What happens if…?
Everyone has questions about sailing life! Here are some of the most frequently asked ones, but if you have a question that you would like us to answer, just fill out the form and we will do our best!
Umm, just like you! It is true boat toilets can be finicky, and there are several different models that flush a little differently but it’s really only a toilet. Visiting a boat new to you make sure you are familiar with the model and make sure there is nothing special you need to know. Other than that, just don’t flush anything you didn’t eat!
Well we don’t…not often anyway. Guy and I have lived on a boat for all but the first two years of our married life. The first two years we were apartment dwellers in search of a boat. On our first cruise we initially had only a rowing dinghy. It meant a little advance planning if we wanted to go our separate ways ashore at different times, but usually we were with other cruisers so hitching a ride was not difficult. Sometimes we dropped a crew ashore with a VHF to call for a ride home. Later we both took up diving and added an inflatable to our fleet. Being a two car family was pretty cool! This cruise we currently have the inflatable dinghy and an inflatable kayak gifted to us from some friends not currently cruising. We’ll see how that works out—they tell us it is a challenge to get into and not roll!
When we are not in port where there may be laundry facilities available for a reasonable price, or a laundry service, we use a 5 gallon bucket and a washing “wand” (sort of like a fancy plunger). We use liquid laundry detergent so we don’t have to worry about it dissolving or being a hard rock when we want it. We often wash in salt water to conserve water since we have to make our own water. We always do a final rinse in fresh water, with a few drops of fabric softener in the rinse water. This removes the salt so the clothes dry, and the fabric softener removes any lingering salty or fishy smell. Once we’ve done our first load of laundry the rinse water becomes wash water for the next load of laundry. Bear in mind when you do laundry in a bucket you don’t do all your laundry. You wash what’s needed as needed. The amount of space on your lifelines for hanging clothes to dry is also a factor in how much you wash.
We squirrel away as much food as possible in any hole not occupied by clothes, boat parts, tankage, etc. This makes for some pretty funny storage spaces! We take a good supply of staples like flour and sugar so we can meet our own needs for bread, pizza dough, cookies… Any favorite foods that we eat often we take a good supply of (chocolate!). We try and pack a variety of ingredients that allow us to make from scratch almost anything we fancy. We carry a lot of spices so we can vary the cuisine—from Indian to Italian to Chinese to Thai. When provisioning we give thought to overlapping cuisines and stock ingredients common to both. Coconut milk is used in both Thai and Indian. We also take some ready made items like marinera sauce or pesto to make for easy dinners on passages. We carry a lot of pasta, rice, and beans. Canned fruit and vegetables come in handy on passages for when we run out of fresh ones, or when we are somewhere remote where access to fresh produce is limited. Cabbage, potatoes, and onions are your friends as they last a long time.
In port Aiki’s crew occupies the V-berth at the front of the boat. Under way her crew sleeps in the aft cabin. Windows in the aft cabin open into the cockpit so it is easy to wake up the off watch person if their presence is required on deck. If we have additional crew on board then there are four bunks in the main cabin that can also be used. Each bunk has lee cloths that can be pulled up to keep the crew secure in their bunks should it be necessary (like when you are sleeping on the high side).