I only know of two other Hans Christian 33Ts besides ours that have replaced the aft starboardThe right side of a ship when facing forward. quarter berth with a large nav station and a closed compartment. We refer to the closet as our equipment locker, because it is packed with so many permanently mounted, buzzing, humming, whirring pieces of technology; the inverter, the battery charger, the galvanic isolator, the desulfator… If it's listed under 'Electrical' on our Boat's Specs, there's a 50-50 chance it's located in this locker.

Originally, our hot water heater took up a great deal of space. But when we moved to anchor, we needed another way to heat up the H²O (I know, I know. I'm spoiled, right!) because the little 6 gallon Seaward required shore power, or a running engine to work. We managed with the solar showerA thick, black water bag with a hose hanging from the bottom. as long as we were able to bathe within a certain window of time. In the summer, the water was too scalding from 11:00 to 16:00. In the winter, it was only warm enough between 12:00 and 14:00 and night time was never an option.

But we solved that problem with a propane instant water heater installed in the head, which freed up all kinds of space in this locker. So in its place sits part of our house battery bank; four 6 volt batteries wired in series and secured in a sealed, vented box.

A long shelf running fore and aft is used for storing our BCDs, octo's, wetsuits, and other dive gear. Don had the foresight to obtain a 100' hose so that I can attach it to an air compressor on deck and scrape the hull without holding my breath. Thanks Don! Our plethora of power tools have also landed here; the drill, the sander, my Fein Multimaster (love that guy!), the jig saw. It's interesting to me that back in my single, bricks and mortar days, my collection of power tools consisted of a drill. That's it. A drill. In my kitchen, however, I had small electric appliances up the wazoo; a bread machine, a rice steamer, an electric wok, a mixer, a blender, and ice cream maker.

Now, it's the complete opposite. I don't know if it's because Don came into my life, and brought all his man stuff along. But I know for sure that we now use a grinder more often than we need a waffle iron. Tools in general have become a lot more important in this lifestyle, and we have quite the collection sitting front and center in this locker.