Furniture at sea!

[geoleo]

I'm an old sailor new to Trawlering. While looking for a boat I have noticed mant trawlers in the pics have lots of what looks like loose furniture that will go wild when at sea!! lol So is there secret tie downs hidden in the walls or what is the remedy?

 

[psneeld]

intracoastal....waves bigger than 6 inches are wakes from bad boaters...


like anything on a biat, if expecting bad seas, tie it down....but you might be suprised at how rolly it has to be to move some furniture.....then again...mant trawlers are pretty rolly.

 

[markpierce]

Fell over in a dining-room chair on a nearly 1000-foot-long ship due to ocean waves. What's the odds in a toy trawler?

 

[dhays]

I'm an old sailor new to Trawlering. While looking for a boat I have noticed mant trawlers in the pics have lots of what looks like loose furniture that will go wild when at sea!! lol So is there secret tie downs hidden in the walls or what is the remedy?

Most of the time the waters I am on are relatively flat. When they aren't, I don't want furniture sliding around. I have a factory supplied coffee table that North Pacific makes for its boats. It is heavy and very stable. However, I once was in water so rough that even it tipped over. The big issue is keeping furniture from sliding.

 

[DHeckrotte]

Only rarely does the loose furniture get tossed around. Very noisy in the galley as well!

We've taken to toss-proofing the loose stuff when things get bouncy. Best to have furniture that's easy to lay on their sides, roll up the carpets, etc.

The advantages of loose, arrangeable stuff the other hundreds of hours aboard outweighs the inconvenience of a few moments attention. If it were more than just a few moments effort, then arranging places to affix bungee cords might make it a little higher on the priorities list.

 

[markpierce]

I've experienced wakes in calm waters that would throw anyone out of a loose chair. Loose furniture belongs in the marina.

 

[Lou_tribal]

By experience, even on calm waters, before going I attach or toss anything that could fly away. I am cruising on a river and it occurred that my wife was falling from her flybridge helm seat because of a bloody idiot waking us in his big fat cruiser at the worst moment. The most dangerous was coming from our kitchen knives block that was thrown away when a 45 feet express cruiser choose to go on port at 12 feet from us at full speed. We found 2 knives stuck in the wood floor! Fortunately we were not in the galley.
Long story short, anything not locked down is a potential bullet.

L

 

[geoleo]

Why not install some tie points ???

so all this stuff would not move and endanger life and limb????and so the crew could pay attention to seakeeping and all??????

 

[geoleo]

Furniture and Trawlers

Some boats I have seen have little built -in furniture and lots of loose furniture

 

[HiDHo]

geoleo, no secrets to it. Padeyes, landyards, cloves hitches and half hitches.

 

[Beekeepergreg]

geoleo,
I am ex-merchant marine---I have the same observations, I guess that's why these engines have so few hours.
Greg

 

[Sabre602]

I, too, came to power boating from sailing and the very notion of loose furniture (and table lamps! and little sculptures of dolphins! and baskets of fruit on the dining table!) still seems unnatural. My converted fishing boat is perhaps more "rustic" than the luxe trawlers that many folks have and is set up more like a sailboat in that there's nothing loose that could come adrift in a seaway. That suits me, and served me well on my delivery cruise through breaking 5-foot seas.

But I know that most of the power vessels at local marinas (excepting the fishing boats) don't go out in a blow. While it doesn't suit me, I'm sure that my wife would enjoy a luxury interior filled with cushy furniture and baubles.

I see it as sort of like the phenomenon of soccer moms who drive their 4x4 SUVs to the mall. They'll never use the vehicles to their potential...will never take them off pavement...but that's OK. To each his own.

 

[koliver]

geoleo, no secrets to it. Padeyes, landyards, cloves hitches and half hitches.

When the dog starts to slide across the floor it is time to come up 15 degrees.

 

[tiltrider1]

I have loose furniture. 20 foot swells and 8 foot waves dose cause it to travel a few inches but it doesn’t get tossed around. I can read a weather map so anything worse than that I can easily avoid.

I would feel different if I crossed oceans vs coastal cruising.

 

[Comodave]

We have recliners in our salon because that is what is comfortable. We have them on an area carpet that has a nonskid pad under it. They have not moved in 6’ waves crossing Lake Ontario so I think we are good. That is one criteria that would rule out a boat for us is built in furniture in the salon.

 

[sunchaser]

We have recliners in our salon because that is what is comfortable. We have them on an area carpet that has a nonskid pad under it. They have not moved in 6’ waves crossing Lake Ontario so I think we are good. That is one criteria that would rule out a boat for us is built in furniture in the salon.

