Organizing is Tricky Business

Since we downsized from a 4 bedroom, 2 bath, 2000 sq ft home, we have worked hard to find a spot for everything on our 32 ft boat. For the most part we have done so, there are only 4 file box sized containers and some misc camping/tool stuff stored in the trunk of our car.

The hardest things to organize right now on our boat, after 4 months of living on this boat, are the galley (food and pots/pans), our wet locker (jackets, boots, rain gear), and our linens (towels and bedding). 

1. Our unorganized wet locker

2. Our linen,piled on top of hanging locker/drawer area

3. Our not-user-friendly galley, sporting the water hose in sink while water tank is out of commission 

Here are some areas we have made progress with organizing! Yahoo!

1. Clothes

We made shelves in our forward locker. It is very deep and was used with a rod for hanging clothes, but there was so much wasted space in the back of it we decided to put in the shelves. Plus, we really don't have a need to hang clothes any more, most of our clothes are casual and can be rolled up to fit in tight spaces. Right now, we each have some drawers and a shelf for our clothes, and it works pretty good. I managed this week to get all our winter and summer clothes to fit together in our allotted spaces for clothes.

2. Fruit and veges and a pantry

We have a hanging basket for our fruit now and a net for other foods. Both work very good. But our can goods and dry goods are stored in a couple places right now with no organization. Pretty much every time we reach for a can we knock over 3-4 other ones in the process and then we cannot find the can we want, ugh!

Our net, I call it the pantry

Our new/old fruit basket (got it free and fixed it with rope)

There are many other items around the boat we have stowed or put up, which works for now, but we aren't sure if its gonna keep working. Things we stowed just to get out of the way: electronics, office supplies, games, books, sewing stuff, material for projects, tools, projects in and out of boat with all the stuff to fix them, extra blankets, important papers, toys, DVDs, CDs, and this list just keeps going! 

Here is our future plan: empty our car, keep organizing, get rid of some more stuff, keep only what we need, and stow stuff without it getting moldy or wet (which means we gotta fix the leaks!).

Homeschool Lesson 1: Fishing

This week hubby took our son out Salmon fishing and he loved it. They didn't catch a Salmon, but the experience of it was worth every moment. There is a saying:

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

Its meaning, it is more worthwhile to teach someone to do something, than to do something for them. This is our motto. We plan to teach our son to be able to survive in life on his own, for we know mommy and daddy will not be around all the time to do this for him, and we want him to learn how to survive on his own.

We also plan to teach him the proper english and mathematics he will need to know for educational purposes. However, we will not adhere to a schedule pushed on us by society, rather we will focus on what is at hand and the rest will fall into place. To some at his age he may seem smart, and to others not, but to us he is where he should be - learning at a pace without societies influences of statistics, norms, and consumerism. He will be able to read, write, add, and subtract - like all the rest of his peers; and also be able to fish, sail, fix a motor, have good manners, cook, enjoy life, and so on . . .

We currently allow interaction with peers his age in certain arenas. He is very talkative and friendly with other children his age. At times, he is aloof with other children because they are raised within the norms of society, and he is not. There are places he goes and some children are extremely friendly with him and do not pass judgment on his way of life. And then there are the others, who think he is weird (because he is wearing his life jacket outside the marina or loving his toy boat) and will either shy away from him or ridicule him for being different. He will have to learn, as we all did, how to deal with all kinds of people, the good and the bad.

For now we focus on the Salmon run, to catch one of those big yummy fish, so we can feed ourselves for a while. And if we learn other things through this adventure, like a new song or how many seals we see as we row/sail out to the Salmon spot, then it is an added bonus.

Homemade Detergent

I have never made so many homemade products before. This homemade detergent recipe I researched several and tweaked to my liking and it works great, easy to make, cleans the clothes good, hypoallergenic, and cheap!

Here are the ingredients: (I found them at local store, but some stores don't carry all what you'll need so some people mentioned they went to a hardware store to get the washing soda and Borax), I also make 1 gallon at a time because my stock pot isn't large and I don't have a lot of room.

1/2 cup washing soda (1.6lbs cost $7)

1/2 - 1 cup Borax (4lbs cost $5)

1/2 bar soap grated (I used an herbal bath soap bar on sale for a $1 at local co-op)

1 gallon of water

Optional : 10-20 drops lavender or other essential oil (cost $6 for whole bottle)

A total cost of $13 for these ingredients.

