Multi-week cruise: Gotta packing technique to share?

[Tod Mills]

In the hopes of spending less vacation time with my head in a locker and more enjoying the open air and scenery, I ask these questions:

With the compact and limited stowage aboard a boat, it would be good to minimize the rooting to get that certain whatchamacallit or, more importantly, a group of things. This is aside from knowing WHERE the things are; it's about minimizing the moving of other things to get to what you want.

For example, do you store your food clustered by food group? Do you mix and match to strive to get all the components for a meal by opening just one locker? Do you put all your eggs in one basket, or do you scatter them around the cabin, so to speak?

How about clothing? All your socks together so you know where they all are, or do you pair them with undies and a shirt?

TIA,

[Neil Gordon]

There's no right answer but a multi-week cruise is closer to living aboard than a weekend. From that perspective:

The boat is not your garage. If you have things on board that you know you'll never use, take them ashore.

Optimize clean, dry storage space. Cleaning supplies, sponges and the like can go anywhere. Underwear can't. I keep mine either in the dead space under the v-berth all the way forward or under the sink in the cabin. I moved the foul weather gear from the hanging locker to a cockpit locker. Boat gear that was otherwise spread out everywhere was consolidated.

Plastic bags really work. Your entire sock collection will fit in a plastic freezer bag and all your underwear will fit in two. Just about my entire full time summer wardrobe fits in the hanging locker and/or behind the settee on the port side. If you're an outfit kind of guy, match shirts and shorts and socks and whatever and keep them together in one bag.

Rationalize where you'll keep your laundry before you have any. Same for trash and garbage.

Save the galley for food. Having consolidated the boat stuff, you'll have lots of room for food. For me, it's easiest to just store the heavy stuff on the bottom and go from there. If you'll be eating underway, think in advance of what you'll need and store it so that you don't have every pot, pan, can, box and bottle out just so you can find the peanut butter. Think about what you'll do with open packages. You can save a lot of space if you toss packaging in advance and store in plastic bags. I find that canisters work best for coffee, breakfast cereal and snack stuff like nuts and pretzels and that a whole set fits nicely in about a foot of space.

Don't bring more than you need. One of the joys of cruising is hauling bags of laundry ashore for washing.

However you store stuff, picture your boat lying on its side (upside down if you are going offshore) and think about what will happen to your storage scheme then. Be especially careful when storing single malt scotch.

[Warren Kaplan]

I've got 3 "gear hammocks" hanging in my CD27. We use two of them for food storage. Stuff in boxes and the like that aren't very heavy. The nice thing about them is that everything is in sight so you can just walk right over to it and grab it without having to "explore" into the bowels of any deep locker. I use the hammock in the vee berth, when I'm cruising, for t-shirts, socks, underwear...any soft clothing.

I use the lockers for boat gear or heavy food stuff, like cases of soda or beer, etc.

One other nice things about gear hammocks is that you can take them down in an instant if you don't need them and rig them in a few seconds when you do. They increase your storage space quite a bit and when not in use they roll up into no space at all. And...they're cheap!! Think about it if you need more space for storage.

[winthrop fisher]

hey Tod...

we both have small boats, you should use small dry bags and use more then two or three, dry goods, cans, drinks and so on.
i use allot of dry bags (6) and leave then in the storage lockers.
each one is for some thing different in it.
out of sight and out of mind.
thats the way i do it.
so when you go lay down nothing is in the way and you can find it fast when you need it.

winthrop

In the hopes of spending less vacation time with my head in a locker and more enjoying the open air and scenery, I ask these questions:

With the compact and limited stowage aboard a boat, it would be good to minimize the rooting to get that certain whatchamacallit or, more importantly, a group of things. This is aside from knowing WHERE the things are; it's about minimizing the moving of other things to get to what you want.

For example, do you store your food clustered by food group? Do you mix and match to strive to get all the components for a meal by opening just one locker? Do you put all your eggs in one basket, or do you scatter them around the cabin, so to speak?

How about clothing? All your socks together so you know where they all are, or do you pair them with undies and a shirt?

