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Author Topic: Melodeons aboard boats  (Read 6419 times)

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Sage Herb

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Re: Melodeons aboard boats
« Reply #20 on: October 09, 2013, 07:55:29 AM »

I took my melodeon on a week's trip up the East coast of Essex this summer with a group of like minded friends and there must have been a few quids worth of musical instruments on board including 3 or 4 melodeons. We had the advantage of below-deck cabins and sat around and played music most evenings in the main cabin. If you have the luxury of similar accommodation on board then I don't see a problem - unless the ship goes down of course. Inshore along the East coast of Essex is probably a bit more docile than sailing around the Hebridies though and if its an open boat I guess you need to take appropriate precautions with a water-resistant case but I wouldn't have thought that just playing in the salty air would cause any long-term harm - it doesn't seem to affect those who play their melodeons at sea-side festivals such as Sidmouth or Whitby. Having said this, I didn't take my Salterlle Berry on the trip but my trusty Hohner Erika - and it seems to have come to no harm.

Although I didn't get on the sailing trip with Malcolm this year, I have made same the trip for the previous 15 or 16 years and always taken 2 boxes (one in DG and one for singing) without any obvious damage. Mind, the boxes were kept in their boxes when not in use, and not played on deck or whilst actually sailing. The playing was pretty much confined to below decks when at anchor.
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Steve
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docEdock

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Re: Melodeons aboard boats
« Reply #21 on: October 09, 2013, 03:46:40 PM »

Interested in true nautical experience. DocEdoc has seen much of the US Atlantic Seaboard on his yaught, and never seems short of a melodeon. Are you there, Doc? Do your reeds survive?

[ed] pm sent, vaguely AFAIR he said something about "Bermuda" ::)

At the moment it's Jekyll Island in GA, parked at a marina, doing boat chores to get ready for the next cruise. Then I'm Bahamas bound, but not until after the holidays. Since both islands start with B and are surrounded by water I may be confused, but I'll know when I get there. ;D

I have toted various boxes up and down the USA coast for the past three years. Most of my sailing is in sheltered waters -- no green seas over the bow for me, thank you very much -- but does include occasional bouts of splashing through chop and getting spray over the decks. When a box is aboard it lives in the main saloon or for passages is wedged into a shelf in the v-berth. I don't keep a case aboard and instead use a canvas bag made of cotton. I play on the dock, in the cockpit or below as conditions permit, averaging perhaps an hour a day.

I've seen the effect on reeds of playing close to the sea, and it's not pretty. 

I must agree with Theo's sage advice. During two decades at sea, everything metal on my boat has developed a patina of salt specs. The salt plus the humidity inevitably leads to corrosion over time. As I type this I'm eyeing chrome plated brass lights in the main saloon which are developing speckles after five years, despite being wiped down regularly.

Still, the pleasure of playing aboard seems a fair trade off, though the next owner of these boxes may or may not agree. As for my boxes aboard -- a Hohner and Castagnari Sander -- the most noticeable effect to date is a tendency for the box to develop melodeon breath: a musty smell on first exhalation after sitting un-played for some time. I suspect this is the humidity (65% and above most of the time) sitting inside the bellows. I've not noticed any rust but suspect it is only a matter of time.

 




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Chris Ryall

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Re: Melodeons aboard boats
« Reply #22 on: October 09, 2013, 05:01:29 PM »

Bring a Paolo!   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUnSUfw0WGc
;D A holy grey at that! And it is on a gaff cutter too, though hopefully there will be more shelter on nedediah's one than your average Galway hooker. Mind you, he did give that box away after, to Charlie Harris...  ;)

Threw me there with that "hooker" reference! It has a different connotation in ports like Liverpool, more associated with bus shelters. The boats look great fun on the clip, although Wiki's "prone to being swamped and sinking in a short time" might involve yet worse melodeonic hazard? Lovely steady West Coast music too; thread newcomers won't regret clicking the link.

Assume Doc's GA location isn't(?) the Irish port, though it appears they do have hookers (both types, "paddy boats") on Eastern Seaboard too. Hope that Christmas in the Bahamas isn't too onerous, Popeye ;)

Looks to me that the injunction against playing while at sea is pretty absolute, and indeed that I may have got away luckily (Casta Lilly) in my narrowboating week on the "Shroppie". I did have the most wonderful Blues session with an old bearded bargee in a pub one night, though. That's why I rarely travel without a melodeon. Are they at risk if you don't play them while actually on water?
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MandoC

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Re: Melodeons aboard boats
« Reply #23 on: October 09, 2013, 08:02:13 PM »

My feeling that a melodeon on a boat would not be a good idea in general as far as the instrument holding up around corrosive salt water.  If I were to bring a melodeon on a boat, I would certainly consider getting a Pelican case to keep it in when not playing it. Pelican cases are pretty bomb proof and waterproof.  But expensive.  My two cents.  Charlie
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pikey

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Re: Melodeons aboard boats
« Reply #24 on: October 09, 2013, 09:07:38 PM »


At the moment it's Jekyll Island in GA, parked at a marina, doing boat chores to get ready for the next cruise.


What chores?  Mine's a pint    :|glug
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Chris Ryall

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Re: Melodeons aboard boats
« Reply #25 on: October 10, 2013, 09:09:40 AM »

::) To allow some remote possibility of someone from Atlanta "getting" this superb little witticism, Kevin, might we explain …

1. It should be read in a vaguely "Cockney" accent
2. in which it could be mistaken for "what, is yours"?
3. although this could be about Doc's boat, he must now mentally
    move to a public bar, where, implicitly, this offers refreshment
4. and a"pint" is shorthand for what in Georgia is termed a "beer"
5. and there is a "Joke", as his dutch friend was coincidentally named  ;)

Never let it be said that British humour has had its day! :|glug
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docEdock

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Re: Melodeons aboard boats
« Reply #26 on: October 11, 2013, 08:40:14 PM »

What chores?  Mine's a pint    :|glug
Well, I must admit that I was completely mystified by that Briticism until Chris kindly provided the translation. Thanks Pikey, for reaching across the pond with that play.

