Smart little gadgets and tips

I have now found a high-end manufacturer normally supplying professional cooks with OEM cookware: cookvision from Germany.  I am very happy with the products. I have now saved a lot of space and actually thrown out many of my salad bowels as well, since these pots function as bowels as well. I just love them! 

Reginasailing family members even get 10% when ordering them online from their website by using the discount code “reginasailing”. 

The only accessory I am not too convinced about are their magnetic silicone coaster which I would like to warn about. The risk being that you forget that it is stuck under the pan and you put it onto the gas stove. Yes, it has happened (not me, but a sailing colleague).

But otherwise, they are great!

 

 

Status: Vacuum containers improved with magnets

The Slovenian company Status produces semi-professional vacuum packing machines, but also very smart vacuum containers. They stack in the fridge and food holds so much longer when the air has been removed.

The only problem with these otherwise great containers is that they are not made for a rolling and pitching environment. Instead, they are intended for a solid fridge at home. Their sizes do also not match very well: I would have wished that two smaller ones fit snug onto one big one, for example. 

For a marine environment I would like to have a high-friction material with a combing that stops them from falling over. I have now solved that issue with magnets and Sugru. 

I have used them for years and they are really great in the fridge. Gives some well-needed tidiness in the galley and the different foods don’t influence each other negatively. Everything keeps so much longer and it’s easy to find food nowadays! 

The vacuum is created either with the same vacuum machine that shrinks the plastic bags (using a hose connected to the container) or it is pumped by means of a hand pump.

Fun fact: Status also sell a “vacuvin” type vacuum cork for wine bottles that fit for the same pump(s).

 

Taking an example from containers on a container ship, I wanted these Status containers finally to keep in place without falling as soon as the boat is heeling. So, I bought some magnets, originally intended to hold mobile phones in cars at Amazon and the Musuo seem to be the strongest and most suitable. 

I was lucky: the radius fitted exactly onto the containers!

 

The sticking material is, however not strong enough. It had to be reinforce with a true strong Double Sided Tape, Roseberry 3M Heavy Duty Waterproof Foam Tape to glue the magnets on the top lids and the metal plates on the bottom part. 

At some places I also added some Sugru malleable strong adhesive material by Tesa in order to compensate for the magnet thickness and to allow for a stable stacking. 

Wenko: Smart collapsable dish drainer

Gaia Foldable Dish Drainer (Prod. No 547 811 00) from German Wenko fits snug on the countertop, avoiding water to drip into the fridge and has a little draining channel that folds out into the sink. It sits solidly on the countertop also while heeling and the items inside are nicely held in place. Even when the seas are high, the small size of the collapsable dish drainer ensures that the items inside are held in place. 

When folded together, it fits snug under the stove. 

 

Imnasa: Long funnel

It’s always a hassle to fill up oil in the gearbox in the engine room, especially if you have an hydraulic gearbox with hydraulic some hoses around. 

In a Spanish chandlery, I found a long funnel that fits exactly into the oil lid in the gearbox and does the job! First I almost bought a kid’s toy trumpet, until the kind shop owners asked me if I really wanted to buy a trumpet for my boat. And then he showed me what I was really looking for: The funnel by Imnasa. 

 

Filtermag: Avoid metal dust in your engine

For decades I have been using Filtermag, which is simply clicked onto your oil filter and ensures that the microscopic metal dust is kept inside the filter and is not transported back into the engine. Many years ago I sent back my filter to the Swedish distributor who compared my filter with and without Filtermag installed and it was shocking to see how much metal the Filtermag actually is keeping inside the filter which is otherwise flushing through the filter.  

It’s such an easy thing to click onto the filter. Once bought, it lasts as long as the engine does (provided you don’t through it away together with the old filter!)

 

Marco: Fixed oil change pump

Changing oil is never a favourite task, but the engine loves it! Despite Volvo claiming the D2-75 may run for 400 hours before oil change, I do it considerably more often as a treat to my kind engine. Every 200 hours is about mid summer for me, using the engine about 400 hours during the 6 months of cruising with guests. Yes, the engine is used more than one thinks, especially when sailing on a schedule, as I do. 

 

With the fixed oil change pump by Italian Marco, changing oil is a piece of cake these days! I can’t recommend it highly enough!

Just put the suction hose over the oil drain pipe on the engine and the other output hose into a 10L container and start the pump. Within the shortest of time, all oil has been sucked out of the engine. Tip: Open the filling cap and/or lift the oil stick to facilitate draining by letting in air. 

Wait for a couple of minutes for the remaining oil to run out of the filter down into the sump and suck out the rest.

Bingo!