Storage in a C-22 Cruiser

[maryvmcclain]

I've read through many of the customization pages and I'm still a little concerned about storage in the C-22 for, say, a week at Lake Powell. Unless you open up the V-Berth and take out foam, I only see a little storage under the seats, and the back lazerettes, and of course the galley. Also, as I understand it, the watertank is under one of those seats. Where do you store lifejackets, fenders, cockpit enclosure, much less tools.... and clothing.

We were eye-ing the higher cabin top, wondering if anyone has done (or thought of) a way to hang a "false ceiling" to use for storage. (We're not tall).

Has someone ever listed what they "keep" on the boat permentantly and where they store it?

We've bought our tow vehicle, a Toyota Sequoia, V8, 5.7L 2WD.. so now we're ready to start making some decisions. I keep bugging my husband that, surely, we can tow a C-25 instead (more storage), but he says it would be dicey.

We're sizing down from a 33ft sailboat but we've had smaller sailboats before and, I swear, there was more storage on those. So, that's where we are: stalled on storage. Help!

Mary and Rob McClain

 

[20dauntless]

The primary storage spaces on my CD22 are as follows:
-Under galley. I keep most food, cooking equipment, etc in here.
-Under helm seat. I keep my personal stuff in here. Clothes, toiletries, etc.
-Under forward sliding passenger seat. I keep boat manuals, spotlight, and a few miscellaneous electrical things in here.
-Under aft passenger seat which is mostly filled with the water tank. I use this space for safety gear like a throwable cushion, ditch bag, extra fire extinguisher, etc.
-Under dinette. This is a sizable space that is somewhat weirdly shaped since it isn't very tall. It is quite long and I keep extra food there on longer trips, extra stove fuel, and other things that I don't use every day.
-Helm footwell. I keep spare parts and tools in here.
-Lazarettes aft. One of mine has a battery, autopilot pump, and battery switch. The other I use for wet storage like the freshwater hose, shore power cable, and 600 feet of poly line for stern tying.

My boat came with hatches in the V-berth. I use this area for seldom used gear like my spare anchor and rode, spare prop, spare propane stove, extra life jackets, extra clothes, etc.

When other people are on the boat with me one person normally has to leave their stuff in a duffel bag in the berth during the day and underneath the dinette at night. Not really that big a deal. The 22 does have quite a bit of storage, but the reality is that it is a fairly small space and some things have to get moved around from day to day depending on what the people on the boat are doing.

 

[BRAZO]

I've read through many of the customization pages and I'm still a little concerned about storage in the C-22 for, say, a week at Lake Powell. Help!

Mary and Rob McClain

On average we spend 5 to 6 weeks per summer on our CD22 with me, wife, 13 yr old, and 18 yr old. Includes skate board, paddle boards, generator, small ac, clothes, food, two laptops, ipad, xoom, ipod, and much more.

Storage just needs to be thought out, but not a big deal at all.

And we came from a 32ft Sundowner Tug with major storage space.

Buy it....

 

[potter water]

I was quite astounded at how much storage the 22 has. But then, my wife and I can easily do a week on the water with the storage we have. We have the necessities, the spares, the tools, emergency equipment etc. I must admit we do use the v-berth for storing the clothes, towels, and other soft stuff, but at night, after we are ready for bed, we shift those items to under the dinette.

My philosophy is the lighter the better for on the water and for towing.

We will be doing a few more stowage things, like nets in the v-berth for glasses, flash light and the like. I have no unde-birth storage as mine has some amount of foam in there, but I do think that I'll probably dig that out and put in hatches for other storage. The shallow, but long space accessed under the dinette is really good for spare props, water bottles and other such and is almost endless in capacity.

We rely a lot on canned food and mostly drinking water. Our cooler is mostly used for veggies and fruit and ice, milk and some butter and the like. Main courses are pretty much canned and store away in plenty of nooks and crannies in the stock 2007 we have.

Keep it simple and light and you should have plenty of room for a week on the water in the 22. Your tow rig is pretty much out of the question for the CD 25 as I understand their weight and the other threads on the subject.

Good luck and enjoy these very cool boats.

 

[texasair]

Mary and Rob, We did the foam removal up front, added 3 hatches and are pleased with the extra space. I am not sure but I think I read that the newer 22's come with the storage hatches already up front and on some older ones, owners have found no foam under the berth.
If there is no foam, it a simple matter of putting in the hatches. The foam removal is pretty straightforward but time consuming and a bit messy.

