How to Make a "Too Large" Washing Machine Fit Your Sailboat

Do yourself a favor and watch this video to both avoid and learn from our mistakes. What a nightmare!

ORDERING THE WRONG SIZED WASHING MACHINE

We bought an Insignia 1.6 Cu. Ft. washing machine based upon the measurements provided to us by a third party in St. Lucia, had it shipped to Sint Maarten from the US and they were incorrect so we faced a dilemma: Give the machine up or find a way to make it fit!

We were thrilled when we learned that with a good strategy and A LOT of effort, it was possible to get the washer into the forward head, but there would be a lot of heroics to do so.

REMOVING DOORS AND DOORWAY MOLDINGS

First, we had to remove the hallway molding, the door to the forward berth, the door and molding to the head. It took us a whole morning of using a razor blade, heat gun, and leveraging plank to finally clear the pathway.

CUTTING A DOORWAY AND CONNECTING TO THE HEAD'S PLUMBING

After all of this was done, a boater called Larry came to cut into our doorway, just enough to fit the washer through which was done quite easily. He then fixed the plumbing so the washer was directly fed water from our fresh water pump and the rinse cycle spit the water out the same fitting as the sink, straight into the ocean.