Coffee on board

Cafetière from Asda, stainless steel insulated. Sea water tap at the galley sink to wash the grains away. Simple excellent coffee in about the same time as it takes to make the Admiral’s tea.
Pongy heads, if it’s only on arrival pong, then worth getting one or other of the gadgets that mix a bit of bleach/loo cleaner into the flush water. If it’s anything else that’s stinky, then service the things properly and smells should go away.
Sea sickness. I know some folks like ginger but I’m one of those who use medication when it threatens to be a bouncy day. I use Stugeron because it works for me. Worth experimenting to find out which medicine works and taking it before leaving shore. And keep taking it as per the instructions.
 
Coffee with guests can be complicated. We usually seem to end up serving a mixture of cafetiere, instant, de-caf instant, tea, and probably some herbal concoction that someone has brought. Beer and wine are much simpler; they get what they are given.
 
I seem to be at odds with the majority. Freshly ground coffee is a bit like whisky. Wonderful aromatics but vile taste.

A reasonable quality instant, for example Kenco Colombian, is perfectly acceptable for my taste buds. It does, however, have to be served piping hot and in a proper mug. Preferably with a piece of cake ?

As to the second matter, there is no good reason why a marine toilet should smell.
 
I'll double down on the first response to mrangry (mrangry? Should you be drinking coffee? ?)
Aeropress. I've tried the rest and Aeropress wins hands down. In my experience it makes very good coffee quickly and under control, even on passage, with the least mess and water used on cleaning up. The 'pop' as I eject a pill of compressed grounds into the bin still pleases after six years.
 
john_morris_uk said:
Same problem. Except one's on the port side and ones on the starboard side so it depends which tack you're on as to which is the preferred heads to use.
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It's not something I particularly thought about when we were looking for a boat, but Ariam's heads arrangement - facing forward, with a bulkhead close on either side - has proved notably more convenient for under-way use than all the athwartships loos I've encountered on other boats. Heeling one way or the other, and tacking between them, makes little difference, and you don't get the "clinging to the top of a precipice" feeling of those 70s/80s boats with a full-beam heads compartment abaft the forepeak, when on port tack ;)

Pete
 
All these fancy gadgets ! I make coffee in a jug with ground coffee from the supermarket. Just leave to brew for three minutes and then pour through a small sieve. I like Hot Lava Java!
 
prv said:
That's the one source of smell it's difficult to eliminate - the best way round it is to add a quick flush to your "opening up the boat" procedure. If you just lean in the door and give it a few pumps, then move on to turning on the gas or putting up the ensign or whatever, by the time you come to actually use the heads the "stale water in pipe" smell will have dissipated.

Pete
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Vyv Cox swears this is not the cause of any smell but I have to disagree...it clearly comes from the water that has been sitting between seacock and pump. I always give it a few pumps when first arriving on board.
 
...and for coffee, a little nespresso machine about 8" high, easily stowed. For shorepower only mind you. Otherwise it's Azera powder for the wife and tea for me.
 
prv said:
More importantly though - fix the toilets! There's no reason that toilets on a boat have to smell. Just because heavily used and minimally-maintained charter boats or old MABs often do, doesn't mean it's inevitable.
Pete
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Agreed - there is no reason heads should smell. If they do it's poor maintenance. The only exception is on first use after a few weeks unused, when you can get a smell from stale water in the inlet pipe, once that's flushed through the smell should vanish. And even that can be avoided by either an expensive patent Leesan or Seasmart sanitiser contraption, or an inline £10 filter unit with a supermarket toilet block in it in the inlet pipe.
 
Aeropress, stainless cafetiere or stovetop all make a good cuppa. Bring a flask of the good stuff from home for a day sail. Good quality coffee bags (Taylors and better) for dark nights under storm sails & other emergencies.

You can make a perfectly good cup "cowboy style" in a saucepan.

I rather favour the "Grumpy Mule" ground coffee.

Nespresso pods are the poop of Satan (imho ?). Maximum pollution for minimum return!
 
Sea-Fever said:
Vyv Cox swears this is not the cause of any smell but I have to disagree...it clearly comes from the water that has been sitting between seacock and pump. I always give it a few pumps when first arriving on board.
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To be fair, I think Vyv's only assertion was that clean seawater doesn't smell after being left in a closed container for a while. I don't think he included grubby river water in his test, and I'm sure he didn't include a pump barrel that's had poo squeezed through it. Remember the inlet and outlet sides of a Jabsco share the same pump surfaces and are separated only by a single O-ring.

As you say, the first few pumps after a period of non-use will often smell a bit, and it makes sense to get those out of the way before you're shut in the compartment doing your trousers back up.

Pete
 
Skylark said:
I seem to be at odds with the majority. Freshly ground coffee is a bit like whisky. Wonderful aromatics but vile taste.

A reasonable quality instant, for example Kenco Colombian, is perfectly acceptable for my taste buds. It does, however, have to be served piping hot and in a proper mug. Preferably with a piece of cake ?

As to the second matter, there is no good reason why a marine toilet should smell.
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I am no chemist but read that it is a reaction between urine and salt water
 
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