Storage ideas on E35/3

[gabosifat]

Hi Everyone,

We really like our 35/3. She sails well, cockpit is great, inside feels like a wooden boat, lots of character. But I have to admit we are quite frustrated with the lack of storage space on board. Our old C&C 27 had far more storage space than the 35 has. What's difficult is there is no storage to speak of under any of the seating. The forward part of the vee berth has water tank, port & starboard settees have water, forward port settee has holding tank, aft port settee has batteries, quarterberth is taken up with fuel tank.

I plan on removing the chart roll holders under the chart table & replacing with a drawer. I've removed the wine rack from the galley & use it for storage. We use the shower for a wet hanging locker. Another thing we've done is reorganize the starboard cockpit locker to make it more useable - must do something to the aft locker.

Would appreciate any ideas any other owners have come up with for increasing the storage.

Many thanks to all who respond.

Cheers,
Steve Gabbott
E35/3 "Silent Dancer"
Vancouver

 

[treilley]

Hi Steve, I have noticed the same problem. But after one season cruising, we have found that we have plenty of water between the port and stb tanks so I will remove the forward tank(if it fits through the companionway). I too am planning on removing the chart tubes and replacing with some sort of storage. Another problem I have identified is the lack of a good space for a proper trash can in the head, which goes a long way to preventing nasty stuff ending up in the potty. There is a lot of wasted space behind the port settee which could house cabinets like in the E34. It would not be difficult to build out cabinets there. You would just lose some of that "wooden boat" look.

I would like more details on how you reorganized the stb cockpit locker. I was thinking of moving the trash bin to the forward ice box(we really do not need it) and expanding the locker into that space. I m also planning on reorganizing the stern locker.

 

[treilley]

The other modification I am planning is to reroute the galley sink drain to accomodate a removable shelf in that cabinet for more efficient storage. The shelf would sit just above the seacocks allowing enough room to access them without removing the shelf.

 

[Glyn Judson]

Shelf under the galley sink.

Tim, Your note reminds me of the same shelf I built for our previous boat, an 1979 E25+. By coincidence the area under the sink would allow stowage of exactly six, six-packs of soda in their plastic rings and by slightly pushing the packs aside in the center of the shelf, I was able to route the galley sink drain almost straight down through that shelf without compromising the number of six-packs I could put there. You might want to consider what you plan to keep there and think about how the drain hose might be placed so as to least impact the area. Have fun, Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey CA.

 

[treilley]

Wow. 6 six packs huh? That sounds like a good thing to store there. Unfortunately I do not drink soda. Hmmmm, what other types of six packs could I store there???
Thanks for the tip Glyn. I was thinking maybe a split shelf to allow the drain hose through the shelf. The admiral would use this space so I better talk to her. I am also planning on installing a removable shelf at midpoint in the wine cabinet. We don't drink that much wine

 

[Kim Schoedel]

Time to chime in here. All I can say is Ditto, Ditto, Ditto. We don't have a forward water tank, but the PO had replaced all cushions in the boat with high quality thicker material. Very difficult to lift up the V berth cushions to access the storage there.
I have been trying to figure out some kind of storage under the galley sink. This is already a tight area with the raw water filter, thru hulls and refer lines. Even a small basket to mount somewhere to hold soap and such seems to be tough to figure out.
I did remove the front part of the wine rack (middle piece) so a few bottles of hooch can stand up. Been looking at removing the rest of the rack as well.
Building a drawer to replace the chart holders may work. Then where do the charts go?
The shower is used as a wet hanging locker as well.
The starboard cockpit locker when under way is full of extra lines hanging and the 4 fenders, 4" Espar trunk line, refer unit and bat charger.
The stern cockpit locker needs a "false floor" installed with some kind of dividers so things can be better organised instead of just pileing stuff in there.
One thing we miss while hooked up to shore power is our small Micro wave to heat up a mug of water for the Captains morning tea. No place to mount a .5cubic foot Microwave. Been looking for a Micro, Microwave (just for a cup or mug) that could sit somewhere but can't find anything.

I have found that the best way to fix all this is to just put the sails up and go sailing with big smiles on our faces.

 

[Ernest]

Storage on E 35-3

1. Use the forward ice box for storing dry food boxes, cans and other non refrigerated stuff.
2. Hang netting (small hamocks) from the ends of the interior overhead handrails. You just need a small stainless hook screwed into the outboard(non visible side) at each end. These will hold quite a bit of clothing. Store everything in the netting inZiplock storage bags in case it's knocked to the floor when the floor is wet.

