My Favorite Things Aboard!

[nicollej]

Hello Ladies (as I am posting this in the Women Afloat section)! (Guys feel free to also reply of course)

I was wondering what your favourite things/products are aboard.......

I thought it might make an interesting thread.

Here are mine:

* Plastic Zip lock bags......they are so handy for keeping things waterproof such as our handheld GPS, cameras etc. I put all of my large bags of flour, sugar etc in zip lock bags to keep them dry and fresh. I use them all the time and couldn't live without them on the boat.

* Air freshener...I make my own with lovely perfume oil in a spray bottle, it keeps Sea Life smelling beautiful and fresh.

* I LOVE our electric windlass.......it makes anchoring so much quicker and easier for me. I love the fact that in a bad storm if we did drag then I can quickly and easily bring up the anchor chain and not have to pull it in by hand.......we would be very slow and hard work!

* I find cable ties in various colours and sizes so useful. We use them to tie on our solar lights, flag pole etc, and we also use small coloured ones to mark our anchor chain.......rather than buy expensive markers from the chandlery.

* We have a small tarp which we attach with shock cord over two of our hatches which allows us to have then open in rainy weather.....this makes it so much nicer for us in the humid tropical wet season weather.

* My rectangle red square bucket which has so many uses on the boat is great! It is my washing machine (which i use with a plunger to do the washing), foot spa, holds the groceries in the dinghy to keep them dry on the way home....etc....etc...

* My little (cheap) MP3 player is small and easy to have in my pocket while doing night watches....it helps to keep me awake and alert and have some fun at the same time.

* My oven.....it’s only small and basic but I can make cakes, cookies, roasts, anything in it. I just have work out with each new recipe who long it will actually take to cook compared to the recipe instructions.

* My 3 in 1 mop, scrubbing brush and boat hook (pole with 3 different attachments). It only cost about $30 AU and it is so handy. The boat hook is useful as a spare or if the other boat hook is right down the bottom of our lazarette. The mop is great in rainy weather when we come inside and drip wet, rainy water everywhere. It is also useful for mopping the bathroom area after we have a shower as ours are just handheld showers with no screen.

* My 3 dust pan and brooms - I have a little baby sized one, a normal sized one and then one that has the extra long handle so that you don't have to bend down to sweep up. All sizes are good for different jobs; the baby one for little areas and to dust with, the normal one for small jobs and the long handled one for sweeping the entire floor surface of the boat. You see I don't have a vacuum cleaner so I have to sweep. But it is lots of fun and good exercise!

* Cheap bulk buy napkins (serviettes) These are cheap and we buy them by the box, they are great to use for cleaning (better than paper towel as you have portion control and only use one napkin at a time, use with spray and wipe cleaner for all sorts of cleaning jobs) and can also be used as a regular napkin set on the table with a meal as you would normally use them.

We also keep old toothbrushes as they always come in handy for cleaning around the hatches and all sorts of odd jobs where you need a little scrubbing brush to get into a tiny area.

Of course there are soooo many more things that I love having aboard......but these are just a few I can think of now!

What are yours???????

Have a wonderful day!

Smiles and hugs,

Nicolle
From Sea Life
www.ourlifeatsea.com

[Minggat]

I'll throw one in.

I love my electronic fly swatter. Everbody else seems to hassle with screens to keep mosquitoes out. I just kill the 1 or 2 that that make it into the boat at night and that covers it. Nothing buzzing around my ears and no bites in the morning.

For those that have not seen them, it's a small tennis racket looking thing that you knock them out of the air with. If there's a mosquito in the boat, it's going to be buzzing my ears. In total darkness I can hold the swatter close to my ear and just snap it up when i get buzzed. If I get it, I get a "snap crackel and pop" and a light show of little sparks when the mosquito makes contact with the screen. Be careful. Don't shock you ear with it.

[starfish62]

You've pretty much id'd my favorites, too. Zip Loc bags are definitely number 1. The little bucket was a close second. We even named our bucket, "little orange bucket," and it was used for a wide variety of service. Alas, it was lost at sea in a gale and we will miss it. I would add Pressure Cooker (indispensible) and the blue "shop towels" on a roll instead of paper towels. After use, they can be rinsed and draped over the faucet to dry and reused repeatedly.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by nicollej

... My rectangle red square bucket which has so many uses on the boat is great! It is my washing machine (which i use with a plunger to do the washing), foot spa, holds the groceries in the dinghy to keep them dry on the way home....etc....etc...

Great thread Nicole, and excellent specific ideas.

I got numerous SQUARE pails (free) from my local bar & restaurant (in 3.3/3.7 Gallon and 4.0/4.25 Gal. sizes). Their french fries, chicken wings, lard, & etc are supplied in these buckets.
I replaced the steel handles with 3/16" - 1/4" rope, with a length of plastic hose for comfort.