TIA,

[Kurt]

I recently met a couple who own a Morgan Out Island 33. They've cruised a lot and keep a lot of 'stuff' on their boat. They had a 3 ring binder that served as an index to keep track of every little item they had on board and which drawer or locker or bin it was stored in...including photos of each item...even had photos of their cleaning products. I was amazed at the detail. But the system made a lot of sense and worked extremely well for them

[mahalocd36]

Wow, we aren't nearly that organized with a binder with photos!
We just got back from a 3 week "cruise". Basically no matter what you want it's at the bottom of a locker or the icebox

I second the use of hammocks - they are great for things like chips, bread, crackers - stuff that would get squished and broken in a locker or cabinet as the boat moves. For only 3 weeks we were able to keep all food together in the galley storage (besides what was in the hammocks) not all over the boat like you would for a longer cruise. Heavy stuff in cans at the bottom, lighter stuff on top.

We keep often used tools in a readily accessible tool bag, less frequently used ones in a tool box away - I think we only needed to get at the box once. Parts and misc like tape, sealants, etc. we keep in plastic containers stored around - that we could do better about knowing what was in each one without opening them up but invariably the container we needed was at the bottom LOL.

Last year for our long cruise I kept my clothes organized by outfit but this year I was lazy and just kind of mixed up shorts/pants/shirts throughout the two lockers and it seemed to work equally well. I keep underwear/socks seperate but we have the space to do that. Sometimes socks would get wet throughout the day and you needed a new pair or you didn't feel like wearing socks that day...so it was just easier.

Dry bags are great for storage of sensitive things like our drill, camera, cell phone. Cell phone - ask me how I know that once it gets wet it's useless.

[Neil Gordon]

The main reason what you need is on the bottom is that the last thing you used was placed on top of it. Put what you use back on the bottom and... no, wait... then you'll invariably need it again before you need whatever is on top. I don't think you can win this one.

[jerryaxler]

I also just returned from a 3 week cruise on Shana. The first thing you must learn to do is to look in the last place you would look FIRST, because it's always there. I also have my friend look for an item because SHE says men can't find socks in a sock drawer.
All kidding aside, I converted one hanging locker into multiple shelves and we use those little hammocks for light weight storage,never fruit or tomatoes. Plan on doing laundry and remember most boating locations are very informal, so a lot of "good" clothes are not necessary. BTW bring lots of quarters for the washing machines.

[Bob Luby]

This won't last multiple weeks, but here it is:

FREEZE your canned beer/soda before you leave. You can leave a can or two at the top of the ice box where it will thaw and be ready for use. This only works with cans, because most will stay closed. You'll be suprised at how much ice this saves.
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Vapir One Review

[Neil Gordon]

FREEZE your canned beer/soda before you leave.

I've found that soda and beer cans will too often burst and leak when they thaw. And I have no idea what damage is done to the beer. Water, on the other hand, freezes nicely in plastic bottles and substitutes well for block ice. (It is block ice!)

[Steve Ing]

I'd get a second opinion before I froze that Beer ???

[barfwinkle]

I just did a search and can't find the thread I am about to reference, but at some point in time (in the past) someone (either on this board or another) posted an idea they used for using stuff sacks which had blank or old CD disc attached to them with a string or the draw string. Then they wrote on the CD (not Cape Dory but the disc) what the bag contained (at least some kind of identifier).

The sacks were then but into the lockers/storage areas with the disc readily available and all the skipper/crew needed to do was pull on the appropriate "string" to retrieve the desired article. If I am not mistaken, they (the author) even provide pictures.

i can't find the thread and it may not have been on this board, but I think it was.

Fair Winds

[Kurt]

I've used nylon bags filled with foam peanuts (the type used as packing material) to take up the empty space in my top loading cooler. I have several of these bags and put more in as the food/beverages get used up. It will make ice last a lot longer. Dry ice is also a superior alternative to regular ice.

[Joe Myerson]

Bill,
I can't find the thread either, but you're right. It was on this board that the pics of CDs (compact discs) as labels for draw-string bags was posted.
It was a great idea then, and it still is.
--Joe Myerson

[Neil Gordon]

I've used nylon bags filled with foam peanuts (the type used as packing material) to take up the empty space in my top loading cooler.

Sure, but they you have to store the peanuts somewhere.

On the occasions where I bother with ice, I fill the ice box, top off with ice and store extra water, etc., usually on the floor of the hanging locker. As ice melts and stuff is consumed, I take up the excess space by adding another gallon or so of water and/or canned drinks.