Time to Brag on Your #liveaboard hacks

[StuM]

Originally Posted by hzcruiser

Yes, like iPantry Manager and a few others.

A simple little MS Access inventory system I knocked up- a couple of years ago:


http://www.camcopng.com/download/BoatInventory.zip

[ras1544]

Originally Posted by hzcruiser

I pointed the biggest battery I had at my neighbours window but they sure didn't wake up. What did I do wrong?

I know I'm easily amused, but that was funny. Great thread, really enjoy learning from people that have real life experience.

[Time Traveler]

All boats are magnets for stuff, no matter how careful you are. And paring back, pitching out all the stuff that's no longer needed (or never was such a great idea) seems to require more self-discipline than i've got.

My cure: whenever SOPHIE's on the hard, everything comes off ... absolutely everything from every locker and cabinet. It's astonishing (read: embarrassing) what surfaces.

The rest is really simple: nothing comes back aboard except by express invitation, item by item.

Seems draconian and it takes the better part of a day but the boat's a lot happier for it.

[tunnelvision]

A spray bottle with Ospho in it and one with water makes quick work of rust stains. Spray a mist of the Ospho let it sit a couple minutes then rinse with the water spray bottle. We have found nothing that works better than Ospho.

[paul2884]

we use a Mr D Thermal cooker, there seems to be several other makes out there but great for all the veg and if you get adventitious it will do all sorts

https://mrdscookware.co.uk/

[p435]

@tunnelvision


What is "ospho" please?

[tunnelvision]

Ospho is a liquid rust remover you can buy at most chandeliers.

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by p435

@tunnelvision


What is "ospho" please?

https://www.google.com/search?q=osph...&client=safari

[p435]

@tunnelvision
Thanks for the explanation!

[a64pilot]

Ospho is likely a brand name for ortho phosphoric acid.
I likely didn't spell it correctly

[p435]

@a64pilot and @sailmonkey


Thanks for the very valuable addtitional information. This allows me to search for the same stuff but European version.

[ProteusRising]

Thank you! We are having a ball so far. I do have to keep reminding the old land-base stress monster to just GTFO of my head and enjoy the moment. This life is teaching us lots and for that we are grateful, because, as they say, if you don't use it we lose.

Love your idea of vertical and we're trying to do the same. We gave up some storage for a bit more vertical clearance and elbow room down below, so every storage hack is much appreciated!

Originally Posted by redhead

This seems to be a cooking thread now - that's cool, but I have an organization tip. I have many spray bottles and little "floor space" in the cabinets they should be in.

I use tension shower rods installed in the upper area of whatever locker/cabinet. Hang the sprayer on the rod and all your bottles are lined up neatly and use zero floor space. Using vertical space is my biggest challenge in my boat.

Good luck to you - I've been following your adventures - sounds like you're going to have a ball!

[ProteusRising]

This is gold. Thank you!

Originally Posted by mvmojo

Here's a few of our hacks that come to mind after 24 years of live-aboard cruising:

Clothes storage hack: Store your neatly folded clothing in vacuum bags like those found a WalMart, etc. Stuff half of a dryer sheet in each one. Your clothes will stay dry and mildew free and will smell like they just came out of the dryer when you take them out of the bag. You don't necessarily need to vacuum the bag down, just smash it down or roll it up to get as much air out as possible to reduce storage space.

Watering hack: Buy a water bladder that will fit in the bottom of your dinghy - ours holds 60 gallons. Rig up a 12v or 120v pump and hose to transfer water from the bag to the boat's deck fill. This lets you take the dinghy into the dock for water rather than taking the big boat in. Here's the bladder we use: https://www.bayteccontainers.com/waterbags.html When not in use, it folds up into a very small, flat package. Some marinas resent boats wanting to come in just to water up without buying fuel, etc., but we've never had a problem pulling up in a dinghy and asking, "Do you mind if we get a few gallons of water in our bladder?"

Hatches hack: It's rare to find a hatch that doesn't leak when the boat is slamming to windward for hours at a time. When offshore, seal all hatches with 2" vinyl tape all the way around - totally stops all the drips. We learned this from the big racing boats in Antigua that were getting ready to take the boats to the med for the season.

