Raft-UP: Clothes and Laundry

I guess it's my turn. First I'd like to apologize to the bloggers and readers for having some of the links incorrect this month. I didn't realize until I went to read the posts that they were incorrect. I must have been smoking something when I wrote the post. Actually I'm going to blame it on sleep deprivation from too many nights at sea. That's what I get for procrastinating and writing the post underway.

Anyhow, I loved the posts this month. They could have been boring but nope. I got a few good laughs and some good ideas on laundry and looking good.

We are one of the lucky boats that has a washing machine on board. When we were looking for boats this definitely wasn't on the list. I didn't even think it was an option. Now I wouldn't trade it for anything. Even more room for shoes! Technically the thing is supposed to dry but really it just spins and spins and doesn't dry so I don't bother wasting the power on it. I wash the clothes and then hang them out to dry. I HATE doing laundry. Since we have solid stainless bars around our boat I can't hang laundry on them so I have to hang a line every time which gets to be really annoying. I hate hanging it up and I hate pulling it down. But I'll stop complaining because I know that I have it good. If there is a laundry room in a marina and I have a lot to do I usually opt to use it but if I only have a load or two I do it on the boat and save my change. Laundry rooms usually aren't cheap. In AU a load could cost $8 Yikes. But yes I did it a few times.

I brought a lot of clothes on the boat when we moved on and in the last year I have taken a lot of them off. I finally had the realization that I'm not going to be working in an office again anytime soon and if and when I do my work clothes will be so out of style that I'll hate them and want new ones anyway. I didn't have a lot of these but I had enough that they had to go. I also got rid of anything else I just simply haven't worn except for a few items.

While many people swear off cotton on a boat I just can't and won't. I LOVE it! All my shirts and underwear are cotton and for the most part it isn't a problem.

Everyday Wear:

Both Mark and I have pretty simple wardrobes but we do have a lot of items. I have an entire collection of Old Navy tank tops. I had a set of them when I moved on the boat and I wore and stretched them to their end during my pregnancy this past year so before coming back to the boat I bought at least two in every color available this year. This is primarily what I wear with a pair of khaki (in various colors) shorts. I also have a few pairs of light weight quick drying pants which I opt for when it's raining. For places like Indonesia where I need to be a little more conservative with my shoulders I have a set of light weight t's that I got at Nordstrom on sale two years ago. They were a super score off the clearance rack. I bought them in every color and now wish I had two in every color. I envy men who can go back and buy the same shirt five years later...

Which is exactly what Mark does. He found a collared fast drying shirt from Columbia that he loves. People may think Mark only has two shirts (one blue and one black) but actually he has about 40 of these. No joke. He had about 20 of them and then the Christchurch earthquake happened. We were pretty sure that he lost them all and since these are the only thing he likes to wear he ordered up another set. We got the original batch back and now he has tons. He's happy though because his goal is to always have more shirts than I have underwear since that is when I do laundry. He also has a few pairs of Patagonia shorts that he loves. (Tammy: Mark 'owns' Columbia on this boat). Many people probably wouldn't like them on a boat because they are thick but he likes that they are sturdy and have super deep pockets, good for keeping pick-pockets out.

"Island Wear" which is what we wear underway and never on any island:

I stick with the Old Navy tanks underway but have a selection of little cotton shorts. You know the kind that cheerleaders wear to camp (ladies you know what I'm talking about). These are light weight and comfortable to lounge around in. when it's colder I have five pairs of identical sweat pants and three matching sweatshirts. Yep, when we find something we like we just grab it in bulk. There aren't a lot of clothes shopping options out here and many places are much more expensive than back home so it's just easier to grab it if we love it and be done.

Mark usually wears his normal shirts but opts to sport just his scivvy's which are travel boxers. Yep, he wears big thick shorts with fast drying undies. Whatever.

Socks and Shoes:

We have way to many pairs of socks on this boat. When I lived on land I always complained that my socks went missing. I swear they multiply on a boat. No matter how many I throw out I feel like we have way to many. I have a feeling MM and I will be making some sock puppets in the very near future.

I usually have two pairs of flip-flops on board (Right now I only have one thanks to Mark kicking my new one's off the dock). I used to have a bunch more but I realized that for the amount that I wear flip-flops on the boat they need to be good quality supportive ones so all my foam one's had to go. I found a great kind that I love so now I keep a pair to wear and a spare. I also have a pair of sneakers, a pair of dress sandals and two pairs of heels. If I don't have to go in the dinghy and I don't have to walk miles (which rarely happens) I love a pair of heels and jeans. I've actually thought of sneaking a few more pairs on board but I really don't get to wear them often enough. Plus with MM I can't really carry him in heels so oh well.

Mark has his one pair of flip-flops and two pairs of dress shoes.

We don't do boat shoes. We had them in the beginning but realized that we just don't wear them. We are pretty much barefoot on board. If it's cold we put on socks. If it's bad weather and we have to go on deck we wither do it barefoot or put on our foul weather boots. But in bad weather we usually don't leave the cockpit unless it is an absolute must.

Extra Clothes:

We both have a couple of pairs of jeans on board. I've had lots of opportunities to wear them. Anywhere it's cool enough to wear them I do. All through NZ and Australia that was pretty much what I wore. Mark has two sweaters. I have a few more. 

Both of us have a few nice going out options. When we are in places with nice restaurants we like to go to them (this of course may change a little now that we have MM).

We have hiking clothes for backpacking like we did in NZ.