SailorBags Blog

'Green' Personal Care

Tue, 08 May 2012 23:58:00 GMT

Our final installment in the Green Boating series is about how you, personally, can go green through your sunscreen. ‘Green’ sunscreen is an especially important issue for people out on the water all the time. Sailors understand how important it is to wear sunscreen to avoid bad burns and help prevent skin cancer. But what you may not know is that there are chemicals in your sunscreen that can be harmful to both you and the environment.

While the safest way to stay protected from the sun is to stay in the shade, many of us don’t have that option on our boats. Unfortunately, chemicals like oxybenzone, parabens (butylparaben, methylparaben, etc.) and vitamin A (also written as retinyl palmitate) are not good for you or the environment. Chemicals like these can leech into the water and build up in the tissues of fish and other kinds of marine life that eat those fish (this effect is known as biological magnification and can have really harmful effects). These chemicals aren’t good for people eating the fish either.

The chemicals in sunscreen can also work their way into your body by being absorbed through your skin. Do you really want all sorts of things like oxybenzone (which is linked to cell damage, hormone disruption, low birth weight, and allergies) inside your body?

Even worse than oxybenzone, parabens are ‘unclassified carcinogens’ meaning they may cause cancer. Why wear something that could cause cancer just to prevent cancer - when there are other options?

Avoid sunscreens that include all those nasty chemicals that are bad for you and the environment and instead look for zinc oxide or titanium dioxide, avocado oil, or beeswax. The oxides protect you against the harmful UV rays and the avocado oil and beeswax moisturize your skin without using petroleum (another thing to avoid if possible). Going green through your sunscreen is a great way to help your own body and the environment.

Have any other green personal care tips you’d like to share before heading out on the water? Share them in the comments section below or on our Facebook page!

Green Boating - The Electric Option

Tue, 08 May 2012 23:57:00 GMT

Most sailboats of the larger variety have combustion engines that use fossil fuels like diesel, or possibly (if you were already thinking greener) ethanol. The fumes produced by these engines, and the disaster that occurs if there is a fuel leak, are possibly one of our biggest environmental concerns. The sound and smell of a combustion engine are hardly attractive, but many sailors don’t think there’s a better option. But there is – the electric motor.

There are several advantages to the new, greener electric propulsion systems. They are cleaner and don’t produce nasty smelling exhaust. They’re quieter, too. Both of those advantages give you a more natural, calmer experience on the water. They’re more reliable and simpler to fix or maintain yourself than a combustion engine. Docking is easier with an electric motor since they produce higher torque at low RPMs. And, finally, they don’t use fossil fuels, making them a lot safer for the marine life you love. There’s no chance of a spill or leak, and there’s no nasty fumes being spewed into the environment.

There is one major disadvantage that every sailor thinks of when they hear ‘electric motor’ – the reduced range under power. This means that your electric motor won’t get you as far out on the water as a combustion engine would. However, as Greg Martin pointed out in an article of The Journal of the American Sailing Association, this can be a benefit. With limited range under power, he had to focus more on actually sailing. He wrote, “…I have had to completely re-think my philosophy on what it meant to be sailing…Having no choice but to sail has drastically increased my confidence and improved my sailing abilities… For me, this personal transformation has led me to enjoy the sport of sailing so much more”. As Martin points out, learning to rely less on your motor, and more on actually sailing, can really bring you to appreciate your boat and enhance your love of sailing even more.

An electric motor is clearly a great option, and you don’t have to buy a new boat to get one – you can replace your existing combustion engine with an electric one. However, there are ways to make sailing greener without going electric and having to replace your engine. The first, most obvious way is to keep your engine well-tuned, as it is incredibly important to prevent oil leaks. It’s also important to be careful when re-fueling so that no gas spills into the water near the re-fueling station (even a few drops can be hazardous to marine life). Use a fuel rag when refueling to catch any drops of gas that might fall into the water. Try not to under-power your boat (using a small engine for a big boat) because an engine will use less fuel when propelling an appropriately sized vessel.

It’s also good to use less fuel while on the water by minimizing idle time, making a float plan if you’re going on a trip, and by going at slower speeds. Minimize your use of onboard generators and keep your hull clean (the smoother it is, the less drag, and the easier it cuts through the water).

Finally, know how to handle a fuel spill if it occurs – this can be imperative to doing the least amount of damage to your favorite aquatic ecosystems. First remember to act immediately by placing an absorbent, oil-only mat pad over as much of the spill as possible. Dispose of the used pad properly, and contact staff at your local marina as soon as you can so they can assess the damage or help clean up the spill if there is more work that needs to be done.

