[unomio]

In principle, I completely agree with you, Dave. But in practice I'm stumped about a lot of these questions. I am really interested in what people who have faced bad weather do with the stuff that normally lives on deck. I mean the solar panels, outboard, gennaker, extra lines, windlass remote, anchors, and stuff like that.

The quarter berth will be in use by crew, but I suppose the gennaker and any other not-in-use sails could live on the quarter berth floor--they won't mind too much being stepped upon. The outboard has to be secured, and we'll have eyes in the main cabin sole especially for that. It will make getting forward past the galley somewhat interesting (requiring Tarzan-like moves leaping across the settee while hanging onto the handrails ;^), but it will be secure. I was thinking the gennaker (in the Sunbrella bag with extra padding on top) might make a nice "cushion" between the outboard and the cabin sole.

But what about solar panels that normally live on top of the dodger? The dodger can be collapsed easily once the solar panels are removed, but where to stow them? And of course we'd like to keep them up while the sun is shining so they can do their thing making electricity, but that leads to having to get them down in the situation you mention.... What about extra lines for the sea anchor or warps? Where to put things like the blades (and possibly the pole) for the DuoGen air/water generator? Hmm--maybe this could lie atop the outboard on the cabin sole, lashed down, of course.

And last but not least, the anchors--they should be stowed belowdecks while on a passage, right? But where? The space under the V-berth might hold one but not both, and that would eliminate that storage for anything else. Not to mention that horsing 55 pounds of anchor below deck and into the V-berth would be difficult even under calm conditions. Getting the mattress off the V-berth so that one could access the stowage beneath would also be a bear, especially with the outboard in the way. But where do you put things like that? And how do you make the stowage secure enough that the anchors won't knock a hole in the stowage compartment?

What extras were you able to eliminate so that stowage belowdecks is possible?

Inquiring minds want to know....

Sue