Galley Storage Ideas

[flboy77]

Hey Everyone

I am trying to think of ways to store different kitchen items in our galley in our 25 tomcat. Currently we have just a big space with no drawers for storing things. I thought i'd ask for ideas or see what others have done for storage in their 25 cruiser or tomcat.

Thanks in advance

[localboy]

Plastic storage totes currently. Think milk crates. Not perfect but they work and you can pull them out sorta like drawers. Larger ones below.

[Wayne McCown]

We use clear plastic stackable bins with lids.

[WildSide]

I think these would work if you could figure out a flat floor for the cabinet, then these would screw down to that false floor.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/TRINITY-2-Tier-Sliding-Wire-Drawer-in-Chrome/1002363576

[ssobol]

[thataway]

The more recent modification of moving the water heater has opened up more storage. The 6 gallon water heater is removed and a 2.5 gallon Bosch water heater is put in back of the sink.--this gives the whole space under the seat for storage., And decreases the "dead" space in the hoses, which conserves water.

We have a shelf about half way up. We store all items in shallow plastic totes. There is an assortment of sizes to get all in place. As we need items.
Under the sink:


The old water heater space:
a

The fold down step is for height challenged folks to get onto the dinette or settee seat. (Two sets of cushions for dinette or settee length wise.)

[ssobol]

It also helps to add in-cabinet lights to see what's in there. I added some LED lights to the interior side of the cabinet front wall.

Seems like Dr. Bob has also added lights.

They are very helpful.

[Pacificcoast101]

We use one of those plastic drawers.

[gulfcoast john]

It’s helpful to know (although not always possible) whether you plan to mostly anchor out vs mostly stay at marinas vs making yours a day boat, since that may determine what kind of cooking you do and whether you keep or change out whatever stove and galley storage came with your boat.

We choose to prepare and eat three meals a day on the boat for our typical four to six week cruises (including the recent West Erie canal/Finger Lakes adventure). We have the same meals we have at home and drink the same amount of the same wine. Although it is indeed less expensive than eating out at a marina or restaurant three times a day, we are trying to avoid gaining weight while cruising, which is very easy to do and hard to un-do for us two 66 year olds who had to give up half-marathons way back in 2007 when arthritis got both of us.

Like others posting, we use Walmart plastic cabinets under the sink. We add straps bolted into the frame at the bottom and industrial strength Velcro patch (bolted into the top). They don’t slide around on the Dekadence carpet. The safe is SS cable secured around the rigging conduit. We keep pilfer items in there (like the $900 Fuji Stabi binocs, Steiner Marine binocs, 3 of 5 HH VHF radios, passports etc and most of the loaded weapons). We don’t lock the aft door, since it could be pried open with a large screwdriver and one Brat here related it was $10,000 to replace it.



We didn’t like the butane stove that came with our boat, so I removed it and found some same-size clear drop in plastic bins at a restaurant supply store that hold condiments etc, which are covered by thin cutting boards.

https://www.epicureancs.com/product/all-in-one-boards/

The white cutting board sink cover has bolts at four corners so it can’t slide off underway.



The collapsible basin fits in the sink perfectly; Eileen bought and uses two when cruising. The two are under 4 inches high when collapsed. The round black magnetic LED AA light turns on and off with a touch.



https://www.amazon.com/your-orders/pop/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_pop?_encoding=UTF8&gen=canonical&lineItemId=mkjisqlqtnrvwny&orderId=112-7678505-3160245&packageId=1&returnSummaryId=&returnUnitIndices=&returnUnitMappingId=&shipmentId=DxbYhcMqf


Our best galley mod was fitting a galley extension board over the sink forward fiddle rail that secures to a 1’’ trim piece with two removable screws. The forward portion rests on the top of the helm seat when folded down and on a throttle handle. Measure it so it stashes under the Nav seat cushion without interfering with the snaps when underway with the seat back reversed. With practice (and we’ve had a LOT) we can ‘reconfigure’ in two minutes, but it’s like a dance we’ve rehearsed moving that board around.

This holds the coffee maker (SS thermal unbreakable pot model), toaster, and Nu-wave induction skillet (2 sizes is all we need) with prep space with nothing on the table. Credit to Thataway for finding this alternative, which doesn’t heat up the cabin or the skillet, and allows limiting the wattage on a dial. We also use an electric skillet with deep sides for larger one-pot meals.



We chose to remove the water heater, since every marina has all the hot shower water you could want, not just six gallons. This frees up the 15 amp circuit the water heater was hogging, so I connected that to a GFI outlet just outboard of the helm seat for all those galley appliances and fans and just changed the label on the AC distribution panel under the table. I plugged the plumbing connections, so this can be easily reversed in the future. A Seaward heater is a $260 item.



