Securing furniture

[Bobby Lex]

For those of you with "loose" furniture (as opposed to built-in settees, tables, etc.), what methods do you use to secure it so that it doesn't move while underway in bumpy conditions? Bob

 

[Comodave]

We have 2 recliners in the salon. The boat has teak and holly decks so no carpet. We have a large area rug that both recliners sit on with a nonskid pad under the area rug. Both recliners sit on the rug and have never moved so far. We have had it in 6’ following seas.

 

[FoxtrotCharlie]

We have teak floors also. Our two chairs sit on non-skid pads (under the feet) and have never moved. Out sofa has wooden legs, so I drilled a hole up into the bottom of the two back legs, then drilled a headless screw into the floor, and sat the sofa legs onto the 1" 'studs'. never moves, but easy to lift off and move if needed.

 

[Comodave]

We have teak floors also. Our two chairs sit on non-skid pads (under the feet) and have never moved. Out sofa has wooden legs, so I drilled a hole up into the bottom of the two back legs, then drilled a headless screw into the floor, and sat the sofa legs onto the 1" 'studs'. never moves, but easy to lift off and move if needed.

I like the stud idea. Easy to do and use.

 

[FoxtrotCharlie]

Like this. And the lamp is attached to the small table

 

[rgano]

I am sure that unsecured furniture on non-skid surfaces works quite well for the most part, and the neat idea of the headless screw in the back legs of a piece of furniture work in all but the most extreme situations. What about those extremes? I have seen some serious rolls on ships result in things we thought welded securely in place end up on the opposite side of the compartment. We don't intend for that to happen on our vessels, but stuff does happen. I have never had loose furniture on my boats because they weren't built to accommodate the concept; so I have not had to deal with the problem.

 

[Comodave]

Well, that is nice to say, but both my wife and myself have back issues and physically cannot sit on builtin furniture for more than a few minutes so loose furniture it is. We have been in 6’ seas without any issues and we will never be out in worse since we are careful about the weather. We wouldn’t have been out in the 6’ but it was that or wait 6 more days to cross Lake Ontario. The furniture didn’t move an inch.

 

[OldDan1943]

My furniture is built in. It is the stuff in the cabinets I worry about.
A few waves and one can hear things move and settle in the cabinet. LOL
Gotta watch our toes when one opens the locker with canned goods. Fun to hear the pots and pans finding a new way to store them.
Cabinets and drawers opening and spilling the contents. LOL
Hey, it is all part of the fun of owning a boat and cruising.
You have a 'free' chair, put it on it side.

 

[rslifkin]

I worry more about cabinet contents as well. The only loose furniture I have is a couple chairs on deck (with grippy feet), a club chair and a pair of stools in the salon. Salon is carpeted. I don't know what it takes to move the club chair, I've never seen it happen. The stools have heavy weighted bases and are good to somewhere around a 20 degree roll. Beyond that, they'll tip over if the roll is fast enough. The deck chairs are the fishing chairs from West Marine. They're fairly heavy and the feet are grippy enough that I've never seen them move unintentionally.

So basically, I've figured out that other than the stools (which can be moved to secure them before rough conditions), any conditions where my loose furniture items become an issue are beyond anything I want to run in.

 

[rgano]

Well, that is nice to say, but both my wife and myself have back issues and physically cannot sit on builtin furniture for more than a few minutes so loose furniture it is. We have been in 6’ seas without any issues and we will never be out in worse since we are careful about the weather. We wouldn’t have been out in the 6’ but it was that or wait 6 more days to cross Lake Ontario. The furniture didn’t move an inch.

I thought I implied I understood that the extremes I wrote of are beyond your experience with your own boat or any experience you expect to have, and you owe no explanation to anybody for your choices. What you are doing is fine, for you. I also have recent back issues and get that too, unfortunately. A recent delivery found us aboard a 55-footer with loose couches which was OK in the AICW. I tied them down securely before we went outside for 145 miles between inlets.

 

[koliver]

A pair of loops screwed to the outside wall at the seat height, then a shock cord from loop to loop, anchoring the seat back to the wall, has held each of a pair of Stressless chairs for years, though, once a Turkish carpet was thrown on the floor in the middle of the saloon, such anchoring was no longer necessary as the chairs now can't move beyond contact with the carpet.

