Time to Re-Design the Aft Garage

[TBOT422]

We've owned The Best of Times for over 4 years now. I've always been frustrated that you had to remove the cushions in the aft cockpit in order to clean the engine raw water strainer. The previous owner improved things slightly by replacing the 2 mattresses with 3 foam cushions. So you only needed to take out the center cushion to access the raw water strainer. We sort of negated that by covering all of them with a tarp to protect them. After 4 years, it's time to face the facts, we are never going to use the aft cabin for sleeping and are not likely to have any guests stay there either. So our aft cabin had become the aft garage to store all the essential toys that we must take with us on every cruise. Unfortunately it is not designed as a storage area and after a few weeks cruising and playing with one 'toy' then another it just becomes a jumbled mess and you still can not access the transmission area without unloading everything if there was some sort of emergency (like the PSS seal leaking!). So I've decided to re-design the "aft garage" into something more useful for our needs. I plan to install shelving along the aft and starboard sides. One requirement I have (other than immediate access to the transmission area) is that I want to be able to convert it back to a sleeping cabin in case some future owner wants it that way. So I don't want any holes in the walls that would be visible if the shelving was removed. I've decided that 24" shelves will be required to hold the dimensions of some of our "must have toys" (roll up dinghy, 14' inflatable 2-person kayak, spinnaker, cockpit cushions, spare parts, tools, etc.). I plan to support the shelves with 14-15" posts sitting on the cabin sole around all the existing access panels. I plan to make the posts from 1" Sched 40 PVC which fit perfectly into standard closet bar supports. I can screw the closet bar supports onto the cabin sole and the underside of the shelves then insert the posts. So if I were to remove the shelving, the only remaining holes would be a small tapped hole under the cabin mattress at each post location. I'm going to start out using 1/2" plywood for the shelves with a 1x2 screwed on the inner edges as a fiddle. If all works well, I may eventually use something more substantial for the shelves. I believe if I set the posts in the right locations I should be able to remove all of the access panels over the shaft, water tank, and fuel tank without removing the shelves. I'm going to start with just a single shelf on the starboard side, but may add a second starboard shelf if we acquire more 'toys'.

Has anyone done anything similar, and have any other thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks

[wcconway]

Sent pics when completed please. Although we use the aft cabin for sleeping on occasion, we have considered installing a cargo net up from the headboard and above the port side "foot end" of the berth for light storage items.

[nybor]

I HATE that stateroom. It looks like it was designed for 7 foot sailors! I wanted to add shelves at the foot since my feet are 2-3 feet away from the end when lying down. But, am not sure about the mattress. I was considering removing the mattresses and use an expensive air mattress in its place.

dave

ps as I was writing this, I wondered if a waterbed would be better. Think about the extra water one would have!!! (the sloshing around MIGHT be a slight problem.....)

[AynB]

Our two cents on the design change, based on our experience when we moved aboard full time and the aft cabin became a garage.
Halona dropped about 1.5" at the stern when we had all our stuff aboard, enough loss of freeboard that the end of the 'sugar scoop' was below water. It affected all points of sail and performance. We're talking folding bicycles (2), sewing machine, Major medical kits, Kayaks, food storage, clothing, parts...for 6 months away from home port. You get the idea. We initially balanced the boat by going to all chain on the primary (250'), but when we actually took a deep set, the bow would ride up so much that we could not sleep in the forepeak. Over time, we cleared out most of the stuff.
In the end, we settled on large totes that would slide over the mattress fairly easily and still hold enough to stow and still get through the stupid cabin door to the aft cabin. The remaining big stuff went into the deep laz.
Your idea sounds like it has merits , but I'd be cautious about stuff you're already aware of - emergency access to the 'trough' , and what your changes might do to resale.
I'd be interested in seeing what you do.
Good luck.
Al

[TBOT422]

Al,

Your comments are well appreciated and based on real world experience. Thank you.

but I'd be cautious about stuff you're already aware of - emergency access to the 'trough' , and what your changes might do to resale.

These are the core requirements of my 'experiment'. I believe I can see what can be accomplished for less than $100 and make no changes that can not be easily reversed if it doesn't work out.

We already have the problem of the sugar scoop going below water line even at the dock. When sailing, it drops another inch or so. The last time we painted the bottom we moved the line up about an inch or so at the starboard stern. Performance is out the window. We don't care as we are cruisers where comfort supersedes performance. Actually our problem is the starboard side is lower than the port side, so part of this experiment is to be able to relocate some of the heavier toys toward port and the lighter weight toys toward starboard. Unfortunately given the layout there is only so much we can do.

I'll keep all informed of my progress and include pictures. At least my hope is that the changes could be relatively inexpensive and reversible if they don't work out as well as planned.

[Carolina.Mind]

I, too, would caution against hard modifications. We have lived aboard for 8 months and the aft cabin does become a storage area, but you must be able to quickly access all the areas under the mattresses. Plastic storage bins have worked well for us. Also, over the course of the 8 months we have become rather ruthless in simplifying our cruising and removing non-essential items. Over loading the boat seriously impacts performance.

[TBOT422]

We just returned from an 11-day cruise with the new modified aft garage. It was great to be able to keep all the 'toys' a little more organized.

Here are some photos of the nearly finished project. Some time, I plan to take the shelving out and paint it so that it will be more resistant to absorbing moisture.

[Carolina.Mind]

Very nice, and you still have access.

[JohnForr]

Very nice idea and thanks for the pictures. Last week we removed the mattresses from back there and have decided to use the barn for storage.

[wolfe10]

Again, the caution is not to load heavy gear all the way aft-- it will cause the stern to bury. Used for light/bulky gear, a great idea.

Brett

[TBOT422]

Agreed the boat design is already stern heavy, but there is no other place to store bulky items. Let's see there is about 250 lb of fuel in the fuel tank, another 250 lb in the aft water tank and hot water heater, plus the AC unit, etc. I suppose I could fill 1/2 of the anchor locker or the cavern under the forward V-berth with concrete to get the boat balanced.

We store our roll up dingy (which is lighter than either of the above) in the aft garage which is forward of where most people stow it on davits behind the transom. The inflatable kayak and paddles we take weighs less than 40 lb, and the asymmetrical is even less, plus the cockpit cushions and folding chairs. With the new shelving, that leaves enough space for a couple of totes to keep the spare parts and tools organized enough for quick access and still have access to the back of the engine and transmission area without unloading all of the above.

Being conscious of the stern heavy bias of the design, we always use the aft water tank first when cruising to lighten the stern load as quickly as possible. We also put small carabineers on the transom lockers to prevent them from opening up and gulping tons of water into the stern from a following wave when cruising off-shore.

The 350 is a great boat, but all boats are a compromise of one thing or another. The heavy squared off stern really affects is sailing performance.