Cabinet top storage on a Mark Two

[dfloeter]

So I have searched for someone's brilliant idea on this topic and found nothing. Hopefully one of us has an idea. Our salon cabinet tops are potentially useful for storage but without a fence of sorts or something we have had to use baskets or all that we put up there slides off with slightest heel. I have considered adding a low "fence" or making a removable tray with higher sides sized to fit the irregularly shaped quadrilaterals.Either way the sides could be 3-4" high and maybe work. Not wanting to reinvent the wheel, has anyone found a solution?

On the cabinet storage thought, on the Mark 2 we also have this space between cabinets at the below rub rail ports with a fiddle that is too close to the hull to store a good set of books.  I can pull the fiddles, patch the oblong holes and fasten a new longer fiddle fixed to the front of both cabinets but am leery of it looking hokey. Maybe with the original fiddle removed a 4-5" high by the roughly 2' long piece could be fastened to the back of the teak piece right above the seat backs between the upper and aft shroud rods. Just thinking. 

Meanwhile we also have a fixed port with a distinct crack in the forward pointed end measuring about 2" high inside.  I can feel the crack with a fingernail outside but not inside.  What is the collective wisdom?

[Ron Hill]

Dietrich : I have seen teak sliding panels on a MK1 on the outside of those top shelves.

A thought

[Jon W]

I've just redone the upper and lower shelves in the salon, but have a MK 1. I suggest defining what problem you want to solve, then come up with an idea. Go to a craft store and buy some foam board. Cut out the design you think you want, use painters tape (easier to adjust) to put it together. Then put it on the boat and see what you think. You'l have spent about $5 and can make fast changes easily. If you're confident in the design you want, you can use thin wood and hot glue it together. Costs a little more and is more time consuming to change the design, but gives a better template to make the real thing from. Good luck.

[Jim Hardesty]

I think storage on a boat is always a work in progress.  Also very individualized.  I did make up some keepers that fit over the fid rail.  Started off as a holder for my electric barometer and worked also to keep light stuff on the shelf.  Made from small pieces of teak sort of h shaped to fit fid.  Works ok for magazines, sunglasses and such.  I use plastic storage bins a lot.  I measure the available shelf then go to the "Value home center" and buy to fit.  Great to take home fill and carry to boat. If necessary use "Command Hooks" and shock cord to hold in place.

Mark 2 we also have this space between cabinets at the below rub rail ports

I've also thought about changeing that but think it would affect the comfort of someone sitting there.  I only carry a few manuals and a couple of books.  Use Kindle and laptop mostly.
Hope that helped a little.
Jim

[Steve_in_lex]

Dietrich - I'm not sure of the surface you're looking to modify, but fwiw...  I addressed the slip-sliding issue in the prime real estate that's in front of the ports by adding quarter-round strips on the bottom.  It's worked well.  See the attached photos.

[dfloeter]

Thanks for the input.   After writing the post, which served to clarify the situation all on it's own,  the cabinet top storage may be solved.   We too have used baskets and plastic bins and was not thrilled.   I believe holes can be drilled from the top with a clamped on guide and 90 degree drill every few inches and ⅜" dowels can be inserted to hold the items in place and be easily removed for access.  Keeping the holes back over the top of the radius on the trim will keep the look clean and if it doesn't work might be noticable.   I will try a couple holes first and see how it goes.  The tops of our cabinets are a bit lower than Steve's and a short drill bit in the drill might fit.   If not back to square one.   On the storage between the cabinets, we like to read paper along with the Kindle and tend to have quite a few books on board.   Without the factory fiddle in the way we can fit a bunch in that space with a replacement fiddle between the shroud rods.   The quarter round below is a great idea that we might end up using.

Thanks and back to the boat after Christmas.   I hope all have a Merry one. 

[Noah]

What about S.S. wire instead for railing?

[Fred Koehlmann]

I agree with Jim, that storage is an "individualized" thing, depending on what you're wanting to store. In our case, we found the existing short lip was adequate to retain the typical "quick access' foodstuffs like loaves of bread, bags of buns, muffin trays, or things like a box of Kleenex, or popular board game.

[dfloeter]

This last week, in the cold Michigan winter, I finally designed a solution and built it.   Hopefully the photos, with really bad light under the cover, will post and show the results.    With between 5 and 7 inches above the small cabinets in the salon, the boxes give us an amazing amount of additional storage.   The first step was patterning with excess matt board and a sharp knife.  I chose the dark and very solid Cumaru (think 3x as hard as red oak and the weight of lignum vitae) because I have a pile of it in the garage. Resawn and then planed to just under ⅜", I box jointed the corners because there aren't many square corners and added an ⅛" ply bottom.   The dished front top edge may be cut deeper once we start using the boxes/trays but that will be easy.  I also bored a 2.5 or 3" hole in the exposed end of each box/tray for easier handling.   

The other part of the project was expanding the storage area between the cabinets on both sides in front of the port.    I made an extension piece that covers the original oblong slots with ½" locator dowels countersunk in the back and I reused the original  fiddle.   Screws with fender washers hold these pieces firmly to the cabinets.  The result, I think, came out a little clunky with the cherry still about ⅞" thick but I wanted the strength versus a sleeker look.   I also wanted to avoid permanently altering the factory woodwork in case this did not work.

Thanks for the earlier input.   It helped me to better form the ideas that have been swirling in my head for a couple of years.

[Jon W]

Looks great. Pretty fancy using box joints!!

[dfloeter]

The box joints were easier to cut on the table saw than I expected and they acted like hinges on assembly.   Thanks.