Care and feeding of an accordion while living on a boat

[oFour]

Good time of the day to all!

In the next year or so I will be permanently moving aboard a sailboat and plan on bringing my accordion with me (Hohner Morino XN). Naturally I'm concerned about the marine environment munching away at the inner workings. Reading through the related threads it seems that the consensus is to just buy a cheap "burner" accordion and leave the nice one at home, but since my boat is my home, that's not an option. I think I came up with a system to make it work, but want to bring it to the experts for a sanity check first.

So, my plan is this: Keep the accordion in its case with 32% RH Boveda packs at all times. 30 minutes before I practice, button up all of the hatches and run a household HEPA air purifier on full blast to filter out any salt mist that may be in the air. After I'm done clearing out the anchorage, put the Hohner back in its case, open the hatches, rinse and repeat. The temperature here in the Pacific Northwest stays fairly mild all year around, and the boat will be heated, so that's not as much of a concern. Same couldn't be said about the humidity though, it's very humid, especially on the water, so there might be quite a bit of "shock" when pulling the accordion out of its case, though I'm not sure how much it actually matters if it's very short term.

What do you think? Should I take any other precautions? Am I overthinking this? My musical instruments are very precious to me, so I want to take every reasonable (and possibly unreasonable) measure to protect them.

Lastly, thank you everyone for your willingness and generosity in imparting some knowledge on young newbies such as myself!

Cheers!

Artem

 

[Dingo40]

What do you think?

Well, only since you asked, I think, do you have a relative you can trust
( JerryPH?) and park it with them? And then get yourself a sacrificial disposable for using on the boat!

 

[oFour]

Well, I think, do you have a relative you can trust
( JerryPH?) and park it with them? And then get yourself a sacrificial disposable for using on the boat!

If I were to pick someone, I would choose him, no one knows Hohners better than Jerry haha

In all seriousness, yes, I could leave it with family, but then it would never see daylight, which defeats the purpose of owning a nice accordion. I want to try and engineer a way around the problem. Maybe someone was in a similar predicament, living in a very humid climate by the sea, what worked for them and what didn't?

 

[murathan]

If I were you I continue the main accordion and dont think the rest. It may get harmed in years but you cant avoid. Try to keep dry as possible.

 

[Ben-jammin]

Most accordion cases will absorb moisture to a certain extent. I keep an accordion on my sailboat during the summer and keep it in a pelican case with the knowledge that I could toss it overboard and it would still keep the instrument safe and dry. I’m currently in a freshwater Great Lake however so I don’t have the risk of salt in the bargain. I’ve been becoming increasingly comfortable with keeping nicer and nicer accordions onboard but I still wouldn’t keep my nicest one onboard.

Btw what kind of sailboat are you moving onto?

 

[ColoRodney]

My attitude is generally that I've got maybe 20, 30 years of accordion playing left in my life. If my accordions outlast me, I haven't been playing them enough.

 

[Ventura]

ahead of time, find another (Hohner Morino XN) and buy it

store it with Doktor Jerry

when yours dies at sea, first, find another (Hohner Morino XN) and buy it
then take it to Jerry's place and pick up your spare one and leave the
new spare one there

repeat as needed as conditions require ad infinitum ad nauseum Amen

 

[Ben-jammin]

my advice is to get a halfway decent but not too valuable instrument and give it 6 months at sea while the Morino is safe elsewhere and monitor the health of the more modest instrument as you go. If it’s holding up and you’re comfortable with it, then try it with the better instrument. For me I like having instruments on my boat that I don’t feel I have to wait until ideal conditions to use and I can play more frequently.

 

[Scuromondo]

Most accordion cases will absorb moisture to a certain extent. I keep an accordion on my sailboat during the summer and keep it in a pelican case with the knowledge that I could toss it overboard and it would still keep the instrument safe and dry. I’m currently in a freshwater Great Lake however so I don’t have the risk of salt in the bargain. I’ve been becoming increasingly comfortable with keeping nicer and nicer accordions onboard but I still wouldn’t keep my nicest one onboard.

Btw what kind of sailboat are you moving onto?

A watertight Pelican, along with a fistful of desiccant packs, might postpone the inevitable. But it might not be a bad idea to hunt for an old Hohner with stainless steel reeds. They are not common, but they do exist, and I see them occasionally online.

 

[oFour]

Btw what kind of sailboat are you moving onto?

It's a little 1928 John Kearney canoe stern yawl.

Thank you everyone for your input! Good call on the Pelican case, don't have to mess with trash bags and such for moisture protection, and good for regular land based travel as well. I imagine I would just buy one that's a little bigger than the accordion itself, and then cut the foam to shape?

 

[Ben-jammin]

It's a little 1928 John Kearney canoe stern yawl.

Thank you everyone for your input! Good call on the Pelican case, don't have to mess with trash bags and such for moisture protection, and good for regular land based travel as well. I imagine I would just buy one that's a little bigger than the accordion itself, and then cut the foam to shape?

Yes. It’s a good idea to get one with large enough dimensions to allow padding In all dimensions. It ends up being a bit bulky but provides superior protection. Mine is the IM2875. The downside of this case is it can absorb a lot of heat if left in the sun.

 

[Ben-jammin]

It's a little 1928 John Kearney canoe stern yawl.

Thank you everyone for your input! Good call on the Pelican case, don't have to mess with trash bags and such for moisture protection, and good for regular land based travel as well. I imagine I would just buy one that's a little bigger than the accordion itself, and then cut the foam to shape?

Also nice boat! Pictures please? This is my Rhodes Bounty II.

 

[dak]

My attitude is generally that I've got maybe 20, 30 years of accordion playing left in my life. If my accordions outlast me, I haven't been playing them enough.

Well, both my accordion and my violin are older (the latter one built during Beethoven's lifetime, the former at least during Hugo Hermann's lifetime) than I. My aim in playing instruments is not to make them useless to further owners, and I am glad that it hasn't been the aim of previous owners either.

 

[Ffingers]

Yes. It’s a good idea to get one with large enough dimensions to allow padding In all dimensions. It ends up being a bit bulky but provides superior protection. Mine is the IM2875. The downside of this case is it can absorb a lot of heat if left in the sun.

Which is why, if space is available, a huge esky/chilly bin/cooler bin/cooler box or whatever the local name as, can be the place to to put it all in.
I used to keep my camera outfits in such insulated containers, partly because the standard aliuminium cases were too attractive to opportunist thieves and partly to keep the heat off.
Not always helpful against robbers at festivals and parties when the drinks were running low, though

 

[oFour]

Also nice boat! Pictures please?

Here are a few from her prime days. She's undergoing a major refit right now, so not much to see at the moment I'm afraid.

Love your Bounty, Phil Rhodes is one of those designers that seems to never miss his mark, that long counter stern is dreamy.

 

[Ben-jammin]

Here are a few from her prime days. She's undergoing a major refit right now, so not much to see at the moment I'm afraid.

Love your Bounty, Phil Rhodes is one of those designers that seems to never miss his mark, that long counter stern is dreamy.

That’s a lovely boat.