Dirona has plenty of storage space—we’ve not yet come close to filling all the lockers despite living aboard. But it is a boat, and storage space is at a premium. So we’re always looking for ways to make the most efficient use of the space we have. When we visited the yard during construction, one of the items on our checklist was to add lockers in any inaccessible void spaces, or to modify standard lockers to make best use of the space available. As we organized the galley, one product we’ve found useful is Seville Classics iron expandable kitchen shelf. We’ve purchased five so far, and keep finding new uses for them. We initially got one for the locker above the washer/dryer that we use as a pantry: Then one for the dry-goods locker above the port counter: And another for the shelf below the port counter: And one for for our mugs and glasses cupboard above the main counter: Recently, we realized one would fit in the appliance garage behind the stove: Seville Classics also has an iron two-tier shelf. By some fluke of luck, two fit exactly into our center overhead cupboard and really maximize our use of that space: The shelves have little friction, so we’ve glued on non-skid material to keep things from shifting. For dishes and coffee mugs, we are using Aspen from Crate and Barrel. We had Aspen coffee cups in storage from our house and brought them aboard the new boat. Before we put non-skid in the cupboards, the mugs had survived sliding and banging into each other so well that we decided to buy the plates and bowls too. So far they’re working out well. The bowls are a little on the large side, but are multi-purpose. We purchased the shelves from our local Bed, Bath and Beyond store, but they also are available from Amazon.com. .jpg)
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Galley storage
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Thanks, that was really helpful:) Did not even think of the popcorn maker, but it makes sense for a quick snack while under way. We have roughly 4 years to get ready so expect a few more questions along the way. We’re learning alot from just following along with you guys, thank you for that.
I forget, we also have a blender that we don’t use all that much either. A lot will depend on your preferences. When we got our first boat we borrowed a few things from the house, but didn’t buy anything specific for the bout immediately. We just spent some time on it to learn what we wanted/needed so we didn’t end up buying a lot of things we wouldn’t use.
Thank you for sharing your organization and packing tips:) Even though we are still a few years away from living aboard, I do have some questions regarding small appliances kept on board. In regards to mixers, rice makers, bread makers etc. What have you found over the years to be a necessity?
Anneline, the appliances we use frequently are the coffee maker, kettle, toaster and rice maker. We could survive without the coffee maker, but it’s convenient and doesn’t take much space on the galley counter. (In really rough seas, we’ll secure it or put it in the sink.) We eat a fair bit of rice and the rice maker is convenient for avoiding boil-over spills and for easy cleanup. We also have a hot air popcorn maker that we use a fair bit, particularly on passages, and definitely would want again. (//mvdirona.com/Trips/Australia2014/Australia11.html?bleat=3%2F20%2F2015%3A+Midnight+snack)
We have a waffle maker from our house that we don’t use heavily, but is also is nice to have and doesn’t take up much space in the appliance cupboard. We don’t use the bread maker (//mvdirona.com/Trips/2013_FrenchPolynesia/Marquesas.html?bleat=4%2F10%2F2013%3A+Fresh+bread) as much as we expected, as we’ve been able to get fresh bread when needed and freeze it in bulk. But we do use it on passages, particularly to make dough for cinnamon buns etc. If we couldn’t get fresh bread for more than a month or so, we’d consider it a necessity. We also have an electric knife-sharpener from our house that isn’t a necessity, but is small and convenient for keeping the knives sharp.
We don’t have a large mixer, just a handheld, which works for our purposes. We’ve considered getting a toaster-oven so that we don’t have to start the gen to heat something up in the oven, but they all were kind of large. And with our 240V inverter install, it’s less of an issue since we always have 240V power available (//mvdirona.com/2014/08/a-more-flexible-power-system-for-dirona/).