I love built in furniture, and so do many others. Not only keeps chairs from flying around but provides voluminous storage and space for machinery and vents. Many high end new boats are with built ins, especially those intended for blue water.

Yes, I have been in rough water that would cause the Ekonos to go flying. It's how and where we cruise.

 

[Insequent]

Free standing furniture is far more comfortable to use. The PO told me to always lie the salon table down before leaving the dock. I did that until I fitted stabilisers. Things hardly ever move around now.

A lot of built-in stuff is even less comfortable than an airport departure lounge and is best avoided. Of course done well it can be acceptable along one side of the salon. To enjoy being on the boat the salon should be as comfortable as your lounge at home.

 

[Benthic2]

I would think judicious placement of screw in eyelets and rope or strong bungeees could make a big difference here.

 

[caltexflanc]

It takes very very little to secure furniture to walls and floors with simple hook and eyes. Prevents it from gaining any momentum.

 

[AusCan]

My cruising grounds don’t see flat water very often. Everything has to be well secured. I’ve also beefed up the hold down brackets on the fuel tanks, hot water tank, and anything that could come loose. Loose batteries can easily sink a boat.

 

[FF]

"no secrets to it. Padeyes, landyards, cloves hitches and half hitches."

"It takes very very little to secure furniture to walls and floors with simple hook and eyes."

While these items should be part of the new boat assembler duty ,

the brokers are selling a dream which they do not want disturbed by reality.

 

[kchace]

I had planned on putting a couple of pad eyes against the wall behind our couch but haven't gotten to it yet. Our salon table is heavily weighted at the bottom. Nothing has ever moved even during hours of serious seas. The only thing I regularly do when on a passage is lay down the bar stools. Oh and if we forget to fully latch the cabinet with the pots and pans in it... well, they end up on the floor.

 

[ranger58sb]

When we had a loose Flexsteel couch/bed... it weighed a ton and most of the weight was very low... so it never moved in any seas we've been in.

We've since swapped that out for two electric recliners; weight is again low, so far no movement... but our experience with these so far is much shorter. If we anticipated especially rough seas, we might lay them over in advance...but generally a whole bunch of other loose stuff is more at risk than our furniture.

-Chris

 

[sdowney717]

When I was young and foolish, we crossed the lower chesapeake Bay during a light summer storm to the eastern shore.
On the way back from fishing, we encountered huge seas, rolling waves, wind and rain. I had to cut into these waves at 45* angle or the boat would roll into the troughs. So Landon, who was 5 was sleeping on the sofa and with every roll the sofa would slide out and when boat would roll back it would slide back into place. So here I am at the helm with my brother, and my 8 year old girl and his 9 years old son climbs out on the side deck and I saw as the boat rolls Shaun is hanging onto the top rail as he walks along the side deck with his feet dangling off over the water... They wanted to go to the bow to see the waves....

We got them back inside ok. Landon finally wakes up and keeps screaming we are all going to die...

 

[Toadhall]

We have to lazy Boy recliners in our main cabin, love them.

We have straps that come out of some cabinets to secure each chair.

We leaned the hard way to strap down those chairs no matter how calm it is when we leave.

 

[FF]

Most frighting to me is how folks can discuss furniture being tossed about and still use fixed ranges with no fiddle rails.

Being hit by a chair is less problem than a boiling soup pot.

 

[catalinajack]

Most frighting to me is how folks can discuss furniture being tossed about and still use fixed ranges with no fiddle rails.

Being hit by a chair is less problem than a boiling soup pot.

I think most folks without your fiddles would not choose to boil anything when there is a chance for spillage. I can recall seeing pictures of very few boats with fiddles. Unless one is going to be doing extended bluewater passages, fiddles just get in the way. For those times when it is not safe, sandwiches will fill stomachs.

 

[psneeld]

I think most folks without your fiddles would not choose to boil anything when there is a chance for spillage. I can recall seeing pictures of very few boats with fiddles. Unless one is going to be doing extended bluewater passages, fiddles just get in the way. For those times when it is not safe, sandwiches will fill stomachs.

My insurance company sent me a self survey for this year and one of the questions was.... does your stove have fiddles?

 

[kchace]

Most frighting to me is how folks can discuss furniture being tossed about and still use fixed ranges with no fiddle rails.

Being hit by a chair is less problem than a boiling soup pot.

Our stove has a fiddle rail, but there's no way my wife will be cooking on it during serious seas - and no way she'd want to take the helm long enough in those conditions for me to.

 

[catalinajack]

My insurance company sent me a self survey for this year and one of the questions was.... does your stove have fiddles?

Interesting, but if you answer "no", will you be denied insurance?