Downsizing – Round 2

Earlier, first Quarter this year, the Can Opener resolved to downsize EVERYthing . Yep, that’s right. Everything.

I was skeptical but cheered him on from my usual kinetic perch on the comfiest sofa cushion. And he’s made some definite inroads on the paper stacks there’s no denying.

But now we approach the final and 4th Quarter of the year and it’s time to mark progress again. That is if I can find my First Mate under the boxes… Yes, Downsizing Round 2 has begun. 

The ultimate goal? 
To fit our entire life into 20 boxes or less. 

The chances of achieving this by year end?
Hmmm. 

Things that can get us closer to the ultimate goal?

1. Putting all our tunes on an online account and in a single hard drive as back up.
2. Kindle. Kindle. Kindle. Ideally the only paper books we’ll carry aboard will be reference texts. And a few literary wonders as back up. The Can Opener does love his books, so this will have real impact.
   
3. Our new scanner is our new best friend. Paper and documents. Photos. Sentiment. Scanning a life of photos into the computer and loading ’em online is a project in itself.

Have you ever downsized your life to fit in a boat – or any other similarly small living space? Japanese hotel room? Tent? Dorm room? Spaceship?
 
Got any great finetuning tips for managing seemingly endless amounts of stuff?

Any helpful hints gratefully received…

–Captain Cat 

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

Previously: Downsizing Everything

Provisioning The First Leg

Saturday early mornings in Caleta del Vélez, there’s a market that sets up and lines the waterfront street by the marina. 

Vendors and canopies pop up over rickety tables, mountains of goods are carefully laid out. Clothes, toys, sunglasses, bedsheets… and piles of food. 

From my perch on the Can Opener’s shoulder and by tweaking his ears starboard and port side as needed, I deftly steered him towards the prepared meat section. 

…Somehow, we still managed to arrive in front of the area targeting that evolutionary wonder, the herbivore. 

Nothing against herbivores. Most are quite tasty. Living with one, however, is another thing altogether*. Quite messes up my laboriously planned 5-course meat menus. 

Despite my clearly reasoned arguments in favour of daily steak tartar rations, the Can Opener was not to be deterred. He and the crew loaded up on (brightly coloured and admittedly beautiful in a still-life-in-oils kind of way) fruits and vegetables. We were planning a 5 day crossing of the Alboran and Balearic Seas and the Algerian Basin, so spoilage was not an issue.

The Can Opener mumbled something about scurvy as he passed the oranges to the vendor for weighing. Then he added ginger, packs of pasta and rice, and jars of tomato, pesto and British-mild veggie curry sauce to our satchel at the next stall (accompanied all the while by a mini lecture to me about bland food and seasickness).

I don’t need a lecture on seasickness, I know all about it. I’ll be bed-ridden for the first 3 days at sea as usual, and expect to be waited on hand and foot till it passes. Happens to the best of us.

By dint of much abuse of the First Mate’s ears, I was finally able to get him to relent and load up on copious amounts of sardine tins. Enough to get me through to Sardinia anyway. 

We do not eat kibble.

–Captain Cat

 (transcribed by the Can Opener)

* Note: The Can Opener is not an actual vegetarian, just a near one. He tries a lot and then fails… every time a juicy steak walks by. On passage, however, he sticks to his idealised agenda. There are no burger franchises at sea.

List For Loved Ones

Important Note: The Can Opener is in no way responsible for this choice of picture. A Captain Cat pick through and through. And the last time he gets to select the leading image… (Ya think? We’ll see about that, mate.)

Making a ‘Delivery Itinerary and Contacts’ List

What’s on our List for Loved Ones?

…Also a Captain Cat pick.

• flight info
• basic yacht route info
• description of the yacht
• list of all crew and their contact info
• contact info for the owner’s home base
• our doctor’s and vet’s contact info
• health insurance 24 hour helpline number
• customer service numbers for our airline
• list of marine retailers along our route that carry the brand of life jacket I’ve got the Can Opener wearing and their contact info
• contact info for our smoked oyster supplier and Fedex delivery numbers

We’re giving copies of this to the Can Opener’s ex/not-ex/ex/not-ex, better known as She-of-the-eternal-smoked-salmon. Also to the-best-vet-in-the-world and to my mom, Griselda.

