Monday, May 30, 2011

Guest cabin updated #3 - Storage

For the cabinetry I've built on the boat prior to building the guest cabin, I've used frame and panel construction. The cabinets I've built in the guest cabin are what I would call frame less construction.

There are four bunks in the guest cabin. Each bunk is 6' 6" long with a minimum width of 24". The overall average ceiling height in the cabin is 6' 8". Underneath the lower bunks are two cubby hole frame less storage spaces. Underneath the port side bunk I've added a large drawer, and one more not so large cubby. The 45 gallon gray water holding tank is underneath the starboard lower bunk so no cabinets were able to be built in that space. Between the port and starboard bunks is another cubby on the same elevation as the other lower cubbies. Each set of bunks has a bulkhead. Because of the the standard bunk length and the left over space I had after laying out the bunks, I created a large blanket chest forward of the two lower bunks. The blanket chest is a huge storage space, and all the linens for the cabin will easily fit in this space. All the linens for the rest of the boat could also go in this space. The lid of the blanket chest serves as a step to gain access to the anchor chain locker when one needs to get in to that area. Since I'm using a deck winch, I see the anchor chain locker becoming storage for one thing or another. To both port and starboard of the anchor chain locker, I created four more cubbies that are behind the bulkhead of each of the upper bunks.

For the drawer and not so large cubby, I stuck with the frame construction method. I could have probably made a frame less unit, but the framed method seems to work best for drawers. I've not yet built the drawer, and this will probably be the last major wood working project I will do in the guest cabin.

It seems like a battle is being waged to gain every inch of storage space on the boat. In all honesty, there is a tremendous amount of storage space, and it is kind of fun to develop it. Once I get finished with the cabinetry in the engine room, the salon, the wheel house, the companion way from above , and the lazzerette, I see us having to develop a chart or map to inventory where we store all the "stuff" we are going to stash on board.

2 comments:

  1. Awesome post, I want to check out a couple of your other messages. Thank you!

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  2. I have heard people call their boats "money pit's" as well. My brother is an example. But on the other hand, my buddy has a boat, that isn't super nice, but is still a lot of fun. It didn't cost him a whole lot, and he actually doesn't put that much into it. He just stores it on the side of his house, so he doesn't have to pay a storage fee. Although his wife hates it there. He is now looking around at a few boat storage warehouses in the area, trying to find the best deal. http://www.eacms.com

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