Cruising/sailing with musical instruments... ?

[RyanR620]

LanikaiUkes.com

cheap, and fun.

Almost like playing the uke more than my guitars now days...

Picked up one at a local music store for about 60 bucks, so if the salt air destroys it...eh...

...plus, they sound like a uke, so it's not like sounding bad that much different from normal

[carl762]

I use a small electric travel guitar on board. It's survived the winter well and stays pretty much in tune, no rusting visible and the nylon strap is the only thing that suffers; i.e., mold spots here and there.

The boat is its permanent home. I get great joy while having my weekly whisky, playing guitar along with the IPOD.

I've thought of bringing my full sized acoustic, but have thought better of it, due to size.

[ccriders]

If you already play the guitar and are worried about space then a mandolin might be a good solution - same basic technique, notes just in different places. Also, a dulcimer can give you that sound in a very small package and would fit in with other instruments for jammin. My teacher has a fairly high end mandolin that has a plastic body with traditional materials every where else.
You might find that the piccolo gets you thrown out of the anchorage as an instrument not many people like for other than Sousa marches.
You think you have it bad with a guitar on a 30 footer, how about a cello on a 28 footer!
Look for Suzuki method books for what ever instrument you take up, you will learn to read music and the basic repertoire.
John

[nical]

Had my "Paki practice pipes" on the boat in Med Spain for about ten years. Not really a problem around those that like highland pipes. Only one other piper happened by one year, good fun doing a gig at a local pub.
To make the pipes work in that environment, I used some modern plastic reeds, a synthetic bag and reworked the drones with brass inserts. The (B Flat) chanter was plastic, but a fine bit of "Edinbrough" craftsmanship. It was important to run a little alcohol thru the bag to kill off the little beasties, but no real maintenance problems.
Was in Almerimar for awhile; would walk the seawall & belt out some tunes. Inevitably, someone would comment on it later: " Oi, ya be chokin them cats again, I hear.." Sigh.
But miss a couple of days, and it's " Oi,lazy....get back to yer pipes!"

Good clean fun!

[skygazer]

Originally Posted by nical

It was important to run a little alcohol thru the bag to kill off the little beasties, but no real maintenance problems.
Good clean fun!

Just curious, which works better, gin or rum?

[SirRealism]

Ocarina. You can get them in plastic or ceramic.

[skygazer]

Originally Posted by SirRealism

Ocarina. You can get them in plastic or ceramic.

I'd forgotten about ocarinas. Not much bigger than a harmonica, and without the reeds to stick.

I once listened to some South Americans play really nice live music on ocarinas. Nice mellow tone.

[travlineasy]

Wow! The way it reads, most everyone tends to go pretty light with their selection of musical instruments. Here's the rig I'll be hauling. And, it only takes up half of the quarter-berth on my Morgan 33-O.I..



Here it is loaded on my cart for transportation up the dock to a Tiki Bar in Southern Maryland.



I can play the keyboard without using the main amp using the DC/AC inverter on the boat because the keyboard only draws about 50 watts. The amp, a Bose L1 Compact, draws 150-watts, and the other equipment draws about another 100 watts. That's a lot of battery drain if you're anchored out and having a raft-up party. Lots of fun in the Tiki Bars, through.

Cheers,

Gary

[chrisncate]

You'd need two Alberg 30's - one for you and the admiral and one for all your gear

I feel indulgent bringing both the flute and the piccolo...

[skygazer]

Gary, amazing.

Proportionally, I carried a lot last summer. In a tiny Victoria 18, which is narrow and low, we carried a weeks worth of water (and drinks), food, camping gear for Maine, tools and supplies, two inflatables (fixed keel boat), 8 ft. oars (hate using a motor), several anchors and rode (like to sleep at night), and spare sails and backups for important stuff.

Plus, a full sized dreadnought guitar. It was a bit of a pain, but worth it. I'd asked my wife to look for a travel guitar, but the sound was so crappy she couldn't resist the full size.