Any other items that should be on the list? Any advice gladly received.

–Captain Cat

(transcribed by the Can opener)

Big Ol’ Packing And To Do List

Note: This is Captain Cat’s photo pick – not the First Mate’s. We will be using only one bag and a soft-sided one at that, suitable for tucking away into small odd shaped storage places on a boat. (Ahem, my Can Opener. Discussions on this topic are ongoing, I believe…)

 

Sailing Packing & Preparation LIST

This is our list. A thing of beauty and an ongoing project. I have assigned the Can Opener to collect, pack and carry all. Of course.

To do last thing before leaving:

• put charged up camera in bag
• put charged up phone in bag
• put food from fridge for flight in carry-on bag
• take out garbage

To do:

• re-check weather forecast
• hang clothes to dry
• set auto-timer on lights in living room
• pack food for journey

Packing List

Body

• kleenex
• toothpaste
• toothbrush
• floss
• nail clippers
• nailfile
• hand cream
• shampoo
• conditioner
• witchhazel
• sunblock
• lip block
• catnip
• clearasil
• eye patch sleep mask
• EAR PLUGS!!!!
• night tiara

1st aid kit and medicine

• vitamins
• tweezers
• antibiotics
• anti-seasickness medicine (Stugeron)
• rehydration salts
• Arnica cream (for bruises)
• bandaids
• catnip
• Polysporin or Savlon (antibiotic cream)
• anti-seasickness wrist bands!! 

Admin

• passport
• health insurance papers
• flight tickets 
• Get written airline confirmation that life jackets and CO2 cylinders are okay on plane.
• IATA says it’s okay but you also have to get written confirmation from your airline before flying too – print out all and take with. Apparently there can be confusion at security check points and this helps.
  
• flight boarding passes
• metro/bus tickets
• currency for country/s will be in
• credit/debit cards 

• phone and charger 
• camera and charger 

• sailing text to study
• RYA log book

• karate & yoga training guides 
  
• leisure reading material – a small! book 
• morale-building passage milestone treats (bubble-makers, party hats, balloons…)

• addresses & contact info needed – boat, crew

• detailed directions from airport to dock
• map of key city/s?
• guidebks?
• notebook
• pens
• highlighter 

Clothes

• underwear
• socks
• 1/day shirts (assortment of long sleeve and t-)
• 1 turtleneck
• 1 thermal underwear
• 2 pairs pants
• 1 pair shorts
• 1 bathing suit

• 2 sweaters
• 1 wooly hat
• 2 scarf/bandanas
• feather hat
• day tiara (ceremonial)
• cape

• sunglasses
• sailing hat
• sailing watch
• sailing gloves
• foul weather jacket
• foul weather pants

• sailing boots
• deck shoes
• shower sandals
• sneakers

and

• day bag
• plastic bags for laundry
• sleeping bag
• towel
• toy mice
• orb and sceptre
• palm fronds for First Mate to fan me with

Food 

• dried fruit
• granola and oat bran
• camomile tea
• green tea
• chopped ginger teas 
• catnip 
• smoked oysters
• and food for the flight/transport
• (rest of voyage food to be picked up at departure point)

–Captain Cat

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

Delivery Crew Team Building

This past weekend, the crew for the Spain-Greece delivery and their significant others met up at the skipper’s 500 year old farm house for a spot of team building. I took the Can Opener.

We met, caroused and cooked together in a beautiful old kitchen. A bit of hiking (and a bit of teaching the skipper’s odious dogs a thing or two). Some passage planning and a discussion of how the watches will run.

The Can Opener and I left optimistic, invigorated (you get great sleeps in the countryside!) and sincerely looking forward to the voyage and to meeting these guys again.

Not to be underestimated, team building makes a difference.

What kinds of events have you done to build team camaraderie before a voyage? Before any other kind of group work?

