FAQ - How do you do laundry aboard?

Dirty laundry is one of those things that just never goes away. On land or sea, it's always there and there's always more. You can let it pile up and then it adds a distinctive odor to the already present diesel and bilge smells aboard. Or you can try to keep up with it on a regular basis. Either way, it's one of those things you have to deal with … eventually.

Some boats have washing machines aboard. Nine of Cups is not one of them. When we're in a marina or in a town with a laundromat close by, it's pretty easy. You tote the dirty laundry in, do the wash/dry routine and you're good to go … until the next time. I prefer to wash and dry aboard when I can. We string a clothesline between the forward shrouds and the staysail furler which makes a triangle and a reasonable amount of hanging space. I use the lifelines as extra space if I need it. Wire lifelines sometimes leave rust stains. We have Dyneema lifelines which are non-metal, so rust is not an issue. Many marinas do not allow you to hang laundry aboard and when that's the case, I either use the marina's dryer or in some cases, the marina's communal clotheslines. The clothes smell better when they're air-dried; it's a “green” thing to do; it's easier on the fabrics; and of course, it saves money.

Laundromat fees can be very expensive, up to $12/wash-dry a load. That adds up quickly when you've got several large loads to do. Instead, I try to hand wash most things regularly. Underwear, socks, t-shirts are pretty easy. I put water and a small amount of laundry detergent in a pail and dump in the dirty laundry and let it soak overnight. I mix it around a bit … this is the “agitation” cycle. In the morning, I give special treatment and a scrub to problem areas, then I wring out and rinse in a pail of fresh water, wring out again and hang everything out to dry. A good windy day and everything's dry in a couple of hours.

Jeans, sheets and towels are a bit more unwieldy and heavy to handle. Jeans are a problem because they're heavy and tend to try to escape while on the line in a stiff breeze. We string small stuff (short lengths of line) through the belt loops and tie them to the clothesline to insure they stay put. Sheets are more easily washed in the dinghy or in the river if you can manage it. Wringing out sheets is more easily done as a joint effort. One person on each end and twist, twist, twist.

If you have a watermaker, water is not a problem. We do have a watermaker, but I hate using fresh water from the tank if I don't need to. It takes energy to run the watermaker. We collect rainwater in buckets and use it whenever possible. We've also traveled up river at times to collect water for laundry. If the dinghy is tied to Cups' side during a rain shower, it's the perfect water collector. You can even do the laundry in the dinghy if you're stuck with doing sheets and no laundromat in sight in the near future.

I've done laundry in rivers along side local women. It's a chance to compare notes and an excellent example of “though we're different, we're more the same”.

A couple of tricks …

• David has tied knots in the clothesline about every 18”. This keeps the clothespins (clothes pegs) from sliding along the line as the clothes sway in the breeze.
• We use carabiners tied to the end of a pre-measured clothesline so that I can just clip the clothesline onto a shroud, wrap it once around the staysail furler and around the opposite shroud and clip on with another carabiner to the original shroud. It's quick and convenient.
• I made a ditty bag that holds the clothesline and extra clothespins. I leave the clothespins on the line when it's stored so it's quick to take down and really convenient when I string it up again.
• I pre-treat with liquid detergent any spots that are apparent as soon as I can and they usually come out easily with just a light scrub in the “agitation” cycle.

Do you have any ideas or suggestions for doing laundry aboard? We'd love to hear them and share them.

This is the "pink" view of doing laundry. Check tomorrow's blog for a chuckle and the Blue View!

Days and Ways to Celebrate

A daily list of mostly obscure holidays and fun ways to celebrate them.

World Water Day

A UN sponsored event which advocates the necessity for proper management and conservation of fresh water throughout the world. Try shutting off the water when you're brushing your teeth. Conserve.

FAQ - Have you always been sailors?

 

We are asked this question quite frequently because 1) most people assume that if you're living on a boat that you probably grew up by the sea or on the water your whole life; and 2) you can't learn how to sail later in life. Have we always been sailors? The answer is no. In both our cases, we had no experience with boats, other than the rowing variety, as kids. We're living proof that you can teach old dogs new tricks.