Place grated soap and1/2 gallon water in stock pot on medium to high heat and stir.  

When grated soap is dissolved add Borax and washing soda, bring to boil, keep stirring. 

For some people it coagulates, mine just had suds on edges of pot and looked pretty liquidy, but I boiled it and figured that was good, so I took it off the heat, let cool.

Once cooled add the remaining water in my gallon jug, about 1/2 gallon was left. I stirred well and noticed the solution got thicker, the first time it almost looked like half done jello, this time it's more like liquid.

I then added a 10 drops essential oil, the soap I used had a green earthy smell so I thought lavender would smell good.

I got my funnel and poured it into the gallon jug. 

Days later the first solution looked like half done jello, but it poured easy and washes the clothes well (we use front load washers at the marina). I use a small plastic cup to pour a pre-measured amount into washer, it measures about 1/2 cup.

Happy washing!

My first batch I made in late July is now depleted, the gallon lasted 2 months. I typically do 3-4 front loads of laundry each week, I estimate that I got 28 loads from this gallon. 

Today, September 18th,  I plan to make two gallons, and use remainder of grated bar of soap. The box of borax is 3/4 full, even after using some for another cleaner, have lots more to go. The laundry soda is 3/4 full too. I am planning to experiment this time with each batch, adding more borax and some essential oils. Trial and error is the spice in life!

Natural fruit fly killing concoction

When we buy fruits and veges we sometimes get inundated with these little flies. I believe the last culprit was a couple ears of corn we had lying around for several days. We really meant to eat them, but time and other things got in the way, then they spoiled. We had the largest colony of fruit flies I ever did see. And these things fly every where, up your nose, in your ear, into our Natures Head, all over.

One night we were enjoying a glass of red wine. And I had to swat these pesky flies away, and finally they found their way into my wine glass and drowned. This sparked an idea for hubby. 

The next day he poured a couple tablespoons of wine, a couple tablespoons of rice vinegar, and  a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, all into a small glass jar, with no lid.

Voila, we had a fly trap, without any sticky mess (we already tried the sticky fly paper and it just stuck every where). There are too many of those dead flies to count at the bottom of the jar, yahoo!!

I also spray from now on all incoming fruits and veges with vinegar, just in case.

The jar with hubby's fly killing concoction.

Dead flies in the jar.

Marine and Wildlife around our Marina

We've got some wildlife hanging about the marina. I will try to get a photo of each of them.

It's the neatest thing to see them living around the water. The seals are to quick for me right now, but in time I will catch them by camera and post.

All kinds of birds:

Blue heron

Seagulls, eating starfish, Geoduck under the ground you can't see but they squirt water out at low tide

Some Marine life:

Crabs, good for eating, and entertaining our son who loves to take the claws and play with them for hours

Jellyfish

This Jellyfish has eyes, so weird!

Fish, Barnacles, Starfish-stuck to pylon, and mussels 

Hubby and son left early this morning out fishing today, they are looking for some Salmon. It is Salmon season here in the pacific northwest, and Crab season just ended. Hopefully, I'll have more pictures of fish we caught!

Tides

At the very south of the Puget Sound, where we are, we get a nice change in tides. Our high tide reaches over 15ft around the full and new moon phases; and the low tides reach a -1ft. During high tides we get the weirdest low frequency waves, it's like a tiny tidal bore. Once they start all the boats get to rock n roll, back n forth. Such an interesting event to see.

Anyhow, our dock moves up and down with the tides. I have never before experienced living so close to the water and having to pay attention to the tides. A high tide is important for us for a few reasons:

The first reason is to get out of the marina in the boat. The inlet is very shallow and there is a sand bar on either side near the larger opening towards the sound. So it can be tricky to get out at low tide, you have to stay within the green and red buoy or you will run aground for sure. Most travel about when the tides are high, or near high tide. 

A sailboat stuck on the sand bar. (Maybe this sailor did not read the charts or have depth sounder? In any case, they had to wait for the high tide later that evening, then floated away.)

The second reason is to get across the gangway. When the tides are low it is a difficult task to walk up, or down, especially when you are carrying or wheeling some heavy items. At times, bringing heavy things down the gangway it looks like a steep hillside you could slide down and get to the end pretty fast, but your landing pad is narrow, and if you miss it you'll end up in the water. We often joke about doing this, one day we may try it, with an empty wheelbarrow, of course!

High tide, an easy walk across gangway.

Low tide, a tough trek up the gangway.