We also are not tall, and raised the lids of the storage under the helm footrest and the under table footrest several inches for personal comfort which added a bit more space in those compartments.
We found a plastic storage bin that fits on top of our water tank.
We replaced the useless fridge under the helm seat with a small microwave and additional storage. We use an Engel cooler on the rear deck for a fridge.

Both batteries were relocated on the floor in front of the rear bilge between the gas tanks, so we have the full space available in both lazarettes.

We find that there is plenty storage for our needs and have stayed on the boat for over a month.

We also considered a 25 and in our 3rd year of 22 ownership are still glad that we chose the 22. We know 25 owners that love the 25's. It is up to you.

Good Luck

 

[dutch123]

If your in need of more storage space you may want to consider a roof rack and a few like sized rubbermaid containers, gets your stuff up and out of the way nicely.

 

[thataway]

For lots of extra stuff--like when we had 3 dogs and had to have dog food or 3 weeks--or extra canned goods, generator etc--we got a plastic/nylon reinforced storage box--about 40" x 18" x 18"--lots of room there--in the cockpit. That plus a high end ice box, gives us seating and steps. I would not put a lot of weight on the Cabin top for several reasons. With good shelves, boxes, and clever utilization of the storage area, there is no problem


Your Sequoia would be very marginal (I believe about 7400 lb towing capacity)--most of the boats weigh in at 7500 plus on the trailer. Having owned a C Dory 25 (and two 22's, plus a 255 tom cat)--I would not try towing the 25 unless you kept it very light, and with an aluminum trailer behind that Toyota.

The beauty of the 22 is that it is much lighter--and although there is a little more storage in the 25--it is not all that much more. If you want storage--then the Tom Cat wins....at a price of weight,!

 

[colobear]

No question that storage in a 22 is a challenge. Our 2006 has no storage under the berth but we've been on the boat for 5 weeks at a stretch and made it work. The key, in our opinion is to adapt. I made racks for chartbooks, folding charts, pens, notepaper, etc. that fit overhead and on the side of the sliding seat. With a door on the flat area over the center window we can carry charts and books up there. We cut down the variety of clothing, carry no more than a week's worth, and plan to wear things a little longer than we would at home thus all of our clothes, except for heavy jackets, plus a daypack and fannypack fit under the port front seat. In the floor storage area there we keep a small inverter, spare batteries, ditch bag for dinghy, dustpan and brush, spare tiedowns/bungees odds and ends. We do the same with shoes, not as much variety and all can fit in a bag under the dinette table. We store toiletries, the laptop and sometimes bread or bags of chips there and that is home for a plastic container with a space heater, clip-on 110V light and hairdryer. In the storage area under the dinette floor we keep, first aid kit, battery charger, laundry soap, towels, small extension cords, etc. Under the rear dinette seat, even with the water tank there, we keep spare anchor, spare lines, spare propeller emergency hull repair supplies, and the 50ft. shore power cord. In the floor storage area under the helmsman's feet we keep boat documents, chart plotting tools, service manuals, hand compass small spare flashlight, usb cords for small electronics, etc. Under the helm seat we keep a spotlight, toolchest, silverware tray with hand mixer, carving knives, corkscrew etc., games, extra paper towels, TP, flares, etc. We remove packaging from as much food as possible, plan menus for storage simplicity and store dry food, pots/pans some water/gatoraid mixing bowls collander, other larger kitchen bowls coffee,tea, dry soup, condiments, mugs, glasses paper plates, reusable plastic plates and bowls, etc. under the sink. we put things in ziploc bags with instructions in marker to cut down on space. Corning plates and small bowls are kept overhead in purpose designed racks over the sink. (We have a high top and get a lot of extra storage from that.) Wineglasses and large plastic mugs are in ceiling mounted oversink racks too. Plastic silverware is in a cut-off fiji water bottle mounted with velcro to the cabin wall between the windows, large kitchen spoons, servers are in another bottle mounted to the rear corner wall over the single burner butane kenyon stove. Spices, dish soap, etc. are in a purpose made rack that fits behind the sink/stove area. Paper towels hang on a bungee strung on the grab bar over the sink. I mounted a hatrack over the port rear window for hats and coats. We have three different coolers and two uninsulated "tuffbox" containers that we mix and match for food and cold storage depending on the cruise length. For short, i.e. one week, cruises we use just the larger cooler, (about a 72 qt model). We freeze water in gallon jugs for ice and then use that for cooking, (no water in the bottom of the cooler that way.) We have a middle size plastic container that fits inside the larger cooler that way we can put dry food, canned goods, cereal, bread, etc. in the cooler as well. we carry canned chicken, canned beef, tuna, etc. to minimize cold storage needs. I put extra insulation in the top of the cooler to increase cold storage period. For longer trips we use the tuff boxes for dry storage and vary the coolers. We store a Coleman fold-n-go 2 burner stove, two folding chairs, a boarding ladder, a roll-up table, dinghy motor, dinghy fuel, 400 ft of floating stern line, and a Magma barbeque in the cockpit too. It's very tight on long trips but it works.

