Clothes and personal stuff taken....?

[wingNwing]

I've done it with 1-1/2 feet of hanging space (holds exactly 11 hangers) and 4 shelves, including business clothing (!) fulltime liveaboard for the past 10 years. 6 pairs of shoes now that I'm retired, (tennies, Keens, sea boots, hiking boots, one pair of sparkly flats for dressup, flipflops), a few more when I was working. Some pix and details here: Life Afloat Archives: Clothing and Laundry - Afloat And some spectacular advice from fellow blogger Tammy is here: plodding in paradise: RAFT-UP: DON'T LOOK LIKE A CRUISER IN 9 EASY STEPS!

[Sailor g]

LOL! have been a live aboard for 5 years so have more stuff (& don't look like Tom Hanks) than a weekender would. Our boat is a bit bigger (45') with more storage than some boats but most extra was for spare parts & when we cruised out of the country.

I have 2 lockers and 2 drawers and we have an area for wet gear/jackets. I had 3 jeans (1 nice), 3-4 shorts, 5 t-shirts/blouses, 3 sundresses & bathing suit cover-ups and 1.5 weeks of undergarments, 4 socks, one pair each: deck shoes, Tevas and tennis shoes. I had some Air Force cold weather shirts (came in handy under foulies in cold storms) but stored them in space saver bags when reached warm weather. I also have cubbies for jewelry, hair dryer (i have long hair so needed when at marina & no time for sun dry) curling iron, makeup. Even a couple dresses from land life (never used while out & kept in space saver bags)

Mostly lived in bathing suit and sundress while at anchor; shorts & t-shirt for town. Felt better & the less you wear the less laundry. Sail & snorkel or go to town for laundry is easy choice. I am good at fitting things in small places. I would show the gf the space and let her see what fits. Depends what kind of traveling you do-once offshore or at anchor-fashion goes out, comfort is in.

[LauderBoy]

A hat, sunglasses, long sleeve shirts and long cool pants of some sort. Enough of each to get through laundry day.

The sun is your enemy.

[Boracay]

As we pack to move aboard the only rule I've had to insist on is "No boxes, no suitcases."

And I'm not sure I've won...

[Livia]

I think that the idea that women have to dress like hobos to cruise is just as limiting as thinking women have to dress like fashion models - each woman should be free to dress how she feels while she cruises and how she feels might change with time. Find your own way.

We've been living aboard a 35' monohull (2 people) for almost 6 years and cruising for more than 2 years - boat is currently in the S Pacific.

I have my clothing in 6 of these type of storage cubes. Carol (my husband) has 4 cubes. I have dresses still - ones that can be worn on a beach or in town.

Men's dressing in the tropics can be simpler than women's. The reason is that Carol can wear his swim trunks (with a t-shirt) to just about every environment we are in - town, the beach, kitesurfing, potlucks - but I can't wear my swimsuit to all of those events.

I also have betwen 8-10 pairs of shoes including flip flops, running and hiking shoes, foulie boots and one pair of heels. He has 5 pairs I think.

I have 3 jackets, a wetsuit and a pair of foul weather bibs stored separately. One of those jackets we share use of and he has 2 additional jackets and also wetsuit and foulie bibs.

I think it is a mistake to think you have to throw everything out right away. We moved aboard with almost all of our clothes and let ourselves slowly thin out over time. As things got raggedy we threw them away or donated them and didn't replace them. The reason we could do this was that we used places for clothing that we would eventually be using for spares and other things. Because we were slowly accumulating the spares and other cruising necessities while prepping, we could use those spaces as we thinned out, swapping clothes for spares over time.

[Pelagic]

My girlfriend has found the perfect solution for extending her wardrobe on board….
She takes my favorite T-Shirts and modifies them into dresses….

She knows that when I see how cute she looks, I am helpless to complain

[Hudson Force]

We're still wallowing in the void of having the last of two teenagers move off our boat fifteen years ago. Need limits our wardrobe more than space.

[Pelagic]

One related question:
Where and how is the best way to store footwear that in the tropics can smell a bit, even after only limited use?

[Wavewacker]

Good question, when camping we used a shoe bag on the head door, outside, I assumed the same on the boat or under the V berth, but that might not work well, musty shoes under my bed....

[KelleyG]

In addition to shoe storage, I'd love to know how people (liveaboards) have found its best to store their clothes so their actually accessible. I'm getting ready to move aboard my boat and would love some advice on what others have found to work.

[DeborahLee]

Our boat is short on storage more so than some others. Having a need for long pants and sweaters some times and bathing suits at others, we started using vacum storgae bags. These allowed the captian to carry a little more and to be able to store in places not meant for storing. They are water proof and we use the dingy pump to pull the vacum.

[sww914]

I have three drawers and 1/2 of a hanging locker. A small drawer for socks, gloves, hats & undies. A bigger one for T shirts and sweaters. A bigger one for shorts and pants, and the hanging locker for my 2 nice shirts and jackets. If they fill up I give something away, turn something into rags, or throw something away. There is no more room. There are ways to wash clothes so when they're all dirty, I wash them.
Allot the space and let her fill it up however she chooses. Let her deal with the consequences. She'll end up with stuff that works. They sell clothes everywhere that people wear clothes, she can get more. They also sell food everywhere that people eat, there are dentists wherever there are people with teeth and there is electricity, shampoo where people have hair, you get it.
I was worried about not being able to find Neutrogena T-Gel shampoo. I can't find it in Mexico. I found a Mexican product that is 1/4th the price and that works better.

[sww914]

Boat parts are what's hard to find, bring spares.

[goboatingnow]

every women brings 70% more clothes then are useful or she needs on a boat. This figures remains constant over many boats IMHO.

dave

[Livia]

Pelagic - Now that we are in the tropics and we don't have condensation on the hull, we've had luck with a normal shallow locker but we are careful to bake any stinky or wet shoes in the tropical sun before storing. We've still had mildew on leather shoes that were in there that we had still on the boat, but the rest (sneakers, etc) are doing fine.

KelleyG - I converted a hanging locker to shelving as most people do and then put our clothes in those cubes to prevent them molding with the wet hull when we lived in BC and now that we're in the tropics the cubes keep the clothes from smelling like boat and also keep things organized into groups and easily accessible. Zerotocruising did a similar thing with those super cheap cooler cubes you can find at big box stores - a cheaper option.

Here is the process with pictures. Not fancy woodworking but it is still working:
SV Estrellita 5.10b: Shelving It

Zero to Cruising's post:
http://www.zerotocruising.com/pot-day/