Door hinge replacement on our Maxi Mixer 35

Another Gift from the Previous Owner

I think it’s pretty obvious by now that I’ve developed a passive but dedicated hate toward the previous owner of our Maxi Mixer. It’s the little things — like today’s fix, the stanchion fix, the fuel strainer fix etc. — that really nurture this feeling. At some point in the long life of this boat, probably during rough weather, someone must have been thrown into the cabin door with force. The impact broke the bottom hinge and even damaged some of the wooden structure of the door.

A normal person would simply go to the nearest hardware store (these hinges are common in Scandinavia), buy the correct type, and mount it. Not this person. Instead, they went out, bought a random oversized hinge, made a 5 mm shim, and mounted it under the hinge while the door was closed. To be fair, this could have been a clever solution… if they had done the same thing with all the hinges.

Straightening the Crooked Work

But naturally, that wasn’t the plan. After repeatedly opening and closing the door with misaligned hinges, the middle hinge eventually broke, the top hinge bent, and the door itself became (non permanently) warped. Closing it now required lifting it into place, a task our youngest son lacked the strength and technique to manage.

The solution was simple: new hinges. Actually four of them, to make the door even stronger than before. The door originally came with three, but after hours of measuring, re-measuring, and nervously marking drill points, I mounted all four with laser precision.

The result? The door now opens smoothly and clicks into place like a proper door should. Totally worth the effort. Plugging the old holes will be a later project.

And to the previous owner — thank you for keeping my boat projects alive. And F_ck You.