An addict attempts to reform his character....

[Mirelle]

Somewhere in one of FB Cooke's books is the observation that "Davies", in "The Riddle of the Sands", with his passion for throwing things overboard, is a most un-typical yachtsman, and that most yachtsmen are far more inclined to fill their boats' lockers with piles of hoarded junk that "might come in useful".

I have to plead guilty to having been a sailing packrat for most of my life, and carried round piles of tools, chandlery, etc. which "might come in useful".

I have to say that I have been encouraged in this addiction (for that is what it is - obsessive-complusive behaviour!) by the Yottin' Press, which, FB Cooke honourably excepted, NEVER tells me to leave something out and ALWAYS tells me to buy and carry more kit!

I have recently come under pressure from a certain domestic quarter, who is inclined to believe that Godliness is next to cleanliness, to reform, though she nearly changed her mind when she saw how much of the garage is now occupied with stuff that used to live in the boat.

The boat, on the other hand, has grown amazingly!

Am I alone in carrying...

- the last lot of flares as well as the current lot ? (thank you, T. Cunliffe, for that one!)

- a monstrous tow/mooring/spare anchor warp as well as a kedge warp?

- far too many tools? (do I really need anything more than a Leatherman and an adjustable wrench?)

- stores sufficient to last for a week without touching port? (when we potter around the East Coast?)

<hr width=100% size=1>Que scais-je?

 

[Rowana]

A man after my own heart! You should see my garage - I've even got some spare guttering (square section) from a house I used to live in, and I've moved 3 times since!

My SWMBO is the same as yours - very minimilist - if it's not being used, out it goes. If I get the job of disposing of things, they go to the garage first so that I can see if I can find a use for them. (but don't tell her)

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[Windfall]

Just what is it with you guys /forums/images/icons/smile.gif hwmo is just the same.

My theory? If we've managed a whole year (i.e. through every season) without something then quite clearly we don't need it so out it goes.

Him? well the shed is bulging at the seams with all sorts of things that just might come in useful one day. He's even been known to retrieve stuff from the bin once I've had a tidy up!

And as for the stern locker - well don't even go there. Even our friends have learned to dread the words it might be in the stern locker .


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[Mirelle]

"If we've managed a whole year (i.e. through every season) without something then quite clearly we don't need it so out it goes."

Now that is what I call a Logical Approach!

I will have to avoid the normal male response, which is to scurry round looking for pretexts to use things, at least once, just so as to keep on carrying them, and I assume that this Principle should not be extended to the liferaft and flares, but it certainly justifies my "no VHF" policy, and eliminates the ensign and staff as well!

As for the Stern Locker...A recent "dig" revealed:

Top layer : anchor ball and motoring cone,
Recent deposits: two paraffin cans (why two??) deck bucket, three fenders, mooring warps, ensign,
Late 2003: Sack of Coalite for solid fuel stove, pump for Avon (consisting mainly of duct tape)
Neothlithic: "Spare" mooring warps, wetsuit (prop for the clearing of) cockle rake, thigh boots (boat for the scrubbing off of)
Paleolithic: Fishing rod (no reel) pot of Blake's Seacock Grease (one of three aboard!) several lengths of plastic hose and set of varnished teak slats which were once the port ratlines but were not put back after vanishing (in 1989!) ...

<hr width=100% size=1>Que scais-je?

 

[ubuysa]

Yup, it's a guy thing. My guess is we all do it to some degree or other. It's in our genes - for 98% of the time the human race has been on the planet we were living in the stone age. In that environment "stuff" is hard to find and keeping "stuff" that might be useful later can mean the difference between life and death. That primitive urge to hoard "stuff" is still with us.......

I wonder if there was a stern locker on a dugout canoe?

Tony C.

<hr width=100% size=1>There are 10 kinds of people, those who understand binary and those who don't.

 

[Guest]

Guilty ....

even to the old rusty tools that 'just' might be handy .... if I could find the easing oil stowed away somewhere ...

the old flares are a definite YES ...... read any of my previous on flares !!! Buy new ones singularly so that the old is rotated out from the old set .... replacing the 'new' over a period and putting the new into the old psoition .... if you see what I mean, then just rotate those .... saves breaking the bank every so often buying whole sets and gives you more !!

