During the fast run from Chile to the Marquesas we carried our big jib wing and wing with the mainsail for days at a time. The seas were big and the motioncaused the jib sheet to squeal, where it ran through the sheet blocks and also rubbed against one stanchion. Solution - Larry's ever-handy lump of beeswax. He rubbed the wax against both the line and the stanchion. Instant silence. Only had to repeat the procedure once every three days.

We also use beeswax, which is available at almost any chandlery, for lubricating the sail track, the spinnaker pole up haul track and the mainsail outhaul track. To keep sail repair twine from twisting or knotting while we work, we beeswax the thread. In fact any time we are using thread or twine we rub it across the lump of beeswax. It makes the thread work so much easier that I often use it when I am mending clothes or re-stitching buttons.

Final use, according to a dentist friend, beeswax substitutes for temporary cavity filler should you loose a filling at sea.

Just before leaving Virginia I added something new to my food lockers - powdered eggs that we purchased at a camping supply house. By adding a bit of extra milk powder, plus the recommended amount of water, we had scrambled eggs even when we ran low on eggs. Better yet, I enjoyed the ease of use when I baked fresh cookies or cakes at sea since I decanted each package (equivalent to 12 eggs) into a spare jar and just had to spoon the dry powder in to the other dry ingredients, then add the extra water later when I was ready to mix everything together

Though I found no shop life listed on the packaging, I tested one of the spares I still have after two years and 22,000 miles of sailing and found no deterioration. I did keep the packages sealed in zip lock bags and stored them in a dark cool place below the waterline.