Workshop Aboard or Not ?

[senormechanico]

Steve,

Got Pics?

[Microship]

Steve - work in progress, but I'll definitely be posting here when it starts to get more interesting than drawings, a partial SketchUp model, and a mobile lab full of parts! I just delivered the boat to my new marina a few days ago, and am trying to get moved aboard in the next month or so... then it's full time on this key piece of the project.

[OaklandSailor]

I'll be setting out on 2 year cruise (or thereabouts) some months from now and am trying to figure out how to make at least some repairs while on the water. My boat is a 36' sloop, aft cockpit. I am at a loss as to what will work and how to set it up. The idea of a bench of some kind athwart the cockpit with a vice, some holes cut for bench dogs for woodwork seems like the only solution and it isn't thrilling. Has anyone got images or tips on what you have done? I notice that most of you have larger boats than mine, which is 1980 and only 11'-6 beam. Thanks in advance.

[Chief Engineer]

My 90 year lod Dad has been making tool carriers out of scrap Sunbrella.

They rollup quite well and you canuse different colours for different tools.

You learn the hard way NOT to store tools at the level of the cabin sole.

Those Orange Ammo can containers are pretty good.

No Metal Tool Boxes.......The plastic/compartmented tackle/lure holders work great for small parts......get the ones that are transparent.

If you don't have a work bench....a thick piece of wood will do.

Put some kind of felt/rubber on the bottom so it won't mar table surfaces.

As far as vises go.....I have seen all kinds of ways of implementing their use on boats. After all you have a lot of time to ponder these things when SAILING

[Microship]

I've been using roll-up tool pouches, nestled in a low drawer... and dislike both. Too many steps to fetching and putting away, with the result that most lay out most of the time (obviously fraught with peril, so when sailing, they get put away badly).

I was planning a cabinet like the Grizzly oak ones, though haven't had a chance to feel their quality... but loose tools, even in little drawers, sound like a poor solution. Elsewhere on here, someone recently showed photos of a set of sliding panels with dedicated spaces, like a modular tool board. I grew up with a tool board and have had two of my own, and once an inventory reaches steady-state, it's elegant. I'm looking into that approach now, if it can nestle well, though of course it won't pack as densely as the bags.

[Eleven]

I've found old milk bottles with the tops cut off, the square plastic ones, bolt together in sets of four quite nicely making easy storage bins.
Also excellent unmodified for storing paper/flimsy bagged foodstuffs and liquids.
I've added hatch acces to underfloor spaces so these things tuck away nicely.

[daddle]

I rely on the workshops in the towns I visit. Kinda fun finding and meeting fellow craftsmen around the world. I'm amazed what can be done in the small towns. The fishing fleets here in Malaysia are kept in good running condition. Far better than the fleet back home in Monterey. Maybe its just regular painting... Anyway, everything to fit out a fishing boat is within a block of the pier. Back home all that's available within 20 miles of the pier are tee shirts and fried calamari.

But I still want to find a sturdy place to have a proper vice...something I can really pound on when necessary...

[Auspicious]

I use various canvas bags, mostly from Duluth Trading Co. Their Gatemouth series have been quite useful. Most of my tools are stored under a piece of the v-berth and with the top-opening bags, as long as I keep the space organized, I can often retrieve and return tools without having to lift the whole bag out.

Originally Posted by OaklandSailor

The idea of a bench of some kind athwart the cockpit with a vice, some holes cut for bench dogs for woodwork seems like the only solution and it isn't thrilling.

Originally Posted by daddle

But I still want to find a sturdy place to have a proper vice...something I can really pound on when necessary...

I have two pieces of oak 1 x 6 cut long enough to fit across the cockpit athwartships and short enough to maneuver into the cockpit locker. They perform a number of functions including fender boards and work bench. I also have a wooden cutting board drilled and countersunk to bolt across the 1 x 6s and to take a small vise. It ends up being reasonably beefy but I have not had the need to really pound on it. I try to do major pounding on the dock.

I like the bench dog idea. So far I have been able to just use clamps for what I need to do aboard.

[OaklandSailor]

Lot's of good input about tool storage, and keeping things divided by use is what I was thinking too. I remember that I once saw a picture of someone who set something up which used part of the v-berth without tearing anything out. The idea was that even if he had to work on his boom or spinnaker pole he could get it down there. His idea was solving the problem of breakage/failure while out to sea. Barring that, I suppose something athwart the cockpit with a clamped-on vise and some clamps is the best idea. Heavy (deadly) missiles are always on my mind and I'm geared to thinking that it's best to prepare for a knockdown or even a 360. "hope for the best but plan for the worst".

[ShipShape]

Originally Posted by OaklandSailor

Has anyone got images or tips on what you have done? I notice that most of you have larger boats than mine, which is 1980 and only 11'-6 beam. Thanks in advance.

Several people posted some good ideas on this thread, and quite a few pix of what I did are on the second page. http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...box-46937.html My boat has 12'6" beam.

[barnakiel]

Yes - if you are handy. Otherwise no.

Then on any extended trip, if you do not have the basics to fix your boat, you are busted.

b.

[barnakiel]

OK, so I do not have nearly any tools or materials on board. But what I miss often is a vise or at least some sort of strong grips.

I think every cruising boat should have a vise.

b.