Packing for a longer cruise

[HeaveToo]

I am getting ready to take off for a nice cruise in my Compac.  About 10 days to be exact.

Last year when I took a longer trip I found it irritating to constantly move stuff around in the boat.  I was constantly moving my clothes bag and my folding bike.  They were moving from the v-berth to the cabin when I would sleep, etc.

There is no avoiding the bike issue.  As long as it is with me I have to move it around.  The usefulness of it when I am in port, especially going to grocery stores, means that it is a necessary evil to move it around.

The idea of not having to move my clothes around is starting to intrigue me.  I thought about getting three or more medium sized dry bags and packing my clothes into them.  I would then place them in the storage under the V-berth and other areas.  I know that I have open room in those areas and they should fit.  Maybe it would help me keep packing size down too (yes, I tend to overpack).

Anyone else have any experience with this or any suggestions?

[HeaveToo]

I found 20 Liter dry bags in Walmart for $6 a piece and a 40 liter bag for $12.  I bought 3 of the 20 liter and 1 of the 40 liter.  I plan to pack all of my clothes into those and put them into storage.  It will organize things, keep them safe, and keep them out of the way.

[mattman]

I find lifting cushions to get to storage areas the biggest pia. I tend to live out of two bags that I tuck somewhere easy to reach. Under cushion storage of for stuff I don't have to get to that often. I pack so that I work my way down the bag and dirty clothes go into a separate plastic bag. (one empties, one fills). I find that I can pack a lot lighter than I originally think. At the end of the trip, it all gets smushed into the carry on and off I go. On a 7 day bareboat I have one waterproof duffle bag and a computer laptop case so that I don't have to check luggage. I use the computer case for passport/papers/certificate, liquids, meds, toiletries, gps, camera, and two days of clothes-(2 boardshorts and 3 tees) I wear a warm top, jeans, and boat shoes on the plane. The duffle holds the sailing gear- board shorts, tees, foulies, hat, sunglasses, gloves, batteries, plastic bags, flipflops, and wetsuit. I tend to buy a few things when I arrive-sunscreen and rum come to mind. It is just easier than getting pulled out during the tsa check. I use the same setup on my 16 when cruising. That way I am hardwired for where my stuff is. I find sleeping on the settee way better than a v berth given I am up several times a night to check on things. You may consider trying the v for storage only. As for the bike maybe off the stern rail instead... best of luck.

[Bob23]

  Not much experience but a few suggestions. Why not have a dry bag of sorts made for the bike so you can store it on deck? I have an older  (1982) Dahon that folds up pretty small but no matter where you put it down below, it's in the way. Let's face it: The 23's are a bit confined below so every square inch must be used efficiently.
 I'll be watching this thread because I too need to learn from those more experienced than me.
Bob23

[brackish]

I don't keep anything on the shelves above the main cabin settee/cabinets and I found two longish somewhat small diameter duffel bags that fit in that space.  My wife gets one, I get the other.  When we cruise she and I can take whatever will fit in the bags and that's all.  I also have cargo nets on either side of the v berth and we keep towels and bed coverings in those, plus whatever incidentals we might need to get to quickly at night.  I don't put anything that needs constant access under any berth or cushion, too much hassle to get it out.

[HeaveToo]

It is the hard part of the downsize.  I am use to the space in a Catalina 30 and the Compac 23 is much smaller.  Moving things around sucks.

I agree with moving cushions....somewhat.  I wonder if I can get the dry bags of clothes under the starboard inside Setti (the seating area).  I don't mind going into there but the V-berth can be a pain.  I keep an egg crate mattress there, bedding, and also the bike.  Getting to the cloths under the V berth may be hard.

I will try some things and update here as the cruise goes a long.

[capt_nemo]

I've owned and cruised aboard several sailboats from 21' to 35' and lived aboard the 35 footer for quite a while.

Storage aboard the smaller boats, especially easily accessible storage was always a problem. On the smaller boats the most practical area for additional storage was in the "V" berth, consisting of either shelves on both hull sides under the hull to deck joint or small net hammocks hung in the same location. There are even large zippered Storage Bags made that can be snapped or quick fastened in place. There is usually otherwise wasted space available for such storage additions. If of reasonable size, and positioned correctly, they provided excellent accessible storage and were not in the way when sleeping. On my large sailboat there was even enough space under the shelves in the "V" berth to store (hang, with strong bungee cord) the 2 mast sections and boom for my sailing dinghy!

Look for other areas aboard your boat that can be multi-purposed without creating other problems.

