21ec owners, what do you pack and where do you pack it?

[TylerFromEverett]

Greetings! Curious what other 21 owners pack when cruising, and where you pack it. Categories like: food, safety, maintenance/tools, clothes, entertainment, other.

This should be fun. I like that the 21 forces minimalism and creative thinking.

 

[Pilotnavigator]

First off as a base... we stay on anchor 9 days at a time and come into port for a night to resupply.
We carry enough tetra pack milk and OJ for the summer, 65 days in the space below the bed. We have 4 Rubbermaid totes in the area under the sink. One for dinners, breakfast and lunch. I added ports to the steps and can store a case of bottled water in each. In the rear I store a spare anchor, a 11 pound Bruce in a bag, a tool bag, on the starboard side, along with spare butane cans.
Our full garbage bags go here as needed. On the port side I have two group 27 AGM batteries and a bag of spare parts, impeller, belt, oil, sea foam for the dinghy motor etc.
While in town we buy our meat for the week and the store freezes it for us. We pick it up the next day.
Fridge holds two trays of frozen meat in the freezer section, one tray of frozen meat below, two bags of prepared salads, one dozen eggs, and various condiments and a package of sausages. Put milk and OJ in as needed.
Breakfasts...We carry the precooked bacon, wraps, to make wraps with the eggs, cereal, milk and OJ.
Lunch... we have canned spreads like tuna salad etc on crackers. Soup etc if cold.
Dinner... first night out we have a Louis prepared meat that we only have to heat up. Put it on a fresh bun with a salad.
Then we go though the meats, chicken breast, beef tenderloin, smoked pork chops, sausage on a wrap, sausage and beans.
Then we are down to backpacker meals, cans of stew etc. Finish the meal with a tin of fruit and a snack pack cookie and a cup of tea.
All our cooking is done either on a one burner butane stove on the engine box, engine covered with a plastic table cloth, or on the BBQ hung off the swim platform. All dishes and stuff is stored under the radio area. We do no carry any beer etc but do have a case of Soda stored with the dishes and add one to the fridge as one is removed.
I store a spare butane stove under the bed.
I built a storage attic that hangs over the engine, in it is our PFDs, fishing gear, etc.
When in port we refill our totes from supplies we carry in the car. We find two people need a case and a half of water a week.
Spare propane is stored in a bag on the swim platform.
See pictures in gallery of our set up.
We are in the north channel of Lake Huron from last week of June to after labour day. Doing this for the last 13 years, the past 4 in our tug, so we got the process all figured out.

 

[TylerFromEverett]

Wow. Dialed! Would love to see the ports you added.

 

[Pilotnavigator]

I thought they were in the photo album, I will have to add them.in the mean time... I bought two ports like the one used to access the valve for the cooling water that is in front of the engine box. Mount them to the stern part of the step. One on each side. I mounted mine with long pop rivets with backing washers. But screws or bolts would work too.

 

[johnniethek]

One of the things I always do is put frozen one-gallon jugs of water in a cooler to keep food cool. It later thaws and provides good drinking water.

 

[Fisho]

We usually use our 21EC for sleeping over one night but sometimes up to 2 or 3 nights or more when we tow the boat to another place with our pickup. A week on the boat is not a problem. The 21EC has a surprisingly large amount of storage. We have never been restricted, within reason, on what we take. Fishing gear, food, ice, beer, wine, clothing etc etc. The standard storage is under the rear bench seat, in the three cupboards and for longer term storage under the V berth. However we use one side of the cockpit for two or three large ice boxes. We also store a spare or secondary ROCNA anchor, chain and rope in a plastic box fixed to the swim platform. The boat has a heavy duty drum winch with a large ROCNA at the bow. When towing the boat by pickup we use a small inflatable tender that fits snugly in the cockpit. When sleeping over on our lake we use a 3.7m aluminium punt with a 9.8HP. At night we tie the tenders next to the 21EC effectively giving another room or storage area for ice boxes, fishing gear, buckets, etc. Our boat has a bimini that only covers the back half of the boat so when sleeping over, or when raining or heavy dew we set up a lightweight ripstop nylon cover or roof that covers the cockpit, most of the swim platform and half the cabin. We have also changed the spirit stove for a portable butane stove that uses small gas canisters. This is usually used in the cockpit on the engine box but can used in the cabin. Perfect for all cooking, steaming, coffee machine, toaster, stir fries etc. During the day we throw bedding, clothes etc onto the V berth and just remove when sleeping. Extra storage in the two steps as discussed is a good idea. Might do it but really don’t need the extra storage. We find the 21EC perfect for a couple with storage not an issue as long as you plan a little.