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High Tech Towels

We were having space storage issues with our regular towels as well as them staying damp forever. I did a lot of reading of reviews on a lot of brands of the new high tech towels and finally came down to the Discovery Trecking brand. They were very expensive and the only reason we ended up getting them was a gift card we got. We bought 5 of them and it is all we have used now for the last 6 months or more. We purchased the largest size they had and it is huge. I probably would have tried the next size down if I had known how huge these are.  Remember I’m saying that as a 6’2″ guy. In retrospect I would now spend my own hard earned money for them.

The Good

5 of these take the same amount of storage space as one of our cotton towels did. Even as big as these towels are you can fold/roll one up small enough to stick in a pocket. These towels are also the silver treated anti-microbial kind that don’t grow mildew. We just wash and dry them with the rest of the cloths and they seem to take it just fine. Using them is a bit different than a normal towel. they sort of stick to your skin as your trying to wipe yourself off and end up kind of just rolling over your skin. You get used to it and I think it works as well if not better than normal. It’s kinda freaky amazing how dry they will get you with just a single swipe. If you give three or four really good rubs to your head it leaves your hair very dry also. 🙂 assuming you have short hair like me I guess.

The […]

Reviews of those most essential items, your kettle and airpot :)

Reviews of the KitchenAid Teakettle 2-Quart Gourmet Essentials Stainless Steel Kettle , Brushed and BUNN 32125.0000 2.5 Liter Lever-Action Airpot, Stainless Steel

My wife enjoys her coffee (maybe more than enjoys)  and I really like my hot tea, chocolate or chai, not to mention a pack of instant soup or oatmeal of one sort or another once in a while. Hot chocky (chocolate), is also a vital part of our two and half year old daughters morning routine.  Very Vital! hmmm… maybe a bit of daughter following in mommy’s footsteps. She started off wanting mommy’s coffee but we compromised on hot chocolate. 🙂

With two women in the house and on the boat I am finding that the word compromise is a good word 🙂 Yes luv, and yes dear, also work very well. 🙂

Heating water in the kettle takes a fair amount of energy and time, we came to the realization that we could use about 1/4 the energy to have the same volume of drinks/soups etc.., over the period of a day, if we used an airpot. We now heat water two to three times a day, rather than every hour or two, because of using an airpot. It is also  much more hip with today’s lifestyle of instant gratification with a large dash of energy conservation and green living. Hot water on tap any hour of the day or night. If your on watch it takes just a couple seconds to make a cup of something hot as opposed to having to heat water to make it.

The below reviews are the accumulation of about a decade of experience using different products and continually refining what worked and what didn’t for us. There are many products […]

Alternate layout DE38

I ran across a DE38 for sale in Greece that has the alternate interior layout with the aft cabin where the pilot berth and chart table were. Here are the pictures that show the different layout. To see all the pictures I was able to find on the boat you can go to the boat info page I created for DE38 Windwalker. http://downeasteryachts.com/the-boats/downeaster-38/individual-boats/1980-de38-windwalker

 

Alternate Chart Table Location

Forward in the aft cabin. You can see mirror on bulkhead and vanity outboard. Bulkhead hits forward starboard window the same place the chart table ends on standard layout.

Aft Cabin layout on boats where pilot berth and chart table are replaced with small cabin.

Forward chart table and shelves. Shelves are the same as on standard layout but there is not closet under them. Just the chart table.

Extension Cord Woes

So someone asked me about what I use for an extension cord on the boat because of a comment I had made about having the perfect one. Everyone knows what a pain extension cords are. They are constantly getting tangled and snarled up, they are a pain to coil back up after using them, they are a pain to un-snarl and pull them out of the cockpit locker after they have become wrapped around every other thing in there. Last but not least is that you can only plug one thing into a standard extension cord. I am constantly having to switch between a drill and a sander or router etc… It just slows stuff down.

How it came about is a long story… lol… not!!!

One day I was in a tool store, not sure where, and saw one of the extension cords in a reel box with 4 outlets built into the box. It was on sale and I thought wow, I need to try that out it would be great on the boat. It has been about a year since that day and it has been everything that I thought it would be and more. The one I got was cheap and I wondered about life span but it is battered and still going strong. Mostly what it has done for me is alleviated a lot of frustration due to the above listed downsides to standard extension cords. It also means that I am more likely to grab stuff to do a quicky project because it is easier to un-spool cable and re-spool it when done. Less time in setup and clean up on both ends of the project. Mine is 25ft in length and I think I want one 50ft and one cable size bigger. However […]