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

Need some rain? Wash the boat!

Listening to WBUR Boston's NPR News Station

Nothing ever works on a sailboat.  NOTHING!  Okay, this is an exaggeration, but that is how it feels sometimes.  You go to flush the head, the head that you just soaked with vinegar and thoroughly cleaned, and nothing happens.  You go to check the radar, the very radar that was working mere moments ago, and *poof* it's suddenly gone.  You sit at the dinette under the dorade vent tapping away on your computer when suddenly a drop of water plops down.  Never mind that the vent was just resealed.  Never mind that after it was resealed you sat with a hose and sprayed it with everything that little spigot could handle.  No.  This is a boat and everything on it has a shelf life and, despite your expectations, some expire faster than others.  

We have had a trying day.  Days.  Time is passing faster than ever, and every thing that does not get done or suddenly stops working is a mini disaster.  Now, when a replacement part needs to be ordered, we are actually looking at a calendar to make sure that it will arrive before we leave.  Notice has been given, a departure date has been set, several friends have agreed to crew, and we are feeling the heat.  

I'm certain this is my inexperience talking, but there is a part of me that feels it will all be okay.  I almost feel that we could take off tomorrow and, with what we have, be more than okay to start our travels.  Sure, there are things that need tending, but isn't that what cruisers do… travel the world and go to beautiful places to work on their boats?  Of course, unlike Drake, I am not in charge of the safety and well being of everyone on board and tomorrow comes faster and faster.  

It's not all despair and ringing hands.  Today Drake made wonderful progress cleaning off the deck and cockpit and I've learned something.  Much like a car, washing the boat seems to be a sure fire way to bring about some serious rain.  The last three times I have washed the deck rain followed within several hours, and as I sit here the rain is pattering away on those lovely clean decks.  *shrug*  Perhaps we'll be like the rain god mafia and people will pay us to stay away from their outdoor events.  Pay up or it's grey skies for everyone!

I have also been working on several things.  My avoidance of laundry has left me riffling through the back confines of the clothes locker where I discovered we had a serious moisture and mold problem.  (Do I sound like a broken record?  mold mold mold!)  This is interesting since the very next locker is fine, but this one is quite obviously NOT fine after I discovered one of my favourite jackets spotted with mold.  Blah!  After removing the shelves I scrubbed the whole area with a bleach mixture and will lay down a few more layers of insulation as soon as the surface is dry...hopefully that will take care of the problem.  

Before scrubbing

After scrubbing

Since everything that was in the locker is currently piled high on our bed in the aft cabin, Drake and I are bunking in the salon.  This has its perks.  Tonight we will lay on the settee, watch an action film that has nothing to do with sailing (I'm thinking The Bourne Identity), and recharge our batteries.  All I can think is...tomorrow will be a better day.

P.S.  I promise not to talk about mold for a while, maybe, and I've also included this sunset to remind me of the beauty that I am surrounded by every day.  

Sunset on Whittaker Creek

The insulation conundrum

Listening to "Autumn Leaves" by Eva Cassidy

Tick tock.  Tick tock.  As the time slips away we work on the seemingly endless projects.  At times it feels as though we are almost there, but then realize that what we thought would take a day or two suddenly has stretched into a week or more.  

I draped the salon in plastic sheets and Drake installed a base support for our new, beautiful batteries.  This included the unavoidable task of attaching and grinding fiberglass inside the boat which is...awful.  There is no other way to describe the task.  I'm sure those of you who have had the delightful experience of dealing with fiberglass know how it can, seemingly, invade every area of your space and feel like a thousand little daggers in your skin.  We tried to minimize particles as much as possible, but still managed to get flecks in some unlikely places.  However, we now have a lovely and stable resting place for these extremely heavy batteries.  I believe we're installing some side brackets and top straps and then we'll be done.  Maybe.  *grin* 

While this was going on, I was upside down in a locker under the bed in the aft cabin measuring out templates for the insulation.  Many of the places we intend on visiting, especially next year, will be colder, and properly insulating the boat is a must.   Has anyone out there looked at insulation?  Is there something in particular that you prefer?  We have looked at soooooo many different types that our heads were literally swirling with visions of, not sugar plums, but closed cell foam and such.  We finally decided on Volara which is a 4lb density closed cell foam.  It's flexible, has low water absorption and vapor transition, and is non-toxic among other things.  We have installed this stuff in the majority of accessible areas in the boat and very much look forward to seeing how well it works.  This winter will be telling.  I'm especially interested in seeing how it handles the condensation; is there really any good way?  It appears to be the nemesis of many a sailor and, from what I've heard so far, there doesn't seem to be any really great way to deal with the problem.  I'd be interested in hearing more…

One of the benefits of making the templates is that once they were finished I was able to go outside to cut the foam which was a welcome relief from the fiberglass upside down craziness on board.  I even wrote one of my favourite snippets from a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay on the last piece of foam.  Now every time we grab plumbing hose from under the bed I'll see her beautiful words and remember my afternoon.  It kind of makes me want to write little quotes all over the boat as a kind of unexpected inspiration.  

Now as we near the end of October, we both feel the clock ticking louder and louder.  The departure date seems to be slipping further and further away.  I suppose we'll see...