Where is it?

[bgary]

Does anyone keep track of where they put stuff on their boat?

I've always liked knowing that things have a "place" on the boat, and knowing that I can put my hands on whatever I need. But as I do more and more projects and collect more and more "things I need", I find myself searching for things at times.

I've thought about making a cheat-sheet, to remind me of things like "the crimp-tool for heat-shrink terminals is in the drawer under the v-berth" or "the butane for the little torch is behind the coffee in the galley locker".

But I'm not sure which would be more annoying: the time I spend searching for things, or the time I would have to spend in order to maintain such a list so I wouldn't have to search.

Anyone do this?

 

[Frank Langer]

Nope, I don't do that. My only cheat sheet is a one-pager that lists the most common jobs and the tools needed--mainly what size wrench to use on the heat exchanger zinc, transmission fluid, turnbuckles for rig tuning, to tighten the alternator belt, to bleed fuel lines, etc. because they are mostly different and I can't remember which is which. I also periodically remove all tools from my tool case to clean, check for rust, lubricate if necessary and replace in their usual spot in the tool case where I know I'll find them when needed.

Otherwise, I have spent some time organizing things on the boat so it makes sense to me (visibility, proximity to where needed, grouping things that go together, etc.), try to put things back in the same spot after use, and simply remember where I put them.

My opinion is that if I'm forgetting where things are on the boat, I'm not spending enough time on the boat!!

Frank

 

[Kenneth K]

Lots of see-through plastic bins holding "grouped" supplies. Also, always putting the bins back in the same location--eventually I start remembering roughly where they are and what's in them.

Like Frank, I also created a cheat-sheet for wrench/socket sizes for various engine/boat parts & fittings. Hex keys are labeled with blue tape as to what parts they fit. I hate heading head-first into the aft quarterberth carrying the wrong tools.

 

[Christian Williams]

The problem, I think, is divided spaces. I have tools in one dedicated locker, but things like tape and monel wire and multimeter and deck keys and fuses are in drawers or compartments, and not grouped. A list wouldn't help, too many categories.

Or is it in the dock box?

Or is it home in the garage?

Mrs. Hiscock kept meticulous lists for round the world in their 30-foot boat. It was a full-time job.

What works for me is to write down in my book what I can't find on the boat, and if I'm smart I remember to consult the book before leaving for the boat. "The book" solves everything, and with a phone number inside people will even return it when you leave it on the dock or at the supermarket (twice).

 

[bgary]

What works for me is to write down in my book what I can't find on the boat...

To an extent, that's what I do now. I have a little moleskine "reporter notebook" that goes back and forth with me to the boat. Only problem is, it sometimes takes more time to find what I'm looking for in the notebook than it takes me to find on the boat.

Somehow I need to re-grow the short-term memory I nuked in the 80s....

O_O

 

[alcodiesel]

List of everything on the boat makes me think of Sir Francis Chichester. His boat inventory takes up many pages of one of his books.

I have a small boat. There aren't that many (hiding) storage places, yet I lose stuff all the time. My latest is a can of spray paint. How the heck can something that big disappear? So I buy a new one knowing that's the only to find the lost item. That system works pretty good.

I like the list of things I can't find idea. I do the same thing but usually forget to consult the list when leaving for the boat. That is fixable, I think.

I keep all tools, well most, in one place. Electrical stuff in one bag. Paint gear in the dock box along with explosives (semi joke).

 

[toddster]

Not yet. Because I haven't yet discovered where everything belongs. Or even what actually needs to be on board. As part of trying to figure out whether Arcturus is big enough to be "the retirement boat," I sometimes amuse myself by trying to figure out where certain objects might fit. First on the computer drawings, then sometimes I lug the item to the boat to see if it actually goes there. But I also need to know this to figure out which potential cabinet-making projects to work on and which to discard. And that controls how the cushions should be cut. Which is a good excuse why that project has been languishing for years.

In the laboratories where I've spent most of my life, every drawer and cabinet is numbered and labeled and we have a neat computerized inventory of everything. Part government requirements, partly so multiple people can work together without killing one another. And theoretically to help reorder stuff when it's used up. And not to spend money buying stuff that's already there. Somewhere. Although lately, I've caught myself grabbing chemicals off the shelf without actually reading the label. Probably not a good thing. Hey, it was in the right spot and had the right shaped bottle... what could go wrong? (Another problem, is that I've spent many years each in about five different laboratories with thousands of items, and sometimes I can't remember if I have that item now or if it was in a previous life.)

Anyway, I thought I'd do something similar for the boat. Some day. At least once.
I cleaned out the galley a couple of weeks ago and found four partial boxes of Ritz crackers (various stages of decay) and three different vegetable steamers stashed in various nooks. Meanwhile, I've been looking for the aircraft clamps for weeks. I know they're there somewhere. Probably won't turn up until after I order another set. How can they get lost on such a small boat?

 

[bgary]

I haven't yet discovered where everything belongs. Or even what actually needs to be on board.

Those two things are somewhat linked in my head. As in... if I can't find the right place for a thing, it makes me wonder if it really needs to be on the boat at all.

But then this voice in my head reminds me of an old axiom related by a pilot friend: "the three most useless things to a pilot are runway behind him, altitude above him and gas on the ground".

And then I convince myself that, yes, it really does make sense to have that coax-stripper - which I've used exactly twice - tucked away somewhere on the boat, because... hey, "there's nothing more useless to a sailor than a coax-stripper in the garage".

Or something.

 

[toddster]

Actually, last winter I did start an inventory spreadsheet, focusing on major gear items, including what everything weighs. It's nowhere near complete, but the total of that weight column is truly food for thought.

