Friday, February 28, 2014

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 
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!

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