Creating Some More Storage Spaces

--Blogpost written by Bob

On our boat we need all the storage space we can get and we must use it effectively.  Without effective storage space, things seem to accumulate on the quarter berth and this makes our boat messy.  I want to get new cushions for the quarter berth and make it usable and more attractive.  The first step toward this goal is finding places to store everything that ends up on the quarter berth.

Making new storage areas on a boat is like adding shelves at home except that 
it's more like bins (than shelves) and what you have to attach to is never
straight lines--everything has to be fit to curved surfaces. Of 
course, you can't just use nails and pine boards either.

Aft Section Under Quarter Berth

Since removing the old condenser/compressor box for the old refrigeration, we have a lot of available storage space under the aft section of the quarter berth.  My goal this past weekend was to make it more usable by adding some dividers.  

Even though there is a lot of space, it really needs dividers
to allow it to be used most efficiently.

I made a full divider to partition the aft space.  The second divider (closer to
the foreground) is a partial height divider since it must be accessed from a common lid.

The aft storage compartment s now being used to store engine
supplies--engine oil, transmission fluid.coolant, and filters.

Under Sink in Head

Our recent changeover to a composting toilet freed up a significant amount of space under the sink in the head--it was previously occupied by sanitation hoses and water supply hoses.  The most logical items to store in this new area are cleaning supplies.

This area under the sink in the head doesn't look like much in this image.

Converting this area to a shelf for storage of gallon-size plastic bottle only
took a piece of shock cord and a couple hooks.  I can 
actually fit in one more bottle!

Outboard of Sink in Head

We have on more area that needs additional dividers to make it effective for storage--its the area under and outboard of the head sink.  Right now, there is one shelf in this area but the lower portion of this area needs at least one divider.  This one will take some more thought...

Summary

This effort solved about 90% of the problem--there are still a few little things on the quarter berth but I'm confident that we will find storage space for the remaining items.

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