classic unit pictured below. Although (at the time of writing this) we have only used it a half-dozen times, for around $80, it’s hard to go wrong. It has a motorized carousel and heated our food quickly.
I will check back in periodically and let you know how well it stands up to a marine environment…but again, for $80, even if we replace every couple of years, it isn’t going to break the bank. We could have certainly paid a lot more.
The good thing about the microwave is that it vents left. I biased the microwave to the right. Hmmmm, how to mount?
Underneath the microwave there are two raised circular sections to the rear of the microwave at the bottom. I decided to take a chance and drill a hole for two screws. Fortunately there was plenty of clearance for two #10 screws from underneath the platform.
This is clearly not enough support to hold down the microwave. I didn’t find other areas whereby I was comfortable drilling a few screws so I decided to tie down the microwave with some hook & loop straps and a few footman loops.
The following is the nook and loop strap I ordered.
The footman straps I found were inexpensive and appear to be good quality despite being made in China. I’ll report back should I discover any issues with these.
Here’s the microwave. Can’t beat it for the price.
