The Blue View - Baby Needs a New Bailer

Our old dinghy bailer is just about shot. The sun's UV rays have made it brittle and it's starting to crack. No matter – Marcie just finished a jug of laundry detergent, and it is the perfect size and shape for a new bailer. Being the parsimonious sailors that we are, we make use of everything we can.

When there is a lot of water in the dinghy, most anything will work as a bailer. That's not to say that a good bailer wouldn't be preferable, but I've used hats, oars, and even cupped hands quite effectively when there wasn't a real bailer available (although there were times when I wished I had webbed fingers). To move a lot of water quickly, it is more the technique than the tools at hand.

When a good bailer is worth its keep is when the water gets down to the last few inches. Then I want a flat bottomed scoop. We've certainly purchased those classy bailers sold at the chandleries in the past, but I don't find that they do any better job of bailing than my homemade jobs. They do last about twice as long in the sun, but twice nothing, which is what mine cost, is a lot less than the cost to buy a bailer.

I find a 2L size laundry detergent jug is perfect … it is flat on the sides, has a handle, and is big enough to bail large quantities of water quickly, but small enough to dip out the last of the water from the small well near the transom of our dinghy. Usually, Marcie finishes up the laundry detergent in the current jug just about the time the old bailer has about had it. Any similarly shaped heavy plastic container with a screw-on lid will work, however -  bleach bottles, milk jugs, etc.  In a pinch, a gallon (4L) size jug will work, but is a bit too large and flimsy for my liking.

When I'm done bailing, I stuff the bailing sponge into it. This weighs it down enough to keep it from blowing away.

The first few times I made a bailer, I simply dug out my box cutter and hacked away. The bailers worked just fine, but were sometimes rather oddly shaped. Now I mark the jug where I intend to cut it. BTW, it took me approximately ten times longer to write the blog about making a bailer than it did to actually make it.

Recycling on Nine of Cups

Yesterday's post described donating our old genoa to ReSails and their efforts to turn old sails into useful items. Truth be told, I hate clutter, so I always have the urge to throw things away if I can't see an immediate use for them. David likes to keep things aboard in case we need them in the future. Experience and David's insistence have taught me that many common items have multiple uses and by saving them, we can recycle and put them to work again and, perhaps, save a few shekels along the way.

Here's a list of our most commonly recycled items on Nine of Cups and their uses:

Plastic grocery bags are kept and used as small waste basket liners.

Net veggie bags (like the ones onions come in) are used for shell and shellfish collecting.

Wine and champagne corks are used for storing needles, as well as fishing hooks and lures.

We rinse and re-use hardly used Zip-loc bags … we never know where/when we'll find them again and they really can survive several uses. We might not reuse them for food, but once rinsed, they can certainly be used for boat parts and bits.

Empty plastic laundry soap jugs with handles can be cut and used as dinghy bailers.

Plastic 1 ltr water/soda bottles w/caps  can be used as beer bottles if you're into homebrew or other liquid storage. We use just the screw caps for roach cookie containers.

Glass jars and screw top lids can be re-used for canning/preserving and other food storage.

Old t-shirts become rags and polishing cloths. Never too many rags aboard! Since most of our t-shirts and clothes are purchased from thrift shops anyway, this is double and triple recycling at its best.

Old sails can be cut up and useable chunks are saved for sail repairs plus I make canvas buckets, canvas covers, etc.

Old wire from lifelines can be used  as snakes for cleaning thru-hulls. I also reinforce the rim on canvas buckets with old lifeline and David makes security cables for locking things up … like the dinghy and dinghy engine. We also use them as a theft deterrent when securing fuel cans on deck in dodgy ports or ashore in the dinghy.

Old sink sponges may not good enough for the galley, but they're certainly good enough for some other parts of the boat. We have a pail under the galley sink and old sponges go there to be recycled for cleaning the heads, the floors, or maybe the bilge.

Old bimini and dodger material (e.g. used Sunbrella) can be used for patching, but also for making handy ditty bags and totes.

Odd bits of line and small-stuff (a real nautical term) can be used for securing items en route, keeping things together, tying off noisy halyards, etc.

Old jacklines can be used as hoists when making courtesy flags, as reinforcement for the handles on canvas buckets and as hoist straps for dinghies.

Old plastic bowls or cups make great epoxy containers and empty, washed tuna cans are good for varnishing.

Catsup and similar squeeze bottles work well for dispensing epoxy or other chemicals.

Empty spray bottles can be used for concentrated cleaners/chemicals that need to be diluted or just for spraying fresh water on the stainless before cleaning.

Old dock lines are turned into ocean plait mats and used aboard or given as gifts.

Toothbrushes are like gold. We use them for cleaning and polishing the stainless, as well as cleaning other hard to reach spots, like parts of the tea kettle, for instance.

I save cardboard egg cartons because many fresh markets sell eggs by the “each” and do not provide containers. Taking home a “bag” of loose eggs poses its own set of challenges.

Old water hoses are recycled as chafe guards on mooring lines and engine hoses.

Old bits of chain and shackles can be used for securing to rocks when tying ashore or to wharves/piers that have rusty old tie points.

I'm sure there are hundreds more ideas for recycling used items to new uses on board. Can you add to the list? We'd be happy to share your ideas.

Re-Sails Recycles

Typically, when we buy a new sail, I cut up the old sail and save big chunks of it for use in future repairs or perhaps to make canvas buckets. We've purchased several new sails lately, however, and we can only use so much extra sail cloth before it becomes a bit overwhelming. With my sail cloth supply sufficient, I was looking for something else to do with the old genoa. I spotted a sign in yacht club soliciting sailors to donate their old sails to Re-Sails in Cape Town. I gave them a call to see what they were all about.

Though they offered to come pick up the sail, we decided we'd rather bring it to them to see how this cottage industry had grown into a viable business. Come to find out, a South African sailor started Re-Sails in San Diego, California. According to their website, “Re-Sails started breathing new life into old sails in 1994 by South African waterman, Christian Schlebach. Re-Sails is the first company in the world to commercially make products from old yacht sails. Having worked on sailing yachts for years as a deckhand, Christian was always intrigued at the huge amount of old sails the industry discarded each season. Something had to be done. Re-Sails was born out of a small room in San Diego, California, but soon after relocated to Newport, Rhode Island, home of the America’s Cup and prestigious New York Yacht Club.” In 2011, Christian and his brother, Mike, set up a new production facility in nearby Woodstock.

We headed on over one morning with the old genoa. Mike met us at the door, grabbed our sail and offered a tour.

The old genoa was delivered to Richie, who was busy at work cutting up old sails into material to be used for new “sail-able” products. Re-Sails employs 13 people total between this production facility and their retail store at the V&A Waterfront.

Upstairs, we met the production staff, sewing away at new creations. Everybody smiled and stopped working to say hello as Mike introduced us to his crew.

We were impressed with the range of products produced … everything from multi-sized duffels and totes to jackets and even beach chairs. Melinda, formerly from the fashion industry, makes the patterns for new product development. It's quite the enterprise and we were impressed.

We left feeling like our old genoa had found a good home and a new life as part of several new products. As a parting gift, Mike gave David a great new duffel and I received an outstanding tote that I've already used twice. Good trade.