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I start with a few large diameter pool noodles, cut to various lengths and wedged into the hull so that any thing loose will stay in the general area of the rear seat hatch where I sit to sail the TI. That is, dry bags can no longer slide clear to the far end of the boat. Being a strong believer in positive flotation in boats, I don’t mind taking up space with foam. I’d even appreciate bulkheads, but am not enough of a DIY kind of guy to make them.
When I say the foam keeps things in the general area of the the rear seat, that is still a vast area. I once spent a week looking for a bag with my wallet. TI space is truly amazing. So I narrow it down further with the squarish wide mouth clear plastic jars that mrbrightwork mentioned. I get em at Costco rather than Sam’s Club.
The one I’m holding is for 1.13 kg (2.5 lb) of unsalted cashews. It is 7” high, 5” square, with a 4.25” opening for a screw top lid. The label glue comes off with mineral spirits if I’m ambitious. I have some bigger ones for pub mix snacks — 5.5” square and just under a foot high. My open fist fits easily into the openings. The smaller one holds over half a gallon (2 l), the bigger probably twice that.
These are great: buy the jar and get the pretzels for free! Hobie should sell them because on their sides they fit nicely into the rounded curves of the hull bottom. Thus they do not slide sideways, and you can line them up on each side of the hull, narrowing the space for real storage so that dry bags do not slide sideways too far from the hatch. Mostly my jars stay empty. But they’re great for water ballast, sand or pebble ballast, positive flotation air, bringing pretty rocks or plants home (I ‘m always always gathering plants that I want to look at later with a botany book and a microscope), drinking water, and of course dry storage for lunch, gloves, hats, glasses, phones, etc. Or just leave the pretzels or animal crackers in them.
They are not certified dry, but the lids do screw on tight, and on their sides the lid opening is about a centimeter or two above the curved hull bottom. I’ve never found water inside them even with a fair amount of water sloshing around the hull. I use slide lock bags rather than zip lock (I’m genetically zip lock impaired). I find that about 80% of slide locks are 100% water proof. But since I don’t know which 80%, I never trust them. I would however trust anything to stay dry in a slide lock bag inside a Costco jar. I’d also guess that a thin gasket of neoprene or rubber could be cut out & fitted to the lid to guarantee them dry.
As I recall, Ikea also has kitchen jars that may work in a similar way.
After shortening the hatch access space with pool noodles, and narrowing it with plastic jars, I end up putting most of my stuff in dry bags close to the hatch. A dry bag can come out quickly and the hatch closed up while fishing through the bag. This minimizes open hatch time. I would never open the front hatch, or even the rear one while on the water.
Love the ideas here for zip ties and biners, and the flexible tub idea.
Brian
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