Nav Station Hanging Locker Storage Ideas

[anaisdog]

thank you Stu!

[Noah]

Orrr... you could shoot yourself in the foot by installing a bunch of electronic stuff; fuse panel, autopilot controller, 2,000 watt inverter, and a big Haletron fire extingusher, and not have any room to store stuff in that locker.  Duh..

[anaisdog]

that's so cute!  but you're in SD where the weather is always perfect and it's going to be snowing here in detroit .  :-)

[KWKloeber]

Point of information....

One doesn't necessarily need to mechanically support cleats if using microfibers filler.  It is the STICKIEST of the additives and has excellent adhesion.

(JTSO) all that one needs is a few half-width strips of duct tape (quantity depending on the length of what's being held) to hold cleats for 10 minutes until the epoxy kicks.

I have done many supports this way (see one photo example of a drawer assembly corner cleat.)  If a cleat had to support 50 lbs, then I would use a temporary brace (1x2s held w/a C-clamp) to press one cleat at a time against the side until the epoxy kicks. Otherwise, duct tape would suffice (JTSO.)

I ass/um/ed one would want to avoid seeing fastener heads if possible.  I wouldn't want them, but that's a YBYC aesthetic thing.  Naturally, if you don't mind seeing fasteners, bolts may be easier (I have no clue what the access or visibility is on each side face.)

-k

[Paulus]

anaisdog,
go back to Stu's link.  Most of us followed these simple instructions and after many years are still happy.  That info was put on this web site by people that had actually tackled the project and worked out the details.   The shelves allows room for the batter charger.
Paul

[Ron Hill]

Guys : Like Noah I mounted electronics WAY Back in that locker, so we could still hang wet WX gear/coats etc. on the rod (which I moved up).  I also mounted a similar fire extinguisher under the steps - for easy access.


A few thoughts

[mdidomenico]

I think Becki's question is related to the wood sidewalls rather than the cleats.  It looks like newer boats like Roc's are lined with wood (cedar?) compared to the picture I posted where one can see that the wall is bare fibreglass.  Or maybe Roc lined the locker himself.

is there an advantage or reason to line the lockers with cedar?  i'm in the midst of refitting my boat.  i realize it's only aesthetic, but since everything's apart now would be a good time to do it.  and by cedar are we talking about cedar like you line a home closet with or another species?

i do like the idea of putting pull out wire baskets in that area along with some electronics gear in the way back, i think in either case (cedar lined/unlined) i'm definitely going to do that.

[patrice]

Hello,
I also added shelves in the locker.
The shelves are fixed.  No slides.
I cut strips of wood and glued them on each side with construction glue under the brand PL.
The shelves can hold boxes of soft drinks.
I've put 3 shelves.

[KWKloeber]

Patrice,

Perfect option.  D'oh!  Sometimes we forget to think outside the "marine box."

-k

[Roc]

My boat came with cedar lining.  Don't just buy a plain basket.  They sell sliding basket drawers, complete with the rails to hold the basket and allows it to slide.  The ones I bought came with the slides you see if you zoom in. Due to the way it is designed, I had to put wooden rails to hold the sliders.  The cedar is not up against the fiberglass sides, there are voids. So I had to take off the cedar and epoxy strips of wood to the fiberglass at the points where I had to mount the wooden rails to hold the sliding basket rails.  I didn't just want to screw into the thin cedar panels.  I wanted the rails to be better supported.  You have to come up with a method of mounting the baskets depending on how they come.  I believe the brand I got are Closet Maid, but they are almost 20 years old.  However, if you look at the type Closet Maid has now, the sliders are different (much better I think).  So you will need to come up with another plan.  It all depends on the system you buy.  You just need to make sure the basket width will clear the "opened door" of the nav locker.  Also, to mount the whole system, you'll need to remove the door and and the frame.  I think 6 screws hold the whole door and frame assembly to the cut-out.

[Stu Jackson]

Hello,
I also added shelves in the locker.  The shelves are fixed.  No slides.  I cut strips of wood and glued them on each side with construction glue under the brand PL.  The shelves can hold boxes of soft drinks.  I've put 3 shelves.

Patrice,  Perfect option.  D'oh!  Sometimes we forget to think outside the "marine box."

That, of course, is another option.

When Al Watson told me about his sliding shelves design idea we discussed this fixed shelving idea.  He made the points that:  1)  the shelves would be deep, so access to the back of the shelves would be difficult;  2)  solid shelves would make it very dark inside, perhaps requiring lighting;  3)  some method of ventilation would be need to avoid mustiness [drilling holes in the shelves would work]; 4) some method would be needed to avoid material falling off the outboard end of the shelves beyond small fiddles.

Those are the reasons Al opted for the open-weave metal shelves.  Having them slide out is an added bonus.

On our trip north from SF in 2016, our slider mechanism packed it in, even with the relatively huge "timbers" I used for the supports; the assembly started leaning enough that the top shelf broke a wire to the VHF radio.  So I screwed a wire tie into the aft wall and tied it all up!  While shelves don't pull out anymore, they still work just fine for storage. 

That's why individual sliders, rather than my choice, seem superior to me.

Your boat, your choice.    There are many ways to do this.  Almost as much fun as saloon tables!

[KWKloeber]

Have no idea of the width of the different locker Mks, but as to the ventilation issue (great point) I wonder if the ready made wire closet shelves would come in a "close enuf" depth to fit?  Solid shelves really wouldn't make a difference as to lighting because, IIWMB anyway, I'd have either wire or solid or drilled shelves fully covered with opaque crap. 

(PS, my "box" was referring to using construction adhesive, not to the final outcome.)

Another thought for sliders would be those plastic "holed" baskets that have a lip around them (or could be easily added) and dado-ing a slot in the cleats to accept the lip (slider.)

k

[patrice]

Hi,

For the fixed shelves that we have.
I cut them as per the hull shap in the back using a cardboard to cut the patern.
Being to dark ?,  never been an issue.
Being to deep.
On one of the shelves, we store our towels.  Rolled and put in,  easy to get to.
On another, boxes of drinks.  Pull out the box we need.
On others, we have smaller basket to store bunch of different stuff.

Advantage also, is that you don't loose 1to2 inches on bothe side for the pull out drawers because of the frame around the openning.
And to be honnest, it was easier to make. 

[Stu Jackson]

Thanks, Patrice, for that great description.  Much appreciated.

Perhaps my "thinking" about this was slewed to "galley" storage, rather than overall storage, and as you mentioned your towels, a little light went off over my head!  Why didn't I think of that?!?

Thanks again. 

[mark_53]

Lots of good ideas.  My PO put heat ducting through the bottom which is covered by an isolation transformer mounted on a wooden shelf.  The AC wires connect to the transformer and lead to an AC bus on the forward wall of the locker.  I bought a plastic set of 4 drawers that fit snuggly over the transformer.  No room to hang anything but lots of storage in the shelves.
One fire extinguisher is on the aft wall of the galley and one in the V-berth.