 

[Don and Brenda]

I don't remember who's boat it was, but I did see one that had that luggage type mesh in the high top creating a shelf for the PFD's. I thought that was a great space for shorter people.

 

[bridma]

When cruising (for more than one hour) I get the boxs of red and white wine, leave the box at home and just take the plastic bag. Easy to store. For beer and hard liquor, I go with plastic bottles and screw top caps. Oh, and sometimes I take some food as well.
When I was in the Navy, all empty cans, beer and food, went over the side in deep water. We always made sure there was a hole in both ends, the can would sink immediately and make a little home for the critters that live on the bottom. After time of course it would rust away and become nothing. No doubt now this practise is frowned upon and probably illegal.

Martin.

 

[T.R. Bauer]

There is plenty of room in a CD 22 for storage. I built a rack on the splashwell and transom that holds a 200 quart cooler, or my storage boxes. That really helped. In fact, it nearly doubled the usable storage the boat has.

But, before, there is plenty of room for clothes under the passenger side seat above the water tank. You're not going to bring everything in your closet from your house for sure, but it is adequate.

The storage compartment under the other passenger side seat is large. I have put 2 weeks of dried/bagged/canned food in that spot for extended trips in PWS and had some left in reserve just in case. Even with all that food, there is often even room left for other small items.

The storage area under the table I reserve for wet stuff - life plastic rain gear, boots, and other stuff that can get wet without issue. It fills up fast, but has enough room for a boat load of rain gear.

Under the stove, there is a lot of storage. I put all the pots, tools, cleaning supplies, stove oil, coffee pots, and sometimes a spare life vest that I couldn't cram elsewhere.

There is a good amount of room, you just have to get creative and pack things really well.

 

[Grumpy]

Barry,

Only you guys could put together a list like that and smile at the same time

I did like the idea of freezing the drinking/cooking water. That prolongs the ice chest/freezer and saves energy.

I would also second another comment about throwing away cardboard packges and stowing things in plastic ziploc bags, Saves tons of space even though we may hate plastic bags at least they are re-useable up to a point.

M

 

[colbysmith]

Ok, I've read several posts talking about removing foam. I don't have a C-Dory yet, but hope to maybe this summer. So what is it with removing the foam? I'm assuming it's to keep the boat afloat if something really bad happens. So....is it really wise to be tearing any of it out? In the mean time, I think I really like this thread, as I too have been a bit concerned about storage space. Colby

 

[thataway]

Colby, the boat less than 20 feet in length is required to have "level" flotation (some part of the boat floating above the surface seems to suffice).

A 22 foot boat is not required to have floatation, nor is a 50 foot boat...same standards. There are virtually no recorded instances of a C Dory sinking--it could happen, but just has not seemed to. I have left the floatation in place in my boats--but I have also sailed a number of other boats with no floatation across oceans as well as many offshore trips, without fear. If you need a life raft--or dinghy which will serve as a life raft, that is another matter.

You just don't want to load the bow of a 22 C Dory up with weight. As noted, we have been out for as much as a month--and no problem with storage--the items which I do have to move is my camera gear--and some safety gear, such as our ditch bag. Most of our daily use clothes are in mesh hammocks outboard and above the V berth. You can also use the waterproof stuff bags for cloths--and get a lot of them in. For Lake Powell, unless in the winter--the clothing list is fairly short--swim trunks and tops, plus under ware--not much in the way of sox, except for hiking--and a light jacket in the shoulder seasons for us.

 

[colobear]

Merv,

Now you know why we ride so low in the water and cruise at a "gentlemanly" pace (no matter how hard I push the throttles!) :wink:

 

[rogerbum]

You might consider spending some reading about how Bill and El have managed to be "live aboards" for very long periods of time on their 22. Part of it is optimizing storage but a large part of making it easy is being selective in what you take along. Their thread can be found here.