Storage of Unwieldy Things Onboard

Preparing to install new battery bank below aft berth

As ever, I am on the lookout for ways to maximize our finite space aboard Northern Star and to make that available space easier to access. Over the past year and a half I have caught myself staring at the interior hull of the aft cabin, as if in a trance.  I was fixated on one long expanse of wood paneled wall curving out and up along the hull. Below that wall, on the aft cabin berth lay stacks of bulky and frequently quite long items that have to be stored somewhere on the boat.  

All manner of awkwardly shaped things are in there—the stiff unwieldy rain panel (we lost one in a wind storm) that zips onto the dodger, the helm station canvas, a really long fishing rod and reel, an 8’ long spear for lobster fishing, a long-handled boat brush, clothes washing “plunger,” shade tarp, a beach pop-up tent, wind scoops, covers for the Garmin instruments, a Loos* gauge, a “pigstick”**—all this extraneous stuff!  Stuff that doesn’t really belong anywhere in particular.  Stuff that wouldn’t have to be taking up space on a berth where a guest otherwise could sleep. But what to do with it? And all the while, there above the berth, staring at me, is that long bare wall……

Hanging sling mounted on the aft cabin wall.  A mesh hammock hangs beyond.

Somewhere or other, I must have seen a picture of the concept that popped into my head—a suspended sling.  I cannot take credit for designing it, but perhaps a little credit for adding to the idea with an embellishment or two.  The concept is a style of storage that probably has its’ origins in the use of an apron to hold a bunch of apples or in the the use of a hammock to hold anything that must be kept up off the floor.  A sling is a very simple concept.

Opening one of the PermaLock fasteners

After measuring that bare aft cabin hull wall, I set out to make a wall-mounted sling that would be able to contain the above mentioned items and would not use up the entire wall either.  I decided to make a sling that would measure  42” X 54”.  Because I acquired some large scraps of Sunbrella and Pfiftertex when I was last in Annapolis, I had a lot of the necessary supplies on hand.  What I did not have were the kind of fasteners that would attach the sling to the wood paneling of the hull—fasteners that can be twisted to open one side of the roll as it hangs. SailRite had the answer for that; Permalock Fasteners that are designed to attach cloth to a hard surface.  I had them delivered to us in Florida, when I knew we would be in one spot for a week or so.  These are nifty little pieces of hardware.  

PermaLock fastener

One side of the sling (42” side) is permanently mounted on the wall using the Permalock Fasteners. The 54" sling then falls to the bed below and the opposite end of the sling is then lifted up and reattached to the wall using those same fasteners, making a 27 inch-deep sling.  To make the most of the storage space with this sling, I added some external attachments to hold the very long items such as the fishing rod, the spear, boat brush, clothes washing plunger, etc. on the outside of the sling.  My intention was that I would then be able to access those individual, long items without having to open up the entire sling. 

This has turned out to be a very usable space for us.  The sling takes away very little space from the aft cabin since the wall space was “unused” space anyhow.  Because the sling follows the curve of the hull, it hangs above but also away from the surface of the bed so a person can sleep below.  If my guest is claustrophobic, he or she may not like sleeping with these items stored in such close proximity, however, I suspect that someone who is claustrophobic is not going to want to sleep in the aft cabin anyhow.  

Rings, snaps, loops can be attached on the outside

The materials that I used for this sling were:

• A Pfifertex panel cut to 42” X 54.”  I allowed 1” for folded hems on the two long sides.  
• Sunbrella strips (4) cut 43" long and 3" wide to encase each short side of the sling.  I added an additional layer of sturdy canvas as stiffener between the two pieces of casing.  These encased shorter ends must be very rugged as they will be attached to the wall.  
• 9-10 yards of 1” nylon webbing.  Because I knew this sling would be expected to hold a significant amount of weight, I used nylon webbing to stitch 4 lengths (54”) to match up with the fasteners.  I also used 3-4 yards to sew 4 extra lengths of webbing that lie on the outside of the sling. These are adjusted by 4 side-release buckles to accommodate blankets and things with a circumference of up to 24".
• 4 plastic (1") side-release buckles.  More could have been attached with the nylon webbing if desired.
• 4 Permalock Fasteners.  If the sling were any wider, I’d have wanted to use more Permalock Fasteners. 

• Scraps of clear vinyl (20 gauge) — I used 4 squares of it to make “windows” so that I can see what’s rolled up inside of the sling without taking it down.
• 4 plastic rings, attached across the length of the pack.  Long lightweight items can be attached at those as needed.

Here’s to making the most of boat space…Cheers and Happy New Year.

The sling and aft cabin are loaded with supplies for the Bahamas

*Loos gauge - a tool designed to measure the tension of cables/rigging. 
**pigstick - a homemade stick that can be pulled up the mast to extend above the height of the mast. If the pigstick makes contact with the underside of a bridge, the boat is not going under.