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13-11-2021, 11:47
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#136
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Good question
Boat: Rafiki 37
Posts: 14,140
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Re: Tips and tricks for minimalist cruising
Quote:
Originally Posted by Na Mara
An electric outboard is minimalist because it is very simple (one moving part), reliable and basically zero maintenance. If it breaks you probably won’t be able to fix it yourself but it’s so unlikely to break that this isn’t a problem.
I have an electric moped that has done 7000km over 5 years. I’ve crashed it once and driven it in all weathers. It’s never been serviced once. I charge it, drive it and that’s it. Way easier, and ultimately cheaper to own than its petrol equivalent
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I have a gas scooter which I've owned for about a decade. It has 68,000km on it. The only servicing has been a drive belt, oil and filter changes, and new tires. I do most of this work myself.
Not knocking electric btw. Just adding my perspective.
Reliability is indeed a cornerstone of my approach to boat systems as well. As a frugal cruiser, my systems either have to be maintainable and repairable by me, or they have to be highly reliable. Since I'm not all that skilled, this means keeping systems simple, or choosing stuff that almost never needs work.
In the former case I put my manual windlass, winches, windvane and composting head. In the latter, I'd lump my VHF, GPS and depthsounder. Unfortunately I have a few things like a diesel engine and fridge which are somewhere in between -- but with every problem I learn more about these things as well. Sadly, I've learned a lot about my diesel engine .
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13-11-2021, 15:59
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#137
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Moderator
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Solent, England
Boat: Moody 31
Posts: 18,423
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Re: Tips and tricks for minimalist cruising
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike OReilly
Not knocking electric btw. Just adding my perspective.
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Mike, not taken that way either. If the price was the same as a small petrol outboard then things would be different.
One thing I would like an electric outboard for is to stow it down below when offshore or not on board. Sadly, I don't trust the petrol outboard not to leak fumes and oil, but an electric outboard, well that could go in a wardrobe or locker happily.
Pete
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13-11-2021, 16:38
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#138
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2015
Boat: GS 37 BC
Posts: 37
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Re: Tips and tricks for minimalist cruising
[QUOTE=Na Mara;3515982]My wife and I are getting into the whole minimalism thing and as on land, so at sea. Thus we are actively looking for ways to do with less aboard and I thought maybe others here have some good ideas for us.
]
On our 1st boat, a Deheler34, for 17 years, we had 2x 110Ah house batteries exclusively for instruments, lights and navigation lights. Fridge was powered by 5l water cans frozen at home before the trip. For a 4 weeks summer vacation we would have 5x5kg of ice in an insulate compartment under the front bunks. 5+3kh in the fridge (icebox). After 3 weeks we would run out of ice and would need to go to a bar and ask for a beer and a bag of ice for the last week. Electric toothbrush was recharged twice from 2xD batteries from a flashlight.
For the past 15 years we have coped with 3x110 Ah house batteries with an electric fridge and only about 5 days of autonomy.
No solar in either cases.
With everything else than electrics, the principle of having multiple uses for every equipment has been the guiding rule
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13-11-2021, 16:41
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#139
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: New South Wales, Australia
Boat: Still building
Posts: 1,557
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Re: Tips and tricks for minimalist cruising
Quote:
Originally Posted by wolfgal
-cut up plastic into tiny bits and put in one container that finds its way into a recycling bin
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This is actually counter-productive in terms of recycling plastics, as once you've cut them up and mixed them up they can no longer be properly separated.
Best simply to clean and crush. But if 'separation' is possible then do separate. For example, the harder plastic caps on PET-type soft drink bottles need to be separated from the bottle.
Yoghurt tub caps are often a different type of plastic to the container itself.
Thin plastic films, like the peel off film on processed meat containers, or thin film plastic bags, are also a differrent type of plastic.
I recently discoverd - via a 'waste awareness' TV show, that my local Coles and Woolworths supermarkets have a special bin at the front of each store for recycling the thin film plastics - and in fact any plastic packaging materials.
So I am now separating those from the "rest" of the plastics that go in the Council 'recycling' bin.
I also discoverd that tiny pieces of alumium, like wrappers and the tops of some containers that are made from foil, will usually end up in the 'landfill' stream at a waste separation centre. The recommendation is to collect all the small foil pieces - like pill packs and so on - and once you have a decent qty, wrap and compress inside the largest foil piece you've retained (important not to 'crush' foil wrap, for example, as this is ideal for 'wrapping' the little foil bits) and then put the larger 'ball' of aluminium into the regular kerbisde recycling bin, as a larger ball can be seen and separated adequately and easily. Anything over tennis ball size is fine. It gives it enough weight that it doesn't get blown about when the light weight plastics are blown off the top of the moving conveyor...as otherwise happens to a bunch of random tiny pieces of foil...
We in NSW have also (reintroduced) 'container deposits' on some popular and recyclable containers, like PET drink bottles, aluminium cans, and beer bottles. But oddly, not wine bottles...
