Under floor storage

[mmgarrett]

I have an 18' Achilles that I'm trying to rig up. As we all know, these SIB's fill up pretty quick with stuff (pfds, fishing gear, coolers, etc). So I was thinking, is there any way to store that stuff under the floor? I was thinking of cutting in a reinforced access port in the floor for storage. Has anyone tried this? What problems could occur from doing this?
Thanks,
Matt

[chewy]

I wouldn't fancy stroing anything under the floor. The hull will flex and could put pressure points on the material without you knowing.

[m chappelow]

i have stored long coils of rope hanked up under the floor on a few boats where the floor ends in the bow and i have ready access ,where i have draped them over the inflatable keel then laid them along each side of the keel under the floorboards ,though dont forget its going to get wet whatever you keep under .,,cutting the floor and putting hatches in though i am not too sure as ,,phil ,,chewy says it could weaken and make the floor flex ,it would have to be up at the bow end as there is not much underfloor space at the stern end ,

[jyasaki]

As Mr. Chappelow mentions, I'd be worried about structural integrity of the floor piece.

I suppose you could build some kind of receptacle to avoid this, but I'd also be concerned with items stored migrating around and ending up out of reach. Given the soft bottom you're dealing with, hard items would be ill advised.

That said, I have a large access hatch in my RIB that opens into the hull, allowing for storage of a spare anchor and rode, a tow line (formerly another anchor line), an anchor line float, a current line, and enough room left over for a scuba cylinder or two. It does come in handy if you can make sure stuff stays where it's supposed to.

jky

[martini]

I did, although on a larger boat: Project Martini - Arctic 28

[chewy]

This is on a SIB though, my main concern would be wearing through the fabric of the hull.
The circular hatches with socks attached might work?

[nice.diver]

my 15.5ft zodiac has an 8inch or so inflatable keel, i don't think there is much room left, I would worry about the rubbing it could cause