Good Lord! That's a piece of furniture and fine furniture at that!

Mine is just a box. . .that leaks.

25 years ago, I built a box similar to that - it's still on my trailer going strong.

It's required a fair bit of maintenance along the way.

A sail box endures some of the worst conditions you can imagine. High winds, driving rain, lots of UV exposure, dirt, soot, flying objects (rocks), vibration, you name it. All we ask that it keep $1000's of dollars of sails and equipment dry and clean.

It's a tough mission statement. Bright finished wood looks cool, but not for long. At least not without a s**tload of maintenance.

It's amazing what a cheap tarp will do for waterproofing; I figure $15/year to keep everything dry and keep the sun off the box.

The doors and the hatch are a pita to execute properly, but well worth the trouble.

Well done Alex. I have been designing a pair of boxes and planning on using 3/4" MDO for the floor and 1x1 hardwood side frame with 3/8' MDO skin on sides & top. What is your box's height and approximate weight?

Do you do much traveling with your rig? I was planning on glued joints with brads and possibly a single glass wrap. Just worried about the box shaking apart.

Well lets see it can't weight more than about 150 to 200 # cause I can leift it by my self if I get in the right spot. Be sure to use Tiet Bond III it is a true waterproof adhisive and I have tested it to the max and it works. The box was figured to be done with 3 sheets of ply, I don't have it here but I think it is about 16" tall and 32" wide that is 48" total 1 sheet of ply the side is the fall off of the 32" and the third sheet you cut in half to make the sides and the top after you rip it at the 32" point. the end panels are solid wood for looks Spanish Cedar is just as good as Mahogany in the weather and exterior grade duglas fir ply is almost the same as marine excpt there are ocasonal voids. Have fun I was gooing to see if I could maket these but they would still coast a pretty penny the finish takes as long to do as building the box as I said I do this for a living so it didn't take as long as you would think besides if I built another one it would take less time as this is the prototype and alot of bugs were worked in my head before I went to work I have buit these in the past for windsurfing and sone of them are still around after 15 0r 20 years they are water tite and don't leak cause they are buit pretty much like a boat but for land. Have fun Alex

1/2 inch is overkill. Like a boat the strength comes from the frame not the skin. I used 1/4 birch with 1 layer of glass and it won't even twist it you pick it up by the corner. For a frame I used 1X2 fir that was screwed and glued at the corners and edges. I ran 4 support ribs across the inside of the bottom. This made it easy to seam the ply togeather to get the length and it helps with air circulation if you have to put away wet gear. Make the top curved for strength and to keep water from pooling on the top. Easy to do. Cut 5 ribs(each end and 3 in the middle) the desired curve out of 1X4, then just screw(start at one edge and work you way across) the 1/4 in ply to the ribs with some brass flat head wood screws, use good wood glue to help the bond. I finished the edges with 1X2 fir. gave it a good coat of resin then a wrapped the outside with a layer of glass. Hand painted with Gel. In 15 years I have had very little maintenance.
I prefer a lift off lid for easy access and water tight. You only need 2" clearance between the boat and the box to just slid the lid off when the boat is on the trailer.

It would fit Lurch perfect!

YOU RANG?

+1. If Trey is taking orders, those are some killer nice boxes, (and a much better value than those fiber glass jobs). I had one specially made, and have been very happy with it.