ELECTRICITY
Batteries in the engine room generate most of the electricity on the Valiant. The batteries are powered by the engines when in flight. There are several gas lamps on the ship that provides most of the light in the evenings. 

HEAT- AND COOLING SYSTEMS
A big furnace in the engine room heats up the Valiant and provides the bathrooms with hot water. The heat circulates through pipes in the ceiling. There’s a small, Victorian wood-burning stove in the common room for extra heat.

All food in need of a cool environment is kept in sea salt brine in the kitchen storage. The rest is kept in secured boxes outside on the deck.

RUNNING WATER
The Valiant’s water supply is stored in tanks on the lowest deck. These tanks are filled up by a water supply company whenever the Valiant is in port. This is expensive...

COOKING
The cooking on the Valiant happens by a gas stove with gas cylinders (manual change). There are no microwaves, blenders, or toasters! There is, however, a battered coffeemaker on the ship, but you have to grind the beans with a manual coffee grinder.

DISHWASHING
Washing dishes on the Valiant happens by hand, which is… Time-consuming. The crew takes turns helping with the dishes. Some more than others.

BATHING
Because of the limited water supply, the (only) bathroom on the ship has no shower. Instead, all bathing is done in a bathtub (sponge baths.) There is usually not enough hot water for more than a couple of baths a day, and the water will get increasingly colder with every re-fill.

Getting to the bathroom first in the morning is essential if you don’t feel like dipping your toes in an ice bucket!

LAUNDRY
There is a small laundry room on the ship, which can barely contain the wash buckets and boards. Urgent washing can be done in the tub or the sinks, but otherwise, the crew crams all the washing into one big laundry day. Laundry day is a team effort. The crew gathers on deck, and everything is hand-washed, rolled, and hung up on clotheslines suspended in crisscross patterns all around the ship.

Laundry days are agonizingly rare, as they depend on the weather allowing outdoor activity for a full day. Therefore, there’s a lot of laundries, and the crew likely spends the day walking around in their least-favorite, spare outfits while everything dries. 

CLEANING
What happens in their own cabin is each individual’s own responsibility, but maintaining the rest of the ship is a shared duty. That being said, while the ship isn’t piled with trash, it is rarely fully clean.

Just like laundry day, spring cleaning is a shared effort. Once a year, the crew gathers to give the Valiant a thorough scrubbing. All doors and windows are opened, blankets and pillows are taken outside, the floors are washed, the shelves dusted off, and the hull is treated as much as the budget allows. It’s a productive but exhausting day, and everyone is sore for the week to follow.

DISPOSAL
All waste from the garbage cans is stored in a container on the lower deck. This container is emptied whenever the Valiant is in port. Being on garbage duty is not fun, especially when the nearest disposal is several docking spots away…

Asking for the bathroom, the waste goes into a separate tank with a filtrating system, before it is released into the sea. The government has established certain areas of the sea where this is allowed, to avoid… Well… Dumping on other ships or islands…

FURNITURE
All big furniture is nailed to the floor to avoid incidents under turbulence. Chairs are strapped to the table with a rope around the back when not in use. All cabinets have cabin hooks to avoid them bursting open when the ship turns.

STORAGE
The ship hosts a couple of storage rooms for edible and non-edible supplies. Everything is sorted to the best of their ability, but that doesn’t mean the cramped storage rooms are tidy.

HERBS AND PLANTS
There is a small greenhouse room on the ship, stuffed to the brim with plants and herbs. All potted plants are best kept hanging from the ceiling to avoid smashing by turbulence.

PERSONAL BELONGINGS
Smaller items are best kept in boxes or secured to shelves with straps. Each cabin has room for storage under the bed or in cabinets. Hanging picture frames on the walls is… Risky. Proceed with caution.