Laundry

[jkmacleod]

Hi all, just getting ready to venture off on our first cruise, bringing our new boat home from North Carolina. Due Marina laundromats use quarters, dollar coins or are they free? Thanks

 

[ranger58sb]

Most of the ones we've seen along the ICW eat quarters. A very (very) few have been free.

-Chris

 

[Russell Clifton]

You will find many different types of machines. The older ones use quarters, some use tokens that must bought in one of their vending machines. The newer ones use credit cards.

 

[AlanT]

I wouldn't worry about it. When you check in to a marina you can either 'buy' quarters from them or tokens if that's what they use. What you do need however are some big laundry bags. Sometimes you can fold laundry in the laundry room, but they are often not suitable for this or not clean enough for you to want to. We used laundry "back packs" which worked really well and were not a struggle to manage.

 

[Comodave]

When we brought our boat home in 2016 we used lots and lots of quarters. In Virginia we tried several banks and they would not even give us change since we didn’t have accounts there. We struggled for a while until we got to Cape May at Utch’s Marina. They had lots of quarters in rolls so we got a bunch. In fact we still have a roll aboard the boat from there. If we were going again we would carry several rolls of quarters just in case.

 

[FF]

ON the AICW laundry need not cost the price of a slip.
Most O'nite & fuel docks are empty during much of the day.

Stopping for fuel near noon usually the docks are empty.

A tip for the dock kid will usually get the OK to go shopping and use of the laundry.

A wheeled folding shopping cart like grand mother had will carry the laundry , carry groceries from walking distance and a couple of cases of beverage or a couple of propane 20lb bottles.

In just over an hour one can be full of fuel , water and free of garbage , ready for the next anchorage!

With more time you might even use the clothes dryer , instead of the cockpit.

 

[psneeld]

My experience is some of all the above.


But I would say mostly quarter machines, having a couple rolls aboard is never a bad idea.

 

[slowgoesit]

The problem with the token operated machines, is that you often find that none of the marinas use the same tokens . . . and they generally have a minimum amount you can "purchase". So, they charge your $xx.xx for the card, usually $3 or $4, then have to "charge it" with a minimum, often $20.00, then use the $8 to do your laundry, so you have really paid $24 to do that laundry ($4 to charge, + $20 minimum). No problem, you can use it at the next marina, right? Wrong! They use a DIFFERENT token system, so once again, $24 to do your laundry . . . At the end of a cruise, you have an extra $100 plus tied up in different tokens you can't use . . . but heh, you're doing that cruise again next year! You can use those loaded tokens in those same marinas! Problem solved . . . then you get there, and guess what? They've changed machines/token vendors/policies . . . so once again $26 for one load of laundry (because the price of the token went up $2 this year, they had to pay for the new machine somehow, you can expect them to eat the cost, can you?)

Enjoy!

By the way, the experience above is related from real life experience, just not with laundries at marinas, but with laundries at RV parks . . . Now we just have the laundry in our RV and forgo using laundromats. Same will go for our next boat to be . . . a washer is a MUST HAVE!

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. jk. While all good advice, thus far, just how much laundry are you going to generate in 2 or 3 weeks? A lot can be done with a bucket of soapy water and a line strung somewhere. A couple of tee's and shorts and a sweater for those cool evenings...

 

[PM]

We never use marina laundry facilities, even when we are out for two or three weeks. We just pack it up and take it home. I guess we figure we are on vacation and nobody should have to do laundry on vacation.

pete

 

[Shrew]

We keep a roll or two of quarters on the boat for laundry. If a place has laundry service, we use that instead. OR we take a cab to to laundromat which has bill changers. Or we soak small amounts in a bucket with detergent and scrub it on the non-skid, rinse it with a hose and hang it on the rails to dry.

Or we do the old college method of 'sniff and shrug'. It's either clean, dirty, or 'good enough'.

 

[CaptTom]

We've always had a jar for quarters handy on board. Primarily for laundry or other machines, but now we also throw small bills in there for tips or machines which take bills. If someone insists on giving us cash for anything, it goes in the jar. We buy rolls of quarters to replenish the jar when we can.

You can't count on the marina or laundromat having someone around to make change 24x7. Sometimes we like to do our laundry off-hours.

A marina with a free laundry machine is a rare find. I know of two of them, one in the US and one in Canada. And I ain't telling!

 

[HiDHo]

It might not be near your cruising area but Kingfisher Marina, Demopolis, Al. on the Tenn Tom waterway has the best laundry facility we have ever seen anywhere on the Loop or up and down the AICW.

 

[swboater]

We use an Echo Washer. Got it on E bay 3 years ago. 60.00 bucks. Dry clothes with a line. We are only out 3 to 6 weeks at a time. Works great.

 

[High Wire]

We have one of those “grandma “ change purses that will keep full of quarters just for laundry. By far most machines we ran into used 8 quarters for wash and some up to eight for drying.

 

[slowgoesit]

A marina with a free laundry machine is a rare find. I know of two of them, one in the US and one in Canada. And I ain't telling!

Friend of mine brags that his marina has free laundry . . . . He owns a condo there, with slip ownership . . and a washer in dryer in the condo . . . ! I point out that that "Free" laundry cost him $400k+ for the purchase, and $300+ per month HOA dues . . . and does him absolutely no good when he's away from the dock! He doesn't like talking to me:lol:

 

[Bacchus]

A marina with a free laundry machine is a rare find. I know of two of them, one in the US and one in Canada. And I ain't telling!

We have run into a few. Some towns on the NY canal, our newly rebuilt marina in the Finger Lakes ( boater card access) and a few in Canada. Actually one at S end of Trent Severn also provides Tide Pods free as well as clean shower mats!

 

[Ski in NC]

While in warm (or hot) weather travel mode, we do wash in a five gal Rotella bucket with laundry detergent. Then first rinse with salt water to get out the soap, then final rinse with fresh. Often the fresh water rinse is done in the shower with a human body, so two birds with one stone.

Life on board with a small water tank!!

Hang them up to dry. If not too windy, flybridge ladder. If windy or running AC, hang them up over the overhead fishing rods stored there.

In the many total months of cruising, I think we have used a marina laundry a couple times.

 

[Olebird]

Clothes ??

 

[amapola]

It varies widely from marina to marina but few are free. We've used quarters, tokens, and access cards. I still save my quarters and keep a few rolls on board.

 

[alormaria]

On a cruise, change is important. Keep a bunch.


Get one (or two) of those old lady folding grocery carts to drag behind you. They are great for laundry too. Sometimes the coin-op laundry is not at the marina - it's a mile or two down the road. The longest mile you will ever walk.

 

[Comodave]

We bought an aluminum folding dock cart about 20 years ago. It has the bicycle tires and will carry a huge load. I think that it is rated for 300 pounds. It rolls easily over bumps and steps. I even used it to carry a Splendide washer/dryer down the dock from our truck. It was expensive but well worth it. I have gone shopping over a mile from the boat and had it loaded with several cases of water and lots of food supplies. It wasn’t fun but it was very doable with the big tires. It will carry lots of dirty clothes to the laundry.