–Captain Cat


(transcribed by the Can Opener)


Team Building
Next: Regular Crew Team Building  
Previously: Passage Treats

Cruising Clothing Condensed

Steps in managing clothing inventory

How did this many pairs of jeans happen to the First Mate??
Short answer: Something about being a vegetarian (which he isn’t). The Can opener’s reply was a bit unclear and muffled through a mouthful of smoked mussels… 

In fact, I’m not convinced he really needs any clothes at all. 
I don’t. 

However, the Can Opener seems adamant. What perverse motivation ignites this bizarre drive to adorn remains a mystery. 

Modus Operandi

• toss contents of one drawer or closet onto bed each day
• sort into categories:
1. fat clothes
2. hate it
3. totally worn out and should be rags
4. totally worn out but are sentimental
5. okay but need repair
6. okay

• consolidate like items 
• toss each of #1~5 into their own box and then:
1. recycle
2. recycle
3. make ’em into rags
4. send this box up to the attic/loft (sentiment is important and if you give it away, you can’t get it back)
5. keep this box in a place that’ll get in yer way till all repairs are complete
6. put it back in the closet, drawer, whatever

Sound easy? Sure. Sort of. But once again, it took time. More time than we budgeted for.  

The Can Opener missed the Cameron Diaz movie we’d been looking forward to for days. (Those Charlie’s Angels give you a lot of insight in foreign negotiations. I haven’t let the First Mate downsize my wig collection yet – they will clearly be quite useful.)

Fortunately, I was able to report plot developments to him from the TV couch while he toiled on.

How are we doing?

Process ongoing.  

Next Steps

Open the next drawer (or closet) and repeat the process till we’re all done. 

We’ll be making an inventory list and figuring out what’s missing. It’ll be good reference for filling in the gaps and for ‘clothes provisioning’ a yacht later.

We’re on our way…

Got any great tips for managing way too many clothes that we should add to our system?

–Captain Cat


(transcribed by the Can Opener)

Downsizing 
Previously: Managing Food Inventory

Managing Food Inventory

First steps in provisioning and managing food inventory

How did this many bottles of beans and spices happen to us??
Short answer: An unspecified number of failed attempts by the Can Opener to become a vegetarian…

You don’t just buy the beans and rice, mate. To be a vegetarian, you have to eat them too.

Simultaneously, more than a few of our London friends evacuated to follow their next big dream job – leaving behind surprising amounts of dry goods in their wake. We became the beneficiaries of piles of duplicate bottles of spices and grains…

Yes, indeed. We are good for cinnamon, galangal, couscous and nampla for the foreseeable future.

Modus Operandi

A pretty simple process…

• consolidate like items
• toss/recycle a million glass bottles
• rank by expiry dates
• keep in handy cupboards the oldest of each to use up first (first in first out principle…)
• store back inventory in most difficult to reach cupboards
• and list what we have there

Sound easy? Sure. Sort of. But it took time. More time than we budgeted for. 

The Can Opener missed the first two scenes of the Bruce Lee movie we’d been looking forward to all week.

Fortunately, I was able to carry on supervising him from the TV couch while he finished up.

How are we doing?

Done. 

Next Steps
Now that we know what we have, we can eat down the insane amounts of stores we’re sitting on.

We could have made it through the winter under 2 metres of snow and no hope of exiting the windows! Not that that’ll ever happen. What with the daffodils pushing up in January and all this year…

The Can Opener should be able to munch through even this gargantuan stockpile by the end of the year. And so he will. Neither of us believe in waste.

We’ll be maintaining the inventory lists and noting what and how much we eat this year. It’ll be good reference for provisioning a yacht later.

We’re on our way…

Have you ever maintained food stock inventories? On land or at sea?
Got any great finetuning tips for managing food that we should add into our system?

–Captain Cat

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

Downsizing
Next: Cruising Clothing Condensed
Previously: Downsizing Books – Can It Be Done?

Downsizing Books – Can It Be Done?

What are we doing?

Here‘s the decision tree I‘m training the Can Opener to use on his books…

1. Has the Can Opener read the book?

• If, yes… 
• is it sentimental?
• childhood book
• gift
• favourite book
• or actually written by a friend? 
• Or is it a reference text?
• sailing
• finance
• language text or dictionary
• travel guide
• …

• Sentiment and reference, he can keep.
• All else gets donated to the library (or if they won’t take it, the local youth hostel).