My 5th berth running under the cockpit is just plain stuffed full of gear that hasn't seen the light of day for years !!!!


<hr width=100% size=1>Nigel ... and of course Yahoo groups :
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gps-navigator/

 

[claymore]

Hmm - I had a half day in a locker last week and found most of the stuff I'd need to rebuild an engine. The previous owner was also a Bendix/Hotpoint /Hoover specialist so there was enough there to equip a small laundry - We have of course been lugging this lot around for the past 8 years - its a bit like Jimi's holding tank and his third battery

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=purple>regards
Claymore<font color=purple>
/forums/images/icons/smile.gif

 

[Guest]

OK - 2005 New Years resolution

To clear all junk from the boat .......... so where do I put it then ? Garage is full of ex-wifes and my junk, shed is full of my boat junk that I cannot get on boat .....

I got a problem !!!

Anyone want a broken oar, punctured mooring buoy, oily smelly set of fenders, siezed diesel engine ...... etc.


<hr width=100% size=1>Nigel ... and of course Yahoo groups :
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gps-navigator/

 

[jimbouy]

Only had my tiny boat for a year and already she's lower in the water line with no room to move in the cabin.



<hr width=100% size=1> "It is a pleasure to give advice, humiliating to need it, normal to ignore it"

 

[NK_man]

Last September we bought a Wauquiez Gladiateur in Holland which had been previously owned by a 5-man syndicate. Apart from enough waterpump spares to refurbish the entire marina and 8 (full) 5 litre cans of engine oil we removed enough broken parts (winch handles, shackles, blocks etc) and knackered halyards to fill the marina skip. We found 15 tins of sweetcorn - quite an exciting diet for 5 guys in a confined space! The boat waterline rose 2cm.
Now as for the spares, tools, emergency-out-of-data-just-in-case flares, extra 8 fenders, warp extensions, wine, beer and spare clothing which we've put on-board - all that is ESSENTIAL!
The waterline is looking much as it did before the clearout!
I'm hoping the replacement engine will be so much lighter that we'll regain the 2cm!

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[BrendanS]

>>- the last lot of flares as well as the current lot ? (thank you, T. Cunliffe, for that one!)<<

Yes, in two separate poly bottles

>>- a monstrous tow/mooring/spare anchor warp as well as a kedge warp?<<

Yes, and it's been pointed out that it's so monstrous it would grace the QEII without looking out of place

>>- far too many tools? (do I really need anything more than a Leatherman and an adjustable wrench?)<<

I've managed to downgrade from full tool kit, to a smaller tool pouch, and so far that's proven more than adequate. The tool kit travels in the car when I go to the boat though, so still haven't broken this particular addiction


<hr width=100% size=1>Me transmitte sursum, caledoni

 

[BlueSkyNick]

Don't throw away the sweetcorn - it makes very good fishing bait, and you might need it to catch a few mackeral as emergency rations one day!


<hr width=100% size=1>It's frustrating when you know all the answers, but nobody bothers to ask you the questions.

 

[Peppermint]

Re: The death of performance

for most AWB's.

Weight poorly distributed slows em down more than weed or fixed props or not having a kite.

I remember gettin the old "Maiden" ready for a race. We took everything out and then put back what we needed. It took all day and two transit loads of stuff went away and a fair bit went into the skip. She floated about 10cm higher and was better to sail on all points.

I can't remember being desperate for any of the stuff we left behind either.

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[pragmatist]

Is this habit why the Plimsoll line was introduced ? Maybe we should all mark the waterline with the year/month on a regular basis - it might be quite revealing. Anyway if you're a hoarder now you know why you'd never buy a cat (apart from them having the incorrect no. of hulls) !

<hr width=100% size=1>a pragmatist is an optimist with a boat in the UK

 

[beancounter]

Re: SWMBO - minimalist?...

...yeah, but how come the reforming zeal that she tries to apply to the contents of my garage/shed seems to peter out in the vicinity of her wardrobe....

<hr width=100% size=1>Fabricati Diem, punc