Like these:
Plastic Square Pails: 2 gallon - 5 gallon

[stevensc]

microfiber towels large for us after showers, small ones for wiping the boat down
bungee cords for securing "stuff"
Good music and sound system
round SS gas BBQ with removable legs for use onboard or onshore
plastic "milk crates" as storage boxes they are well ventialted, see through and stackable
Mini gas torch for soldering, shrink wrap, fire starter
Velcro wraps in various sizes
powerful flashlight
flyswatter
Steve

[sneuman]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Great thread Nicole, and excellent specific ideas.

I got numerous SQUARE pails (free) from my local bar & restaurant (in 3.3/3.7 Gallon and 4.0/4.25 Gal. sizes). Their french fries, chicken wings, lard, & etc are supplied in these buckets.
I replaced the steel handles with 3/16" - 1/4" rope, with a length of plastic hose for comfort.

Like these:
Plastic Square Pails: 2 gallon - 5 gallon

I use 'em too, from a neighbor's discarded cat litter containers.

[Dave the Canuck]

I love my combo boat hook/bailer. It's perfect for bailing out the dinghy. Also very useful for dinghy water wars.

BridgeNorth inc - BridgeNorth Bailer

[Bash]

works wet or dry

[Talbot]

All these nice to haves, and no real essential items - which I would consider to be at the top of any list by the "I cannot do without this" criteria,

Nobody has mentioned their partner - I have a cast iron excuse for this, but what about you?



For me, the autopilot is the item I could not do without above all others, and thus must head the list of essential items and also "my favourite things"

[Minggat]

Yes, I agree that a good vacuum cleaner is a must. Amazing how dirty things get.

I use a Stinger wet/dry that is tucked into it's own spot midship. I bought a long hose for it that reached both ends of the boat, so the vac does not have to come out unless needed. The stinger has the blow connection and I use it to quick inflate of the dink.

This is a great thread. It is so common that we implement idea we come up with or have borrowed that make life more comfortable. Like the combo boat hook/bailer. I have always thought it would go unused. But to hear that it's a favorite tells me to break down and get one.

[sandy daugherty]

I too use the stinger wet or dry, both to blow things up and to suck the last 1/4" of water out of my bilges. I have extra hoses, that store in a 5 gal plastic bucket with hose fittings on top to capture water before going into the vac. Had to switch to the black plastic bucket that chain comes in because the white ones would flatten out! I bought the stinger for $26 with plans to use it til it quit and buy another one, but its still going after 3 years of abuse. It does take up a lot of space.

Ditto on the pressure cooker. I'm still learning what it can do. Any favorite recipes?

[sneuman]

Rice Cooker. At $20 for a cheap one, which will last forever, you get a third burner and a foolproof accessory for cooking rice.

[Karletto]

anti-mosquito stuff, VHF station, diving gear, air fresh cleaner, small mirror, music

[Minggat]

Karletto,

Please elaborate on the "air fresh cleaner"

Sandy Daugherty,

Try finding a midship tuck away spot for your stinger and just moving hoses. Many people ask me where I got the long hose. Home Despot-pool vacuum hose. If you can pull it off, you will love it that much more.

As for your pressure cooker recipies... My Indonesian wife has learned only one. When I get her back aboard again I am going to see if I can't get someone on the cruisers net here to start a -get together/share recipies thing.

So as not to hijack the thread, and becouse I love it, I am going to add SAILING DINK. Does that count?

[SV Someday Came]

My favorite things on board are:

1. Sirius radio. I got tired of my CD collection. At 53 I have heard every possible remix of everything from the 50s onwards. With Sirius -- I have tons of stations -- some of which have actually expanded my musical horizon (Iceberg and Siriusly Sinatra are two that have taught me much).

2. My coffee grinder. It is electric. (But I would prefer a manual. Any for sale?). There is simply an amazing sense of power I get by grinding my beans on my sail boat. Especially through the inverter. It must be a sick thing cause I delight in it so very much.

3. My garlic press. I detest chopping garlic. it taints my bread board and leaves precious bits wasted behind.

4. My corkscrew. I never knew wine until I started working on my sailboat. Now I know the difference between white and red and chianti. This is an amazing and utterly unexpected side-effect of working on my boat. I always poo-poohed wine. Now I buy bottles and have a corkscrew.

5. Narrow little baskets with handles. They fit perfectly in the cupboards. Likely the best find I have ever found for the boat in a mall.

6. Blue shop towels. not the paper towels in a market. The ones you can get for a dollar or two at Home Depot. Use them over several times. Wipes oil and diesel off your hands easily. Tough cellulose.