 

[kchace]

All of our furniture is “loose” including the salon table. The table has a weighted base, the salon chairs are also weighted with non-skid feet. I installed Velcro pads on the bottom of the sofa legs and it grips the carpet (an area carpet with nonskid below). We have been in horrendous seas for long periods of time on more than one occasion and I was rather surprised nothing moved. I have plans to add two pad eyes behind the sofa and small straps to those. It’s the table that really scares me, it’s heavy. If that thing ever got moving it could do real damage. I plan to strap it against a wall before venturing out in bad weather. (Which of course we try to avoid)

Our cabinets and drawers all have latches of one type or another so they stay closed.

Ken

 

[tiltrider1]

All my loose furniture sits on a rug. I have never had an issue with furniture moving while in the Inland Seas. Once while traveling up the coast in unbearable conditions all the furniture traveled to the aft starboard corner of the saloon. We still laugh about the trip that was so harsh even the furniture wanted off the boat.

 

[Comodave]

All my loose furniture sits on a rug. I have never had an issue with furniture moving while in the Inland Seas. Once while traveling up the coast in unbearable conditions all the furniture traveled to the aft starboard corner of the saloon. We still laugh about the trip that was so harsh even the furniture wanted off the boat.

We do our best not to venture out when it is like that. My wife doesn’t like it.

 

[Comodave]

I thought I implied I understood that the extremes I wrote of are beyond your experience with your own boat or any experience you expect to have, and you owe no explanation to anybody for your choices. What you are doing is fine, for you. I also have recent back issues and get that too, unfortunately. A recent delivery found us aboard a 55-footer with loose couches which was OK in the AICW. I tied them down securely before we went outside for 145 miles between inlets.

I wasn’t upset or anything so please don’t think that I was.

 

[psneeld]

Wakes are usually worse than the seas I cruise in...often more violent..thus the problem even in the ICW. Occasionally do get caught by seas and a poor angle or propulsion issue that causes a beam to..... even while anchored due to propulsion issues.

Love the squabble over seas....so much is just personal experience and the particular variables.

I bungee cord a table and chairs, couch fits close to 2 bulkheads that hook and eyes work and remain unseen to visitors. To keep furniture from sliding, doesn't take much....as long as momentum does get a chance to build.

Do agree that some methods work till things want to tumble. As careful as I am, some conditions are rare, but occasionally the rare condition and a boat or other issue puts you in that situation that friction ain't enough, but as I said, even small hooks and eyes or small bungee are enough to keep mayhem from starting.

 

[mvweebles]

When I was delivering, securing everything was Job 1 before getting underway, especially if owners were aboard. Most common loose furniture was patio furniture which got strapped to stanchions. Lamps, pictures, everything was photographed and taken down. Glasses were packed and paper towels between plates. Tool chests were secured, extra lashings on dinghy and anchor - everything got secured. Running short handed was no time to have something break loose. And frankly plates rattling sound a lot worse in the middle of the night.

Loose living room furniture (definitely not a "saloon") was not common but if present, would figure out something. 42 foot ACMY, moved everything to the aft of the living room and packed and padded as tight as possible. On an older boat with carpeting, I wouldn't be averse to placing a couple padeyes in to strap down furniture.

I certainly understand that some built in furniture is not as comfortable as La-Z-Boy recliners. Boats are designed and built by people who are not furniture designers.

Peter

 

[Mike Lowthian]

I had a 42 Ocean Alexander which was heavy and sat sqat in the water with low windage so rolling bad enough to move furniture was not a huge issue but we cruised to Venezuela and back and in our travels saw some hairy seas even after trying our best to watch the weather.

I did have a loose salon couch which would tip over in the worst seas. Remedied this by installing a couple of 90 degree brackets on the frame of the couch and to the floor through the carpeting. Worked fine for me. No biggie to remove the brackets to move the couch but no real need.

