Tips for long periods of cruising

Scotty_Tradewind

Scotty_Tradewind

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Me: South Oxfordshire. Boat, Galicia NW Spain
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We're aboard for many weeks at a time in the summer months now and wonder what simple and inexpensive tips people have, to make life easier aboard.

My first tip would be... have a small selection of face flannels.
This enables us to save the water supply and to strip wash with one flannel, then dry with the another as far as possible, then the towel you require is very small.

This has also saved enormously on spending time and money getting bath towels washed and dried at the launderette.

The grand wash session, we dread!

S.

p.s. I'll ask the liveaboards to advise us too
 
Remember - it is possible to buy food and stuff in many places as well as your home Lidl's/Waitrose. When you have come to believe this, please tell my wife.
 
Save money by buying Wilkinson's own-brand anti-perspirant, which also doubles as fly spray, judging by the smell.

[size=-3]Viz Top Tip[/size]
 
Scotty_Tradewind said:
We're aboard for many weeks at a time in the summer months now and wonder what simple and inexpensive tips people have, to make life easier aboard.

My first tip would be... have a small selection of face flannels.
This enables us to save the water supply and to strip wash with one flannel, then dry with the another as far as possible, then the towel you require is very small.

This has also saved enormously on spending time and money getting bath towels washed and dried at the launderette.

The grand wash session, we dread!

S.

p.s. I'll ask the liveaboards to advise us too
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Buy a couple of sports towels from Go Outdoors or similar. they're brilliant and dry in no time.
 
macd said:
I do believe it, absolutely. But for important provisions, notably cheap beer, Lidl is tops.
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I think the point is that you can buy food as you go (including from Lidl if you insist) rather than carting provisions for the entire trip from home.

Pete
 
We used to nip into a marina and fill up with water as often as was necessary to be able to wash as much as we wanted to - so that would be one of my tips.
 
macd said:
Buy tonic in bulk.
(Has anyone asked Lidl why they stock gin but not tonic?)
BTW the Admiral is very keen on facecloths, you'll be glad to learn.
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Funny, but doing over 2K nm around the English, Welsh Scottish, N.Irish and Eire coastlines, we didn't come across one Lidl in the ports we stopped at. ??

Plenty of Co-op though....... good old co-op, anyone remember the divvi?

We have large water tanks and a good shower in the heads but we try not to go into marinas as much as possible, although when we know a marina visit is due for any reason, like launderette time and to buy the Galician Larios Gin, http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/larios+london+dry+gin+spain the water is heated and the shower is full-on for a few days. Larios is only 40% but cheap as chips , well almost these days!

Thank goodness we can still get Schweppes Tonic in Galicia. Mrs S. wouldn't survive without it.

Well done The Admiral! :)

S.
 
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Scotty_Tradewind said:
Funny, but doing over 2K nm around the English, Welsh Scotland, N.Ireland and Eire coastlines, we didn't come across one Lidl in the ports we stopped at. ??

Well done The Admiral! :)
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Those waters are not of immediate concern to me, I'm afraid, Scotty. Cooling sundowners are...or will be in few months. Yet oddly enough the best plum tomatoes I ever tasted were bought in the tiny shop on Eigg, of all bloody places. And speaking of things Italian, a pot of live basil does very well inside the sprayhood out here.

The Admiral always done good. That's why she's the admiral.
 
Scotty_Tradewind said:
We're aboard for many weeks at a time in the summer months now and wonder what simple and inexpensive tips people have, to make life easier aboard.

My first tip would be... have a small selection of face flannels.
This enables us to save the water supply and to strip wash with one flannel, then dry with the another as far as possible, then the towel you require is very small.

This has also saved enormously on spending time and money getting bath towels washed and dried at the launderette.

The grand wash session, we dread!

S.

p.s. I'll ask the liveaboards to advise us too
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You expect my SWMBO to wash with a flannel ....... and dry off with another flannel? That would be a rather lonely cruise as I would be on my own! :)

Richard
 
Kelpie said:
Pack one e-reader instead of a box of books.
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While on a flotilla holiday last year our pre dinner drinks were disturbed by a howl of rage from the boat next door as the female occupant of said boat stepped into their cockpit and trod on the kindle she had put down a few mins before. She was an avid reader and was fortunately able to survive the holiday on borrowed paperbacks from other boats. Personally I would take a few paperbacks, and swop them at the book swoops which always seem to be found at places yachties congregate, once read.
 
We sail between 5 and 8 months in the summer in the Med. We carry a camping twin tub, cost between £70 and £100 from Amazon which will deliver abroad. It has paid for itself not least in saving time looking for a launderette. Of course water is the issue (unless you already have a water maker on board) but we can power if off the solar panels. The main cost of this method is water but we still think it cheaper than going to the launderette especially using the correct amount washing liquid (not too soapy) and we use less water than when hand washing and we don't have any dripping washing hanging (its is better than hand ringing) around as the spinner gets so much water out. We think we use about 300 litres in a big washing session. We can wash kingsize duvet covers (one at a time) and bath sheets (1 at a time)in our machine. I know space can be an issue but we were able to have on our Moody 35.

Food waste is another area to review, I think boaters are much better than most when it comes to wastage but if you are throwing lots of food away because it is gong off to quickly or you have bought to much. For example chicken breasts are often so much bigger than in the UK. For 2 people where I would buy 2 in UK I buy one in Med and butterfly it or flatten it and I find it goes a lot further. If you have buy in bulk fruit and veg to get a good price, if possible share the cost with other boaters.
Just a few thoughts hope they might be helpful.
 
Babylon said:
I simply cannot fathom why anyone would want to drink cheap beer!

;)
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OK on the beer/Lidl thing - here's a semi-useless recommendation. I personally like some of the German beers that come in bottles. Unfortunately a long hard beat to windward renders any bottles left bouncing around the fridge either into little shards of glass, or half fizzed away and Mrs d irritated that I have made the boat smell like a brewery and messed up the fridge!

Solution: one of those transparent long plastic bins (c. 800mm length and 300mm x 200mm cross section) into which one can place a dozen or more bottles of beer, with the space filled by those little squishy white packing balls.

No more broken bottles, even after a good bash to windward :encouragement:
 
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