20250725

Camping on board - Lessons learned

Mooring

• Storing sail and oars
  The boat tent of Hatseflats is a simple ridge tent hanging off the lowered mast. The headroom is limited to reduce windage. Apart from their combined weight of 16kg, the oars and sail bundle are always in the way. So we leave them on the dock outside.
• Sleeping at anchor
  Even loaded with camping gear, Hatseflats is a light boat. I only slept at anchor during the 2024 Baltic Sea Challenge and it was ok once the waves and wind settled down. Camping two-up at anchor is going to quite a challenge if you cannot get the oars and sail bundle out of the way.
• Look for small boat berth near the shore
  In Struer and Doverodde we moored close to the shore. Most of the berths close to the shore are too shallow for even small boats with big outboards. The bigger boats in the deeper parts of the harbour accidentally provide some shelter. And not unimportant: they are the shortest route to the toilet building!
• High quaysides - a mixed blessing.
  On our trip to the Limfjord we arrived in the harbour of Tissinghuse under heavy clouds. We could either moor at a low platform outside the harbour or behind a high quay on the inside. We chose the high quay, which required us to stand on the gunwales to climb up to the dock. Not very comfortable but at least we were safe.
• Choosing the right fenders.
  In 2021 I bought four small balloon fenders to save space. They are ideal for mooring alongside a continuous quay or lying against another dinghy. Floating jetties and docks with standing posts can be problematic. That is why we went back to two balloon fenders and bought regular fenders which can be tied to the quay, bollard, post or support. This worked well during our trip to the Limfjord.

Dry bags

• Rack-packs
  My first dry bags were 31L Ortlieb Rack-packs. These are sturdy and waterproof versions of the holdall bag that you would take to the gym. Open the rack-pack and you see all its contents at a glance. For year, we carried a 90L rack-pack under the starboard seat which held our Exped 10LXW mattresses. The problem with the smaller rack-packs is that they have limited volume and are too bulky to pass easily through a hatch opening.
  So we decided to downsize by using smaller mattresses and replacing the 31L rack-packs with small roll-tops.
• Roll-tops
  Early on I bought lightweight roll-top bags which didn't last very long. So for roll-tops I am only buying the sturdy Ortlieb PD350 roll-tops. These come in a variety of sizes: 35L, 22l, 17L, 13L and 10L. The bigger ones have big openings and don't fit easily through a small hatch. We found the 13L and 10L bags big enough to hold our spare clothes, spare tent etc. The downside of roll-tops is that the items you want are always at the bottom. So you have to throw the contents out before you finally find what you were looking for.
• Compression dry bags (with window!)
  Compression dry bags with a window are sold under the Quechua/Forclaz brands (Decathlon). There is only one size (25L). We first bought two compression dry bags for our sleeping bags in 2019. They have a valve for letting the air out if you compress them. In compressed state they are much easier to pack beneath the aft deck.
  By accident we found out that they are very useful for storing clothes. You can squeeze the air out with the valve and the window lets you see what is inside. This makes these bags more practical for clothes than the roll-tops. So we now have two of these bags for our sleeping bags and another pair for our clothes.

Clothes

Please be patient.

Food

Please be patient.