I designed and built the Starboard Storage Module and Step-Two Drawer Storage Module (under Bridgedeck) shown below to add additional "organized" storage on my Sun Cat.

capt_nemo

[crazycarl]

i've used clear plastic storage containers similar to ones that fit under beds.

they have small wheels and when placed on the quarter berths, can easily be rolled aft and out of the way.

also, try rolling your clothes instead of folding them.

they'll compact better, and wrinkle less.

CC

[Bob23]

A big improvement I made to Koinonia quite a while ago was to replace the lift off panels on either side with sliding opague fiberglass panels which I had left over from a construction project. They ride on some hardwood tracks that I made.


  Packing for a flight or a cruise is always a challenge for me: I just bring too much stuff! It's an exercise in planning and storing. When I first got my 23, I was moving up from a Seapearl 21 so to me that new cabin seemed cavernous. I soon learned that I can fill it up with all sorts of needless junk so I had to distinguish between what I'll actually use and what I would normally bring along. It's kind of fun but a challenge considering I'm somewhat a hopeless pack-a-holic.
Bob23

[Duckie]

When I first started wilderness canoe camping with my wife, we made a practice of after every trip noting all the stuff that we carried and never used.  That really helped us pare down the amount of gear we had to hump over portages on our backs.  We also made up a checklist of all the things we would need so that we didn't forget anything, which also helped us visualize the pile of junk that we may or may not need depending on the circumstances of the trip.  Checking off that list made us think carefully about what we were taking, and more than once helped us think about something that we would need that wasn't on  the list.  Also on the list is a place for writing out a menu for the entire trip.  This is invaluable.  We were always able to buy everything we would need for the trip and it forced us to consider how to pack it  best. 

In the end we were able to pare down our packs to only two so that we could make one pass on the portages no matter how long the trip was.  I think that this technique could work wonders for packing a small sailboat for longer cruises even if it might take some time to let it do its work. 

Al

[BruceW]

I have an older CP 23, with no shelves, other than two triangular ones in the V-berth. I have tried to figure out what really needs to ALWAYS be aboard, and what I should just bring for a given trip. I'm still working on the always list, but paring it down, since I can leave things in a shore box or my car also. The weirdest part of this is the seasonal stuff. I really need tow work on a spreadsheet and have it by season.

I have some hanging netting I can put things in, and hang from the hooks on the bulkhead.  Beyond that, it's using bunks for storage. Bleah. I don't enjoy the lifting of the cushions, but if stuff wasn't on them....

So, dry bags, etc.

Has anyone put drawers in to the sides of the bunks, vs lifting cushions and going in and out from above? I bet I'd like that, but I bet I won't do it. I like that rolling box idea from above to roll them sternward in the quarter berths.

This thread is great; I need to keep working on the whole storage and empty the boat ideas.

[HeaveToo]

This has been a great thread with a lot of information.

The cruise I am taking is a 10 day Chesapeake Bay cruise.  I leave a week from today.

Last year's cruise I had a lot of good things that I found.  I have really done a lot to fix the small details to make it more livable.

1.  Power issue solved.  I went to the GC2 batteries and 100 watt solar panel.
2.  Small Water tank.  I went to a 13 gallon water tank
3.  Showering.  I didn't have the budget to add the pressurized water and cockpit shower so I am still using a solar shower.  This works okay.
4.  Dishes:  I did okay with this last year but the sink and faucet is a pain.  I want to replace the faucet to the pressurized faucet.  I haven't done this yet.  I wish I had a deeper sink too.  I may do that in the future.
5.  Clothing bag.  This was a pain because I was constantly moving it around.  I hope that the dry bags fix this.
6.  Cooler.  I have a good cooler for the trip.  I am a slave to the ice man but that is nothing new.  I put a guide in the storage area under the stairway to keep the cooler from moving around.  This now gives me more space to put water bottles and drinks as well.  It opened up a lot of storage.
7.  Bike.  This is something unavoidable.  I have a Dahon Folding Bike.  During the day I push it to the front of the V berth.  At night it sits in the main cabin area on a seat.  This is something that will have to work because I can't see any other method.  On deck storage is not an option.
8.  Food Storage.  I cleaned more areas out in the side shelves to put food and personal stuff.  I keep my body wash, shampoo, tooth brush, tooth paste, razor, and those kinds of things there as well. 
9.  General storage.  I have hammocks on each side of the V berth.  I sleep to one side of the V berth so the other side I do put some stuff into.  The one on the side I sleep I put things like my Carpal wrist brace and a flashlight there.  I am constantly examining things that I have aboard the boat to evaluate the need for it.  I have taken a lot of stuff off of the boat that the P/O had on there.  This is a constant process and I am sure that I will figure out more adjustments on this trip. 
10.  Bedding.  On the last trip I used a sleeping bag because it is cool.  It will be warmer on this trip.  I am thinking that I will be using a fitted sheet and a regular sheet this year with a blanket.  During the day I will push the bedding up to the very front of the V berth to get it out of the way and make the head and other things accessible.  I think that I need to find my old comforter from my old boat for the V-berth as well.  Also, in the future, I will customize the sheets for the v berth. 

