Aboard our 34-foot Creekmore–designed sloop, Eurisko, we use easy-to-reach Sunbrella pockets to store our binoculars and hand-bearing compass. Cruising with three teenage boys has taught us that pockets, and lots of them, also make terrific storage containers for them. I’ve made pockets for both bunks in the aft cabin; 24 pockets cover the entire space from the bunk up to the bottom of the locker. These give the boys a place to store iPods, loose change, toys, surfboard fins, playing cards. The list goes on and on, and the request to “clean your room” has lost its horrors.
I have my own set of pockets and use them to store tissues, a book, a water bottle—in short, anything I would put in or on my night stand at home. I’ve made them from Naugahyde, which doesn’t mildew and is easy to clean. We have shoe pockets made from Phifertex mesh (for good ventilation); they are screwed onto the side of the engine box to keep them out of the way. I also made a pocket to hold charts we may need on short notice. All these pockets help solve one of the biggest problems of cruising on a small boat—finding enough storage space. Connie McBride
