We never throw out anything that could be useful. Hardware and marine stores are few and very far between while cruising… and everything on a boat breaks eventually.
We used to spend inordinate amounts of time looking for stuff… until we came up with the iPhoto solution.
We group items into categories and package them in plastic boxes that are stored under bunks etc. We photograph all the contents of each of those boxes (with their box number) and place boxes by number in a logical location sequence. When we need something… we scroll through the pictures on our iPad… find out which box it is in… and seconds later… we have it in our hands.
I am very proud of this idea… because it works!