How to organize open cabinets

[Dr. D]

Last October we bought a new Oceanis 35.1 which we are ecstatic about. Except for the cabinets in the cabin.

Tall, not too deep with a horizontal rod to keep items in the cabinet when you open the door. For boxes like pasta boxes and such that will work fine. For smaller items it looks like they will be falling out regularly. Or am I wrong?

How do you make use of these cabinets?

 

[Davidasailor26]

Congratulations on your new boat. Definitely put some non-skid shelf liner inside the cabinets. With that in place we haven't really had any problems with things sliding around. Also if the doors are like on our 37 they open from the top down, so at least you can see if things are leaning or in jeopardy of falling before you open them all the way.

 

[Parsons]

Photo's will help. We all probably have similar cabinets, but most of us don't have a Bene 35 to refer to.

I assume that you're talking about galley cabinets over counter tops, with horizontally fold-down doors? Which orientation are they mounted, transverse to the boat, or along the axis of the boat with the back of the cabinet being the inner liner of the hull? If along the axis, if you're on the 'right' heel the stuff will fall against the back of the cabinet, and the horizontal bar should hold most stuff in when you're on the 'wrong' heel. If you want to increase space, some shelves with fiddles on the front will help.

 

[Will Gilmore]

Do you have pictures?
Maybe sew a mest cloth to fit over the lee-rod, but it would be nice to see what exactly you have to work with.

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[Dr. D]

It is the galley cabinets which are mainly a concern. Fold down doors, mounted fore/aft. Also the corresponding cabinets on the other side. I'll see if I have a picture showing something. Or I will take one soon. Guess I better look up how to upload a pic to this site....

 

[Parsons]

I’ve managed to get by with nonskid on the bottom of the cabinet, and using plastic storage boxes for small things like spice tins and jelly jars. The only time it’s a problem is when the cabinet door is on the bottom as you heel. How often do you plan to open them while sailing?

If the cabinets are wooden, you could install small hooks on the edges and rig a bungee net, but it will be a pain for the 90% of the time you don’t need it.

 

[Captain Larry-DH]

Appropriate size storage bins can help organize large cabinets, if you need to place lots of smaller things.

 

[Dr. D]

This is a picture from a brochure as I will not be at the boat for another week. Same layout.

For perspective, all the three cabinets are 11.75" tall inside and 19.5" wide. The depth varies from 12.25" on the left (aft) to 4.5" on the right (forward). All of them have a horizontal bar about 3" up from the bottom of the cabinet.

Similar issue with the cabinet in the head. It is 21.25" wide, 9.5" tall, and the depth goes from 5" to 7.5". No bar inside.

 

[Dr. D]

Parsons: I won't be opening the cabinets often when sailing. I am more concerned with the items getting jumbled about while sailing. There is one large pullout drawer under the sink (you can see the top of it in the pic) into which I will toss lots of small things.

 

[Will Gilmore]

This is sort of what I was thinking. Cover the bottom part, below the retaining bar, with a mesh leecloth.

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[Dr. D]

Pics. Just kind of stumped on how to make better use of the space.

 

[Captain Larry-DH]

Shelves with fiddles