http://www.verywellsalted.com/2014/08/making-v-berth-sheets.html

[skip1930]

Here is a tiny sailboat built by OLD TOWN Canoe for a very, very, long trip. Great book to read.

If one Goggles it, you can look~see how packed she was.

Tinkerbelle Revised With New Improved Design

Anyone remember 1965 and the epic voyage of Robert Manry in his TINKERBELLE, a 13-foot centerboard sailboat? The 48-year-old Manry, a newspaperman from Cleveland, Ohio, made a trans-Atlantic, 3,200-mile trip in 78 days. He wrote a book called Tinkerbelle, which is long out of print.

His trip was not intended to set a record, but did come on the heels of such trips as that of William Andrews in his 14'-6" SAPOLIO and John Riding in his 12-ft. SEA EGG. The record for the smallest boat across the Atlantic was the APRIL FOOL, at a hair under 6 ft. This was in 1968 and was sailed by airline pilot Hugo Vihien. But then in 1983, Eric Peters sailed TONIKY NOU, at 5'-10 1/2" across.

And so we will doubtless see even smaller boats try it. But Manry's boat was a "real boat," not some pot designed more as a "container. TINKERBELLE was a modified Whitecap class sloop built by the Old Town Canoe Co. Manry added a cabin to this otherwise open boat.



But to the present - the new TINKERBELLE 2 is an adaptation in some respects, an improvement on the original. The dimensions of the hull are the same, but some minor changes have been made in order to make it a faster boat. In addition, the centers are more properly located and the sail area has been increased. While the original boat was clinker-built, the new version is double-chine plywood in order to make it more suitable for amateur building. She will sleep two below and carry a fair amount of gear and there is an added large locker aft of the cockpit.




TINKERBELLE loaded with supplies/or the Trans-Atlantic trip. Space does not allow for a complete list, but the important ones are: ( 40 bottles of drinking water; (6, 17, 27) flotation foam planks: (1,3) bags of food, (4,5) bags of clothes, blankets, etc. There are also extra sails, more food, navigation books, instruments, spare parts, a solar still, oars, bilge pump and much more.

Foam flotation blocks may be carried in the stowage areas or glued to the underside of the deck. The mast is easily lowered. TINKERBELLE 2 is designed to be easily trailered and can be built in a one-car garage.

Specifications:

•LOA l3'-6" (4.1m)


•Beam 5~6'' (1.68m)


•Displacement 500 Ibs. (14.15 kg)


•Sail area III sq. ft. (10.3 sq.m)


Plans consist of table of offsets, construction details of stations, centerboard trunk details, profile and sail plan, detailed plan views and mast cross section. Price $20 plus $5.50 shipping and handling in the U.S. (International shipping is $15.) Midwest Engineering & Design, PO box 4706, Overland Park, KS 66204-0706. Web site:
http://www.angelfire.com/ks/diyplans/tinkerbelle2.html
E-mail: howtoplans@yahoo.com

Sidebar: So this guy is in the middle of the ocean in a 13-1/2 foot boat and a periscope pops up a few yards from TINKERBELLE.
I'd die of fright !

skip.

[crazycarl]

we used the old type solar shower bags that hang and sprinkle water, but after some years of use, i was under it when it gave way and crashed to the cockpit sole.

if not for my spidey senses, cat like reflexes, and ninja moves, 5 gallons (about 42 lbs.) would have landed on my head.

i purchased this device which works great'

http://www.duckworksbbs.com/gear/shower/


CC

[HeaveToo]

CrazyCarl...That is exactly what I have on my boat.  It works pretty good for a shower.  It also uses very little water since it is pressurized.

I wonder if I could strap it between the shrouds on the rail for storage.  That would carry a little more weight forward, which is favorable.

Where do you keep yours?

Another idea I had would be to fabricate some kind of shower curtain that hangs from the bimini.  That way you wouldn't have to wear a bathing suit while showering.  Any thoughts on that one?