Pewter Plates

[In Training]

Cleaning out cupboards and closets, etc. with what we will use on the boat in mind. Came across pewter plates -- not breakable, that is a good thing, but thought the salt water might ruin them?

Good or bad on a boat?

thank you.

Cheryl

[Dockhead]

All I can tell you is I started out with a ton of porcelain ware on my boat, and ended up replacing it gradually with plastic (melamine). Never looked back. Heavy and maintenance-intensive ware is not good on a boat. Although I love china, crystal, and pewter at home, plastic rules on board.

[janice142]

Hello Cheryl. At the urging of a pirate, I bought from the thrift store a pewter mug for my coffee. The problem was immediately upon filling said cup I could not touch the handle. I resolved that by tying knots around the handle but I'm thinking pewter would be too hot to hold if, say, you were filling a couple plates from the grill....

I'd not be so concerned with maintaining/cleaning as in the conduction of heat.

As this is my home I chose to eat from glass dishes. If something breaks I simply replace it ... am too old/too set in my ways to want to eat off plastic or heaven forbid, paper. Ugh. And yes, I suppose there are times when paper is appropriate (a beach cookout perhaps?) but for every day -- never. Real silverware (not plastic) too...

Ah yes, I do have a fortunate life
Enjoy, and have fun Cheryl -- but definitely pick something to eat off that will bring you pleasure. If that's wood or pewter, or ceramic or even Corelle -- whatever you like is best aboard your boat.

[In Training]

Janice and Dockhead

Thank you. We use to use the pewter plates when the kids were young and we didn't want plastic, but wanted something that wouldn't break. We used the mugs for cold drinks. No problem with food from the grill it is only hot coffee that transfers enough heat for he handles to become a problem. You are right about that! Also, can't be used in microwave. Do people even have microwave's on boats?

My concern was with the salt water environment and if that had a negative effect. If not, I would rather have my pewter than plastic. I also will use real silverware.

We have soo much to get rid of. I hoard everything -- this should be liberating.

Again, thank you for the advice and info.

Cheryl

[Celestialsailor]

I use Corelle-ware. Hold up pretty good unless it really gets launched across the beam!

[MarkJ]

Test the pewter for a while. Wont take long to work out how it goes.

I dont like drinking from plastic cups so use glass. Last passage 13 days up wind I forgot to wrap the glasses up and store them away... they were just sliding about in the cupboard for 2 weeks upwind. Not one broke!

[Andrew Troup]

I use stainless steel dogfood bowls, the ones with the non skid rubber extrusion around the foot

You think I'm kidding, don't you !

[Astrid]

A salt, flour, and vinegar paste is used to clean or polish pewter, so I doubt that sea water will have any long term bad effect on it through normal use and washing. I just would not let it sit for long periods immersed in salt water.

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

All I can tell you is I started out with a ton of porcelain ware on my boat, and ended up replacing it gradually with plastic (melamine). Never looked back. Heavy and maintenance-intensive ware is not good on a boat. Although I love china, crystal, and pewter at home, plastic rules on board.

Originally Posted by janice142

As this is my home I chose to eat from glass dishes. If something breaks I simply replace it ... am too old/too set in my ways to want to eat off plastic or heaven forbid, paper. Ugh.

...... definitely pick something to eat off that will bring you pleasure. If that's wood or pewter, or ceramic or even Corelle -- whatever you like is best aboard your boat.

These two responses really illustrate the difference between considering a boat a plaything or a home .

It is home for us, and I set in my ways too, so I'm with Janice on this one .

The pleasure in eating is not just in the taste and texture and smell. Our vision and sense of touch contribute lots too. So "pick something to eat off that will bring you pleasure".

Bone china and crystal are generally much tougher than poor quality items. We have had only the rare breakage on board in five plus years of full time cruising.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

These two responses really illustrate the difference between considering a boat a plaything or a home .

It is home for us, and I set in my ways too, so I'm with Janice on this one .

The pleasure in eating is not just in the taste and texture and smell. Our vision and sense of touch contribute lots too. So "pick something to eat off that will bring you pleasure".

