Calypso was fitted with a very nice propane oven from the factory. Unfortunately, it really didn't work well by the time we bought the boat. It was a 220V version which required a transformer to power the screen and igniter, the transformer fried itself on our first cruise...Somehow. So the electronics didn't work, then it didn't take long before the propane system within the unit itself stopped working correctly. We had to light it with a lighter and it took multiple attempts to light. We drove on, using it until we got a few scary ignites and that was it. It was for looks only.
Our old propane oven.
Fast forward a few years (we've just used the propane cooktop, grill, microwave and convection oven to cook aboard), and this came up on our "to-do" list. By now air fryers had become very popular and we decided it would be a good fit for cooking on the boat. Dave, who owns Calypso's sister ship, Ohana was the one that suggested we check into them (side note: Ohana is doing charters now, just in case you'd like to hop aboard an Antares!).
The first step was to toss the old propane oven.
Goodbye Old Oven!
Of course, the oven left a pretty ugly hole that we knew we'd have to repair somehow. When the air fryer arrived, we were a little surprised about how small it was. We searched for one of the largest units we could find but it just looked so tiny in the unfinished space. It was awful.
New air fryer in the unfinished space.
At this point we weren't really sure what we wanted to do with it...I didn't really even use the air fryer much! So time went by as we completed other projects and lived life. Then we started the electrical job with Dave and Jim at Marine Craft. During the initial consult, Dave mentioned they would be doing some wood work for the nav station, that sparked an idea! "Can you do something with this space?" we asked. He took a look and we agreed it would be on the low priority list since we had such a large project already taking place.
After the electrical install, time was out. The holidays had come and Dave and Jim had to return home. The air frier space didn't make the cut. No worries though! Jim took some measurements and said they'd be sending something.
Fast forward a few weeks for the holidays to pass and we got a photo text from Marine Craft!
It's all set for shipping!
Jim had created a box, like a sleeve that would slide into the open space and house the air fryer as well as create a shelf for storage! Not only that, it would have an outlet in the back and a programable two prop fan for cooling. Marine Craft created a custom shipping container to house and safely ship the unit from North Carolina to us in Florida.
Opening the shipping crate when arriving in Florida.
It arrived in perfect condition! We'll save the install for a future episode (we filmed it) but holy smokes it fit the space perfectly!! We slid it into the ugly hole left by the propane oven, ran the wire to the outlet below which created a new outlet inside the box and installed the air fryer.
The new custom box with air fryer installed.
We love it and I have fallen in love with using it! The air fryer has become my go-to over the past month or so since getting the box. It creates a little more storage, looks great and cools itself off! We programmed the fan behind the unit to turn on automatically when the temp reaches 85 degrees. Once that's reached, the two fans power up and blow the heat right out. It's perfect!
Thank you to Dave and Jim at Marine Craft for such an awesome job!