Tips for long periods of cruising

Embrace the digital revolution. All my boat equipment manuals (3 x lever arch files) have been saved to Dropbox and the paper versions gone to storage. Likewise no CD's/DVD - all on digital. And books as mentioned above. Weight and space saving is significant. And of course solar, solar, solar. You need power for the laptop, Ipad and phones.

ps - My boat is nearly twenty years old yet 4/5ths of the equipment manuals were easily found on the web in PDF format so no need to scan it all in.
 
Robih said:
Embrace the digital revolution. All my boat equipment manuals (3 x lever arch files) have been saved to Dropbox and the paper versions gone to storage. Likewise no CD's/DVD - all on digital. And books as mentioned above. Weight and space saving is significant. And of course solar, solar, solar. You need power for the laptop, Ipad and phones.

ps - My boat is nearly twenty years old yet 4/5ths of the equipment manuals were easily found on the web in PDF format so no need to scan it all in.
Click to expand...
+1 for digital. As well as dropbox, get evernote - fantastic, with a smart phone everything can go in there , pics of kit serial numbers, filter sizes, clips of web pages with nav data or whatever, pics of local bus timetables,snips of weather data from web pages or the local paper, absolutely everything. Then you can find it again. While your at it reminders of insurance renewal etc. Then with any computer or tablet or smartphone you can get at it all next time you need it.
Good for sharing Pics with friends as well.
 
Embrace the digital revolution. All my boat equipment manuals...saved to Dropbox...

...get evernote - fantastic.. with a smart phone everything can go in there...absolutely everything...Then with any computer or tablet or smartphone you can get at it all next time you need it...

Good luck for when you find yourselves needing a manual 50M offshore chaps; we've pdf'd/jpeg'd lots of manuals and similar info, but they're stored on accessible hard drives, not in the ether.

Back to the original posts concerning washing: We've found that a 1.5 litre water bottle with very fine holes (dividers off the nav-table worked well) punched through the cap, provide an excellent and low water usage post-swimming shower; they work well offshore too, sitting safely on the cockpit floor, the waste/soapy water disappears down the cockpit drains, though a seawater sluice of the floor afterwards stops things getting slippery/smelly.
 
BobnLesley said:
Good luck for when you find yourselves needing a manual 50M offshore chaps; we've pdf'd/jpeg'd lots of manuals and similar info, but they're stored on accessible hard drives, not in the ether..
Click to expand...

Dropbox isn't actually the ether, it's on the hard drive with an option to store on devices as well, so everything you might need is on every tablet/smart phone/laptop you want plus the usb hard drive back up.

It's in the manual ;)
 
GHA said:
Dropbox isn't actually the ether, it's on the hard drive with an option to store on devices as well, so everything you might need is on every tablet/smart phone/laptop you want plus the usb hard drive back up.

It's in the manual ;)
Click to expand...

I didnt know that... Do yo have to do something to make this happen? I'm pretty sure if I'm not connected to the internet, I cant get at my Dropbox stuff?

I know.... It's in the manual :)
 
Richard10002 said:
I didnt know that... Do yo have to do something to make this happen? I'm pretty sure if I'm not connected to the internet, I cant get at my Dropbox stuff?

I know.... It's in the manual :)
Click to expand...


Yep, RTFM :D

You need to make the document(s) available offline on each individual device, then Dropbox will store a copy locally and sync it with the cloud when a connection is available if necessary
 
Richard10002 said:
I didnt know that... Do yo have to do something to make this happen? I'm pretty sure if I'm not connected to the internet, I cant get at my Dropbox stuff?

I know.... It's in the manual :)
Click to expand...
On android you click the little down arrow on the left of the file then there's a "save offline" button at the bottom of the menu.
On a PC or linux machine it's synced continously so no need to do anything.
Very handy prog,

Paper manuals are nice now and again but I find being able to search a PDF so much quicker and handier. :cool:
 
A tip passed to me by 'White Angel' a seasoned solo sailor of this parish is that when visiting a town/shopping, arrive and anchor for the first night, go into marina early next morning, pay for one night then leave as late as you are allowed the next day back to anchor.
Two days for the price of one night.

Useful kit to have when in a marina is double mains hotplates and a combi halogen grill/oven. They are not large, save a lot on gas and with an extension lead, can be used in the cockpit to keep the heat out of the saloon.

For washing, I stand in a washbowl of water and use a sponge. Most of the water falls back into the bowl which can then be used for a pre wash for underware!

Two large microfiber dishcloths/tea towels sewn together make a good shower towel / wet weather scarf, much cheaper than the camping towels ;)
 
LadyInBed said:
A tip passed to me by 'White Angel' a seasoned solo sailor of this parish is that when visiting a town/shopping, arrive and anchor for the first night, go into marina early next morning, pay for one night then leave as late as you are allowed the next day back to anchor.
Two days for the price of one night.

Useful kit to have when in a marina is double mains hotplates and a combi halogen grill/oven. They are not large, save a lot on gas and with an extension lead, can be used in the cockpit to keep the heat out of the saloon.

For washing, I stand in a washbowl of water and use a sponge. Most of the water falls back into the bowl which can then be used for a pre wash for underware!

Two large microfiber dishcloths/tea towels sewn together make a good shower towel / wet weather scarf, much cheaper than the camping towels ;)
Click to expand...