 

[mvweebles]

I had a 42 Ocean Alexander which was heavy and sat sqat in the water with low windage so rolling bad enough to move furniture was not a huge issue but we cruised to Venezuela and back and in our travels saw some hairy seas even after trying our best to watch the weather.

I did have a loose salon couch which would tip over in the worst seas. Remedied this by installing a couple of 90 degree brackets on the frame of the couch and to the floor through the carpeting. Worked fine for me. No biggie to remove the brackets to move the couch but no real need.

Mike - Venezuela? Sounds like type of trip that needs a write up if it hasn't already had one. A few weeks ago someone posted question about whether a OA 42 Sedan was strong enough to go from SoCal to PNW. Guessing a resounding "yes" from you!

Would like to hear more about your run.

Peter

 

[PPandE]

When we were going out and knew we were gonna take a spanking, we just took out the drawers and set them on the floor, turned over the coffee table, raked everything off the couch and dumped everything from the counters into the sink. Basically gave up on keeping everything in place before we pulled anchor.

 

[StarChaser]

ComoDave,

I totally understand. My son & were bringing Star from Bradenton to Baltimore. We left Lady Island & NOAA "said" 1-2ft with 5-10 knot winds. We got 6-8ft waves with 40-60 Knot winds. 11 hours later we were back in the exact same slip licking our wounds. The only thing that didn't wind up scattered was the cupboards because they were secured with re-enterable zipties. My Laz-e-boy was overturned and tossed across the salon. I fixed that with a pair of brass corner brackets screwed to the rear legs. Can't move anymore without tools. Not my Permanent solution, I figure on deleting my Laz-E-Boy during the overhaul & will address the furniture moveablity then.

 

[Seevee]

Some of us, like me, just don't have a lot of issues.... pretty conservative coastal cruisers, no schedule, so for the most part we don't face those extremes. Furniture rolling around is bad enough, but when bodies roll, that's really bad.



However, there's a few times that things wanted to take off. I've only got two chairs, lie them down, one BIG heavy couch, that has never moved more than an inch or so. Anything else, just lying on the tables, counters goes flying, so I put all of that away if there's ANY chance of rough seas or when crossing any large body of water.



My worst ride was probably coming across the Gulf... hit some 5 footers occasional 6.... enough to really not want to be broadside. Carol couldn't stay on the couch, so she stayed on the floor. I held onto the wheel to keep from falling over and all was well. Really don't like rides like that, and for the most part, hasn't been bad.


Now, if I were to tie something down, I'd put a footman loop in a spot along the floor somewhere and tie the furniture to that.

 

[OldDan1943]

Save the glass coffee pot first. I put it into the sink!!

 

[mvweebles]

I dunno. I just don't think a boat should have anything aboard that isn't secured in place. It's just good practice, and required of batteries even though they are almost always mounted low and centerline thus avoiding a lot of motion, certainly compared to furniture.

So would anyone argue batteries or dinghies or tool chests or the myriad of other bulky items don't need mechanical lashing 100% of the time?

Peter

 

[OldDan1943]

mcweebles and what we think is secure may indeed break loose and cause collateral damage ie, a tool box breaks loose and hits a well secured battery.

Alas, we cannot plan for all contingencies, just the obvious ones.

 

[oscar]

No built ins. Wall to wall carpet. Haven't had anything move yet. Don't plan to be out there in worse than we've seen so far. All the knick knacks and pictures/wall hangings come down if it's not going to be flat.

 

[Beaverlake]

Interesting question in light of all the new style 55-70 footers with a lot of free standing furniture including dining tables and chairs. Yes, they all have some sort of stabilization, but still . . .

And for those of us cruising “inside” in the PacNW boat wakes are often the big culprit in moving furniture. Full disclosure - we’ve never had either of the barrel chairs or the free standing table move during some rough weather or big wakes, and that’s on a soft chine Bayliner 4788. Still kind of surprises me at times.

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Our furniture on the sundeck is stacked in the corner and strapped down.

 

[OldDan1943]

Bungee cords are not as secure and nylon straps.

 

[FF]

"Alas, we cannot plan for all contingencies, just the obvious ones."

That's why sea cocks should withstand 500 lbs from every direction.

Next time it gets rough contemplate changing a fuel filter.