Tips for Making Your Cruising More Fun

Most of us boat owners tend to be particular about our ladies and often fret when they do not go as planned.* We take great pride when things are ship shape too.* Most of us have developed small improvements for our boats to make our time afloat more fun and relaxing.
Some of the things Ive done on my trawler, the Patricia Ann, have made our boating more fun and less stressful.* Take a look!

1. <li class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;">Do you ever have problems with mud wasps or as we call them in the South, Dirt Dobbers?* I have water, fuel and air vents at various points on the boat where those little pests like to build mud nests.* A plugged vent will create havoc when filling boat tanks.* A rolled up 2x3 inch section of coarse air conditioning filter material found at your local hardware store inserted into the vent opening from the outside does the trick allowing the vent to breathe and keeping the critters out.<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;">What did you last pay for a bottle of isinglass cleaner; about $15.00?* A much cheaper alternative that works even better and consists of a teaspoon of Johnsons Baby Shampoo and ½ gallon of distilled water.* Use a wool mitt to clean the glass and dry with a leather chamois cloth or soft towel. <li class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;">Dont spend big bucks on boat shampoo for washing your boat, use automobile soap available at almost any retailer.* It works just as good at a fraction of the price and will not harm the surfaces.<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;">After washing your boat, do you have window water spots?* Use household vinegar to rinse the windows and the water spots disappear.<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;">Eliminate clutter in the shower from shampoo, conditioner bottles and soap by mounting a bulk liquid dispenser on the shower wall.* You can get one at a reasonable price at any bath products store.<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;">Use your favorite body wash with the dispenser above instead of bar soap.* Bar soap leaves a significant soapy residue on grates and shower walls and will foul sump pumps requiring frequent cleaning.<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;">To further keep your shower sump clean and the pump working as designed, mix about 1 teaspoon of Dawn dishwashing liquid with shower water and let it go down the shower drain.* Dawn is an excellent degreaser.* I use this about once a week to break up any body oils that are present.* <li class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;">Proper storage of sharp knives is important for both safety and maintaining the knifes cutting edge.* I use a magnetic knife rack mounted on a bulkhead above the cook top to keep the knives within easy reach, free up additional drawers and prevent unwanted cuts.<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;">Trash disposal is a constant problem on a cruising boat, but a little planning can eliminate much of the packaging that creates the problem.* Buy a variety of plastic, reusable containers in a variety of sizes.* After buying chips, pasta, cereals, cookies and other dry goods, transfer the foods to the containers and dispose of the packaging on the docks before casting off.* Use reusable containers for frozen foods as well.<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;">Maintaining communication while underway is now easier than ever.* I use a Verizon air card with my laptop to achieve broadband service 24/7.* It works anywhere a cell signal is available in the USA.

The author is a trawler owner and Broker of Record for Paradise Yachts.

"After buying chips, pasta, cereals, cookies and other dry goods, transfer the foods to the containers and dispose of the packaging on the docks before casting off."

Also when doing this don't forget to clearly mark what is in each container and.... AND put the directions for use somewhere you can find it. Some products are no brainers, some are very similar to others and have specific instructions on how to use. Six months from now you may not remember exactly what was in the blue topped container and what was in the red topped container.

Now I know that you use 2 1/4 cups Bisquick and 2/3 cups milk to make biscuits. But Krusteaz pancake mix makes terrible biscuits when mixed the same way. And if you didn't look closely and used flour instead..... well, it just don't work well at all.

Ken

That's called "dinner roulette".

When making cookies underway, do NOT do this in a beam sea or you will have one large brownie shaped cookie....on the other hand you can just tell the Admiral that you "only had ONE cookie!"


Jim
M/V Antipodes

Geez who has time for all this repacking? Just load her up with crackers and beer and take off!

In all seriousness though, my wife and I always find we*pack too much food. The PNW has so many really nice stops for restocking or eating out that upon the return home*our larder is not drawn down nearly enough. I'd guess the Gulf and East Coasts are the same.

Everybody packs too much food. You eat out when you get a chance, and you drink a lot (not underway of course!) so all that stuff you planned to cook gives way to the sandwich stuff.