Double Standards when it comes to the boat!

[Greenheart]

I have just taken on a new rented store/workshop. About 30' x 15', two levels.

My dad's got that sort of space in his garage, the upper level has been completely empty for three years since he moved in...what could be better for unrolling and working on sails?

...trouble is, he's far away in provincial France, where any house without 500sq ft of vacant space must've been designed as a bedsitting room.

 

[john_morris_uk]

The standard line for ANY part for the boat is that it's 'an essential safety item...' Even SWMBO says it now.

 

[westhinder]

My garage/workshop is so full that fitting an extra M6 nut requires major reorganisation, and so disorganised that there are probably cars, boats and native tribes undiscovered in its depths.

I have just emptied the garage. For the first time in the 18 years we have lived here, the car sleeps in the garage. In order to make space I had to get rid of surplus stuff from the boat, leftover bits of the boat we sold 4 years ago and various bits of my son's catamaran and the one before that. Also kids' sailing gear from the past 20 years.
It took some motivation to get there: the car was broken into on the driveway and stripped of GPS, electronics and headlights.

 

[Robert Wilson]

I have just emptied the garage. For the first time in the 18 years we have lived here, the car sleeps in the garage. In order to make space I had to get rid of surplus stuff from the boat, leftover bits of the boat we sold 4 years ago and various bits of my son's catamaran and the one before that. Also kids' sailing gear from the past 20 years.
It took some motivation to get there: the car was broken into on the driveway and stripped of GPS, electronics and headlights.

Well that's all right. It could have been worse - they could have broken into the garage and stolen that essential boat stuff

 

[Birdseye]

I will hold my hands up and fully admit to having double standards here.

We are continually reassessing what should and should not be on the boat for space. Do we really need this or that and why should my wife need more that one dress and one pair of shoes.

When it comes to boat bits things are different. I can't seem to throw away a bit of old line, an old pump or nearly anything boat related. We have got so many pieces of old line (I have hidden around the boat).

Is it just me who hoards old boat bits and lines "just in case" or can you easily throw things away?

Go racing. That way at least once a year you will empty the boat of everything. Leave the old rubbish in the garage - its what they are for. Take only the bits necessary to help the boat go fast.

 

[Neil]

There's definitely a recurring theme here.......

My greatest claim to fame in this vein: I can't make myself throw out a pair of filters, still in their boxes, meant for the boat's previous engine. I keep thinking I might give them to someone, if I knew what the engine was that they fitted.......I keep moving them around the locker when i'm looking for something else. Not to mention the 5 bags of sails in my attic.

 

[Greenheart]

There's definitely a recurring theme here.......

My greatest claim to fame in this vein: I can't make myself throw out a pair of filters, still in their boxes, meant for the boat's previous engine. I keep thinking I might give them to someone, if I knew what the engine was that they fitted.......I keep moving them around the locker when i'm looking for something else. Not to mention the 5 bags of sails in my attic.

Surely sails, which might reasonably be brought into use aboard any boat, have more place on board than an anonymous, unusable filter? Filters in the attic, sails on the boat!

 

[obmij]

Given the chance I can accumulate a full garage worth of potentially useful junk in a month (mainly down to my work). It's tough and time consuming to throw it away but I do, because even if I have the required item, it's usually cheaper and certainly quicker to buy new than drive home and get the fecker!

With a boat it's slightly different as there are no branches of screwfix offshore - but still, if you don't have a massive, heavy displacement yet under crewed vessel you're not gonna be able to carry all the stuff you might potentially need so why bother? Stick to a decent toolkit, consumable engine spares and a big bag o' shackles and sail free from clutter!

Alternatively, anyone out there towing a second 'storage' vessel?

 

[Tam Lin]

Now that's an idea! Now that I have got two boats I can use one to keep all the stuff in and free up my shed, spare room, attic etc. this idea definitely has potential!

 

[Porthandbuoy]

One of the side-effects of jettisoning all that "might come in handy one day" stuff is the need to repaint the hull with a lower boot-topping. I swear Ladybird gained a good two inches freeboard after I de-cluttered her shortly after purchase.

 

[Neil]

Surely sails, which might reasonably be brought into use aboard any boat, have more place on board than an anonymous, unusable filter? Filters in the attic, sails on the boat!

My boat's not that big, not 5 bags-worth, anyway ........

 

[RAI]

One problem of keeping useful stuff in a house is that, when it's needed, the boat is an air journey away. It then gets cheaper to buy new useful stuff than freighting the old useful stuff.

 

[Stemar]

My name is Stemar and I'm a ... No I'm not! I can stop collecting junkxxxx useful stuff any time I want to. honest...

I was looking at the boat only last weekend, wondering how I could gain some more storage space.

 

[mcframe]

My garage/workshop is so full that fitting an extra M6 nut requires major reorganisation, and so disorganised that there are probably cars, boats and native tribes undiscovered in its depths.

An M6 nut you say?

Would sir be looking for zinc or stainless, plain or nyloc?

Oh wait, you said 'fitting' not 'finding'.
SWMBO once accused me of having an untidy garage, so I challenged her to pick some numbers (i.e bolt size & length) - within one minute, I returned to the living room with half a dozen samples (hex & Allen) *and* a selection of suitable bits/sockets/spanners.

Hmmm, some RedToolBoxes with tool-holders in each drawer would be nice to have on board, but I'll have to do with the dedicated 7mm impeller-spanner (on a hook *next to the waterpump*) that I added last week.

 

[pagoda]

I am entirely consistent. My boat and my garages show precisely the same level of entropy.

+1 I have to agree.. in addition to the 2 garages, one back bedroom doubles as a sail loft / store in the winter

Son no 1 constantly moans about the excess stuff on board, but says nothing when I can find a spare shiv or shackle from my collection. He went racing one summer and removed he said about 75Kg of what he called junk. His racing crew came in at about 500kg of people plus at least 75Kg of booze to ease the pain....
I hoard nuts and bolts from anything I dismantle, and rarely need to buy new stuff (unless it needs to be A4 for a particular reason!)

Keep whatever spare stuff maintains your comfort level for dealing with minor crises under way? I rarely throw out rope, unless it's ancient crumbly 3 ply nylon. I almost always find a use for rope at some point..