Today is the last day for cleaning. I have to cut it off somewhere so the fun begins. Just when I think things are looking good, that I can come up for air, I see another spot, or spots that is. Mold is my nemesis this year. Last year was the Cetol. What will it be next year? I’m not being negative; it’s a fact of life with boat ownership with their need for continual maintenance.
I thought yesterday would be the end to this cleaning blitz, but the list we entered the boat with remained untouched while we were sent in different directions. The VHS didn’t work which is important for a sense of safety. If something goes wrong we want the GPS to know our last position to call for help. It wasn’t working for tender calls so we resorted to using the phone. Gregg ended up working on that for most of the evening and we didn’t get home until midnight, almost stupid with tiredness. We cleaned and inflated our Zodiac tender so we didn’t have to get off the water at 9:00 pm, the tenders last pick-up of the evening.
I had planned to clean the bilge, the last of the clean jobs, everything I’ve been cleaning till now drains into that area so it only makes sense to tackle it last, but ended up literally upside-down in the freezer scouring out the winter smell. Now I won’t be creeped out about storing our food in it. Then I noticed the doors needed a toothbrush cleaning and the weather stripping all around the edge was grey from years of use so that needed to be removed which was no small feat. The stuff held on as if its life depended on it and perhaps it did, but I was determined and piece by piece it scraped away with a chisel. It was sticky and gross and I fought to get it off my fingers. The teak along the edge is now cleaned and smooth, waiting for a new strip to be applied today, a beautiful white strip, to give it a new freshness one would associate with an appliance that contains food. The freezer works well and once running the diesel engine for a while it gets nice and cold that will last quite a while, perhaps a day. It won’t be fit for ice cream but it will keep things chilly like cream for our coffee. If we put frozen soup in it that should keep things chilled for even longer and of course we would fire up the engine for a periodic cap on the cold. We also take ice packs we bought at the dollar store, large flat ones to lay items on for extra cool. We also have ones that wrap around drinks. A nice cold beer after a day on the water hits the spot and is now the only alcohol I care to enjoy. It’s zippy and refreshing. I’ve found a beer called Modela and it’s totally refreshing with no skunky aftertaste that some beers seem to leave. I’m not a fan of booze in general so I can live without it. My favourite drink is water but I crave for something zippy every now and then and I can’t drink pop because of all the sugar and the diet version is worse because of the aspartame, which in case you didn’t know, destroys your pancreas and causes diabetes, interesting isn’t it, what they flog as a diabetic drink will cause further damage and send you down the insulin highway even faster.
Picking away at the cleaning in small doses each evening isn’t enough, we need to blitz an entire day so I‘m playing hooky at work and heading down to the boat shortly where we won’t be surfacing until that cabin is ready for our dishes, pots and pans, cutlery, cushions and bedding. Them I’m going to put on my rose coloured sunglasses so all looks perfect and bright and not think about the remaining work as thoughts of fun push all else aside.
I still have to remove the oxidation on the combing area and deck but that can be achieved while sailing, and then waxed to a lovely shine. I have the entire summer for that so I’m not panicked. Its days like this that make a person hanker for more so I have to squash my anal, perfectionist angst and learn to relax a bit. No sense having a boat that never sees action.
We are going out for a sail and dinner on the water this evening. The pups will be with us for the first time, now that the boat is fit for them. They’ve been left alone a lot lately, those four sets of sad eyes staring up from the sofa as we close the door behind us break my heart but I tell them we are doing all of this for them. I’m not sure they get it or care, all they see is mommy and daddy are both leaving once again. They love the water, but more importantly, they love being with us. So let the fun begin.
Here is an updated photo of my cabin floor rug. It's progressing slowly. Not getting much done on it with the few minutes I can spare before falling into bed. Once we are no longer picking over the boat like a vulture with a carcass, I should be able to get it all done in a couple of weeks.
I thought yesterday would be the end to this cleaning blitz, but the list we entered the boat with remained untouched while we were sent in different directions. The VHS didn’t work which is important for a sense of safety. If something goes wrong we want the GPS to know our last position to call for help. It wasn’t working for tender calls so we resorted to using the phone. Gregg ended up working on that for most of the evening and we didn’t get home until midnight, almost stupid with tiredness. We cleaned and inflated our Zodiac tender so we didn’t have to get off the water at 9:00 pm, the tenders last pick-up of the evening.
I had planned to clean the bilge, the last of the clean jobs, everything I’ve been cleaning till now drains into that area so it only makes sense to tackle it last, but ended up literally upside-down in the freezer scouring out the winter smell. Now I won’t be creeped out about storing our food in it. Then I noticed the doors needed a toothbrush cleaning and the weather stripping all around the edge was grey from years of use so that needed to be removed which was no small feat. The stuff held on as if its life depended on it and perhaps it did, but I was determined and piece by piece it scraped away with a chisel. It was sticky and gross and I fought to get it off my fingers. The teak along the edge is now cleaned and smooth, waiting for a new strip to be applied today, a beautiful white strip, to give it a new freshness one would associate with an appliance that contains food. The freezer works well and once running the diesel engine for a while it gets nice and cold that will last quite a while, perhaps a day. It won’t be fit for ice cream but it will keep things chilly like cream for our coffee. If we put frozen soup in it that should keep things chilled for even longer and of course we would fire up the engine for a periodic cap on the cold. We also take ice packs we bought at the dollar store, large flat ones to lay items on for extra cool. We also have ones that wrap around drinks. A nice cold beer after a day on the water hits the spot and is now the only alcohol I care to enjoy. It’s zippy and refreshing. I’ve found a beer called Modela and it’s totally refreshing with no skunky aftertaste that some beers seem to leave. I’m not a fan of booze in general so I can live without it. My favourite drink is water but I crave for something zippy every now and then and I can’t drink pop because of all the sugar and the diet version is worse because of the aspartame, which in case you didn’t know, destroys your pancreas and causes diabetes, interesting isn’t it, what they flog as a diabetic drink will cause further damage and send you down the insulin highway even faster.
Picking away at the cleaning in small doses each evening isn’t enough, we need to blitz an entire day so I‘m playing hooky at work and heading down to the boat shortly where we won’t be surfacing until that cabin is ready for our dishes, pots and pans, cutlery, cushions and bedding. Them I’m going to put on my rose coloured sunglasses so all looks perfect and bright and not think about the remaining work as thoughts of fun push all else aside.
I still have to remove the oxidation on the combing area and deck but that can be achieved while sailing, and then waxed to a lovely shine. I have the entire summer for that so I’m not panicked. Its days like this that make a person hanker for more so I have to squash my anal, perfectionist angst and learn to relax a bit. No sense having a boat that never sees action.
We are going out for a sail and dinner on the water this evening. The pups will be with us for the first time, now that the boat is fit for them. They’ve been left alone a lot lately, those four sets of sad eyes staring up from the sofa as we close the door behind us break my heart but I tell them we are doing all of this for them. I’m not sure they get it or care, all they see is mommy and daddy are both leaving once again. They love the water, but more importantly, they love being with us. So let the fun begin.
Here is an updated photo of my cabin floor rug. It's progressing slowly. Not getting much done on it with the few minutes I can spare before falling into bed. Once we are no longer picking over the boat like a vulture with a carcass, I should be able to get it all done in a couple of weeks.
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