Roller Furling hack: A lot of people scoff at this racing tactic until they try it. When you want to roll up the headsail on the furler, turn downwind and sheet out rather than turning upwind and allowing the sail to flog. Even though the sail is full, there's not much pressure on it and it will easily roll in, staying nice and tight on the furler. Since this is somewhat counter-intuitive, you've got to try it to become a convert.

Ice Hack: If you have a freezer and want to make ice, buy the ice cube trays that have a sealing lid. We have 6 of them (ours are made by Rubbermaid) that we've been using for 18 years. No spills and ice for your drinks!

Battery Water filling Hack: To add water to your batteries without spilling it, buy a 2 gal garden sprayer. Remove the spray tip from the wand and slip on a short piece of vinyl tubing. Fill the sprayer with distilled water, pump up the pressure and you can use the on/off lever from the wand to add water directly to each cell without spilling any.

Deck Shower Hack: You can dual purpose your battery water garden sprayer with the spray wand for a deck shower. Let it sit in the sun for a few hours and you've got a warm pressurized shower with an easy to control on/off valve.

Dinghy Patch Hack: Inflatable dinghies invariably end up with puncture holes. Conventional wisdom says you have to deflate the dinghy, rough up the surface, apply a patch and wait 24 hours for the glue to cure. Who wants to be without a dinghy for 24 hours?? So, if you have a puncture, cut a patch about the size of a quarter. With the dinghy fully inflated, put a dab of super glue on the patch and press it over the hole. Hold it in place for a couple of minutes with thumb pressure (where a glove or you thumb might stick to the patch). Once the super glue sets, the leak will be fixed. However, super glue will crack over time and the leak will come back. So, over the top of the super glue patch, apply a larger conventional patch. I use "Goop" brand marine adhesive rather than the expensive special dinghy adhesives, but to each his own. The patch over the super glue patch has no pressure on it since the super glue patch totally stopped the leak so the large patch can cure without the dinghy needing to be deflated. If/when the super glue fails, the top patch will still prevent the leak from reoccurring. Can't tell you how many holes I've patched in my and other's dinghies using this method and have never had a patch failure.

Docking Hack: Lots of folks already know this one, but it's amazing how many either don't know it or don't use it. When coming alongside a dock (especially with a single engine boat), the first line on should be an aft leading midships spring line, i.e., from a midship cleat running aft to the dock. Once secure to a cleat or piling, you can slowly ease forward with your wheel slightly put over to steer away from the dock. The spring line will pull you in alongside the dock and by leaving the engine in gear at idle, you'll be held against the dock until you can get bow and stern lines secured. We employed this method on our sailboat and now use it with great success on our 80,000 lb steel trawler (just make sure the cleat and line can take the strain of the boat going ahead at idle).

These are just a few that come to mind. Maybe more later as I think of 'em...

[ProteusRising]

I did find them just googling and have Pinned a lot of their hacks!

Originally Posted by Blaine

Lots of good liveaboard hacks here, many directed toward organization and written by a liveaboard cruiser. Subscribing is free. https://theboatgalley.com/

[ProteusRising]

Tell me more about "fiddles in the fridge..." I'm not following. But I'm very intrigued.

Originally Posted by doublewide

I like this thread

wipe your dishes with a bit of paper towel before washing up. you will use less fresh water, and won't plug up your sink drain with food scraps.

collect rain water and save your gray water (dish washing, transom shower rinse off after swimming, etc) and use it rather than fresh or sea water for flushing your heads

switch most everything to soft shackles

use telescoping curtain rods for fiddles in the fridge

have several LED headlights on board; you will find you use them often

when on the davits, secure the dinghy with stainless steel ratcheting cargo straps. Easy on; easy off, and very secure

make your jacklines of red-colored webbing or rope for maximum visibility under your red LED headlight at night.

similarly make your reefing marks on the halyard with red "Sharpie"

and this one you will think is stupid at first, but we like it: modify your dinghy chaps to accept a pool noodle fender around the forward part of the dink. It saves a ton of wear and tear on the chaps and hypalon.