Bone china and crystal are generally much tougher than poor quality items. We have had only the rare breakage on board in five plus years of full time cruising.

To each his own -- of course.

I think it also makes a big difference whether you are taking a lot of meals at sea or not. If you are living on board and not moving around that much, then of course you will feel better if you use the kind of ware you would use at home.

I generally spend one day out of three at sea while cruising, if not more, so practicality in a seaway is important. I bought expensive melamine plates and bowls in France last summer which have been brilliant -- quite pleasant to eat from, and yet light weight (important when you're carrying dishes back and forth from the galley while under way, or up and down from the cockpit) and resilient. The porcelein plates and bowls I used up to then are now available free to a good home

I have both plastic and glass tumblers on board; the plastic ones are nice (read expensive), but at anchor, the glass ones tend to get used more often. I have nice melamine coffee mugs which I inherited from the PO -- now these are so nice that they are always the first ones taken, after which there are a bunch of ceramic and porcelein ones (I have a dedicated coffee mug locker, which probably should be thinned out a bit!).

I have a big problem, as yet unresolved, with wine glasses. This application really demands glass, but I don't have a decent way to store them. Need to find a teak rack somewhere. I wish someone made tempered glass wine glasses.

The problem I see with pewter ware is not that seawater will do anything untoward to them, but that they will get dented. Besides that, they are pretty heavy. These will be fairly serious disadvantages, it seems to me, for eating from them in a seaway.

I can't quite imagine using bone china on board, as SWL does, but I note that Oyster gives you a whole set of bone china with the Oyster logo, when you buy one of their yachts! So some people must use it! The only thing Moody gives (gave) you along these lines was a set of crystal whiskey tumblers, with the Moody logo cut into them! I only have I think four left of these; the others having been broken along the way somewhere during the PO's tenure

[Fuss]

Not that I know what I'm talking about, but I remember hearing somewhere that old pewter is not healthy to drink out of but the more modern pewter products with modern manufacturing methods are ok.

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

I can't quite imagine using bone china on board, as SWL does, but I note that Oyster gives you a whole set of bone china with the Oyster logo, when you buy one of their yachts! So some people must use it! The only thing Moody gives (gave) you along these lines was a set of crystal whiskey tumblers, with the Moody logo cut into them! I only have I think four left of these; the others having been broken along the way somewhere during the PO's tenure

Bone china is thankfully TOUGH! From my experience, I would say it is far tougher than ordinary china. If not, I would just wear the occasional breakage.

Underway (which we only do about once a week usually) I have a couple of melamine pasta bowls that are much more practical than plates. The mugs used are just our ordinary ones. Not one of these has ever broken.

Storage is not a problem if a bit of care is taken. I have photographed the inside of one of our galley cupboards. All plates and bowls are divided by a piece of non skid matting, as are the base of all shelves themselves. This was done primarily to stop any rattling (our anchorages are not always calm and rattles are annoying), but it also serves to protect the plates:

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by Fuss

Not that I know what I'm talking about, but I remember hearing somewhere that old pewter is not healthy to drink out of but the more modern pewter products with modern manufacturing methods are ok.

Old pewter contained lead .

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

I have a big problem, as yet unresolved, with wine glasses. This application really demands glass, but I don't have a decent way to store them. Need to find a teak rack somewhere. I wish someone made tempered glass wine glasses.

I keep champagne glasses wrapped in bubble wrap and stored in plastic pasta containers. Only four are needed 99% of the time, so these are stored for easy access wedged in on a bookshelf. Padded like this they will survive just about anything and can be thrown in any convenient cupboard.

PS sorry for the thread drift

[BlackOak]

I used the camping gear, I picked up at walmart. ya know the blue metal stuff. I got 4 plates, 4 coffee cups, 4 bowls, cutlery for 4, 2 quart saucepan, dutchoven w/lid, coffee pot, aluminum spatula, spoon, 2 prong fork. Suits this boat just fine. Never use the plates, or bowls. Easier to just cook and serve in the same pot. Besides, I dont like clutter, and too much stuff always leads to clutter.