Thanks for stopping by for this week’s installment of Green Boating: The Electric Option. Don’t hesitate to tell us what you think in the comments section below, or on our facebook page!

'Green' Boating - Maintenance & Repair

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 15:16:00 GMT

‘Green’ Boating: Maintenance and Repair

Being ‘green’ is gaining more importance all the time – you know: reuse, reduce, recycle. Many of us are very good at making our land activities and homes ‘green’, but we often don’t take that same attitude onto our boats with us. All of us love to see clean water and healthy marine life, and hate to see trash and oil floating in our beloved water space. So why is it we don’t take our green attitude onto the vessels that take us out to our favorite aquatic spots?

Green boating is a huge topic, so I’m breaking it up into three sections – today’s is green boat maintenance and repair. We’re going to talk about antifouling paint, sanding the hull, cleaning, bilge water, and boat repair. There’s so much you can do to help save the environment – and most of it is easy, too.

Many boaters use antifouling paint to protect the hull under the waterline from being destroyed by organisms that attach to the hull and grow there. Many of us use copper-bottom paint – a paint that releases copper toxins to kill anything that grows on the hull, and thus prevent damage. Unfortunately, this kind of paint is soft – it continuously wears down to uncover a new toxic layer. Toxic paint chips are left floating in the water, and the toxins (copper combined with the many other chemicals and heavy metals found in copper-bottom paint) sink to the bottom of the ocean. Every 18 to 24 months, each boater that uses copper-bottom paint dumps about 4 gallons of this paint straight into the ocean, and it’s killing (and sterilizing) our wildlife. From micro-organisms to orcas, all marine wildlife is being affected. Washington State was the first to ban copper-bottom paint for many vessels after seeing the serious effects it is having on costal wildlife.

Instead of using copper-bottom paint try the new, copper-free EPaint – which uses hydrogen peroxide (which is toxic to things trying to grow on your hull, but breaks down immediately into water and oxygen once it falls off your hull) instead of copper. You can buy it, and other green boating supplies, at www.greenboatstuff.com. Another option is ‘slick’ paint, which creates such a slick surface on your hull that nothing can attach to grow there (this option is not as eco-friendly as EPaint or scrubbing). The final, most eco-friendly option is to scrub your hull instead of painting it. For about as much money and work as it takes to paint your boat you can likely get it scrubbed free of algae.

Not too hard, right? Another great idea is using a dustless sander when sanding your hull before you apply that new, green EPaint. It’s better for you and your lungs, but also for birds and other animals in the area that are breathing in that dust.

When cleaning your boat, try to use non-toxic cleaners (don’t pick ones that contain acetone, instead go for organic, biodegradable, and phosphate-free solutions) and biodegradable trash bags – and take all your trash back to the shore if you can (littering is an obvious no-no for the environment) so it can be properly sorted and disposed of.

How about your bilge water? Plenty of liquids other than water find their way into the bilge, including oil, fuel and any other chemical used on board or in the engine. Your bilge pump kicks in and pumps all that water out into the environment, along with all the other chemicals in there. Bilge socks and other devices can prevent some of these chemicals from being pumped into the water, but eventually they get full of hydrocarbons and lose their effectiveness. Few of us remember to change bilge socks as frequently as we should, so we end up pumping harmful chemicals into the environment. But, a simple bilge pump filter can help keep many dangerous chemicals out of the environment. Installing it is easy, and can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars in fines if you get caught pumping out contaminated bilge water. You’ll have to change out the full filter element every once in a while of course, but less often than changing the bilge sock.

Here are some final tips, on ‘green’ boat repair. Boat repair should happen on land to keep chemicals out of the water and to help contain and minimize damage from spills. Keeping all necessary chemicals in sealed containers to prevent spills, and using tarps to keep spills from soaking into the ground and eventually getting into our water supplies, are also good ideas. Use water-based products whenever possible when repairing the boat, since they’re safer and better for the environment – think to air pollution.

Finally, check out where on land you can properly dispose of all hazardous or chemical materials. That’s it for this week’s post on Green Sailing – and remember, by thinking green both on and off your boat, you’re helping the natural environment you love so much. Tell us what you do to keep the environment clean, here in the comments or on our Facebook page, and check back next week for more information on green boating!

