Organizing Storage

I need a good spreadsheet to keep track of our storage spaces (what went where) and to help keep track of expendable items like food and paper. Anyone out there found or made a nice program for this? Found any good apps for this for the iPad?

Tom Ward
IP420-35
La Vida Dulce

OK, after a little looking around I found an App for the iPad called "Stock Control". A limited version is free which allows you to set up groups and insert up to 15 items in each group. The idea is to give you a taste of the App to help you decide if it'll work for what you want.

I went through and set up a "group" name for each storage area on the boat (63 "groups"! Yikes!) and then added items that were stored in each area. We use the storage bins under the port side settee in the main salon for dry storage and canned goods. Since we stack eight baskets in each bin I was able make each basket a "group" ("Main Salon, Port Side, Settee Base, Fwd, #7") which prevented me from going over the 15 item limit. BTW - #7 is a basket that holds cans of tomato based stuff. #6 is for canned veggies. Etc. The only other places we have large numbers of items are the fridge/freezer and the cockpit lockers. I also made each shelf in each area a separate "group" ("Main Salon, Port Side, Settee Back, Fwd, Upper"). Since the upgrade for the app is only $10 I should get enough use out of it before I decide if it's worth paying the big bucks.

The app has a search function which will make it easy to find stuff. This has been one of our biggest headaches. We end up buying multiples of certain things because we forget where we stored them. Or I'll spend way too much time looking for something, which is even more frustrating. Our fridge and freezer are so big we use them when we play hide and seek. The down side is that stuff gets put in there and then we never see it again. Having a searchable list of what's hidden away in the freezer and fridge will be fantastic. Having it on the iPad will make it easier to keep the lists up-to-date because we can have them sitting right there as we load stuff in or take it out. Having the recipes on there too will make it a one-stop operation in the galley.

The app also has detailed descriptions for items including use-by dates, weight, quantity, price, color and more. You can also bar-code things and add pictures. And you can convert your inventory to a PDF. file so you can share it with others or maybe even send it to PeaPod as a grocery list. Or whatever.

I've just started using this app but it looks promising. It'll be nice to be able to put a shopping list together for groceries or just hunt down ingredients for a meal. I like the idea of using the search function for finding that box of #8 screws that I can never find. I figure my project time will be cut in half and now only take twice as long as I planned.

Our iPads have become our personal computers but what's really nice is that we can share files and apps between them and the Mac Mini desk-top computer so we'll have back-ups for important files. I also carry many of the manuals for the boat in PDF. form which has been especially handy when goofing around with the instruments and the auto-pilot.

Tom Ward
IP420-35
La Vida Dulce

Instant update - I just learned that when they say "15 items" they mean all together, no matter how many groups you have. Bummer. Guess I'll spring for the $10 and give an update later on.

When I went to the App Store I found that this company has a number of Apps for all kinds of data collection but this one seems to be the best for what I was looking for.

Tom Ward

OK, I broke down and paid the big bucks ($10) for the App. Initially that seemed like a lotta dough but in reality it's about what I'd pay for a good Phillips head screw driver and in the end this App is a very useful tool. Probably more so than that screwdriver.

We've started going through the boat doing inventory and cleaning of all the storage areas. By my count we have 56 on our 420. In the program I named each area ("group") by location ("salon, port, settee back, aft middle"). Everything stored in that location gets listed as "items". It takes time to go through and list everything but we've found it to be really worth the effort. We've reduced duplicates, gotten rid of unneeded items and condensed things so we now have more available space.

The program allows for adding all kinds of information about each item and you can add pictures too. We kept it simple. There is a search function and you can search by "group", "all groups", "subset" or even use bar codes. We've been using "all groups" so you just start writing what you're looking for and it searches everywhere on the boat at once, which is kinda what I've been doing all along myself. As you type it in it lists everything using those letters and then narrows it down as you type in more info.

I can now find stuff on our boat in just a short amount of time. No more wasted time looking for something. Spare parts, tools, that jar of pizza sauce or the really really good Scotch Whiskey that got stashed away last October. This is probably more of an issue for live-aboards who have everything they own somewhere on that boat. For me, this App (StockControl) is a big deal. Highly recommended.

Tom Ward
IP420-35
La Vida Dulce

OK, one more note about this App. We've now inventoried everything on the boat (I hope). The App works great for quickly locating stuff using the search function and has become a real time saver. To make things even better we've been able to share the info between our two iPads and our boat's Mac mini computer so now it's available where ever and when ever we need it. Any changes can be easily updated and shared through the computer. We could take this to the next level and use it for shopping lists but I kinda doubt that'll happen. Just being able to find stuff and being organized enough to have everything in it's proper place is a serious improvement for us though.

Tom & Cheri Ward
IP420-35
La Vida Dulce