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TeddyDiver · 18-02-2017, 11:32

Open shelves (with fiddles of course) should allways be placed athwartship in a sailboat. Just saying the obvious they don't teach in the NA school anymore..

Dave22q · 18-02-2017, 12:37

I used shock cord and ss screw eyes at both ends, knots instead of fancy hook ends. I used 1/2" cord cause it was handy but 1/4" should also work. My bookshelves runs are about 7'.

TheThunderbird · 18-02-2017, 12:48

Hudson's pic shows the way to go.

My boat, a classic Carlini-made joinery, is alike.

I have learned
To select books, and keep a few at hand
Many more are down close to the bottom (stowed), as some 100# of paper must stay

**JPA Cate** · 18-02-2017, 12:56

We've used shock cord, if you ever take your boat out on an ocean passage, you are likely to have the books all over the cabin sole! On our first Insatiable, we replaced the shock cord with an arrangement such as Hudson Force described, and all the books stayed put. Jim cut the slat slots out of two blocks of teak, and we also used teak for the slat. Just varnished it. This boat has a number of them, and the timber used is PNG rosewood. Use whatever matches your interior timber.

Ann

**Hudson Force** · 18-02-2017, 14:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by TeddyDiver

Open shelves (with fiddles of course) should allways be placed athwartship in a sailboat. Just saying the obvious they don't teach in the NA school anymore..

I like the principle with this observation, but space is where you find it and most boats are longer than their beam. ...but it's good in theory and practice if it fits.

El Pinguino · 18-02-2017, 15:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by TeddyDiver

Open shelves (with fiddles of course) should allways be placed athwartship in a sailboat. Just saying the obvious they don't teach in the NA school anymore..

Hmmmm... I have thwartships and fore-and-aft... both work

The thwartships ones are designed for paperbacks and have a fixed restrainer....

Fore and aft the restrainer is removeable .... the 'end plates' aren't the sort of thing one tends to take photos of so I shall try and describe.

Pieces of wood about 1/4 inch thick and about 2 inch deep by 1 inch wide with a slot of the same profile as the restraining bar cut into the top. A nice 'friction fit' is good.

Job done... works good.... if not entirely filled with books take up the slack with teatowels or similar.

Bottles live inside the table, 3 frd and 3 aft of the mast....restrained by circular cutouts about an inch above the base of the lockers... and tea towels....

Small thwartships shelves top stbd are now used for glasses which turn out to be a neat friction fit.

**JPA Cate** · 18-02-2017, 16:28

Te gustas el gato negro, El Pinguino?

A.

Cheechako · 18-02-2017, 17:22

A rail is nice. Two brass hooks and big bungie will work for an easy fix.

El Pinguino · 18-02-2017, 17:31

Gato Negro is a 'quality' box wine..... and an economical way to cater for a 3 man crew who wouldn't know good wine if it bit them on the bum........

Back on track... Re bungee... it is designed to stretch and will not, therefore, work.
Why not just use some small stuff and tension it up with a truckers' hitch?
Depends on the headroom above your shelf/bookcase/whatever I guess.... I don't normally have to remove my rails to get anything out.

Painted Skies · 18-02-2017, 17:41

We have the same type of wooden battens that Hudson Force and Ann have mentioned. On the shallower shelves (first photo, which is actually two separate shelves) there is just a single batten in place (2 inches wide nominal) and in areas where the space height of the shelf requires it, there are two battens (1-1/2 inches nominal); both appear to be about 1/4 inch in thickness.

The brackets that hold the battens in place are notched pieces, cut from 1/4 inch teak plywood. If your shelf doesn't have a fascia board, you'd need to make these as U-shaped brackets. The last two photos show what our brackets look like, taken inside the shelf looking back into the cabin. They are amazingly effective for keeping almost everything in place during rough passages.

tdalke · 18-02-2017, 17:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Painted Skies

We have the same type of wooden battens that Hudson Force and Ann have mentioned. On the shallower shelves (first photo, which is actually two separate shelves) there is just a single batten in place (2 inches wide nominal) and in areas where the space height of the shelf requires it, there are two battens (1-1/2 inches nominal); both appear to be about 1/4 inch in thickness.

The brackets that hold the battens in place are notched pieces, cut from 1/4 inch teak plywood. If your shelf doesn't have a fascia board, you'd need to make these as U-shaped brackets. The last two photos show what our brackets look like, taken inside the shelf looking back into the cabin. They are amazingly effective for keeping almost everything in place during rough passages.

Wow that looks fantastic! Thank you for the great idea!

tdalke · 18-02-2017, 17:46

Some real great ideas on here, thanks to all!

Cheechako · 18-02-2017, 18:35

On one boat I used some left over lifeline netting with bungie thru the top horizontal line. I had hooks on the bottom shelf to just keep it pulled down in port .... which is maybe 95% of the time. It worked well. Lots of things do work. Just the bungie works fairly well if you use LARGE bungie. Like 1/2". Rail or netting probably better in really rough weather though.

GILow · 18-02-2017, 21:26

We have a combination of the wooden battens for the taller shelves and lightweight decorative style chain for the lower height shelves. The chain has hooks at either end. Works very well, nothing has fallen out even in Bass Strait.