What do you store on-deck?

[jon hansen]

thin, you still don't get me at all. it's all about the ride for me. it's about the ride on a sailboat sailing. if i want to picnic at anchor off a beach i'll prolly take my motorboat.

let's put it this way. a duesenburg will give you a different feel going down the road then say a winnebago-towing a car.
some people drive the speed limit while others drive 10 under.
a high windage, cluttered deck full of drag with dodger and bimini being helmed by an autopilot has a different feel than how i sail my alden. it's what i like. that's all. remember, choices.

no one feels sorry for me, nor should they. that would be plain silly.
i do not claim my way is better. are you claiming your crowd is? that would be foolish it think. again, choices.

i got here on the alden forum. sailing aldens. i share what that's like. just like you share what you like. neither are better. (well ........ mine are! ).

thin, i did not know that this is a cruising forum like you claim. thin, this is a forum of sailboat owners. all kinds of sailboats and the many variations of how they are used. i share my variations.

now, ten knots plus most of the time. i love to learn more about how that is achieved. prolly a different thread i suppose.

 

[tfox2069]

He gets 10 knots (or better) because he's sailing an F24 trimaran. Here's an excerpt from Practical Sailor's writeup on that bullet of a sailboat:
"...expect to match true wind speed up to about 12 knots, after which you may reef or bleed power, depending on your mood. In lighter winds, pop out the reacher and you’ll get a whole new gear, easily exceeding wind speed."

 

[FastOlson]

While it would be nice to carry our life raft on deck for best access, we store it in the cabin for coastal passages (valise style). What we do carry is two 5 gallon cans of diesel, stored adjacent to the fuel fill deck fitting. We can leave them lashed in place and transfer fuel with a "rattle syphon" . Our tank is 19 gallons, so it's best not to let the level get down to where sloshing might introduce air into the system.
Works great.
Pictured on the port side, and while the resolution may not make it clear, the securing line does not interfere with the furling line. We have an aluminum toe rail, so that attachment is strong and easy.
The yellow webbing you see is for clipping on to.

 

[FastOlson]

now, ten knots plus most of the time. i love to learn more about how that is achieved. prolly a different thread i suppose.

We have held onto ten, for hours at a time.... but that was running in 24 true with only out 97% jib pulling us along. Down the WA coast in sunshine and big air, for a day. 12.5, surfing down larger seas.

Slogging up that coast we were at 5.5 SOG against a summertime surface current, making about 7 thru the water.

Those trimarans are magnitudes faster than the rest of us! Like everything else about sailing it's all "choices and options".....

 

[jon hansen]

 

[sail sfbay]

Inflatable dinghy only securely lashed down.

 

[TomY]

One of the best features of my old boat is the huge cockpit lockers.

For coastal sailors, there isn't much that we can't find space for, below decks.

Plus there is a deck box for dock lines and misc. stuff you need at close at hand.

 

[thinwater]

I think we have all noticed shrinking locker space on newer boats. At a boat show, cabin space sells better than lockers. If they have space left over for a big locker... they put a bunk or extra head in it. Boat show boats don't have fuel cans, sails, extra rope or, well... anything that you need.

In fact, I agree with Jon that nothing on deck should be the goal. I've cruised that way most of the time because I like a clean deck.

 

[thinwater]

Inflatable dinghy only.

View attachment 200851

• The boat will yaw more at anchor.
• Hard or impossible to get out of the hatch in an emergency. On some boats this makes the ONLY exit the companionway.
• In the way, sheet snagger... it varies.
• I have to lift the dinghy on deck everytime I use it? Just never mind, too much bother. On a 46 davits are far more functional. I had davits on my 34' cat. They should be part of the design at that size, not an add-on.

 

[sail sfbay]

thinwater great comments!!............if yawing at anchor is with a dinghy lashed to the foredeck is a concern you can put the dinghy in the water (that is what we do), V-berth hatches are for ventilation only, jib sheets are run aft of the dinghy to mitigate risk of snagging on the dinghy, at 53 lbs it is easy to lift on/off the boat, dinghy davits would increase boat length and equire moving to a larger (yet unavailable) slip and interfers with entering/exiting from the stern (boat is docked stern in).

 

[Tom J]

I have to lift the dinghy on deck everytime I use it? Just never mind, too much bother. On a 46 davits are far more functional. I had davits on my 34' cat. They should be part of the design at that size, not an add-on.

I have my dingy on davits, but I wouldn't sail offshore with the dingy hanging. I would lash the dingy to the foredeck. There were times, even in Buzzard's Bay, when I got concerned about that dingy hanging over the stern.

 

[thinwater]

I have my dingy on davits, but I wouldn't sail offshore with the dingy hanging. I would lash the dingy to the foredeck. There were times, even in Buzzard's Bay, when I got concerned about that dingy hanging over the stern.

Please explain. I'm sure folks are curious. I'm sure it depends on the boat and how the davits are configured and rigged.

• Swinging?
• A wave might strike?
• Wind?

I've carried a dinghy well into gale conditions, and I would feel less safe with it on the bow in any conditions, but that is boat-specific. Presumably in a survival-condition storm I would deflate it and put it in a bilge locker, but mostly because of the wish to reduce windage and low the CG.

Notice that I use tricing lines and that the dinghy is tight against the davit arms. It does not move. Because it is behind the hard top, it adds very little windage, and because it is a cat, the dinghy does not extend aft of the hulls. It's kind of nestled into the transom.

On my tri I carry kayaks nestled against the center hull on the wind decks. Carried upside down, they can go through waves tops with little increase in drag. Little windage and not in the way. But a dinghy on davits would be horrible unless the tri was quite large.

Very boat-specific, I'm sure.

 

[SoSound]

Reposting a photo from my earlier contribution (?) and proving the point of @TomY ’s peeve about thumbnails at the same time. All solutions are very boat and owner specific, but this works really well for us for our lightweight air floor inflatable. In addition to many of the objections mentioned earlier, I found moving the inflatable overboard from the bow was too awkward and time consuming for us. It also made it nearly impossible, on a boat of our size, to get to the anchor or bow cleats without having to climb over the top of the inflatable.

 

[DArcy]

@SoSound it looks like the dinghy was designed to fit there (or the boat was designed for that dinghy ). If I had a transom like that I would consider a setup like yours. The answer to dinghy storage is very much boat and usage dependent.

 

[thinwater]

I like it. If the weather gets crazy, it's not too hard to deflate from there either.

 

[Tom J]

Please explain. I'm sure folks are curious. I'm sure it depends on the boat and how the davits are configured and rigged.

Yes, I think how the dingy is carried in the davits is very boat specific. My dingy sits high and tight in the davits, and I use multiple lines from the dingy to the davits and transom. It is secure and does not sway. Even so, it will jump in bumpy conditions, putting a shock load on the davits.
When the dingy is stowed on the foredeck, it is very secure and cannot move. I don't worry about getting into the anchor locker, or getting to the bow cleats, since I would only have the dingy on the foredeck when sailing offshore.
Normally, the dingy rides very well in the davits, and I love the convenience of having my dingy with me at all times.

 

[MikeHoncho]

V-berth hatches are for ventilation only….

…..we’ll I guess this is true if they are too small to use or a dingy is stored over the top of it…..as for me, it is the primary way to get out if I’m in the V-berth and there is a fire at the stern.