2. Has the Can Opener EVER read the book?

• If not read… — whaaaaaattt???? Why has my hard earned catfood been spent on this??!!!
• Will he ever read this?
• If yes, then go to 1.
• If no, then it gets donated. End of story.

Progress
You‘d think I‘d asked the Can Opener to put wax on his legs and then rip it off before he went cycling again. 


But despite all the yelping and anguish, we are making progress.


And it feels good to donate to the library. Our local biblio-rama is desperately in need of more business tomes and books of every kind.


I even plan to donate my beloved Encyclopedia of Feline Karate Bo, by Sensei Hiro Nekko. I‘ve already learned all the foundation moves anyway and am working on the ‘Intermediate‘ sequel.




It‘s aaaaall got to fit in a boat that‘s 30 feet or less. We’re on our way…

–Captain Cat


(transcribed by the Can Opener)


Downsizing
Next: Managing Food Inventory
Previously: Downsizing Papers That Breed

Downsizing Papers That Breed

Okay. This is the beginning of a loooong project…

There are two things at work here 
…that have caused the Can Opener’s current amazing-amounts-of-paper situation. 

One is that if you put two pieces of paper together on a desk – they breed at a speed that makes the Creationist version of evolution (it aaaaall happened in only 7 days…) look like an action movie slowed down to near standstill.

The other thing is that the Can Opener hasn’t changed continents in about a decade. And he is, in fact, a pretty thorough records-keeper (a legacy from his dark years as a Wharton-trained financial analyst). Hence there hasn’t been a paper purge in about a decade… It’s pretty daunting.

The only way to approach it all is with the sausage technique. Divide and conquer. One bitty stack at a time.


So how are we doing? 

1. I’ve got the Can Opener’s stacks of unfiled stuff on the desk halfway sorted. Yes, that’s right. Half-way. Every second paper is a ‘to do’ in itself…
2. And after all those papers are into binders or in the garbage, then I’ll (ruthlessly) prune the binders again.
3. The surviving binders (a box or two?) get stuffed in the attic for now.

And in other paper-based news?
The Can Opener has already done a first purge on his books. He’s attaches a fair bit of sentiment to some of them so this requires deliberation. Sometimes more than this cat has patience for. 

Books in my view are just platforms for snoozing upon and so one book is very much like another. I take this gooeyness as some tolerably less dangerous evidence of the Can Opener’s insanity and so grant him some indulgence here.

But he has managed to drag a stack of business texts over to the local library to donate and there are a couple more piles waiting to go. The Red Tabby Yacht Club library will likely get a tome or two as well.

The paper photos of decades are going to get i) scanned, ii) organised and iii) backed up online. Something that should have been done long ago.

We’re taking our time but keeping a steady pace. I’ve given us till the end of the year to get it done.

We’re on our way…

–Captain Cat


(transcribed by the Can Opener)


Downsizing
Next: Downsizing Books
Previously: Downsizing Everything




 

Downsizing Everything

Somehow over the long years the Can Opener has accumulated insane amounts of stuff. And it’s gotta go.

It’s mostly books, clothes, CDs, sports equipment and a few sticks of furniture. 

And paper records – records that stretch from here to forever: taxes, bank statements, photos, more photos… The kind of stuff that takes forever to go through, page by page.

Over the next year I will be (ruthlessly) paring all this down… until it’s reduced enough to fit inside a 30 foot boat.

The amazing thing about minimising everything you own is that after it’s gone, you can’t even remember what you had. (Yeah Furrball, if it’s my stuff, you aren’t going to notice that it’s gone. No point in asking if I get any say in this?… Thought not.)

Of course, I am perfectly positioned to pare down the Can Opener’s stuff. It’s always easier to organise someone else’s.

I will, however, also be organising my own assortment of things. Because I’m that dedicated.

I plan for a lazarette or two as shrines to the necessaries – my regal trappings, the smoked oyster collection, my colour-coded frillies… A few banks of my favourite snoozing books. The collapsible karate/yoga platform. There will only be room for basics. 

We’re on our way…

–Captain Cat


(transcribed by the Can Opener)


Downsizing
Next: Downsizing Paper