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23' mini-trawler
by Schucker

Janice aboard Seaweed,
living the good life afloat...

Trawler life on a nickel budget is possible.
I'm doing it and you can too.

Janice Marois, nautical journalist.
Accredited member of Boat Writers International.

Here, I share my views on living aboard a small boat with very limited resources. Hopefully my successes will help others achieve the life. And yes, I'll share the things I did wrong too -- though not everything 'cause a girl's got to have her secrets!

To those who have chosen to honor me via PayPal donations and by purchasing items through my Amazon links (upper left corner of every page) THANK YOU. This makes a huge difference, and I do appreciate it. J.

Date: 7 January 2021. Hanger Storage.

© janice142
 

For at least ten years I've been putting my excess hangers under the step into my forward cabin. The problem is that the hangers would fall off. This "temporary" storage system was implemented over a decade ago. There needed to be a better solution. I finally found a five-minute fix to permanently remove this annoyance.
 

You have no idea how happy this little change has made me. I have called friends, texted far away folks, and now, I'll tell you about it too.


About hangers: mine are from our 40'er and are at least thirty years old.


After I have washed my blouses it is easy to place them on the hangers. The shirts dry while hung without creases. Once dry, I fold the clothing for storage under my bunk in the Seahorse locker:
 


 

 

 

Photo repeated so you don't have to scroll:

 

You may have noted the string with two clothes pins tied to the hanger. That is so I can attach my skirts with ease to a hanger designed for shirts. I utilized a 1/8" braided line I had in my stash.
 

 

I told you about my string collection in the Box of Small Stuff (line) article. This container is a little thing in the scheme of life. Regardless, having a box of string is far more useful than one might at first believe.
 



The hangers aboard Seaweed all have a metal top that rotates.  Some folks advocate using 100% plastic hangers aboard a boat. Because my hangers have not rusted after decades of usage, I see no reason to purchase new ones. Mine function perfectly. In my view the turning part makes the older hangers preferable to the new-fangled solid ones.


The rotating top of the hanger
allows my shirts to dry along a bulkhead.

 
As for storage, I used to stow the hangers on a screw partially inserted into the support for the step into my forward cabin. This system failed regularly. The hangers would come off over the head of the screw. My initial solution was to add a washer at the end of the screw. That worked, but not very well.
 

Finally after knocking the hangers off one time
too many I decided to fix this permanently. |


Eons ago I had purchased two sizes of L-brackets from a seller on eBay. The listing title was 10X stainless L-brackets. Unfortunately, the fine print said "quantity one" rather than the ten of each size I believed I was getting. eBay is great, however it is not always Perfect.

 

 

 

My larger single L-bracket I attached it to the bottom of the step support in the same place as the original screw was inserted. In order to make sure the hangers would stay put, I used an *8x32x1.5" machine bolt and two nuts at the outside end of the bracket. This keeps the hangers from falling.

*8x32x1.5": Metric diameter size 8, with 32 threads per inch, and a length of one and a half inches.


Side Note: 8x32 (spoken aloud as "eight by 32") is fairly standard for marine electronics. You might want to have some in various lengths for your collection.
 

If you would like more information about nuts and bolts, the Bolt Sizing Primer vignette should be helpful.
 


 

The how to: An L-bracket has an open end. I wanted a U-shaped portion for the hangers to fit into, yet not become dislodged easily. To accomplish this I retrieved my screw collection. One 8 by 32 bolt and two nuts were retrieved.
 


First I threaded one of the nuts on from the bottom approximately 1/2" (a bit more than 1cm). This was to prevent the bolt from falling all the way through the hole in the L-bracket. Then I took the second nut and tightened it up from the bottom.


Voila! One U-shaped system to
easily store my hangers is made.

 

I am beyond pleased by this small change aboard Seaweed.
The HANGERS ↑ are now
out of the way yet easily accessible.
 

The hangers cannot be knocked when I go into my
 cabin. The L-BACKET ↓ is back from the step edge.

 

 

Memory Lane: Growing up aboard our 40'er, Mother had a real antipathy regarding boats that hung their laundry on the lifelines. She was particularly miffed by sailors who raised their skivvies up the flag halyard. We kept our drying clothes inside or out of sight.


Outside, under the *gunnel we would dry our bathing suits. That way they were out of sight. Additionally, the sun would not destroy the elastic in the suits.

*Gunnel: the top edge of the hull.
 


Photo taken from the galley step, looking aft with
the boat all opened. She was a beautiful home...
 

This quirk regarding laundry is one I have continued. I am aware that few share my views. Most boaters without a drier do hang their items outside. Dampness inside can exacerbate mildew issues. Seaweed is well ventilated so that issue has not been a major concern thus far.
 


To this day, I handle laundry the same as when I was raised. I can and do dry EVERYTHING inside the boat. One of the "secrets" is to utilize hangers for my blouses and skirts. I also do laundry every day or two so there is never a whole lot. That makes a big difference too.
 