Marina Safety - Ladders

Tue, 08 May 2012 23:50:00 GMT

First, a big thank-you to everyone who participated in our auction last week – it was a great success! The Mount Gay Rum bag was sold for a total of $221.49, which means we’ll be donating a total of $442.98 to the U.S. Olympic Sailing Team! Thank you to all the bidders – and congratulations to the successful bidder, David Hellmuth who won this beautiful, and very special, bag.

Today I wanted to talk about an important safety issue for many sailors: marina ladders. Let’s face it - with the number of times we get in and out of our boats, we’re all bound to fall into the water once or twice at the slip. Many marinas do have ladders ready and waiting at the end of the dock; however at those marinas without ladders it takes considerable upper body strength to get back onto the dock and, sometimes, it can take a few people helping from the dock, too. If you’re without that upper body strength, and without other people to help, a marina ladder may be the only way to get yourself out of the water.

Sailors are very safety conscious people – we all carry equipment to help save us if we’re caught out in a bad storm or something tragic happens to our boat or us. Most of us wear our PFDs every time we’re out of the marina and sailing – but what about the injuries, often fatal, that can occur before we’ve even set sail? Many of us are unaware of the danger we face as we step onto our boat. It’s hard to recognize how important marina ladders are until you’re in the water without one.

Only in a few parts of the country are marinas required to have ladders to help people get out of the water easily when they fall in, though many have them anyway for customer safety. If your marina doesn’t have ladders, I strongly advise you talk to the management – and using bright-colored or fluorescent paint so they’re easy to find in the dark is an added plus. You might even suggest ladder types like the Up-N-Out or one of TMP’s many ladders. There are multiple kinds of ladders, so you can choose the one best for your marina. Most ladders will require only a little upkeep (cleaning barnacles off the bottom step) and are a huge benefit to the marina customers.

Do you think it should be a law for every marina to have this safety feature that can, quite literally, save lives? Tell us what you think here in our comments or at our Facebook page!

Safe sailing!

Raising Money for the US Olympic Sailing Team

Tue, 08 May 2012 23:56:00 GMT

Recently, we made some special bags for Mount Gay Rum – they started out the same as the Large Square Duffel, but had a unique outside pocket made from the Mount Gay Rum logo. However, after sending out the order we had an extra bag hanging around the office – collecting dust as office items do. After admiring the decorative features of the bag (it really is very cool) we finally decided it to put it to a better use than the conference table centerpiece. We decided to auction off the bag to raise money for a worthy, sailing related cause.

Rum has been associated with sailing since the days of the pirates and the British Navy – and Mount Gay Rum is “the rum that invented rum”. The company was founded in Barbados (the birthplace of rum and at the heart of the seafaring community for centuries) in 1703. As many of you know, Mount Gay Rum has the website “Sailing spoken here” and sponsors over 120 regattas around the world annually. A bag that says ‘Mount Gay Rum’ also says ‘Sailing’ – and lots of it. That’s why this bag is so special and so cool – and why we really wanted to share it with all of our fellow, seafaring fans.

So what can you do to get this bag that will demonstrate your bold passion for sailing for all to see? Participate in the auction, of course! The proceeds from the auction will be donated to the U.S. Olympic Sailing Team (participating in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London). To show our dedication to the sport and to the team, SailorBags will match the amount raised by the auction up to $500. You can head straight to the auction now by clicking here.

Supporting the U.S. Olympic Sailing Team shows your dedication to the sport of sailing and Team USA. We’re really looking forward to combining our patriotism with our passion for sailing by auctioning off this beautiful, unique bag.

Midlife Crusing

Tue, 08 May 2012 23:55:00 GMT

Our guest blogger Cheryl shares her story of falling in love with boating and making the transition to live aboard her boat full time.

When people hear about our plans to sell everything and live on a sailboat, they often raise their eyebrows and ask, "Why"? I think this quote from Mark Twain pretty much sums it up:

"20 years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So, throw off the bow lines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

However, some people need more of an explanation as to why my husband and I would want to sell our home, our cars, and our possessions to live on a 30 foot sailboat without air conditioning, fresh water, or much living space. The idea first came about when we were vacationing in Hawaii a couple of years ago. We were on some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, when we noticed tents with homeless people living in them. We thought, "Wow! If that's how homeless people live, we need a tent"! Of course, we weren't really serious about living in a tent, but after returning home we kept thinking about those homeless people in Hawaii. The idea of living in a tropical area and having no debt to tie us down was really appealing!

