Cargo Deck

Drascombe Gig

Cargo Deck

To date when we have been away for overnight or for a few days, we have carried our camping gear and kit split between the two rear lockers and 4 plastic storage drums that we bought for the purpose just after taking ownership of Tra Bhui.

While we have managed to carry everything that we need with ease, there are a few drawbacks to this arrangement.

· The drums while watertight are not secure against theft as they cannot be locked shut.

· The drums have to be individually tied in to make sure they stay with the boat in the event of a knock down or capsize

· We tend to cram too much into the rear lockers adding to the stern weight of the boat which tends to sit slightly stern heavy anyway.

The solution was therefore to make a Cargo Deck – while this may seem a grand name it simply consists of three plywood covers that encloses the area between the 1^st, 2^nd and 3rd thwarts at the same level as the thwarts, rather like a deck infill.

The deck is lockable and provides us with a surface on which to cook, eat, sleep (although I prefer the space o the floor) and on which we can carry our deflated tender.

This keeps a lot of weight forward and low in the boat which helps with our upwind performance.

Since the pictures below were taken hinges have been added which not only help secure the covers when we are sailing, but make the covers more manageable when they are open.