NUTS & BOATS The twice monthly newsletter for to-be and already-are cruisers Volume 2, Issue #10 - May 15, 2004
Publisher: Trish Lambert
www.takehersailing.com
(C) P. Lambert 2004
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CALLING ALL SOUTHERN CALIFORNIANS!! You are invited to **** THE FIRST ANNUAL THS PARTY **** Saturday, May 29th, 2004 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm Silver Gate Yacht Club, San Diego, California Click here for more information and to RSVP
CRUISING STRATEGY
Things You Might Not Have Thought Of... by Trish Lambert Living aboard has an oxymoronic quality to it. Leading "the simple life" can be pretty complex--I think of it as having a plane, a car, and a house compressed into a very small space. This specialized environment calls for specialized equipment and tactics...sometimes. In spite of what marine retailers would like us to think, there are a number of "normal" (and inexpensive) items that we can put to very efficient use aboard our boats. For example: For easy lighting that won't impair your night vision, stock red cellophane (the kind you get in rolls in a gift wrap store) and rubber bands. Cut squares to fit over flashlights and rubber band them in to place. Forget buying purpose-made bag clips. Clothespins can do double duty by securing laundry to the life lines as well as keeping the bag of potato chips (or whatever) closed. And only use rubber covered clothespins--the metal hinges on the wooden ones rust out in about five seconds in a marine environment. When the clothes dryer eats a sock, don't throw away its mate. Save those unmatched socks to use as jar and bottle covers aboard the boat. They provide good shock absorbency. If you haven't completely switched over to a digital camera, you should have plastic film canisters hanging around. Reuse them for storage aboard the boat--small fittings, pill boxes, herbs/spices, anything small that needs a compact home. Eat a tube of mini-M&Ms, then use the tube for laundry money. Those tubes are a perfect fit for U.S. quarters, the coins most often needed for washers and dryers in the marina laundromat. Have several plastic spray bottles on board. Besides their use for cleaning solutions (e.g., a bleach/water combination for controlling mildew), they are great "hand showers." Skip and I douse ourselves on hot days to encourage evaporative cooling. And when I'm out on the briny, I go over the side for my bath, then use a spray bottle to rinse myself off with fresh water--works great. Just make sure you keep your cleaning solution bottles separate from your shower bottles! If you aren't already doing so, save your old toothbrushes for cleaning and maintenance on the boat. There are loads of tight places above and below decks where a small brush works great. One overlooked spot: Use a toothbrush to clean the inside of anchor chain links. You can never have too many zip-locking bags. Keep several sizes available, and use them for more than just food storage. Spare parts, clothes, office equipment, medicines, and lots of other stuff will pack more compactly when transferred to zip locking bags. And reuse the bags: invert, wash, and then hang to dry with those double-duty clothespins.
These are just a few examples of the use of "non-marine" things that have a place aboard a boat. Do you have others? Send me your own list of everyday items that do useful jobs on your vessel (trish@takehersailing.com) and I will add them on!
SPEAKING OF TIPS Have you subscribed to Trish's Year of Cruising Tips? To keep you inspired and excited while you prepare to take off on your adventure, I have compiled a set of cruising tips that range across a whole bunch of topics--provisioning, health, safety, and on and on. I cover stuff that tends to be left out during the preparation process, and that will help you be more efficient in lots of ways. Subscribe today at the introductory price of $9.97, and you'll get one tip delivered to your email inbox each week for a year. A tidbit of cruising insight and inspiration delivered to you once a week for less than twenty cents per tip...what a deal! Subscribe to my INDISPENSABLE cruising tips today!!!