Not long after our trip to Hawaii, a friend of ours was telling us about some people that were living on a sailboat and cruising the Caribbean. Like the people that we tell about our future cruising plans, we raised our eyebrows. But, we weren't thinking the idea was crazy. Instead, we were thinking that this was something we might want to look into! It's odd that we've gone our whole life without ever hearing about such a lifestyle. Living and cruising on a sailboat was a totally foreign idea, and we wondered why we'd never thought of this before. We'd seen sailboats anchored, but we'd never stopped to think that these sailboats were homes and that anchoring was allowed overnight.

My husband and I have always dreamed of retiring by the age of 50 to travel and see the world. We don't have a lot of money and have always lived a frugal lifestyle. I'm proud to call myself a "low maintenance" girl! So, the idea of living on a sailboat seemed perfect for us. Without ever sailing, we decided to buy a sailboat just a few months later. We bought a 1987 Catalina 30 and named her "Nirvana", which is a Buddhist term meaning bliss and freedom from material possessions. Since then we've anchored overnight and have spent a few weekends on our sailboat. Now that we've experienced the joy of a breeze through our hair, the beautiful sunsets, going to sleep under the stars, and waking up to a sunrise and a waterfront view... we're hooked! Sailing on the water, with nothing but the sounds of the waves is truly an amazing experience!

So, this year we hope to sell our home and everything with it! When we hear the familiar saying, "The best things in life are free ... we believe it! No house, car, outfit, or piece of jewelry can compare to the beauty that this world provides! Why cruising ... why not?!

Follow us, Ken and Cheryl, as we sail and make the transition from landlubbers to liveaboards at www.mid-lifecruising.com

Holiday Decor

Tue, 08 May 2012 23:53:00 GMT

There are so many ways to bring your love of the water and boating into your holiday festivities. We love how Going A Little Coastal incorporated our Sailcloth Christmas Stockings into their decorations.

Anne's Weekend Trip

Tue, 08 May 2012 23:53:00 GMT

I spent the weekend in Florida (my oldest sister needed help celebrating a significant birthday & her entire family was most willing to provide assistance). The weather was absolutely beautiful – sunshine, blue skies and puffy, white clouds.

Now you must understand that I was born and raised in Western NY. We have short, hot summers; rainy Spring and Fall seasons; and long, snowy winters. Any weekend days with full sun and temps in the 80’s finds everyone out on the water.

In Florida, I was astonished that although I spent most of the two days by various bodies of water, I saw almost no boats! How could that be?

I guess it is all what you are used to. After all, November, even in Florida, isn’t prime boating weather. The season is in a lull, even if the boats aren’t actually pulled out and put away for the winter. Those of us from the North are always envious of the longer boating season in the South. But perhaps if our weather allowed for a longer season, we would just boat less intensely.

Can someone has lived in both climates explain this to me?

Life Aboard

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 12:15:00 GMT

Our first guest blogger Robin is often asked how she transitioned from a life on land to a life on sea and what it's like. Read on to find out.

I have been sailing and boating all my life and my husband has as well. When we first married in 1979 I wanted to move aboard a boat. The idea of living on a boat was fascinating to me. My husband wanted room for “stuff” so we lived in houses like “normal” people. We would live on a boat someday... Maybe after the kids grew up and moved away.

After two sudden deaths in the family we realized that someday never comes for many people and we decided to take action and not wait for someday.

My husband, 12yr old son and little dog found and moved aboard our Aleutian 51 sailboat in 2002. We left 3 months later and cruised Mexico, the South Pacific, Hawaii and returned to LA where we have lived aboard ever since. Our daughter joined us for a summer break from college and stayed a year cruising from Tahiti to Hawaii.

We found it interesting when visiting with other cruisers in remote anchorages that their favorite spots were our least favorite and their least favorite spots were our favorite spots. People want different things from cruising. We enjoy remote places off the beaten path. Many of our cruising buddies look for the tourist areas.

Our favorite spot so far would have to be Penrhyn ( a small atoll in the Cook Islands). The island is beautiful and people warm and welcoming. Another favorite is the Tuomotus in the South Pacific. The snorkeling is the best we’ve experienced.

After returning to California, our son graduated film school and bought a boat of his own that he lives aboard in the same marina as us. We enjoy visits from our kids and friends and also enjoy spending time alone.

We have spent the last two years refitting Mermaid and are heading to Mexico in mid-November. From there... Who knows? You can follow our adventures on our blog www.svmermaid.com.

