A28 Housekeeping

[Meyer]

We were out in the boat fishing today, and while down below, I noticed (again)how much we have stored in our quarterberth (our deflated dinghy, electric motor, extra life vests, towels, etc.) It's great to have that space but I wonder if anyone's come up with a way to conceal all that stuff so that the cabin doesn't always look unkempt!

Also, any new ideas for cleaning that deep pesky space just behind the front windshield? It's one of my pet peeves with our boat!

Thanks,
Judith
A28 Tantrika's cleaning lady
Washington, NC

[chiefrcd]

Hi Judith, I'm still struggling with the quarter berth as well...seems like everything goes there. Under my V-berth is a AC and bow thruster so there is no room there either.

As far as cleaning the "windshield pit"....get one of those new swifters that bends. Should be able to find one at any grocery store and a shot of scrubbing bubbles and you're good to go....

[JackK]

Well add me to the list of pack rats ...

My quarter berth currently contains - 2 Life Jacket Bags (one inshore and one offshore), Two deck chairs (when not onboard), Tackle box, Ditch bag, life raft and a fishing rod.

It looks like 10 lbs of #hit in a 2 lb bag.

I'd love to store more in the deck boxes but those still aren't dry.

Jack

[Veebyes2]

No matter what you have there is never enough space. It is all The Admirals fault.

When we sold our A27AC & got the 32 we thought we had moved into an empty warehouse. We had died & gone to boat space heaven. Well, the waterline has had to be raised an inch at the stern. What used to be empty space under the berth now has a shelf for boat 'stuff'. The stb side hanging locker now has shelves & is a pantry. The port side hanging locker, which used to contain 12 PFDs, now contains her 'stuff'. I don't dare look inside. We have enough galley 'stuff' to outfit a gourmet kitchen

Bigger boat??? No way. She would fill that up in no time too & we would be weekending out of canvas bags & Rubbermaid bins.

[DougSea]

There's some rule somewhere that you have to have on-board at LEAST twice as much stuff as can be stowed without being seen. We're still figuring out what stuff NEEDS to be on the boat vs. what's just dead weight. I'm also trying to figure out how to secure my tool boxes under the aft deck hatches on my engine-box model 28TE to take advantage of that space.

One positive with all of the stuff my wife's brought on board is that she's way more interested in spending time on the boat than she was on my smaller ones...I can tell by the amount of accessorizing she's done!

Doug

[chiefrcd]

Doug,
Someone applied that rule to my boat too. I started this year taking stuff off that I had not seen in a year. I took a large, deep plastic bin and just loaded stuff up and took it home. I had enough fishing gear for three boats, heater, cloths, books, and just assorted junk. I think I gained an 1" at the water line. With all that, my quarter berth is still packed. I use the outside deck hatches for fishing tackle boxes and I put the rods in over head racks in the pilot house. I like the idea of shelves in the hanging locker since it's not big enough to hang anything in. And those two side shelves above the v berth are just begging for something but I can't figure out what yet. I do have the forward cabinets and between that the TV sets...they help a lot.

[Meyer]

Thanks, Chief - I haven't seen those swifters yet but I will sure look for them!

Yes, many of us keep lots of "stuff" on the boat, but we've found that keeping the boat more or less "ready to go" with the necessities (and even a few luxuries) makes it so much easier (and fun!) to go! You may complain about how much your partner puts aboard until you are enjoying that item! Storage ideas from other boats are always helpful, too. Might merit another thread on this list.

I'd still like ideas on screening the quarterberth area from the rest of our cabin; sounds like no one on this list has done that. Yet.

Thanks,
Judith (and Dan, who lets me have all the onboard luxuries I want as long I'll still do galley detail)

[Mariner]

I've now spent a full week aboard our 36', and I can totally agree that no matter how much space you have, you'll find a way to fill it. We have a full second stateroom that has become the catch-all for extra PFD's, blankets, and rigging. However, I've found that by utilizing the cavernous blow deck storage on this boat I can tuck away a large amount of stuff in watertight plastic bins.

[DougSea]

Chief,

Do you have a photo of your pilot house rod storage? I've been trying to think of a way to do the same but it's always nice to see what someone's done before. Right now the rods are in the gunnel racks and, you guessed it, in the quarter berth...

Thanks!

And Judith - if it keeps the admiral happy to have a few extras aboard - it's a SMALL price to pay!

Doug

[chiefrcd]

Here's two pic, one right after I installed the holders, as you can see there were spaces for 6 that come with the installation kit. I added two additional holders to the brackets so I keep 8 rods there. Never had an issue with headspace, but you do have to be careful with rods over 6 and a half feet.

[tomcat rio]

... using just a few boards between the big beams in there. anything stored in there will be easily and quickly removeable, will post pictures when done.