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 253 Entry 0055 No Man Is An Islan But Our Boat is! Part 4

s/vYOLO You Only Live Once Swab’s Log Blog

Posting Date:  Thursday, January  23, 2014   
Day 253 Entry 0055

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

Actual Date:  January 17, 2014 Friday. 

Subject:  No Man Is An Island But Our Boat Is!  Part 4

So basically the boat is set up as its own island!   We can live ‘on the hook’ (translation for land lubbers - at anchor, or not attached to shore electricity) for 3 months. Based on Captain Steve’s calculations the diesel fuel should last more than 3 months, but we don’t want to get caught short!   There are so many remote places that we want to visit and in order to go there we knew we had to be totally self sufficient!   

So we can be totally independent for as long as 3 months or as long as we are still talking to each other – which ever comes first! 

 We are ready to set out to find those remote places.

Sea u later!  Now when and where to go! 

s/v YOLO Swab's Log Blog Day 251 Entry 0054 No Man Is An Island But Our Boat Is! Part 3

s/vYOLO You Only Live Once Swab’s Log Blog

Posting Date:  Tuesday, January  21, 2014   
Day 251 Entry 0054

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

Actual Date:  January 17, 2014 Friday. 

Subject:  No Man Is An Island But Our Boat Is!  Part 3

Since we have a reverse osmosis system (aka water maker) we don’t need to go to a dock to fill our water tanks.  I was very leery about desalinated water – really very leery.  I thought that we would just use it only for washing and not drink it.   While on the dock at Boot Key Harbor I met a man from Point Pleasant, NJ (no less).  During the conversation he mentioned that he worked for the water department at Ft. Dix.  So I asked him about the desalinated water systems – he said that it works great!  He said that the armed forces use reverse osmosis systems extensively for drinking!   He has a system on his boat!  After mentioning the system we had – he volunteered that your system is much better than mine!  So drink up!  Well I thought I would give the reverse osmosis water a try!   I was very surprised that it is crystal clear!   We conducted our own taste test using 2 identical glasses (yes I had to 'barrow ' form a restaurant) 2 glasses (OK 2 small brandy snifters) for this test  since we only have plastic glasses on the boat!   We each took a turn filling one glass with the bottled water and the other the desalinated water and then the other would drink it.   Neither Captain Steve nor I could tell the difference!  Can you tell the difference????

Sea u later!  
Subject:  No Man Is An Island But Our Boat Is!  Part 4