Our Customer Service Philosophy

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 13:10:00 GMT

Hello everyone! Today I want to talk about SailorBags’s second core value - customer service. We know that our customers are real people, just like us. Each of you has a reason for purchasing one of our products, and that reason is probably pretty important to you. Well, its really important to us as well.
It might be a duffel bag needed for a cruise, a purse for a birthday gift, or a backpack to make your child’s first day of school a little more fun. Usually, there is a time element involved – you ordered your bag because of a shortly upcoming event. You don’t have weeks to wait, and we know that. We consider every order to be urgent, and each one is the most important; because to you, your order is the most important!

We are always on the alert for delivery timing issues – especially around gift giving holidays. We have been known to upgrade shipping when it is obvious the order involves a gift, because a timely delivery is as important to us as it is to you. We want your holidays to be as fun, joyful and easy as possible, and we do everything we can at our end to make sure your gifts will get to your doorstep on time. We consider each order on an individual basis because each customer’s situation is unique.

We get a lot of orders that specify embroidery. Each embroidery order is carefully scrutinized by our staff for spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and other potential problems. If there is any question in our minds about what you actually want on your bag, we contact you right away – just to be sure. Here at SailorBags we are constantly checking to make sure that everything is ship shape!

Customers contact us for all sorts of reasons – to ask for help selecting the right product, to change an order after it has been placed, or for help with a special embroidery request. We respond to every customer contact within 24 hours, and usually even sooner than that.

Our goal is for you, the SailorBags customer, to be utterly delighted with your purchasing experience as well as the purchase itself. We hope that, after your experience with us, you can truthfully say “that was phenomenal customer service” - because the greatest compliment we can receive is our customers telling their friends about the experience they had dealing with this terrific company.

Ahoy there!

Tue, 08 May 2012 23:51:00 GMT

Today’s post is about SailorBags’ dedication to our first core value - product quality. When you’re out on the water an equipment failure can be more than inconvenient, it can be deadly. I think you’d agree that boaters tend to be people who understand and appreciate the need for well designed and reliable products.

People use bags to carry, organize and protect ‘something’. It’s the ‘something’ in the bag that is most important, not the bag itself. So that’s where our design process begins – how to make a bag that best protects, organizes, insulates, etc. whatever important ‘somethings’ you’ve decided to carry with you in our bags.

We make our totes with zipper tops so that when the bag falls off the bunk, your clothes don’t tumble all over the cabin. Sailcloth naturally repels water, but we use waterproof lining material so that your jacket and towel will stay dry in our duffels, even when the spray comes over the rail. Our computer bags and iPad sleeves add padding to protect delicate electronics from bumps, along with these other features that are needed for the marine environment. There isn’t a lot of refrigeration available on most boats, so we use really thick insulation in our CoolerBags – because you want your drinks to still be ice cold in the evening when you’re headed back to port after a long day on the water. Every product in the SailorBag line is designed, first and foremost, to function in a way that best suits your needs as a customer and boater.

After designing the overall shape and materials of the bag, we think about the smallest details. We know that everyone needs pockets to keep small items from getting lost in big bags. And there need to be shoulder straps as well as handles. Each bag has been designed with your convenience in mind – down to the smallest pocket and zipper.

And finally, we believe that fashionable style and practical functionality do not have to be mutually exclusive in a bag. SailorBags are proof that you can have both style and practicality in the same product.

Every SailorBag comes with a tag attached that states: “Your SailorBag is guaranteed for life. If it wears out or underperforms in any way, just return it. We’ll repair it or replace it for free.” And we really mean it – we’re so certain that our bags will hold up under the wear and tear of your boating life, that we insure them for life. That’s a guarantee that really means something.

Thanks for stopping by again, and I hope to see you later this week when I talk about our second core value – customer service.

Welcome Aboard!

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 00:02:00 GMT

I am Anne Zimmer, President of Sailorbags, and I’m very excited to be able to connect directly with SailorBags customers through this blog.

My plans are to comment on the latest sailing news, share customer stories, introduce you to our products and crew members, and have some interesting guest bloggers.

I want our customers to really get to know what SailorBags is all about – high quality products and outstanding customer service. I’d like this to be a place where customers can talk about sailing to each other, and to us. From cruising to racing to living aboard, our love of boating is what brings us all together. This blog is all about you and how SailorBags can best meet your needs as a customer and boater. Customers can interact with each other, share their own stories and give feedback on current products – or new product ideas that would enhance their boating lifestyle.

Look forward to more posts this week about the philosophy behind our product design and our passion for customer service. Thanks for stopping by and may the rest of your week be smooth sailing!