SEALERS FOR SAILORS
by Susanna Sharp
Blue Water Sailing
August 2008
Seal it all!
A fisherman demonstrates cod pickling in five easy steps. A single-hander details her stern-tying technique. The little tricks you learn simplify life aboard. You tweak the rig, drop heavier ground tackle, slap on better sealant. Maybe you learned the hard way, or someone smart showed you something better. The best tips make life easier and, even better, eke more out of a tool you already own.
So it’s time to learn what many coastal cruisers, racers and long-term liveaboards already know: A vacuum sealer works wonders on a boat. The savviest of those boaters prove it’s more than just a galley tool. It sucks the air from bags and containers to leave completely waterproof, airtight and corrosion-resistant seals around sensitive and expensive gear.
Today’s user-friendly, affordable and portable versions mean cruisers can keep one aboard, or at the very least have one on hand before departure and during the entire provisioning and packing process. Use it when you stock your ditch bag and store your safety gear. Discover its myriad perks in boat maintenance. Learn what it can do in your naturally humid environment and what features to consider when shopping for your own vacuum packer.
Sealing foods
Galley basics
Crushed crackers, soggy cereal and moist mixes all dampen an otherwise pleasant cruising experience. A vacuum packer does more than just seal food in a plastic bag; it reduces package size, flattens foods, preserves freshness, eliminates moisture problems and keeps bugs at bay. The appliance is simple to use: Just fill the custom bag, guide it into the sealer, press a button and wait a few seconds. Buy large quantities in bulk, break down into manageable sizes and vacuum package the whole lot. Basics, like flour, sugar and yeast, can all be stacked away in portions sized to match your day-to-day containers. For example, if you store flour in an airtight one-gallon container, pack the rest away in vacuum-sealed one-gallon refills. We seal coffee grounds by the quart to refill a canister of the same size.
Without air and extra packaging, slim vacuum-sealed bricks stack compactly and slide into the smallest of spaces. The clear bags make it easy to find what you need. Try it with rice, couscous, oatmeal, nuts, tea bags and all your pantry basics. Refrigeration adds myriad options to simplify your time aboard.
Think ahead. In the months before departure, mix and vacuum seal dry ingredients for cakes, muffins, quick breads, cookies, cereals and pancakes. Do the same with snack mixes in individual portions. Vacuum package dehydrated foods to further preserve freshness and keep out moisture. Make your own homemade instant oatmeal mix of quick oats, brown sugar, nuts, dried fruit and cinnamon, and then package into breakfast portions. When the time comes, just add boiling water and a dollop of butter. Cover for a few minutes and enjoy.
Especially with food, always maintain a super-clean working environment when using your vacuum sealer. Use only clean and dry bags and accessories. Keep the sealing gaskets on the appliance free of food particles and moisture.
Everything else
Sealer-savvy boaters use their vacuum packers just as often outside the galley to protect non-food items from oxidation, corrosion and moisture. Consider using a sealer for maintenance, boatkeeping, safety and recreational purposes.
Seal paint and varnish brushes mid project and avoid the mess of having to clean them every time you step away for a day or even a few hours. Return, cut open the bag and get back to work. When storing dry brushes, the airless bags keep them in good condition, away from contaminants and in their proper shape. Various glues, lubes, epoxies and caulks stay moist when packaged, and the bags prevent any leaky mess from escaping. Protect special tools, spare parts and spark plugs, or simply seal small items to keep better track of them.
Basic boatkeeping gets a boost, too. Seal up enough dry laundry detergent to handle weekly or monthly loads. Tuck a stack of dryer sheets into a sandwich bag and seal it in the same bag with the soap. Hobbyists can seal supplies for sewing, beading, papercraft, leatherwork and more. Musicians, preserve guitar strings with extra picks. Knitters, compress yarns to a fraction of the space. Prevent tarnish on silver pieces and protect special silk items or jewelry. Pack away extra towels or clothing. While you’re at it, seal extra personal hygiene items, batteries, matches, extra wicks and candles. The only limit is your imagination.
We ski during our winters in Alaska. That means we carry sealed avalanche beacons and headlamps, fresh batteries and all, protected from the salt air, corrosion and moisture, but ready and working when we need them.
Boaters are a fun-loving folk. You fish, swim, dive, snorkel and kayak. Hooks and floats and flashers tangle with line and tear at fingers. So vacuum seal that gear, categorized by fish: Salmon tackle in this bag, halibut in that. Seal the contents of a basic first-aid kit and know what you have at a glance when the hook lands where it shouldn’t. Water lovers, keep track of your goggles and nose clips by sealing them in bags before you throw them in together with the fins, snorkels and wetsuits. Toss a vacuum-packaged bag of protein bars in with your gear. Just name your sport and you’ll find uses for what is bound to become your favorite appliance.
