s/v YOLO Swab's Blog Day 286 Entry 061 House keeping aboard S/v YOLO Part 5 The non automatic washing machine.

s/v YOLO You Only Live Once Swab’s Log Blog

Posting Date:  Friday, February 28, 2014

Day 286 Entry 061

Boot Key Harbor and Marina Mooring #W10 

http://www.ci.marathon.fl.us/government/departments/marina-and-ports/

Actual Date:  January 27, 2014 Monday    

Weather:   Cold. Cold. Cold.  But no snow!   Temperature dropped to 52 degrees and the wind gusted to 30 mph.  But it is warmer here than most places in the country!

Subject:  Housekeeping aboard s/v YOLO. Part 5.  The non automatic washing machine.

Electric, non automatic clothes washer.  OK, so what’s non automatic mean?  I learned that it means, the washer does not automatically fill the tub with water, agitate to wash, drain; fill; agitate to rinse; drain and spin.  Basically, each cycle has to be manually set.  

There is a tub for washing/rinsing and a separate tub for spinning the clothes dry.  I found some models where the washer is a totally separate unit from the spinner.  So the individual units are smaller than the unit with the washer and spinner side by side combo. 

Because of my space limitations this is a great feature!   Powered by electricity so no plunging (therefore no blisters); no cranking; no bicycle riding!   This electric non automatic clothes was looking better and better.  The washer holds 7 to 10 gallons of water and 2 to 3 pairs of dungarees or 5 to 7 shirts or 1 king size bed sheet.  That's doable!  

So what exactly is the 'non automatic' process?   Basically it is manually intensive but definitely not nearly as labor intensive as the crank, cause I will still have use of both of my arms when I am done!  The water is added by the operator (me);  the operator (me) turns the dial to agitate the clothes for 3 to 15 minutes; when the time is up and agitation is finished the operator (me) places the drain hose in the drain (most probably the wash basin) and stand there to make sure it doesn't over flow; add clean water  to the washer for the rinse cycle and turn the dial to agitate (rinse) for 3 to 15 minutes;  then place the drain hose back in the basin to drain the water again and again stand there it make sure it doesn't over flow.  Then the clothes are put in the spinner or centrifuge for 2 to 10 minutes to extract the water.   Then hang them on the line to dry.  Since it’s a sailboat we have plenty of ‘line’, so that’s not an issue!  This machine is definitely not like the one home but a great deal better than anything else I've seen thus far!   This is doable!

Sea u later!

s/v YOLO Swab's Blog Day 270 Entry 060 Housekeeping aboard s/v YOLO. Part 4 Peddle Power!

s/v YOLO You Only Live Once Swab’s Log Blog

Posting Date:  Tuesday, February  11, 2014   
Day 270 Entry 060

Boot Key Harbor and Marina Mooring #W10 http://www.ci.marathon.fl.us/government/departments/marina-and-ports/

Actual Date:  January 27, 2014 Monday    
Weather:   Cold. Cold. Cold.  But no snow!   Temperature dropped to 52 degrees and the wind gusted to 30 mph.  But it is warmer here than most places in the country!

Subject:  Housekeeping aboard s/v YOLO. Part 4 Peddle Power!

Let me explain why the bicycle powered washing machine was ruled out right off the bat!   We have 2 folding bikes on the sailboat that we use for transportation - on land that is.  Granted, s/v YOLO has very good walk around.  Just that; walk around, not suitable for bike riding.  

I totally understand the health benefits of bike riding.  I agree that energy produced by ‘peddle power’ helps the environment.  That’s all well and good – but not my way of washing clothes!   I didn’t even discuss this type of washer with Captain Steve; I just refused!  As I said to Captain Steve – “Gilligan can keep his ‘peddle powered’ washing machine!

 No Way!  Not Happening!  Not In a million years!  Don’t hold your breath!   Not at this stage of my life!   I’ll just through the dirty clothes over board!”

Captain Steve made no attempt to counter my statements.  I guess he got the picture!  We moved on to the next type of washing machine!

Sea u later.  Housekeeping aboard.  The Non automatic washing machine.

s/v YOLO Swab's Blog Day 269 Entry 059 Housekeeping aboard s/v YOLO Part 3 Manual and the Egg.

s/v YOLO You Only Live Once Swab’s Log Blog

Posting Date:  Monday,  February 9, 2014   
Day 269 Entry 0059

Boot Key Harbor and Marina Mooring #W10 http://www.ci.marathon.fl.us/government/departments/marina-and-ports/

Actual Date:  January 27, 2014 Monday    
Weather:   Cold. Cold. Cold.  But no snow!   Temperature dropped to 52 degrees and the wind gusted to 30 mph.  But it is warmer here than most places in the country!

Subject:  Housekeeping aboard s/v YOLO. Part 3 THE EGG

The ‘egg’ which is about 2 feet tall, sits on a table top.  Therefore, it is pretty small and doesn’t hold much.  The clothes are agitated by electricity or manually turning a crank on the side of the ‘egg’.  

