The joys of laundry

One of the things most of us take for granted is being able to do laundry at home.

If you are going to be on vacation for a week or two, odds are you won't do much laundry, if any. Us nomads have to do what we can.

The first thing you learn is that you never have enough quarters. Go right to the bank and turn a bunch of $10 bills into rolls of quarters. You are going to need them.

When we picked marinas and campgrounds, it was always a bonus if they had laundry services on site. Laundry is bulky and heavy so you don't want to carry it any further than you have to. If you do end up in a regular laundromat you'll probably meet an interesting bunch of people. If had some fascinating conversations while the clothes went round and round -that is, the times the other customers spoke English.

We did learn a few tricks while on the boat. One of the other boaters at a good free anchorage had loaded up a backpack full of dirty laundry. I knew there were on laundromats on the island so I asked where she was headed. She was going to do her laundry at the fancy marina just down the road. Nobody ever bothered her.

A few days later my lovely wife and I did the same thing, except I also took a shower at their facility. We did have lunch at their attached restaurant so I figure it was all good.

The same lady who showed us the marina trick used to take her laundry to the fancy hotel on the island. She went in the back and used the hotel machines. Everyone working back there only spoke Spanish and nobody challenged her. She got away with it for about 6 months before management caught on and kicked her out.

Laundry can be done in a bucket using salt water. Joy dish soap will suds up in sea water. Wash in salt and rinse in fresh if you've got enough. We didn't so I just used salt water for everything. Salty clothes didn't bother me at all -it was the price of anchoring in a beautiful remote area.

During our stay in the Bahamas I hand washed some of my clothes. Our sunny 6th floor balcony was ideal for drying clothes in a few hours. My wardrobe was pretty limited so it worked out quite well. Sure beat the heck out of hauling around another suitcase.

-Sixbears