Ditch Bag uses
A Better Ditch Bag
Your safety gear deserves real attention. A complete, organized ditch bag is an essential we all hope to never need. But if you do, a little pre-packing with a vacuum sealer on hand can assure vital safety items stay dry for the critical times when you most need them.
Consider vacuum sealing and including these indispensable items in your ditch bag, and don’t forget to have a knife available to open them:
• Flashlight(s)
• Handheld GPS
• Handheld VHF
• Batteries
• First aid kit and manual
• Anti-nausea medicine
• Emergency food
• Toilet paper
• Charts
• Books
• Playing cards
• Notepads with pencils
• Matches
• Reflective tape
• Flare gun and flares (with visible expiration dates)
• Copies of identification and other important papers
What you need
Vacuum sealers have been around for decades, but the modern bells and whistles make a big difference. If you’re in the market for a new one, consider these functions that go a long way to make life easier:
• The wet seal option. Dry foods seal easily, but moist contents present special challenges. If the vacuum pulls liquid toward the part of the bag to be sealed, it may fail to seal properly. This option allows for a longer sealing time.
• The instant seal option. A button to override the fully automatic option seals on command and allows you to stop the vacuum at just the right time to prevent the breakage of fragile contents.
• The auxiliary port. With the right attachments, you can reseal wine bottles, suck the air out of rigid canisters and seal Mason jars.
• The built-in bag cutter. Simplifies the measuring and cutting of each bag so you use only what you need.
The special bags tend to be expensive, but they can be microwaved, frozen and boiled—and they’re reusable. Thoroughly washed and dried, most bags have three or four lives in them. Wash them in the dishwasher or by hand in hot, soapy water, propping them open to dry on a clean towel. Remember, too, that every time you open a bag, you cut off a couple of inches. Cut bags long enough to be used multiple times.
Sealing containers
The Jar Sealer
The wide-mouth jar accessory solves just about any problem that arises with bags, particularly when it comes to moist or sharp contents. It removes air from regular wide-mouth Mason jars. Try it with dry goods like pretzels, crackers, nuts, herbs and loose tea.
We buy giant bulk jars of sundried tomatoes, marinated olives and pepperoncini and then re-portion them into half-pint jars. We turn 80-ounce jars of natural peanut butter into five pints and save a bundle. It’s all in more manageable sizes and makes perfect boat gifts.
Use only sterilized jars, lids and utensils. Fill your jars to within an inch of the top, seat the lid and fit the accessory over the top of the jar. Press the seal button and wait for the popping sound of the lid to indicate an air-free jar. I tighten a ring down over the lid as added protection against the jostling of the boat. Slide the whole jar into a short sock and stow.
Note: Sealing jars with this accessory is not the same as pressure canning. Food that requires refrigeration to stay fresh still requires refrigeration after sealing. It most cases, food will just stay fresh longer than it would without using the sealer.
Special strategies
Chafe is an issue on every boat. A season of shifting about in boat lockers can cause vacuum-sealed bags to fail. Especially those with chunky contents. Friction introduced moisture, and ultimately mold, to our sealed packages of dog kibbles. Same goes with our whole-bean coffee. So we moved the dog’s food to plastic bins and vacuum sealed our coffee after grinding it first. Problems solved. One season on your own boat will confirm what needs to change. Here are a few things we recommend.
• Sandwich fragile items like cookies, teabags or fuses between layers of thin cardboard or even a piece of the original packaging (which then serves as a label). It adds rigidity and helps prevent breakage
• Avoid particularly sharp items like pasta and crackers, which tend to tear through the bag. Store these instead in plastic containers,
canisters or jars
• Know that a proper vacuum seal can make cement of slightly moist foods like licorice vines or gummy candy and shredded cheese
• Line food lockers with spongy shelf liner to diminish chafing
• Protect your appliance in a strong, lidded plastic tub just large enough to hold several rolls of bags plus accessories
Between big provisioning trips, we stow our vacuum sealer in the deep recesses of the boat. Like the Shop-Vac and the heat gun, it draws far too many amps to use without shore power. If you have unlimited power and the ability to keep your appliance out on the counter for daily use, enjoy it! Reseal cheese after every use. Vacuum package leftovers. Seal extra chips in their original bags to retain freshness. Expose your sealants to air only when necessary. Everything will last longer. Try a vacuum sealer aboard and you’ll never go back to your old ways.