As I also have a benchtop compost-collection bin, I'm struggling these days to find stuff to put in the 'landfill bin'....
But, of course, I'm still being billed for a weekly collection of the 'red top' bin by the local Council....
Roll on 'pay per bin collection', so those doing the separation can be rewarded for NOT just throwing everything in the trash....
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13-11-2021, 17:34
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#140
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Back in Montt.
Boat: Westerly Sealord
Posts: 8,180
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Re: Tips and tricks for minimalist cruising
Real minimalists don't have outboards on their dinghies - either petrol or electric.
If real minimalists can't row ashore they don't go ashore.
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13-11-2021, 18:04
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#141
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Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: aboard, cruising in Australia
Boat: Sayer 46' Solent rig sloop
Posts: 28,432
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Re: Tips and tricks for minimalist cruising
^^^or swim, depending on location.
__________________
Who scorns the calm has forgotten the storm.
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13-11-2021, 19:06
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#142
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Good question
Boat: Rafiki 37
Posts: 14,140
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Re: Tips and tricks for minimalist cruising
Quote:
Originally Posted by El Pinguino
Real minimalists don't have outboards on their dinghies - either petrol or electric.
If real minimalists can't row ashore they don't go ashore.
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Or a good frugalist ... is that a word??
This is one of the reasons we chose our dinghy: a portabote. It doesn't take much of a motor to move it pretty fast, but it rows just as well. Most of the time, we just row to shore.
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14-11-2021, 06:14
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#143
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Nearly an old salt
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Lefkas Marina ,Greece
Boat: Bavaria 36
Posts: 22,801
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Re: Tips and tricks for minimalist cruising
frugality and minimalism are completely different. Frugality is about saving money. Minimalism isn’t , even if it might do. In many cases high end “ minimalism “ is very expensive.
We need to decide what we are talking about here. What I hear is “ minimalism “ what really being said is frugality.
Both have merits and drawbacks.
__________________
Interested in smart boat technology, networking and all things tech
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14-11-2021, 07:04
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#144
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2020
Location: Malmo Sweden
Boat: Regina 43
Posts: 651
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Re: Tips and tricks for minimalist cruising
Agreed. We need a definition.
Here’s my suggestion.
Frugalism, if it is a philosophy, is the philosophy of less — in terms of economic cost—is more.
Minimalism is the philosophy of less—in terms of quantity— is more.
The two coincide in so far as buying and storing fewer things saves money, so both avoid unnecessary purchases, but they differ in just about every other way. A frugalist won’t blink at performing tasks if that saves them money whereas the minimalist won’t blink at spending money to avoid tasks. A frugalist will try to find the cheapest deal on any item they need whereas the minimalist will spend money to buy the most reliable, lowest maintenance, and lowest visual impact option.
Basically frugalism is by its nature, cheap, whereas minimalism is only ever accidentally cheap and can be very expensive.
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14-11-2021, 07:08
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#145
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CF Adviser
Join Date: Oct 2007
Boat: Van Helleman Schooner 65ft StarGazer
Posts: 10,280
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Re: Tips and tricks for minimalist cruising
Quote:
Originally Posted by goboatingnow
frugality and minimalism are completely different. Frugality is about saving money. Minimalism isn’t , even if it might do. In many cases high end “ minimalism “ is very expensive.
We need to decide what we are talking about here. What I hear is “ minimalism “ what really being said is frugality.
Both have merits and drawbacks.
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I guess I am a minimal frugalist then.
I enjoy spending my money
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14-11-2021, 07:12
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#146
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2020
Location: Malmo Sweden
Boat: Regina 43
Posts: 651
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Re: Tips and tricks for minimalist cruising
Whether one views exclusively rowing the dinghy ashore as more minimalist than than using and outboard is tricky. In a way it obviously is as you do away with a substantial and difficult to stow item in favour of oars you would carry anyway as backup propulsion. However, in a way also no as not having such a motor creates an additional laborious task; namely rowing. I view that as a chance to exercise but others may not. You can justify either option from a minimalist point of view I think
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14-11-2021, 12:55
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#148
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Good question
Boat: Rafiki 37
Posts: 14,140
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Re: Tips and tricks for minimalist cruising
My personal definition of frugal is more about being careful or conscious about how I use any resource. That includes money, but also includes everything else, from the water in my tank to the electricity in my bank. Simplicity and frugality often go hand-in-hand.
So being frugal doesn't necessarily mean spending less. It means making the most of the resources you have. Sometimes that requires a higher expenditure of cash to acquire a tool that allows better use or access to a resource. For example, I would argue that a watermaker can be a frugal purchase if you cruise in an area where potable water is hard to get.
Quote:
Miriam-Webster:
• careful about spending money or using things when you do not need to
• using money or supplies in a very careful way
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To me, minimalism is an aesthetic that strives to make less, more. It's more about simplicity, and focusing on needs vs wants.
The two concepts overlap, but are slightly different (in my mind).
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