Someday I'll get into the whole "where I hang everything" if there is interest. There are one dozen (twelve!) places I dry items inside my 23' long home. Let me know in the comments please if you'd like to see my setups. Thanks!
 

As for me, I'll be hanging around...


I will admit to being inordinately pleased with my new storage solution for hangers. Though a small change, and now I wonder what else I can do on a minor scale to make my Seaweed better...
 

To those who have chosen to honor me via via PayPal donations and by purchasing items through my Amazon links (upper left corner of every page) THANK YOU. This makes a huge difference, and I do appreciate it. J.
 

Thank you for reading. I appreciate that.

 
Comments welcome and encouraged on the Hanger Storage page.

Categories: Boat Talk, Memory Lane, Organizing, Unmentionables,

 

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Now this is not fancy. Basically I copy off the top three items in my Archive file. That way you can catch up if life gets in the way of your reading fun.

Secret: If you want to know what's what, start in the Archive. It offers you the title, first paragraph and topics (Categories) covered in each article published on my website.

Something a new reader might not realize: Almost every picture on this website can be clicked. The photo will get larger when clicked. Do that a second time and the picture should be full size. Enjoy...

My Cruising Kitty earns money each time you buy on Amazon through my links found in the upper left corner of every page. This is a tangible way to support me and is greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your support, and heck, just for being here. I appreciate that more than you can imagine.

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Pet of the Week: Don'ke
 on S/V Concord

Submit your pet's photo.
Please email pictures of your crew!

More canine, feline and feathered crew members can be found on the The First Mate Gallery page.

Archive

The Archive holds a chronological list of every item published on my website. It includes a brief synopsis (not just the title) along with the topics covered in each article.

Click on the title and voila: you're there. Enjoy!



Skipper, First Mate extraordinaire


Of course every boat needs a Deck Swabbie. Mine, born in 2008, is a papillon mix. She weighs in at five pounds.

Coming soon ...

 

Topics of Interest:
You can achieve a simple satisfying life



Oh, a wondrous bird is the pelican!
His bill holds more than his belican.
He can take in his beak enough food for a week.
But I'm darned if I know how the helican.
(Poem by Dixon Lanier Merritt, 1879-1972.)

Aphorisms

For years I've been collecting short pithy statements otherwise known as aphorisms. If you're like me and enjoy the weird, go ahead and CLICK!

These are previously posted at the bottom of each article -- for new, you'll have to come visit again.



Seaweed is in St. Pete right now.
 

The above chart (#411) can be a wish book of sorts as you look over your domain and wonder where to go next. And yes, I do have the originals (sans red arrow) as jpeg's for download should you desire your own for closer perusal. Enjoy!

The Writer's Block

It's my belief that other folks who boat are some of the most interesting in the world. Inside every boater is a story. Let yours out! I'd love to post short stories, vignettes, or even longer articles that focus on some aspect of our life on or near the water. Suggested topics include:

1. I Remember When...
2. My First Boat
3. Who inspired you to be a boater?
4. Fishing Trips or Tricks
5. Or another subject of your choosing

For the novice, here's how to write: Simply pretend you're sending a letter to a friend. Tell about an event or a memory from years ago that you still recall.

Life has changed so much on the water since I was born aboard. Personally I'd love to hear your memories of life when you were younger. Boats were smaller, narrower, and much slower. Kids were kids and our families often shaped the adult we have become. Here are my two aboard the tow boat my dad ran for a time:
 


Your pictures would be wonderful too. I posted one of Boot Key Harbor taken in 2001 that has gotten quite a few downloads and really, that's not so terribly long ago... Do you have any photos to share? Email me.
 

Do you want to help out?
 

Often an article for the website will be completely written yet lack photographs. I like pictures and am looking for some for up-coming pieces:

  • Pets afloat (include pet and boat name please)

  • Any picture of boats underway or at anchor

  • Photos of people enjoying life in or on the water

Size: a minimum of 1000 pixels across please. If that doesn't make sense think bigger versus resized for emailing. I prefer the full-size version. Also, the name you'd like me to use when I add the copyright stuff to your picture. And thanks bunches!

My email address is janice@janice142.com


23' Schucker mini-trawler, circa 1983.

Thanks for visiting. If you happen to see my boat along the
waterways, give a call on Channel 16. I'm always listening.


click picture to enlarge

My home is not fancy by any means, however you cannot imagine how wonderful it is to come back to her after an expedition on shore.

If I can live this life, why not you too?


Skipper, First Mate
extraordinaire

Aphorism Alert: Begin doing what you want to now. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand, and melting like a snowflake. Marie Beyon Ray.

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Every gift helps.

The Cruising Kitty is what boaters refer to as spending money. There's never enough aboard Seaweed!

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