The weather has turned to the damp miserable days that you get in Autumn, with what I describe as clag. However, just because it is hard to do things outside does not mean that we can't get on with things inside Salty Lass.
Cupboard
The shelves for our wee cupboard were at last vanished and the supports for the shelves were varnished. So now that was all done, it was time to fit the shelves. This was getting really needful because although the cupboard was not that big, it housed a lot of stuff and that was currently occupying our back berth, so it looked like a disaster zone. Before we put the shelves in, Beverley cleaned the back of the cupboard and the sides and you would be amazed at the amount of dirt that she managed to get on her cloth. After, the cleaning we put the shelves in followed by Stay put matting on all the cupboard shelves. Stay put matting can be bought from a variety of places and it just prevents items from sliding around. Another thing we put into the cupboards to shop things sliding around was baskets. This raises the useable space to the height of the basket, it also keeps things neat and tidy and compartmentalised.
Cleaning the boat
When we are cleaning Salty Lass, we use bubble to help break down the dirt and alike on the boat. Now we have had blowback for this because Bubble is bad for aquatic life. The main reason for this is because it breaks down surface tension and pond skaters can not skate. There are other substances but they all come with a risk of some sort. For me me, the biggest risk is to my skin and I find that there are a huge range of products that are bad for my hands, these include environment friendly products as I have tried them before, so like everything it is a balance between getting the job done and the cost to the environment and being able to strike the best balance that you can make.
Shoes
On our discord server we had a conversation about shoes and what shoes to wear so we use:-
- Shoes that cover the toe - There is quite a lot of hardware on deck, with the Genoa car and various hard points. It is so easy to stub your toe on these, so protect your toes, with something that covers them.
- Shoes that encase your foot - When you are moving around the boat, you need something that stays on your foot. Boats are a dangerous environment, so the last thing you need is your shoe falling off, as it will distract you and that distraction could come at a vital moment.
- Shoes that have a white sole - Black soles can leave black marks on your boat which are difficult to remove
- Shoes that are somewhat waterproof - These are getting really hard to find with so many breathable fabrics around, but boats are a wet environment so protect your feet. It has been proven that you can get hurt in a lot of places but realistically, you walk on your feet
One of our discord users wears flip flops on deck, so I personally would not use them because of points 1 and 2
Top tips
With living in a boat, we find that we do have to pull everything out and clean the cupboards on a regular basis, they just seem to collect mould spores. We find that the moulds are slower to grow in well ventilated cupboards, but once the cupboard becomes dark and damp, the moulds grow like crazy.
Padded wash bag - Having a round padded wash bag on a boat, is a great idea, because you can place hot saucepans in them and that is all you need for cooking pasta, noodles and the like.
Use a good water bottle for your oil - The plastic on oil bottles is so thin that you can easily break them,especially if you are ham fisted like I am, so we like to decant our oil into a water bottle which is a lot more rigid
