Customizing your Island Gypsy

[RichF]

I wanted to start this thread to ask what other people have done with their boat. I have an Island Gypsy 36 Europa and as with any boat its never complete. Always working on it and making it better. This year I did several projects. I'll post photos in the next box down. If you have done any fun custom work to your boats that you think is a good idea share it here. I always enjoy looking to see how other boats look and compare to my own.

 

[RichF]

This Fall's Projects

My boat didn't have a mast, it was built custom for delivery for the Great Lakes and need to be able to fit under bridges. I decided that she needed a mast so I decided to design one and have it built. Its capable of lifting 1,000lbs with an electric hoist. I was able to lose the flimsy ss davit and move the radar to where it is suppose to be

Added cushions on the forward trunk house. Highly recommend doing this, it makes for such a great lounge area without taking away from the lines of the boat.

New Galley and hew Wheelhouse console, new electronics, Vitrifrigo fridge, Seaward range, propane system, microwave, etc. See the photos on the link (what an improvement!)

Anyway, though any other IG owners might enjoy this, here is the link. It actually has all kinds of photos from last Spring 2014 when I bought the boat. As I do more work I'll post them here.

Link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/55428883@N04/sets/72157649794908630/

 

[dwhatty]

Great looking boat and nice work. I wish a 36 had been available when we were looking. I think their proportions are better than the 32.

 

[Pura Vida]

The mast is a great addition, you have captured some great memories on your flickr account.

 

[BruceK]

Thanks for that Rich, I look forward to the updates as you progress.
What is the hull number of your boat(see makers plate above the front screen)? Are those aluminum side cabin windows?
I see you have a single, the 2 I know here incl. mine, have twins. Otherwise, very similar boats. Mine is all galley on the stbd side, big job to fix, probably original owner specified, like the icemaker. We have only one sleeping cabin(fine by us). A PO converted a wardrobe to stbd in the fwd berth to create a huge shower room separated from the head to port.

 

[Andy G]

Here are a couple of pictures showing the modifications the that the PO did on our IG 36.

It is quite clever, the ceiling bulkhead houses the TV, stereo system and speakers, plus DVD storage. The TV is linked through the sound system & the whole disappears when not required.

I have added a 'black box' hard drive with about 500 movies and various TV series and documentaries as the TV coverage is quite limited.

 

[RichF]

Thanks for that Rich, I look forward to the updates as you progress.
What is the hull number of your boat(see makers plate above the front screen)? Are those aluminum side cabin windows?
I see you have a single, the 2 I know here incl. mine, have twins. Otherwise, very similar boats. Mine is all galley on the stbd side, big job to fix, probably original owner specified, like the icemaker. We have only one sleeping cabin(fine by us). A PO converted a wardrobe to stbd in the fwd berth to create a huge shower room separated from the head to port.

Hull No. IG36-F53, they are all wood windows. Yeah the two stateroom layout is ok... its nice to have the room for guests but it sure makes for a very small forward stateroom. The box under the wheelhouse seat is actually a trash compactor, at the end of a long weekend I was tired of storing bags of trash up on the bow, I can stay out about a week now and use only one bag.

I love the layout of head on my boat, nice size (separate) shower that I actually increased in size with this refit. The headroom in the shower was only ~5'10". I increased it to 6'6" (I am 6'5" myself). I did this by cutting out the ceiling and extending it into the new box that houses the microwave. I'll try to get a photo of this, amazing improvement, I can actually stand in there now!

 

[RichF]

Here are a couple of pictures showing the modifications the that the PO did on our IG 36.

It is quite clever, the ceiling bulkhead houses the TV, stereo system and speakers, plus DVD storage. The TV is linked through the sound system & the whole disappears when not required.

I have added a 'black box' hard drive with about 500 movies and various TV series and documentaries as the TV coverage is quite limited.

Nice I like the hideaway TV idea. When I did the refit, I didn't really consider a place to put a TV. I'm currently working on a custom bracket (idea) that will hide it away behind the galley cupboard. Going to try the installation tonight (second prototype), if it actually works I'll post some photos.

I like the newer style cabin ceiling lights in yours, classic but still updates it.

 

[RichF]

Shower Ceiling

Here is a photo of what I did with the shower ceiling. As you can see the head room is much better!

 

[RichF]

The Hideaway TV Works!

Its works ALMOST as good as I had hoped. It doesn't slide back as far as I'd like behind the cabinet but I think a little adjusting will make it a little better. Its definitely better than having it out on display all the time.








Here is what my first prototype looked like on a test box.