Clothes On Board

Vero Beach

No LL

Reader David and reader Randall both asked questions about the clothes we carry. Here goes.

Tools, food, and clothes take up a large fraction of the storage space on a cruising boat, so they are important topics.

On Tarwathie, we have a wet locker, 5 clothes drawers, a hanging locker, dead space behind the hanging longer, then some storage bins in the V berth.

Libby very kindly lets me use the drawers for my clothes while she uses the bins for hers. Libby and each have:

• One week supply of underwear and socks.
• Three sets of shorts, two long pants, and about six tee shirts/polo shirts.
• Work/painting clothes: shorts, long pants, shirts.
• Two canvas belts.
• Two warm sweaters.
• Two flannel shirts.
• One sweat shirt/pants set.
• Foul weather gear: jacket and pants.
• Rubber sea boots.
• Two sets of long johns (thermal underwear)
• Two pairs of heavy wool socks.
• Assorted hats and gloves
• One set of Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes. Libby has a dress and I have slacks/shirt.
• Two pair of Crocs and one pair of sneakers, no shoes.
• One light jacket. (No heavy winter coats.)
• Rain shells.
  
• One bathing suit.

When the weather is cold, we layer up. Therefore, we don't miss not having heavy coats. In really foul weather, we wear foul weather gear (duh) on shore as well as on board.

In the dead space, we also carry two bags of "seldom used clothes" It is very inconvenient to get to those bags so we only look there every year or two. We should probably throw those bags away; once every year or two is not often enough to justify keeping and the condition of the clothes after such long storage is questionable.

The fewer clothes you have, the more often you wear them and thus the faster they wear out. Therefore, the turnover of the clothes we keep is fairly rapid. We have had excellent luck finding good clothes in the Salvation Army and Goodwill stores. (We're not proud.) That is especially true here in Vero. I like to joke that the Vero Goodwill store is the only one with a Gucci section. The rich people around here donate lots of good stuff.

Once I had to go to a retirement party for my friend John. I had no proper clothes to wear, so I went to the Salvation Army in Marathon. I got an excellent two piece suit, a belt, a necktie, and a pair of leather shoes for $10. I wore them once, then discarded them. That is extremely sensible.

Crocs were invented about the time we started cruising. They are the ideal shoes for boaters. They work as slippers, as deck shoes, and on-shore shoes. They are oil resistant and easy to clean. They are skid resistant when new, although slippery and dangerous when the treads wear off. Above all, they are very comfortable.

We have learned to spot fellow cruisers by how the look and what they wear. Crocs, worn everywhere, are the number one tip off.

Crocs are expensive, about $29, and they don't last long. If you wear them all the time, the treads wear off in less than 6 months. I try to keep one pair with treads to wear on the boat, and one tread bald pair to wear onshore. Even on shore I slip and fall once in a while on wet pavement; I shouldn't be so cheap. Brand-X imitation Crocs are much cheaper, but we haven't tried any out yet.

At first, I was embarrassed to wear the pink Crocs on shore, but now I just don't care. They're my everyday Crocs. They are stained with several colors of paint reflecting past projects. The brown Crocs with leather tops and shoe laces Libby found on sale for half price. Leather tops and shoe laces on a Croc are really stupid, but we don't argue for half price.

I'll keep the fancy Crocs with shoelaces for formal wear at weddings and funerals.