 

[fool]

But I'm not sure which would be more annoying: the time I spend searching for things, or the time I would have to spend in order to maintain such a list so I wouldn't have to search.

Anyone do this?

The most annoying thing is searching for the list. How many places can it be on a 35' boat? "Oh, there's that 'round tu it I was looking for, I need to put that on the list when I find it!"

 

[supersailor]

For many years, my eyeglasses and I had a hate/hate relationship. I tried to destroy them and they tried to hide from me. When I moved to Port Angeles, I vowed I wouldn't lose them anymore. I picked a ledge next to the kitchen and I religiously place them there.. I have not lost one pair since 2007. However, my coffee cups have been disappearing at an alarming rate.

The lessons are: -If you want to find something, always replace it in the same place and do it immediately after using it.
-There seems to be a human need to have something go missing.

So, when you get the important things orderly, other things will start to disappear.

 

[toddster]

Oh, yep. Some years ago I installed a set of hooks in a cupboard next to the garage door. The car keys go on those hooks. All the other key sets too. Never lose them any more.

“The lists” live on my phone. And automatically back appear on my computer too. Duh, it’s 2018.

 

[footrope]

Such a good topic. I've tried almost all the methods mentioned for organizing and finding stuff. For my stuff - the stuff I am responsible for knowing how to find and use while out on the water - I group similar items and stow them together. And putting things back in the proper place when you're done with them is great discipline. Of course, when working on a project in the yard or at the dock, all this good practice goes over the side. The parts and tools naturally get spread over all flat surfaces and you end up with no place to sit.

 

[907Juice]

Well for me it isn’t all that difficult. With all the problems I’ve had with the boat and engine. I have a Home Depot sized tool box with a slew of nuts and bolts in it. And just about every possible thing I would need from turnbuckles to zip ties in one of the 6 lockers.

When something goes wrong, it a whole slew of expletives (with my lovely wife and the kids up top) while I take everything out and “neatly”lay it on the floor till I find the one thing I need...

simple

 

[bgary]

“The lists” live on my phone. And automatically back appear on my computer too. Duh, it’s 2018.

Yeah. I do that for "the book of the boat". When I've got some information that I want to find again someday (like, how much is my "air draft" or what's the equivalent NAPA part number for my engine fuel filter..), I add the info to a OneNote notebook. It's always on my phone, plus it syncs to whatever computer I'm on, plus I periodically print out a copy and add it to an actual notebook that I keep on the boat. It works, and is relatively low-maintenance because the info in the notebook doesn't change very often. It's even searchable.

So I'm.... pondering (?) whether it's worth the effort to do the same thing for "where did I stick it" info. I don't want to create a process that takes a ton of time to maintain and doesn't return a lot of value, so there's a question of balance.

As others have noted, I have places for all the common things (I have a lovely tool-bin that Christian built into the settee locker, holds all the common tools; I have a plastic bin full of rigging bits and such, another plastic bin full of electrical stuff, etc)... and I have no problem finding the things that I use frequently and which have a logical "place". But stuff I don't use very often - like the aforementioned coax stripper - breaks my system. If it's not in with the tools, and it's not in with the electrical stuff.. it becomes a quandary. I'd love to have a note to remind me about the clever place I decided to put it. Especially if the clever place turns out to be in the garage (a dark and truly scary place).

Case in point... I ordered more sorbent pads last week, because I couldn't find the stash I put in some clever place on the boat. After I bought them, I found the stash. Plus another stash. Plus a box full in the garage. Feh. Might have saved some time (and money) if I'd left myself a note somewhere that said "sorbent pads are laying on top of the fuel tank under the bunk-board, spares are in the forward dinette locker behind the jug of coolant, more at home...."

So... maybe I'll try adding a section to my "book of the boat". Not for everything, but, maybe just a few reminders about where I found the things I couldn't find...

 

[Kenneth K]

Still finding Easter eggs from previous owners

I've been dismantling some shelving a previous owner built into the lazaratte. A lot of the old, untreated wood was rotted and the shelves blocked access to the seacock valves. Just reached behind one of the shelves two days ago and found these:



I guess several POs before me missed them, too. Have to wait till July 4th to see if they still work.

 

[GrandpaSteve]

I've been dismantling some shelving a previous owner built into the lazaratte. A lot of the old, untreated wood was rotted and the shelves blocked access to the seacock valves. Just reached behind one of the shelves two days ago and found these:

View attachment 24002View attachment 24003

I guess several POs before me missed them, too. Have to wait till July 4th to see if they still work.

You have to keep unexpired flares so you can show them if you are boarded by the Coast Guard, but old flares always worked for me when I tried them.

 

[toddster]

Off topic, but a safety issue: I tried a few of those old 12 gauge flares on NYE a couple of years ago (Fire danger is far too extreme around here in July.) Not only did most of them fizzle, one exploded inside the gun. (I didn't try any more after that.) The rest went up, maybe 10 to 30 feet. It's a good thing I had on a welder's glove.
I think it's the same story as the Takata air bags - they absorb moisture and little clumps and pockets form in the charge so it can't burn evenly.

New strategy: buy one (1) of the expensive SOLAS parachute flares every winter. They expire after four years. Shoot off one (1) every NYE, keep four (4) in the rack. They are not small - need a dedicated "place" for that rack...

 

[mjsouleman]

My solution was to purchase a labeling gun and label every nook and cranny with something like "Keys, Wallet Glasses", "Toolkit", "Misc. Stuff"


Thank last one is my lost and found. If it's lost, it must be in there.

MJS

 

[Filkee]

I found that same expired flare pistol next to the rusted out lobster pot under the settee. Neither have proven useful.