Though I lived in New England, I got to the ocean only a few times during the summer each year as a kid and then only for swimming and laying on the beach. David grew up in landlocked Colorado, but reading exciting sea stories as a kid primed him for a life at sea. Two Years Before the Mast and all those Horatio Hornblower Novels had him joining the Navy at age 18 … to see the world. He ended up working in electronics Stateside and never went to sea. In fact, he was never on a ship in his entire naval career.

Nope, no kid stuff for us. We began our sailing careers in our 40s. We took some local sailing classes on a lake. We followed that up with 4-day long weekend course in San Diego where we got to live aboard the boat we were training on. With limited experience and lots of reading and research, we began chartering sailboats in the Caribbean through the Moorings and Sunsail. The first time out, we were required to have a captain who put us through our paces (very easy paces indeed). After that … wow, we were experts and they let us sail off on our own. Scary thought!

For all of you who lack experience, but have dreams of sailing off into the sunset, we offer this. You can do it. It's very realistic to learn how to sail even though you're not a kid any more. If lack of experience is what has you stalled, take classes, talk to other sailors, join a sailing club, join SSCA, read, read, read. There are a myriad of classes available to teach you how to sail, but the very best teacher is experience. Get out there. Slay that dragon!

Days and Ways to Celebrate

A daily list of mostly obscure holidays and fun ways to celebrate them.

Diesel Engine Day

Rudolph's Diesel's birthday. How about a nice oil change for that favorite diesel engine of yours. Don't have a diesel? Wave to a trucker!

FAQ - How do you decide where you're sailing next?

 

We received a comment from Catherine who asked how we decide where we're going next. She was particularly interested in our decision to head along the south coast of Australian across the Great Australian Bight (GAB) and up the Australia's wild west coast. Most folks don't do this and she wondered why we had chosen this option.

The decision of where to sail to next sometimes takes a lot of effort and research. We look at the world map and then, based on where we are, figure out what options make sense. Weather (cyclone/hurricane season), prevailing winds and currents obviously play a major role in our choice of next destinations. We review wind roses and pilots for historical weather information for particular months of the year.

We also take a look at where other folks have been and how they liked it. There are innumerable resources available on-line. We're members of SSCA (Seven Seas Cruising Assn) and we spend time reading input from other SSCA members to determine their recommendations, how they enjoyed certain areas and what their passages were like. There are lots of sailing blogs and websites to consult.

Once we've narrowed down our options, we begin gathering all the cruising guides and travel guides possible. We're pretty good at trading information with other cruisers which keeps the costs down. We tend to enjoy “off the beaten path” routes for a myriad of reasons (another FAQ to be addressed in the future), but there's nowhere that another cruiser hasn't been before, so we always find adequate information.

I tend to do the research and figure out where I'd like to go. David is always an easy sell. Most of South America was never on the agenda; it just happened. Once we have all the information, we settle on a plan … which usually evaporates in seconds when we hear of another place that we'd like to visit that's more exotic or more remote. Pitcairn Island, Tristan da Cunha or Tasmania … for instance! Too many places and too little time.

To address Catherine's question directly … why cross the Great Australian Bight? First, because it's there. Second, because the rounding of our final Great Southern Cape, Cape Leeuwin, is along that route. Third, because it's “off the beaten path” and fourth, because it's shorter to get to Africa that way, than to go back up Australia's east coast.

Thanks to Catherine H. for asking this question and giving me a good topic to think about and post. Where's your next destination? How do you choose your travel routes?

If you have a question you'd like answered or a topic you'd like discussed, leave a comment or send us an email. We love your input.

Days and Ways to Celebrate

A daily list of mostly obscure holidays and fun ways to celebrate them.

Alfred Hitchcock Day

The master of cinema suspense and thrillers...even now watching Psycho or The Birds gives me an adrenaline rush. Why not rent one of these old classics and give it a watch tonight.