As so many 'things' had been removed from the boat before we bought her and those left were largely inappropriate to our lives, we had so many 'basics' to purchase and take aboard. These all add up, of course, and we had a budget that we just could not exceed.
First up were cleaning products and antibiotic hand soaps. Personal toilet products will come later when we are finally living aboard.
It took many mornings of trawling stores to find the items we needed. We would shop in the morning and then take our lunch to the boat around noon, unwrap all the items on the back deck (cockpit) and discard the boxing and wrapping before taking them into the boat. This is very important. We do not want to introduce ants, and especially cockroaches, which love to inhabit packaging. Normally we would undo the packaging on land for this reason.
This pic shows the cockpit with attached table and seating for about four people
As the hot water tank was not operating (one of the elements needs replacing) I had to boil any water for dishes, cleaning etc. The little induction cook top was fast, clean and almost instantly cool when turned off.
Of course, when you buy an induction cooker, you need the appropriate cookware. If you can attach a magnet to your pot bottom, then you can use it for induction cooking.
We went to Marshalls for the pots and pans which helpfully had the symbols for different cooking types imprinted on their bottoms. We had previously seen these when looking for other kitchenware. While there, we checked out the rest of the items Marshalls have...wow! such a choice:) We also purchased all the towels, kitchen and other, colander, tools and implements. We went back several times after not finding some things at either TJMAX or Ross. Target was the source of our larger cooking items, however...oh, and don't forget the Herb Garden in a container, all ready for me to plant when we return.This will live in a safe place on the back deck...probably shaded!
We had thought we would take out the set of drawers below the current cook top and replace the whole thing with an oven/cooker. This would mean that the drawers would need to go somewhere else, being the ONLY set of drawers in the gallery. Hmm..maybe not right now. The current microwave/convection oven has lost the use of it's screen.We have to guess at what is on the screen. Not too smart, but we have found the exact one to replace it with. Not purchasing that right now, so will wait until we absolutely need to.
In the meantime, as it is a very small appliance, we decided to buy a large Toaster/Convection oven. This now sits on top of the cook top with the lid in place. It does take a little space from the counter, but it ends up being swings and roundabouts. The new appliance cooks fast and is portable. I can always store it if necessary.
We don't have room on the counter for a Kettle, but the small 2 cup coffee maker we bought in Punta Gorda for our tea, sits nicely and inconspicuously in a corner.
We had thought we would purchase an electric frying pan, but instead we found a fantastic interchangeable Panini Press that opens flat to give us two surfaces to use at once. I can grill meat or fish on the one side while doing veg. on the other, or corn fritters/pancakes on the other. Most versatile.
It is all about making do in the best possible way. We fossicked around for bake ware small enough to fit in the new toaster oven and were successful in both Walmart and Home Depot.
A new kitchen faucet was also essential. The existing one did not swivel and because the sink is smaller than domestic, that was essential. Who knows, perhaps it did in another life? Home Depot provided us with enough choice to purchase a low faucet that pulls out for spray. Works like a charm. While there, we also purchased a one handle mixer for the sink upstairs on the flydeck. After painstakingly installing that, Warren went to close the lid on it...ooops! just half an inch too tall! Some choice words followed:)
Back to Home Depot and a second choice was made. That will be installed on our return. We rather ran out of time. Considering we returned the other on the morning we left the country, I would say we did rather well.
West Marine also came in for some of our dollars. Fantastic stores, but a little pricey. Well, it seems everything Marine is pricey. Remember what I said about holes in the water....?
I had thrown all the cushions in the Salon out because they were mouldy, and now there are none. On our return to Tauranga we were passing a tourist storeand saw some very cool retro tea-towels hanging on the wall. We bought three different ones...these have New Zealand things all over them, I might add...and took them and some zippers to a seamstress across the road. Bingo! cushion covers. Later we found two more very kiwi covers in a Spotlight store. We look forward to having some distinctly Kiwi things about us. If we get tired of them, they were not expensive, so we wont have a conscience about sending them for recycling.
One of the hardest things about living on a boat is that you cannot collect 'things'. They clutter the small spaces and you have to put them somewhere safe while underway, in case you strike some rough water and everything gets tossed and turned. Been there Done That. While it is nice to have familiar things around us, it is also essential that we are safe. With this in mind, we are careful to purchase things that don't have sharp edges, or that can be stored safely in a cupboard or behind something in one of the many cavities.
These are some of the old cushions that were washed and found a new home at the Hospice store on NASA Parkway.
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