My feeling that a melodeon on a boat would not be a good idea in general as far as the instrument holding up around corrosive salt water.  If I were to bring a melodeon on a boat, I would certainly consider getting a Pelican case to keep it in when not playing it. Pelican cases are pretty bomb proof and waterproof.  But expensive.  My two cents.  Charlie

I believe a Pelican case (or one of the waterproof sacks used for kayaking) would provide some protection, especially if the case is closed when the relative humidity is low. Otherwise the risk is trapping the moist salty air inside the case and having it condense when the temperature drops overnight. Perhaps some calcium chloride packets as a desiccant?
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pikey

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Re: Melodeons aboard boats
« Reply #27 on: October 12, 2013, 03:59:35 PM »

::) To allow some remote possibility of someone from Atlanta "getting" this superb little witticism, Kevin, might we explain …

1. It should be read in a vaguely "Cockney" accent
2. in which it could be mistaken for "what, is yours"?
3. although this could be about Doc's boat, he must now mentally
    move to a public bar, where, implicitly, this offers refreshment
4. and a"pint" is shorthand for what in Georgia is termed a "beer"
5. and there is a "Joke", as his dutch friend was coincidentally named  ;)

Never let it be said that British humour has had its day! :|glug

 (:)
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malcolmbebb

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Re: Melodeons aboard boats
« Reply #28 on: October 12, 2013, 05:23:32 PM »


Never let it be said that British humour has had its day! :|glug

Although it could fairly be said that it has had better ones...
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Brian Rawcliffe

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Re: Melodeons aboard boats
« Reply #29 on: October 12, 2013, 05:53:43 PM »

Had my two boxes (Hohners) aboard for years now (about 15 - I live aboard). They've been up to Cumbria and down to Africa and don't seem to be any the worse for wear. When not being played, they're stowed in a couple of home made plywood boxes... Just don't get them out when the spray's flying about!  (:)
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Bobtheboat

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Re: Melodeons aboard boats
« Reply #30 on: October 12, 2013, 07:35:46 PM »

My boxes have lived aboard my narrowboat with me without any problems and I know several other boat dwellers who play too and haven't heard any tales of woe. Mind you I'm sure that the Trent and Mersey canal is a more forgiving environment than the big blue! Bob
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Chris Ryall

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Re: Melodeons aboard boats
« Reply #31 on: October 12, 2013, 07:41:18 PM »

With the exception of my stuck reeds on "the Banks of the Dee", it seems that salt in the air is the real issue?
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Ebor_fiddler

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Re: Melodeons aboard boats
« Reply #32 on: October 12, 2013, 11:37:27 PM »

 So we're probably OK on fresh water then, unless we drop it in. I gather the technical term is "in Sid".  8)  :||:  :|glug
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My other melodeon's a fiddle, but one of my Hohners has six strings! I also play a very red Hawkins Bazaar in C and a generic Klingenthaler spoon bass in F.!! My other pets (played) are gobirons - Hohner Marine Band in C, Hohner Tremolo in D and a Chinese Thingy Tremolo in G.

Rog

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Re: Melodeons aboard boats
« Reply #33 on: October 13, 2013, 12:42:37 AM »

How about a melodica, as a cheap way of getting your free reed hit...

Robin Harrison

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Re: Melodeons aboard boats
« Reply #34 on: October 13, 2013, 02:30:38 AM »

In 1986 I set sail from the Hamble on my 32" double-ended steel cutter ( design based on the Colin Archer Norwegian pilot boat) and took with me a Hohner Pokerwork melodeon.
           We sailed slowly via la Corunna and  Lisbon to the Canaries, a popular jumping off point to get the trade winds to the West Indies.
         I am here to tell you that if you follow my advice you will have NO rust issues with your steel reeds....30 years later my reeds still show no sign of rust ( or indeed, use).
 I was younger then and sprayed the reeds with WD40. Seemed like a good idea. As I said it's 100% guaranteed to stop any rust.
           You're welcome.
                           Robin
 I perhaps also ought to mention that the WD40 completely glued the plastic valves to the reed blocks, preventing any moist salt laden air reaching the reeds (one side at least)
        Whenever I play Double Lead Through I fondly remember the last tune I ever played on that old box. :'(
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Rob2Hook

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Re: Melodeons aboard boats
« Reply #35 on: October 19, 2013, 12:39:04 PM »

The only time I've played a box whilst at sea was a very quiet crossing on a ferry!  Only used the Pokerwork at that.  It did get me wonderiong whether a box could be "marinised" by coating the reeds and their frames with varnish, but I can't get around how to tune it with the varnish in place as the tuning would expose areas of the reed.  Any suggestions?

Rob.
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Martin P

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Re: Melodeons aboard boats
« Reply #36 on: October 22, 2013, 01:30:48 PM »

I have been following this thread with interest as just booked a place on "Folk Boat" next summer doing Falmouth - Southampton return passage, accompanied by Phil Beer. Reading their website they were even contemplating a "Melodeon Special" trip.
I could take my wife's Erica but would greatly prefer my own Connemara II. Just have to very careful it stays in its box when the boats is underway. Perhaps take my whistle for on-deck playing.

Another option would be to get Sony's latest 10" Tablet which is waterproof. Load up a Melodeon app (do they do one for Android yet?) and away you go. Purists might point me at the gangplank however.
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