Get to Know the Onboard Garage

Posted: September 1, 2011

By: John Torelli

Even if you don’t know a lazarette from a lozenge, you should know what it adds to your boat.

By The first time I walked aboard a trawler, I remember asking the sales representative standing over a large hatch on the aft deck if that was the engine room below. He said no and explained that it was the lazarette. I did my best to hide my ignorance and nodded my head in agreement. It wasn’t until after we toured the rest of the boat that I had the courage to ask if we could look inside the lazarette and see what secrets it held.

 Despite being on a smaller trawler, a 40-footer, I was amazed at the overall space in the lazarette. I carefully lowered myself down almost 4 feet and ducked my head as I started to take inventory. The most prominent feature was the beefy rudder post, which had the Simrad autopilot linked to it. A look to port revealed two large house batteries clearly marked, as well as the hot-water heater and pressure-water accumulator. To starboard were additional batteries and the inverter. All wiring was properly secured and clearly marked. There was plenty of space to store spare parts, provisions for a long voyage, and even a small inflatable raft and motor if the owner didn’t want to keep it on deck. I was taken aback by this extra room.

 So what made this “onboard garage” possible, and what else did we discover? The wide 14-foot, 10-inch beam provided a significant amount of the available space. The short aft deck area limited the length to approximately 5 feet, but doing a little math shows you the available area. The third dimension is the depth of the area, which is a result of the hull design and deep draft. A full-displacement hull will normally offer the greatest opportunity for a deep draft, so keep this in mind when you are thinking of long-distance travel and need as much storage space as possible.

 A few additional observations and improvements we will look for on our next boat include a hydraulic-assist hatch to help with the hatch’s weight, a sturdy built-in ladder leading down from the aft deck and 120v lighting over the standard 12v. Add in a little shelving for spare parts and a nice gelcoat finish, and I think you may have the makings of the perfect lazarette. The bottom line is that despite being a hidden space, and possibly not the first thing one may look at upon boarding a boat, the lazarette remains a treasure.