 After reading the fine print, I found that it can only handle only 1 shirt at a time!!!  I never found out how much water it holds.  Couldn’t be much, I guess.   Agreed, exercise is good for me but; the ‘egg’ has to be cranked 150 to 200 times, to wash the one item.  Then drain the dirty water, fill it again with clean water, and crank it another 150 to 200 times to rinse.   How long does 400 cranks take – 5 or 10  minutes?  How hard is it to crank??  Are they kidding??   Why bother??  To wash just 10 shirts, I would have to crank the egg 4000 times.  I don’t think it’s worth my arm falling off to wash just 10 shirts!   I guess it’s a good thing that a bed sheet doesn't fit in the egg, since I have no idea how many cranks that would take!   So, Captain Steve and I agreed that eggs are meant for the frying pan not washing machines.  There has to be other options. 

Sea u later.  Housekeeping aboard s/v YOLO. Part 4.

s/v YOLO Day 268 Entry 0058 Housekeeping aboard s.v YOLO Part 2.THE P!LUNGER

s/v YOLO You Only Live Once Swab’s Log Blog

Posting Date:  Saturday, February 8, 2014   
Day 268  Entry 0058

Boot Key Harbor and Marina Mooring #W10  http://www.ci.marathon.fl.us/government/departments/marina-and-ports/

Actual Date:  January 26, 2014 Sunday   
Weather:   Cold. Cold. Cold.  But no snow!   Temperature dropped to 52 degrees and the wind gusted to 30 mph.  But it is warmer here than most places in the country!

Subject:  Housekeeping aboard s/v YOLO. Part 2 THE PLUNGER!

   
Lets look at the pros and cons of each type of clothes washer! We’ll start with the very basic  ‘plunger.’  I’m not crazy about standing over a bucket on the bow of the boat with a plunger hand washer.  Since the buckets that I have hold a total of 5 gallons of water, I might be able to wash 2 shirts.   Using 4 gallons of water I would have to allow for splashing due to agitation so I would have to reduce the water to 3 gallons.  That’s not much water and I have no idea how many agitations or 'plunges' would be needed to wash 2 shirts.  I have spoken to women who started out with this type of clothes washer.  The few that have used it said that after using it a few times they got so many blisters they gave  up and threw it overboard.  Actually I was told that a regular toilet plunger can be used.  I do not think that I can be considered 'high maintenance' even though I am quite repulsed by the idea of washing clothes with a toilet plunger that looks very similar to one used to unclog the toilet.  OK what’s next?

Sea u later!  Housekeeping aboard s/v YOLO Part 3.

s/v YOLO Swab's Log Blog Day 267 Entry 0057 Housekeeping aboard s/v YOLO Part 1

s/v YOLO You Only Live Once Swab’s Log Blog

Posting Date:  Friday, February 6, 2014   
Day 267  Entry 0057

Boot Key Harbor and Marina Mooring #W10  http://www.ci.marathon.fl.us/government/departments/marina-and-ports/

Actual Date:  January 25, 2014 Saturday   
Weather:   Cold. Cold. Cold.  But no snow!   Temperature dropped to 52 degrees and the wind gusted to 30 mph.  But it is warmer here than most places in the country!

Subject:  Housekeeping aboard s/v YOLO.

Performing basic housekeeping chores on a boat is pretty much just like home but with a few exceptions.  I don’t have a dish washer so I wash the dishes by hand – no biggie!  (Yes some sailboats have dishwashers.)   Cleaning the heads (bathrooms) are the same except for flushing the toilet.  On the sailboat, you just press the red button!

Dusting and sweeping is the same.  But vacuuming is a little different though.  I have a small hand held vacuum, so instead of standing up while vacuuming the rug and floor, I vacuum on my hands and knees!  Not great , but do-able.  I must admit that I do tend to ‘postpone vacuuming’, as much as possible!   But when trying to figure out how perform more involved housekeeping chores, such as laundry, I read multitude of magazine articles and spoke with women (crew) who were ‘live aboards’.  All said, “if you have room for a clothes washer, get one!”   I never really paid any attention to clothes washers; I’ve only bought 4 or 5 over the years.  So, I basically bought the one that was the least expensive and handled the biggest load of wash.  I really didn’t understand exactly what an ‘automatic washer,’ I thought all washers were automatic.  Well now I know that they are not!!  After looking at so many, over 20 types – really no kidding I had no Idea!  Actually I think I am an expert now!!!  There are so many different types from the manual stick type that looks more like a toilet plunger than a clothes washer;  

to a manual hand crank tumbler; 

to an electric ‘egg’ thing; 

to a washer agitated by bicycle power, just like the one on Gilligan’s Island

to built in apartment size automatic washer – dryer combos designed specifically for sailboats.  

The clothes washers ranged in price from $20. to $3,000.

We really didn’t want to go through the trouble of having the plumbing, and electricity reconfigured in order to accommodate a built in clothes washer.  These clothes washers were the most expensive and most expensive to install: so we ruled them out.  

Sea u later.  House keeping chores on YOLO.  Part 2.