Aft Lazerette Access

[Mike Lofstrom]

My boat is one of the early open transom boats.  Unlike the Mark II version, it still has a narrow transom, but has the walk through.  The access to the aft lazerette is through the small seat in the aft starboard corner of the cockpit.  This "access" is an opening of about 12 X 14 inches.  There is a ton of room in the lazerette, but this is the only way to get to it.  The port side seat has a propane locker under it, so you can't get into the lazerette on that side.  I cleaned out the lazerette this weekend, and it was pretty frustating not being able to reach the bottom of the compartment.  I was wondering if anyone has come up with any creative ideas about how to improve the access to this compartment.

Thanks!

[jentine]

Ten years ago, I took my dimensions to a canvas shop and had a bag made with snaps around the top edge to afix to the inside of the opening lip.  The bag extends down inside the wasted space about 5 feet and is approximately 3' square at the bottom.  I use the space for all life jackets, foul weather gear and some extra seat cushions.
Jim Kane

[Ken Juul]

I totally agree.  I use it for bumpers, radar reflector, coiled dock lines, etc.  They all have a loop of line attached, I use the boat hook to fish them out.  I have added the stern perch seats which further aggrevate the situation because the hatch will not fully open with the seat installed.

[Bill Jenks]

I have a Mark II C34 so lazerettes in the aft corners of the cockpit may be a bit different but what I did to solve the problem was to buy a stainless steel line hanger (page 728 of 2004 West Marine Master Catalog). I bolted the hanger to the inside of the lazerette. I removed one of the bolts on each of the hinges (used to hold the lid on) and replaced it with a longer bolt - then used that longer bolt to bolt on the line hanger. Works great and no new holes in the boat.

[Mike Lofstrom]

Thanks for the suggestions.  FYI, I discovered another little gotcha when I cleaned out the lazerette.  There was a 5 gal pail lying in the in the lazerette that was a leftover from the P.O.  I decided to put the aft anchor rode in the pail so it would be a little more tidy than having the rode loose in the lazerette.  Seemed like a good idea.  The catch is, the steering quadrant is about the same height from the bottom of the lazerette as a five gallon pail.  I didn't notice it until I got out of the marina and noticed it was really hard to turn the boat to starboard.  I guess the pail was getting jammed under the quadrant.  Fortunately, the plastic pail had enough "give" to not jam completely.  I will make sure from now on that I keep stuff in the lazerette clear of the quadrant.  Thanks again for the posts on this one.  This is a great user community.