ANOTHER CRUISING STRATEGY
Managing Mosquitoes by Trish Lambert Mosquito bites are not only irritating, they are potentially dangerous to your health. Malaria, dengue fever, and yellow fever are diseases that concern cruisers in tropical climates, and West Nile virus has made its way into the continental U.S. via its mosquito host. Since we are entering a mosquito time of year, talk about insect repellents is appropriate. Effectiveness and toxicity are primary concerns, whether you're sailing in Canada or anchored off the jungles of Costa Rica. Making sense of manufacturers' claims and counter-claims, can be almost as irritating as bug bites themselves. In the hopes of helping out, here are some tidbits that reflect the most recent research and expert opinion about bugs and their bugs. DEET is the most effective topical ingredient available in insect repellents (at least in the United States) today. Attended by controversy in the past, it is now considered safe. According to an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, "DEET has a remarkable safety profile after 40 years of use and nearly 8 billion human applications. Fewer than 50 cases of serious toxic effects have been documented in the medical literature since 1960, and three-quarters of them resolved without [permanent injury]." Studies have demonstrated that DEET gives superior protection over a number of natural preparations by a wide margin, and that greater concentrations of DEET were better than diluted ones. Repellents containing the ingredient picardin are not yet available in the U.S., though they can be had in Australia and Europe (and perhaps Canada? My north of my border pals will have to let me know). Studies indicate that it performs similarly to DEET but--good news--without DEET's disconcerting destruction of plastics and synthetic fibers. Skin So Soft(R) has almost mythological status as a bug repellant, which I'm sure has made Avon really happy, since its original purpose was to serve simply as a skin softener. I've known folks for whom this concoction works, but I am not one of them. The stuff does absolutely nothing to the bloodsuckers that land on my Skin-So-Softed epidermis. The effectiveness of your chemical of choice can be impacted by external conditions. Ambient temperature, humidity, and the particular species of insect attacking you all have a bearing on your repellant's success. High ambient temperature makes it less effective and more likely to evaporate. Rain and heavy perspiration will wash it off. Another interesting chemical is permethrin, which is available as a spray or solution and is meant to be used on clothing and other fabrics such as screens. A 6-ounce spray container of 0.5 percent permethrin is sold under a variety of names; one online vendor is at www.permethrin-repellent.com. That amount is apparently good for two sets of garments for two weeks with weekly laundering. When applied, concentrate on the cuffs, around the neck, and lower hem, spraying about 30 seconds per side. You will get better coverage if the clothing or fabric/screening material is flat when you spray. Once the treated clothing has been air-dried completely (two hours or more), the protection is good for at least two weeks, assuming weekly laundering. Once applied, it is also heat and sunlight stable. If you use the solution and soak your clothing, check the label for the proper dilution. This is a relatively benign insecticide. Speaking of clothing, it is best to wear long-sleeved and long-legged pants, though this may be impractical in tropical weather. At the very least, try to adopt this practice around dusk. This is when many of us want to enjoy the cooler weather and even cooler sunset over drinks in the cockpit, and it is also when the mosquitoes like to have their own happy hour...on us!! Aside from clothing and chemical repellents, there are some other tactics that can help avoid or minimize bites. When anchoring, stay away from obvious marshy areas on shore; these spots are characterized by standing water, and, therefore, lots of mosquitoes. In fact, try anchoring as far away from shore as possible. Use fans below as well as in the cockpit; mosquitoes are not very strong fliers and will not bother you in the wind. Mosquito coils (I think of them as "repellent incense") and citronella candles will work, though you should only use the latter outside so that the fumes don't get concentrated. I used the coils in Mexico against the ubiquitous no-see-ums and it seemed to put them to sleep, which was fine until they woke back up! I've since learned the trick of vacuuming them up while they are snoozing. Mosquitoes in the berth with you? With your vacuum cleaner ready to go, turn off the lights and let them settle on the overhead, then flip on the lights and vacuum them up. Avoid using perfumes or colognes. Some folks swear by bathing in peppermint soap such as Dr. Bronner's (available in health food stores or at www.drbronner.com); peppermint reputedly has the same effect on mosquitoes as citronella. Use fine screen (14-18 wires per inch) to keep the bugs out but let the air in. I've heard that lots of movement attracts mosquitoes, going on a swatting rampage when biting insects start hovering overhead might makes things worse rather than better. And I don't know if this is really true, but I've heard that drinking beer will attract mosquitoes to you, so this might be the time to switch to rum! ARRGGH MATEY!!! And when you do get bit (it's inevitable), soak the bites in Epsom salt water or apply a paste of Epsom salt mixed into lard or cold cream. I've also heard that Noxzema skin cream relieves the itching, though I haven't tried it myself. Finally, if you are a fan of strictly natural methods of repelling mosquitoes, check out "The Bug Stops Here," a free download available at www.thebestcontrol.com/bugstop/download.htm. Good luck with your mosquito management!!! | 