* We regularly do the 2 for one trick in marinas.

* We have a portable small induction hob that we use in the marina to save on gas. Very efficient and easily stowed.

* I like the standing in a bowl idea etc.. and the microfiber dishcloths look excellent to stop needing those towels.

thanks

S.
 
Anyone use kilner jars? Love em :cool:
Great for keeping some soup/stew/whatever for a few days in the fridge, fill up a jar to the top while it's still hot and let it cool, the lid goes "pop", stick it in the fridge. Or preserve that lovely big tuna you just caught in the pressure cooker, or make a load of stew/whatever for the next long offshore passage.
 
mjcoon said:
Though the search is only going to work if the PDF contains the text rather than just being a container for scans of the printed document.

Mike.
Click to expand...

That's where evernote wins, it has character recognition so will search for text even in a photograph.
Anyway, few manuals are that old to be scans these days.
 
Robih said:
Embrace the digital revolution. All my boat equipment manuals (3 x lever arch files) have been saved to Dropbox and the paper versions gone to storage. Likewise no CD's/DVD - all on digital. And books as mentioned above. Weight and space saving is significant. And of course solar, solar, solar. You need power for the laptop, Ipad and phones.

ps - My boat is nearly twenty years old yet 4/5ths of the equipment manuals were easily found on the web in PDF format so no need to scan it all in.
Click to expand...

+1
 
Using solar showers in the Caribbean is good as you can have a nice warm shower late afternoon. We found solar showers to not be durable enough for regular use. We now have a black plastic watering can that holds just over two gallons. We have connected a hose lock fitting to the end, some garden hose and a fine spray nozzle with trigger. We leave it in the sun and then hang it off a cleat on the mast and drop the hose through the head hatch into the shower. Works a treat. We call it the solar hot watering can....
We can have nice hot shower each from it and normally have water left in it unless wife is washing her hair....
 
geem said:
Using solar showers in the Caribbean is good as you can have a nice warm shower late afternoon. We found solar showers to not be durable enough for regular use. We now have a black plastic watering can that holds just over two gallons. We have connected a hose lock fitting to the end, some garden hose and a fine spray nozzle with trigger. We leave it in the sun and then hang it off a cleat on the mast and drop the hose through the head hatch into the shower. Works a treat. We call it the solar hot watering can....
We can have nice hot shower each from it and normally have water left in it unless wife is washing her hair....
Click to expand...

Yes we have one of those onboard. Like a black cows udder and a hose with a rose on the end.

Put it up and left it for the day and found it had a slight leak and now cannot find anything that will stick to the black plastic to seal or patch it.

Will try again as it really does produce pleasantly warm water on a good day.

S.
 
BobnLesley said:
Good luck for when you find yourselves needing a manual 50M offshore chaps; we've pdf'd/jpeg'd lots of manuals and similar info, but they're stored on accessible hard drives, not in the ether.
Click to expand...

As I said, embrace the digital revolution and realise the potential but it does require effort to understand what is possible. All Dropbox data is available on multiple devices so always accessible whether offshore or not.
 
'Take a butler'....

Perhaps not quite in the true spirit of Scuttlebutt, but might bring a wry smile.... This today from friends who sold their Grade II Georgian Manor with 60 acres last summer, bought a littler one, and pushed off south just after Christmas....

Thank you so much for the kind birthday wishes and e-card. We are celebrating with a day at sea, have been to brunch in "The Grand Dining Room" then on for a wine tasting and then S. made it down for a Martini tasting session, just arrived back and the butler has just arrived with cocktails and canapes to keep us going until dinner at the Grill where S. is threatening to have the 36oz prime rib! What a life! Not sure if I will be able to fit in the seat for the flight home.

We are on our way to Sao Tome for the day tomorrow, weather has been glorious although since we got near the coast of West Africa the dust and pollution in the air is so great that it almost looks like a fog and stops the sun getting through. Still very hot and humid, and the sea is almost flat calm, The transatlantic crossing from Brazil took 5 days and was completely uneventful, perfect weather to be on the sea!

We are having a couple of weeks in South Africa after leaving the cruise in Cape Town on 9th Feb so will be in contact at the end of Feb when we get back home.

Love and best wishes to you both
Click to expand...
 
Don't buy drinks in cans as they literally fizz when wet with salt water. Buy them in plastic or glass bottles. When empty, cut plastic in half to reduce the volume of rubbish.
 
Roll your clothes for storage instead of folding them. It compresses them slightly and the rolls make it much easier to efficiently use the space in strangely shaped lockers.

Get some Ikea bags - they're great for hauling lots of stuff (like laundry or food), or for storing it (again conforming to strangely shaped lockers). When not used, they fold away to a very small size.

Get a proper glass+vacuum pump thermos can. Boil water once (if you're about to leave a marina, use the electric kettle before going) and it'll keep hot all day, for tea/coffee, instant soup and washing up. Saves a ton of gas and you have hot drinks at the push of a button.

Another thing I'm very happy with is my Nalgene "On The Fly" bottle. That's a clever plastic bottle for cold drinks with a sealed lid that can be operated with one hand, and a big screw cap that comes off to fill and clean it. Keeps me hydrated in the cockpit without fear of spills (or rain in my drink :P).
 
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