A question for the 22' liveaboards El and Bill.

R

rogerbum

New member
Bill and El,

One thing I've always wondered about is how you two manage to store enough clothing aboard to live on a 22. I can manage to keep everything else I need within the confines of the boat but when I sleep on the boat for even a few days, there just doesn't seem to be enough room to store sufficient clean clothing w/o making use of tow vehicle space.

Any special tricks or does it just boil down to being very selective, doing laundry often, and/or storing lots in the tow vehicle?
 
Roger --

Good question. El has the storage area under the forward seat of the dinette. She uses net storage bags of different colors -- blue for cold weather clothes, red for warm weather clothes, and white for underwear. As a generality, she has three of each 'essential' article of daily clothes -- one she wears, one is ready for the wash, and the third is 'in-the-wings' for next-use. In summer, her warm weather bag is pretty full, and cold gear is minimal -- vice versa for season change. Spring/fall are the hardest seasons. Now this sounds very organized, and as you probably know, we ain't that organized -- but it's the goal. When we add clothes to the boat, over what is the 'essential,' we like to remind each other "one in, one out."

I have the storage under the aft dinette seat -- over the water tank. I just dump in a my 'three changes' and root around when changing.

Out -of-season clothes are stored in their own bags in the 'attic' -- the back seat of our truck. We periodically rotate through them as needed.

Sometimes, during seasonal change, we put extra 'winter' clothes in a dry bag and lash it into the cockpit.

Now, to get a little more personal -- we find (for us) that shirts, pants, jackets, don't require daily changes or washing (under normal conditions). Underwear and socks, that we do like to change daily, are light-weight and small -- we carry lots of such stuff in our storage areas and they take up little room and keep us 'clean.'

Of course, we use the laundry in the marina whenever possible -- we prefer the anchor, but when we come in for supplies, fuel/water, etc. there's usually a laundry.

We sometimes have guests aboard -- like kids and grandkids -- for days -- we warn them about storage space and the '3 of each essential' idea -- we pack their clothes in dry bags lashed in the cockpit. We have three coming aboard with us on Powell -- they know that the clothes for each individual must fit into a pillow case or the excess is on the dock.

It has worked for us for years -- we both usually have excess storage room in our clothes areas.

Now, of course, that brings up another question -- what do you do with the things YOU store in those under-seat areas right now??

So, Roger, you can see why El and I usually respond to the site postings about the addition of generators, t.v. sets, microwave ovens, hot tubs, etc. onto a 22' C-Dory with the response, "simplify, simplify, simplify." Less is usually better, once you define the difference between 'needs' and 'wants.' Of course, everything is different if you use the boat for a day cruise, just fishing for a few days, a short cruise, or whatever.
 
There is always "Plan B"...or better known as the "Injun Design Team"...or Greg's "Have Tig...Will Travel" solution to storage....it's called major remodeling.

I personally am thinking more in the line of a 16 C-Dory Tender for the Misses...a His and Her thingy.
 
El and Bill,
Thanks for that personal post. Knowing how you handle these things helps some of us to get a better perspective when we go to pack for a trip.

I have the bad habit of packing then seeing extra room and adding to what I originally planned. I will have to try the 3 change rule.

Steve
 
El and Bill,

Thanks for the kind and helpful reply. Most of my extended trips involved a lot of fishing and that adds to the problem since (if fishing was good) most everything has to be changed each day. However, your post did make me appreciate your "simplify" adage a bit more. For example, on my boat the fridge is in one of your prime storage locations and the cooler seems to work fine for you two.

Roger
 
El and Bill are good models. On Sally's Sister i have a rule if someone is joining me for a few days...one soft bag...and it has to be unpacked, all put away in a designated area. I use a superinsulated cooler back under the bench seat. I have canvas pouches (thanks Terry) mounted in four l locations...port and starboard in cockpit and port and starboard in v bunk area....sometimes i travel with a banjo and a guitar. If someone is on board, they share the v bunk with one of these "friends". The c dory 22 is infinitely capable of expansion i think.

tom terraplane
 
Tom, Terraplane,
Could you expand on
"I have canvas pouches (thanks Terry) mounted in four l locations...port and starboard in cockpit and port and starboard in v bunk area."
Always interested in the ways and means of storage that other folks use. How about a picture or two?

Regards, Mark
 
Mark--- I found that Standout Yacht Fitting in Longbranch, Wa. 1-800-622-1877 makes custom bags with flaps in various colors for stowing extra lines for sailboats. These are small enough to attach with snaps behind the seats or in the cockpit of my C-dory, I am also considering a narrow one for under the steering station, they also make them in custom sizes for your particuliar needs, at a reasonable price.

Rich on Don Quioxte
 
Roger,

While we are not full time liveaboards, Nancy and I have lived aboard for up to 10 weeks at a time.

We keep our clothes in soft bags (gym bags) which we keep in the bunk in the day time, and stack on the helm seat at night. We also have a 'hanging locker' which is a wooden hanger with the jackets and nice shirts covered with a plastic zip-up 'suit bag'. This is hung from an eye strap located above the steering wheel on the underside of the cabintop. (and laid flat on the bunk in the daytime.

We also use the steering wheel itself as a 'hanger' for jackets and shirts.

The drawback is that all that stuff has to be moved in and out of the bunk daily.
 
Just a quick note -- we're off the Internet (overseas trip) for the next three weeks, so if we don't reply to any further questions on this thread, you'll know why.
 
Hi Folks,

I have been struggling with storage ideas since I purchased my 1983 Angler C-Dory.

I first filled in the areas on the side of the engine well with storage lockers. (Idea from Magoo.) I then built a teak seat on the aft of the cockpit.(The Angler has a larger, 6' by 6', cockpit,). When I reengined, the gas tanks took a bit of the storage space. I am now putting DriTEk on my cockpit and aft storage floor. That will keep the stuff dry and allow me to use the sunshower in the cockpit. I use two milk cartons, two batteries, and the lines and finders stuffed between the seat storage front and the gas tanks. In the past, I have hung the dock lines under the cockpit coaming.
In the cabin, I have built a Galley behind the helm seat, one burner alcohol stove behind a sink. There is storage under the stove for food and pots and pans, and storage under the sink for "silverware".

This year I am adding a water supply tank under the aft cabin seat, using about half of the area. The rest is for food related things. Last year, I fixed the area under the stove and sink to hold a cooler, waste basket, and sink waste catcher (at this time, it is an old gallon soap container.)

Under the helm seat, I am putting a shelf in to put two levels of storage. I use plastic storage bins.

Under the table in the dinette, I am building a shelf to hold books and navigation stuff. In the bunk area, I hang bags holding various things, including clothes, etc, etc. Most of my clothes are in one carry-on bag. If anybody joins me, the are allowed one carry-on bag.

The biggest thing I am going to do is get rid of stuff I do not need. I carry to much.

I will then make up a storage sheet as to where everything is kept.

I also try to do is if I can make it permeant, I will. My lighting in the past been battery powered lamps and and flashlights. This year I am putting pernment fixtures in and wiring them to the boat batteries. (I have two.) gets rid of another storage bin.

One thing I do is never put a screw into the SIDE of a C-Dory except under the roof eave. I will screw into the floor, cabin furniture, etc, but never into the side of the boat.

Hope this helps you.

Fred Heap

PS. Terry had a bunch of bags made for his boat, which hang all over the boat. Very effective.
 
Fred Heap :

Sounds like you have done a lot of modifications and a picture is worth a thousand words.....I know I and others would love to see your deeds preserved on Kodak....or in todays terms, digitals. Hope you can update your photo album soon with lots of shots of your boat.

Thanks
 
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