The important thing about being an idiot is knowing it

I'm fairly handy at projects.  I've done many over the years, both on my houses and, of course, my boats.  Drift Away is a project boat, so I've got plenty to do.  One of the things that project experience has taught me is that I'm an idiot.

One of this past weekend's projects was to install an Origo ceramic cooktop in the galley.   I think Drift Away was originally set up as a party boat because it has a refrigerator, freezer, ice maker, and trash compactor but no stove or oven.   Pam and I have been using an old two burner countertop one which took up valuable real estate in our small galley.

I positioned the cooktop on our counter and called Pam to come and approve.  An angled installation was decided.

 I measured the cooktop carefully and then laid it out in pencil.  It looked good.  I then drilled a hole in the corner.   I did my idiot check and looked under the counter from below.   The hole was only a couple of inches from the side.   How could that be??   And then I remembered that this counter used to be a breakfast bar with stools.  I had removed the stools when we moved on the boat.  Where the stools were is now a bookcase, so there is almost a foot inset.  So, I had to summon Pamela again and it was decided to put the cooktop parallel to the sink.  Again, I laid it out.

I'd be cutting out the counter with my sabre saw, so I masked the counter with blue tape so the saw wouldn't scratch it.  

I cut the top out and cleaned up the sawdust.  As you can see in the pic above, there is an outlet right there.  I cut the wire, installed a junction box, and wired it up. 

At this point, Pamela came in to see how it was going.

"Awful.   I cut the hole too big and when I dropped in the stove, it fell through."

"What?!" said Pamela with a great look of dismay.

"Only kidding.  It fits good."

"You're such a jerk."

I then put adhesive/sealant around the cutout and dropped in the stove.

The finished product looks good, I think.  It even works.