This converts the cabinet under the helm seat to more galley storage. There is some binnacle and helm wiring back there behind the water heater. I bolted a clear lexan barrier there to protect that wiring from interference with the new stored items shifting around.

Our only other 110v galley appliance is a mid size Breville toaster oven. We find that much more useful for us than a microwave for the kind of dinners we like. We often place it up by the power pedestal and connect it with a 30A/15A adapter directly. That way the heat is not in the boat, and we can keep the Air Conditioner on while staying under 30 amps grand total on our shore power line.

https://www.amazon.com/?&_encoding=UTF8&tag=shopzilla0d-20&ascsubtag=shopzilla-pdu-20;16299297822900019873410090301008005&linkCode=ur2&linkId=1c8310c4bd787ae31b4d8980f1aab222&camp=1789&creative=9325


When we do anchor out, we use 1 pound propane bottles, a SS dual burner camp stove, a HD SS percolator coffee pot for coffee and heating basin baths with the collapsible basins, and the small Mr Buddy space heater (only when awake with cabin ventilation and two CO alarms).

We also used clear plastic Walmart shoe boxes with lids (for stacking) for storage under the table and under the Nav foot rest.



There are 31 flavors of cruising, and you’ll find what works for you. If Brats here help out with ideas, all the better.

Hope this is helpful as you make your trawler transition to your TC255...the very best trailerable pocket yacht for a cruising couple!

John

[SnowTexan]

Ok so not a 25 or tomcat, but I am currently sitting in our 22 cruiser with my wife and two kids. We’ve been aboard for 30 days now, with only a few stops to provision. It became clear to us weeks ago that the space under the galley is the least efficient space on our boat for storing food. We now have food stashed in the under seat cabinet by the helm (daily use and bulky items) in the lockers on the floor in gallon ziploc bags, and in a 5 gallon bucket in the cockpit with a screw on lid. Under the galley we put our pfds when at the dock, pots and pans (or pot and pan for those who are counting), a self inflating life raft, all our emergency supplies, water filtration and gathering tools, and toiletries. It sorta works but we feel there should be some kind of merit badge for all the small boat shuffling that goes on. My wife misses her RV, and I believe our cruising relationship may evolve around a bigger boat. My point being perhaps there is a better space on the boat to fit what you want to take? Dont limit yourself to the galley for food and cooking.

[ssobol]

[flboy77]

Thanks so much for all the great ideas and photos. Gonna look through all these with my wife and start deciding on what we're gonna do

[gulfcoast john]

Snowtexan,

You guys are AWESOME!

I forgot to pic how we use two 30 quart Engel ‘dry box’ coolers in Heavy Cruise Mode like this starting out on the West Erie Canal/Fingerlakes cruise to hold additional waterproof dry goods while taking up NO space in the cabin or floor space in the cockpit. I drilled eyebolts into the aft sides to secure them to the railing with wire ties. These are over 25 years old, and unlike new ones they leak a bit in heavy rains or seas...no harm, no foul.

Maybe Snowtexan has room, or can lash down a couple of screw top Lowe’s buckets.



Lashing to the roof railings is another option, but we avoid that due to absolutely not needing it, plus wanting the railings free to grab when we are on the cat walks at our age. Notice that one of our under sink ‘cabinets’ has a totally empty drawer.

We also have totally waterproof additional massive storage in both sponsons crash bulkheads forward of the huge berth that are closed off from the sponson bilges. That requires stretching across the berth to access, but it’s where we keep all the seldom used ‘anchor out’ propane appliances and a LOT of other stuff.

That said, ALL our clothes (except high quality rain jackets) for the whole six weeks fit into two std brown paper grocery bags. This takes lots of cruising experience and planning for the next laundromat close to the next town wall or marina. You’ll find what works for you guys.

This pic is with eng #2 @ 2000 RPM, #1 down but off, getting over 3MPG @ over 7-8 MPH in Heavy Cruise Mode.

Cheers!

John

[localboy]

Also I unscrewed the captain’s helm seat and replaced the four bolts with two S/S hinges on the front an rubber furniture feet on the rear. That way when at anchor or dock we can flip it up and have more “counter space”. I use a small nylon strap with a snap on our window frame to stop it from accidentally falling and it just sits over the helm wheel fine. KISS.

[bridma]

Be careful storing loose cans in the locker under the dining table. I kept all my beer there as it stayed cool at the waterline. One day I noticed a liquid puddle while reaching for a beer.
I had to remove the whole contents of the locker and clean everything. What happened was one of the cans of beer at the back got punctured (probably in rough weather when things can move) and the can was pierced by a shard of fibreglass that was not ground off during construction. This could happen in any locker. Just something to be aware of.

Martin.