 

[gabosifat]

We do have a shelf under the sink, but it does have the sink drain going through it. Not bad storage there but not huge either. My next dilema is upgrading my batteries. I'd like to upgrade to 4/6 volts plus a starting battery but where the heck am I going to put them all? I was hoping to re do the holding tank without the wing on it so I could put 2 batteries there but it's not deep enough. The only other alternative I can see is to make an extra battery locker beside the chart table seat. Then where do I put the tool kits I have stored in that spot.....? It goes on. Would love to hear from those who have upgraded to a 5 battery system. I think my problem is I should have gone to a deeper displacement boat in the first place. We want to be able to do extensive summer cruising in the next few years. We currently do 3 weeks on board but would like to be able to go for up to 3 months - maybe wishful thinking...

Cheers,
Steve Gabbott
E35/3 "Silent Dancer"
Vancouver

 

[treilley]

There is lots of room below the cockpit floor that could accomodate batteries. You would need to build a shelf above the prop shaft.

 

[Randy Rutledge]

Is the area behind the seat backs occupied? It looks like there is lots of area between the hull and seat backs. Starboard looks like quite a lot. I am not familiar with the 35 but on the 29 this area was opened up on the later boats.

 

[treilley]

The 35-3 has those areas open with storage compartments as far back as 1985. IMHO the big waste in these boat is above the port seatbacks. The starboard side has some shelves but the port side is entirely open. Some custom cabinets with a shelf over would work well there. Future project.

 

[cruis-n]

Goodbye Tilt Out Bins

After two years of owning my E35-3 we found that the tilt out garbage bin at the end of the galley counter and the one in the V berth area were pretty much useless and a giant waste of space.

Resolved to reclaim the space, I unscrewed the hinges and removed the whole units. With a little bit of work, I was able to remove the door from the rest of the bin assembly (it was screwed and glued) and remount the hinges on the side of the door rather than the bottom. A little bit of spare teak plywood and trim installed inside of the former bin area gave us a floor and shelf with surprising amount of space. Our trash is now kept in a plastic trash can in the opening behind the sink (accessible from both the door behind the sink and from the cockpit locker).

I did similar surgery on the bin in the V-berth. There is quite a bit of wasted space that we reclaimed for clothing, towels, etc. The only tilt out bin left is between the 'wine rack' and the garbage bin door where the dishes are kept. I think I'll leave it like that for now.

The v-berth bin is a bit smaller due to AC ducting taking up the lower half but it still provides an amazing amount of space.

 

[treilley]

That is a great idea. Please post the photos.

 

[Kim Schoedel]

Wonderful idea, if possible I would like to see the photo's too! Thanks

 

[Richard Austin]

Starboard Cockpit locker

Hi There.

The prior owner of my 35-3 modified the starboard locker as follows:

• Put in a removable wall to under the cockpit floor
• Added a 1" lip to it about 1/2 way up
• put a similar lip on the hull
• put 2 plywood pieces between for shelves

This makes for lots of storage there. I keep some spare parts, etc. in a bin below the shelves, then put my fenders on top when under way.

Best Regards,
Richard Austin

 

[gabosifat]

storage ideas

Would also love to see the pictures of the tilt out bin conversions.

Steve

 

[Ray Rhode]

Steve,

The bow tank will fit through the forward cabin and the companion way, but I would suggest removing the starboard tank instead. The bow tank is the largest so you keep more water capacity. Also the space vacated in the bow is very difficult to get to. You have to remove the V-berth cushions and the cover to get to it. The starboard sette is not as big but much more accesssible.


Ray Rhode
S\V Journey
E35-III, #189

 

[gabosifat]

storage ideas

That's a great idea to remove the starboard water tank but I really like the extended cruising that gives us. We go for 3 weeks & good water can sometimes be harder to come by in remote areas up the coast. My next thought is to match the open shelf behind the starboard setee by building an identical one on the port side. That way we keep the great wood look of the teak against the hull & increase the storage. As far as battery room under the cockpit floor, I doubt if I can get any more in there. My original engine has been replaced by a larger Universal & things are very tight in there. I guess I'm going to have to settle for the small improvements & live with the boat. Thanks for all those who replied.

Steve Gabbott
E35/3 "Silent Dancer"
Vancouver

 

[Ray Rhode]

Steve,

Agree with you about keeping the starboard water tank. My suggestion was to remove it in lieu of the bow water tank if you were going to remove one. I gave up my hanging locker for A/C -heat rather than give up water storage.

We curised for a month with a mostly onboard stores supplemented with a couple of stops. It took some creative packing and we spent sometime moving things around for sleeping, etc., but we were able to do it.

Ray

 

[treilley]

After speaking to some other E34 and E35 owners, the general concensus is that the forward water tank space is diifficult to get to because of it's proximity and the size of the cover that needs to be manhandled out to get to anything.

I am thinking about taking the stb cushion and flipping it over upside down on the port cushion. Then mark the cover in line with the edge of the port cushion. Cut the cover in half and add a support rail to the port side of the cover. This way when you need to get into that space, you simply flip the stb cushion onto the port cushion, remove the stb cover and you get easy access to that space.