Who Wants to Help me Pack?

[SailingTerrapin]

Over the past year we've downsized from 3000 square feet to 1400 square feet and now wondering how life is going to fit on a 45 foot boat.

It's a process for sure. Trying to decide what goes into storage, what to sell and what comes with. Makes my head hurt. Planning on being gone only 2 years, I don't want to just dump everything...but I also can't take it all and the storage unit is small.

I'm already planning on coming back to a storage unit where we questions half of what we paid to store (seems life everyone does this) and I already know that trying to fit what I think is important on the boat will be the equivalent of trying to stuff 100 pounds of crap into a 5 pound sack.

Needed a quick gripe....back to the boxes

[fishin4bogey]

Just did similar. Went through 90% of all my belongings. Three bags of trash, two bags of clothes to Goodwill. I am one of those people who refuses to pay good money to store something I'm not using, or haven't used in years. There is zero reason for me to keep boxes and boxes of "stuff" that has more dust than what it's worth.

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[Cheechako]

I felt we were pretty severe in one of our "move aboard" experiences. Got all the storage into a 10ft x 10ft unit and that included family antique furniture. However, when we returned I realized we had quite a few boxes of stuff where we questioned why we stored it! But when you think about it, those boxes of stuff didn't really cost us any money, they fit in t he 10 x 10 we would have needed anyway.

[ArtM]

Originally Posted by SailingTerrapin

It's a process for sure. Trying to decide what goes into storage, what to sell and what comes with. Makes my head hurt. Planning on being gone only 2 years, I don't want to just dump everything...but I also can't take it all and the storage unit is small.

Dump it all. You will not want those things when you return. When you come back, IF you come back, you will be different people with different needs and wants.

Though you spent a lot of money acquiring it, the current value of all that stuff is very low. You can buy the contents of someone else's abandoned locker for the less than the cost of maintaining your own.

Anything that you don't need on a boat, you don't need.

[Mike OReilly]

Am going through the process now. A month and a half before we cut the dock lines!

Our land house is only 900 sq. ft and I'm still overwhelmed with the amount of crap to deal with. We bought a 7' x 14' storage trailer that we're using to keep the stuff we can't/won't part with. We'll be keeping it at a friend's camp.

[gunkylump]

We have asked the kids to "take something from the house" each of our birthdays, Christmas, Mother's Day, Father's Day...to help us reduce the load.

It's working.

Now....only 13 months from take off......we still have to find "our" boat

gunk

[JPA Cate]

Whoever told you to dump it is exactly right. We found this out by not distributing the keepers to our heirs, and I really don't want to say how much we've spent on that storage locker. Of course, we left on an open ended lifestyle, not just for 2 yrs. I'd say for you, triage it, keeping only the very best or most treasured items, but get it down to a 4 x 4 size storage facility. Good luck. I found it traumatic to part with (of all things) cookware that had fed my family while the kids grew up. YMMV

Ann

[ArtM]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

Whoever told you to dump it is exactly right. We found this out by not distributing the keepers to our heirs, and I really don't want to say how much we've spent on that storage locker. Of course, we left on an open ended lifestyle, not just for 2 yrs. I'd say for you, triage it, keeping only the very best or most treasured items, but get it down to a 4 x 4 size storage facility. Good luck. I found it traumatic to part with (of all things) cookware that had fed my family while the kids grew up. YMMV

Ann

You DO need quality cookware on a boat! However, you cannot take an entire professional kitchen

[bornyesterday]

My spoon and microwavable dish are of the very finest quality

[captainbri]

You will find out a house is just a big storage locker. You will find out how little you really need to be happy.

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[JPA Cate]

If you're planning to cruise as long as its fun, then, it could be years and years! It's probably impossible to keep what you save in good condition in a storage locker unattended for 10-15 yrs. At the end of the time you will have old stuff, worth less, and it may have deteriorated to the point where you no longer love it.

Cruising is a process, and you will be changed by it, some of the thrusts of your values will shift some, as well.

Here's what I have brought back to the boat from the storage locker: my recipe box, my ball bearing rolling pin, my down ski mittens . Three items deemed worthy. The ski mittens are what I wear between line handling when my hands are likely to get cold and numb.

I would say, bring with you your best tools, if you are a DIY kind of person. Not all of them, just what you're going to need for the kinds of work you can do. You will want to proactively address the possible rust issue, but cheap tools are yucky to use, and those Snap-on wrenches ever so much nicer (for instance).

Ann