Husbandry is remaining afloat and cruising ... well fed ... in urban landscapes ...
or dallying in remote sylvan glades.
Ship's Husbandry sorts the boaters from the floaters on inland waterways and off them.
Husbandry determines how long you will remain afloat [literally and figuratively] to cruise the waterways .. living your dream .. far far away from the madding crowd or triple-moored in a stinking conurbation.
or dallying in remote sylvan glades.
Ship's Husbandry sorts the boaters from the floaters on inland waterways and off them.
Husbandry determines how long you will remain afloat [literally and figuratively] to cruise the waterways .. living your dream .. far far away from the madding crowd or triple-moored in a stinking conurbation.
Husbandry is much more than the blacking of hulls, the painting of roses and castles or showing a nice paint job. Husbandry on a boat includes clean interiors, good heating, ventilation, taking on supplies, disposing of effluent and prevention of disease.
Especially, it includes minimising waste by constantly adhering to the Religion of 4Rs:
1.Reuse,
2.Recycle,
3.Repurpose,
4.Return.
Husbandry includes the state of the galley, food 'n fuel provisions, long-term stores and the hygiene regimen therein. Do not confuse 'hygiene' with 'cleaning'. They are not the same thing. "Clean Interior" is second nature to those seasoned boaters who choose from a mantra ... Clean Often ... Clean Sometimes ... Clean Never ...
Especially, it includes minimising waste by constantly adhering to the Religion of 4Rs:
1.Reuse,
2.Recycle,
3.Repurpose,
4.Return.
Husbandry includes the state of the galley, food 'n fuel provisions, long-term stores and the hygiene regimen therein. Do not confuse 'hygiene' with 'cleaning'. They are not the same thing. "Clean Interior" is second nature to those seasoned boaters who choose from a mantra ... Clean Often ... Clean Sometimes ... Clean Never ...
I have survived the cut for a decade so far and have friends enjoying second, third and fourth decades. Recently, navigable waters have been inundated with newbees, even more clueless than the usual crop which amuses and bemuses the old hands and the boatmen who fettle their needs. Husbandry includes having food on board, enough to go round and a way of cooking.
It includes a 'clean' interior as defined, a warm dry bed, toiletry, heat & ventilation
Mine is a Man Cave Used in All Seasons, from city centres to remote rural parishes through the realm, and I use it as a floating research and development laboratory with new and old projects constantly on the go as I cruise around the canals of England.
On my boat there is an organised workspace with a "place for everything everything in its place"
The 'Husbandry of heat and ventilation' brooks no slacking. Heat the mancave in 'winter' or freeze. Keeping fuel on board and a fire going will keep you busy, very busy, between October and about May. "Ventilation" may be a 'hit and miss' activity unless BSS picks up on it during the four-yearly safety check or you find out that your persistent headaches come from Carbon Monoxide contamination and could kill. Pentargon has unique heating, making the stoking chores less tedious than it is for yon coal'n'wood brigade. Even so, it took some time to organise without getting fine ash in every nook and cranny, fabrics including bedclothes and even the threads I stood up in ... and just as long to clean up the mess when Summer returned. Along the way I discovered The Service Wash but I keep that secret from my off-grid alter ego
It must be tedious for boaters with 'wood-stoves'. Any [other] narrowboat I've been on has a unique nose, much of which is down to the stove and to dampness. But there is more. A boater friend first put me on the track. There are people who use tallow candles for meditation or light. Don't do it! Burning tallow produces a noxious volatile oil. The vapour rises to the roof and sticks there, like the tar from cigarettes some of us are old enough to remember. The hot volatile fumes coat the roof and soft furnishings and also enter human lungs while still hovering in the air. The oil affects the eyes, the vocal chords, the throat and its effects can be wickedly persistent. My boat does not have a conventional 'wood' stove and I have not burned a candle since the very first night I spent on board and famously could not find a light switch.
My YinYang lifestyle meant I was getting very dirty on board and the interior was permanently filthy, requiring frequent cleaning of surfaces and ledges. Thus did husbandry on Pentargon become wifery on a grand scale consuming my life for a while til I got on top of it. Being aware makes it easier for me to run a canal boat in real time
... ships husbandry includes ...
(pursing) ensuring the paperwork is right,
(stoking) ensuring the boat does not sink or fail to start,
(caulking) ensuring the boat does not leak or be draughty,
(securing) ensures the boat is not entered, burgled or breached
(cording) is all about the ropes that ensuere it does not blow away in a tempest,
or get left high and dry or low and wet
Relax! The photo below is intentional!
'wrecking': a boat left unattended can be 'wrecked' without the actual boat being damaged. "Wrecking" refers to the practice of stripping a boat of everything useful while the owner is 'away'. The boat below (mine!) was not wrecked because I rarely left it when the tide was out.
Rivercreek ...
... ships husbandry includes ...
(pursing) ensuring the paperwork is right,
(stoking) ensuring the boat does not sink or fail to start,
(caulking) ensuring the boat does not leak or be draughty,
(securing) ensures the boat is not entered, burgled or breached
(cording) is all about the ropes that ensuere it does not blow away in a tempest,
or get left high and dry or low and wet
Relax! The photo below is intentional!
'wrecking': a boat left unattended can be 'wrecked' without the actual boat being damaged. "Wrecking" refers to the practice of stripping a boat of everything useful while the owner is 'away'. The boat below (mine!) was not wrecked because I rarely left it when the tide was out.
Rivercreek ...
Pentargon provides comfortable shelter and trouble-free transport as a floating boating man-cave ... the engine starts 'on the button', husbandry ensuring that there is enough fuel on board, clean fuel, clean filters and that all the elec-trickery works. I brought 'transferable skills' from my life on tides and salty waters ...
The 'trappings' of the boat, such as ropes, canvasses, anchors, shackles and mooring lines consumes a bot of housekeeping time but I am not known to be a Brass Polisher. I do like to keep the solar panels polished though and the leisure batteries happy so as to be guaranteed 'domestic power' such as it may be. The floor may not be swept all that often but leaky windows would get prioritised. I want the driest boat on the cut and I am willing to work for that. Leaving water in the bilge or under the kitchen floorboards, even for a day, is not condoned.
Persistent cleaning of the boat in the early years showed that residual ash from the heater and the [charcoal] fuel,
along with dust from outside ensured that the boat was continuously dirty.
Husbandry became obsessive about sorting it out ... the charcoal itself was addressed ... and its packaging. I had managed to find a supplier of Lumpwood in clean paper bags fitted with plastic inners, as an indirect result of restaurants having to comply with tightening hygiene rules and having to use food grade Lumpwood for their grills. Food law helped my Ship's Husbandry by obliging restaurants to use food quality packaging ... the market produced the legal product and I found the supplier.
along with dust from outside ensured that the boat was continuously dirty.
Husbandry became obsessive about sorting it out ... the charcoal itself was addressed ... and its packaging. I had managed to find a supplier of Lumpwood in clean paper bags fitted with plastic inners, as an indirect result of restaurants having to comply with tightening hygiene rules and having to use food grade Lumpwood for their grills. Food law helped my Ship's Husbandry by obliging restaurants to use food quality packaging ... the market produced the legal product and I found the supplier.
