Sunday, February 24, 2013

Pliobond sticks to your ribs


Listening to "Precious" by The Pretenders


The oven on Paragon has not worked since I arrived almost two years ago.  Something to do with a spring and a thing and a boyfriend who never, ever bakes.  Ever.  And this was cool.  I sautéed, simmered, and braised my way through through my cookbook much to my, and Drake's, delight.  Curried chicken, moyakodon, and super spicy beans and rice were some of our staples.  Then one day I had a craving for lasagna and suddenly nothing else would do.  Not only did I want lasagna, but I wanted MY lasagna.  Layers of gooey melted cheese combined with obscene amounts of garlic, spinach, mushrooms, chorizo and ground beef layered with spices and noodles and….oh my.  

There were other problems with the stove/oven.  I loved how heavy duty and over built it was, but all of the knobs had come off leaving us to turn on the propane using one jury rigged knob…except for the one burner that required channel locks and a stern grip (or glare) to get started.  The biggest concern, however, was the broken gimbal on one side.  The metal rod and attached hardware had bent at some point and presented a real hazard.  Cooking at sea is dangerous enough without the threat of the stove suddenly detaching and flying forward.  

If we had the motivation and an excess of extra time there is a chance that we could have taken the stove apart, ordered new parts, cleaned up some of the rust, fixed the gimbal, and generally restored her to her former glory.  If the parts were available.  If all went as planned.  If we weren't pushing off for New York in less than three weeks.  A lot of ifs...

So, with visions of cheesy baked food in our future, we ordered a new Force 10 three gimbaled range with a 19 L oven.  It has come in so, after we finish up some things we have going today, it's out with the old and in with the new.

Other projects are going…okay.  I cut the insulation for the aft clothes locker, but I didn't want to use the spray adhesive that Drake has been using.  Perhaps I should take a step back.  Are there any Douglas Adams fans out there?  If so (or even if not) there is a spaceship in one of his books, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, that has some amazing qualities including the fact that it creates absolutely no friction.  Like any.  If you try to put your hand on this ship it just slides right off…nothing sticks.  

I believe this ship was coated with our insulation.  

Nothing (NOTHING!) seems to adhere to this stuff.  I thought I would use duct tape to keep it in place while I trimmed the sides, but the duct tape fell away like so many autumn leaves.  Regular glue just beads off and the spray glue Drake was using seems to have a limited shelf life since strips of insulation are drooping and peeling apart.  


Insulation that is falling down in the condiment locker

The spray adhesive does not seem to be working

I went to the hardware store yesterday, got a couple of different bonding agents, and I think I found one that will work.  It's called Pliobond (sticks to rubber, leather, steel, fiberglass, and your soul!) and smells sufficiently like cancer in a bottle to make me think it will work.  It also mentions that it is resistant to salt, gasoline, and some acids which is a relief.  I can't recall how many times I have left an open bottle of acid in the clothes locker only to have it tip over to disastrous results.   (I am joking.  I would never leave an open bottle of acid in the locker.  I always close the acid before I put it in with my clothes.)  The test piece seemed to hold so *fingers crossed* I'm going to give it a try and attack the aft locker.  It would be lovely to finally get everything off of the bed and be able to sleep in the aft cabin again.  We'll see how it goes…


I'm hoping this will work





14 comments:

  1. The way you describe that lasagna, it sounds so good. I'm sure with the new Force 10 you'll be in baking heaven :D

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    1. I certainly hope so…very much looking forward to this!

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  2. After spending a whole day taking apart cleaning and reassembling the components of our oven. Only to find it was just a misalignment of the vile that heats up from the pilot flameand turns on the burner.

    Now I'm craving some lasagna......feel like sharing your recipe?

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    1. Isn't it funny how, quite often, it's just some little thing that needs to be corrected, but you don't seem to find that out until you take everything apart. *grin* At least now, if you ever need to take apart the stove again you'll know how!

      As for a recipe, I'll put something together and post it here. I tend to loosely follow recipes, if even, and the result is my lasagna is never the same twice. Actually, that's quite true of most of the food I cook. I made the most wonderful soup not long ago (the angels wept!) and it kills me because I wasn't really paying attention to what I was adding and am unable to reproduce the results. *shrug* Ah well...

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  3. Fun, fun, funny!! Hope it sticks!! LOL!

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    1. I do as well. I'm tired of insulation. We have been talking, thinking, and breathing insulation for far too long and it's time to move on!

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  4. Wait a minute! I love to bake! I'm going to make my famous beef, potato, tomato, cheese cornbread casserole! You've not tried my famous home made dough glazed cinnamon buns either! Soon! :)

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    1. Mmmmhmmmm...when we were in the wooing stage I was enticed with these magical cinnamon rolls. Two years later they have yet to make an appearance. All I have to say is, we'll see Mr. Baker Man. *grin*

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    2. Makes me want to find a Cinnabon :-)

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  5. I understand from other blogs I have read that you guys have made some amazing improvements to Paragon. Will you be giving us a taste of some of them or will you leave that up to Drake giving us an upcoming vid of the interior of Paragon when he starts publishing again on You Tube?

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    1. Interesting Chris…I'm not quite sure. It may be some time before Drake is able to tackle a video tour of Paragon and her many improvements, so perhaps I could do some along the way. I know he IS planning on filming a tour at some point which I know many people are looking forward to seeing.

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  6. Wow! from beautiful sunset pics to condiment and glue products...lol.

    A lot of these adhesives work much better if you apply them to both surfaces and let them tack up before attaching..Could also try wiping down the hull with naptha first.Or scuffing with fine sandpaper..Good luck.

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  7. Thanks! The insulation seems to be sticking with a combination of the spray and glue, but the condensation problem is still very much there. *shrug* I suppose that's what you get for living on a boat in colder weather, eh?

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  8. Designer and founder Ella Vickers’ voyage to the creation Sailing Totes of EVSC began aboard the sailing yacht Columbia, the first 12-meter vessel to win the America’s Cup.

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