beautiful work. Well beyond anything that I am doing. I just don't want to mar what I do have with an odd chrome plated piece here and there, although I could, in this particular case, hide the barrel bolt so it would not show.

What I am building is a sort of ladder for my wife to more easily access the V berth. Her short legs and the height of the bunk just makes things a little difficult for her. Up until now, she has used a large foam filled cube cushion to gain about 8 inches of step, but she says she wants something better.

I have a small storage compartment just below the front of the V berth, and I am going to build a swing away step inside of that storage compartment for her to use. My plan is that she can open the cabinet door, use the lip of the cabinet at the door (which I will beef up to make a better step) as one step, and then stand on yet another step, which I am designing now. The second step will be inside the face of the cabinet, just behind the door, and thus hidden. This second step will limit access inside the cabinet, so I want this step to swing away when we need access inside the cabinet for larger items. (I tend to keep tool bags in there). I can still reach inside the cabinet door and move things about to allow the step to swing away to clear items inside the cabinet. The door access is about 13 inches wide, and the step I am adding will only be 5 3/4 wide.

My plan is to have the second step mounted on a long hinge, for stability and strength, that allows the step to rest inside the cabinet face on a ledge of 3/8 teak, and be held in place (kept from swinging) by a barrel bolt. I plan on making the step out of 3 pieces of 3/8 teak sandwiched together, essentially making the vertical riser 3/4 thick with a "tread" of 1 1/8 thick on top. I also need to increase the cabinet face at the bottom by another 3/8 to add strength. That area that would form the lower step is right now also 1 1/8 thick.

The end result will be two ladder steps 6 inches high each, giving her a 12 inch "boost" into the V berth.