Getting organized

Nicole on s/v Bella Star offers us this tip for a neat storage product line:

Like living in a Manhattan studio apartment, life aboard a sailboat is all about organization and making the best use of your space.  Kitchens and galleys are compact and efficient, bathrooms and heads are tiny yet orderly and furniture often doubles as storage.  But  being able to live on the water (or in the mix of urban city life) makes dealing with space limitations a minor inconvenience.


We’re fortunate in that Bella Star has a good deal of storage for her size, yet trying to get everything stacked and packed efficiently for cruising is a bit like playing Tetris.  It seems easy in theory, but getting the blocks to nest just so is more challenging than you’d think!  After experimenting with a few different brands of storage containers, I found a winning solution in Snapware.  They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, so I’ve had no trouble squeezing everything in and maximizing our storage space.

Beyond stackabilty, the containers are airtight, leak-proof and have secure tabs that latch on each side, keeping them closed no matter what.  After dealing with the results of a feta cheese catastrophe last week, the part about the latching tabs is important (see, a package of crumbled feta decided to explode in the darkest recesses of the fridge, which I discovered at 6:15am while blearily making Aaron’s lunch  -- what a treat that was).

We tried the OXO Pop Containers first, which also claim to be airtight, but didn’t find them durable enough for boat life – the lids came off too easily and didn’t seal particularly well.  They’re also hard to grab off the shelf, a bit awkward to stack and more expensive.

Our big provisioning run to stock up on foodstuffs and supplies for the summer is coming up in a few weeks.  With all that food needing a snug (yet accessible) home, here’s hoping our Tetris skills and our new Snapware are up to the task.
-Nicole

Snapware is available through their website, but I got ours from Bed, Bath and Beyond and Fred Meyer (so I could buy a ton and return the pieces that didn’t work – although I haven’t had to return one yet).

Credit where credit is due

Part of my falling behind was the woeful and embarrassing failure to keep the "Contributors" tab over there on the right up to date.

I think it is current now.  I hope

All chain: bad.

Lotte of s/v Lunde tells why your anchor rode should not be chain all the way to the bitter end...

Oh yes, really. Everything has an end.

Also an anchor chain.  Actually, it has two - on one end the anchor is mounted while the other is attached to the chain locker under the windlass, so it cannot be lost overboard by accident.

But the chain is not directly connected to the ship - as an intermediary between the chain box and chain sits a piece of rope.  The famous 'bitter end' which has given rise to talk about ways to keep up / fight / lock / hang in until the bitter end - in the sense to keep going, until all possibilities are exhausted and there is no more to do.

Our bitter end with stainless steel shackles

The bitter end attached to the chain locker (before loading the chain)

The advantage of a bitter end is that it is a lot easier to cut / chop than the chain if we were to get a situation where we have to let go the anchor in a hurry.  The end is made long enough that it will reach the deck, so we do not need to first open down to the chain locker.  We obviously hope that we never get there, where we must cut the bitter end. But it is good to know that it is there.

Apologies for my "improvements" to the Google translation from Danish

1000 words

The picture is worth...  Mike of  s/v Chalice solves the age-old problem of how to protect the bulkhead from the heat of a nearby stove.  Nicely, with tile and a beautifully crafted wood border.

Finished the backsplash for stove.

One time good deal, for the next 20 minutes

From s/v Letitgo we have another great idea - how to construct a water filtration system that you can carry with you for use away from your dock...  and a one-time-only good deal!

We picked up that idea from somewhere along our learning curve while reading.  Basically it is a really good idea to  filter the water before it gets into your tank.

Two major reasons, we are looking forward to be able to drink from the tap and you can’t have any chlorine in the tank to back flush the water maker.  So why not try to get into the practice right away, after cleaning your tank this spring.  We hope to start from fresh and not have any bad taste in the future.

A little research and we came with the solution, double filtrations one for residue 5 microns, and one carbon for the rest.  As usual Google (my friend), I found the best price on the net.

• 2 x Pentek 158643 3/8″ 3G Slim Line 10″ Clear Housing  @  $18.50
• 3 x Pentek PS5-10C Smooth Core Filter Cartridge  @  $1.60
• 3 x Ametek, US Filter C-1, American Plumber W5CIP  @  $6.10

Add to this a chopping board a few coupling, a valve, tubing and attachment devices from your favourite local hardware store.  You are in business for 1 hour of assembling and fun.  Now if you contact me, I will build you a Marine version at the minimal coast of $149, for your family safety a must.  And if you buy in the next 20 minutes, I will include 2 years of filter in the price.

You are now able to hook up your water hose on one side, the device hangs from the lifeline or other place and you get beautiful and tasty water on the other side.  Grab a beer, relax the water is flowing for only $149.

Reach out and touch...

Please welcome new contributors *V* and *L* from s/v Letitgo!  In this post they describe how to build a "marine" Alpha wireless antenna, without paying the "marine tax".  I can assure you we will be hearing more from them!

How do we build a Wi-Fi long range device?

First of all we search on the net what everybody else does, and find out that for $250 we get you a “marine” magic box with an Alpha thingy plus an 8db gain antenna in a pelican box. Now we know that unsecure network are getting rare around the world, but still when you are anchorage or at the back end of a marina you may need a little boost even for a paid one.

After a few minutes of research on the net, we found with data Alliance, the kits we needed:

• 1 Outdoor Enclosure for Alfa AWUS036H / AWUS036NH combined w/ 9dBi Antenna & 5-meter USB Ext Cable (Active)
• (10-meter: Increases kit price $6 to $33.99 total) @ $33.99 = $33.99
• 1 Alfa AWUS036H 1000mW USB Wireless WiFi Adapter + Antenna. Long-Range. Upgrade from 500mW        @ $25.99 = $25.99

Attention this is not a water proof but weather proof, so we added a rubber gasket (home depot $1.09) and some generous silicone application. To hook it up to a lifeline or for us to the boom, we added two stainless snap hook (home depot $4). Total $65.07 for a system we can leave outside and bring with us, when we go on shore and need to get into that coffee shop network without having to be inside or seating just outside on the curb. People are too quick to judge you, when you stay in that posture, done it before no more!

Now for the hard part, you didn’t think it was all going to be easy. You need to get that antenna inserted into the gasket, a very tight fit. At home we have a fancy “organic” Dishwasher liquid not the best for that application. So now we just had to ask “our neighbour” for some Vaseline and look what we got! We know, for anybody who is ever going to see this box on our boat, it will bring a smile.

From our condo, the first comparison show that we jump from 6 networks available to more than 30. We will have to test the generosity of our environment in this summer cruise.