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Using My Head

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Good morning everyone. Seems like I was just here with you a few minutes ago. I am not sure what happened to yesterday but it vaporized and I am still not certain what it is we did. Mary placed some food orders in the morning. The crew and I did a few hours of training in the yawl boat and rowing. We practiced coming up alongside docks under power and oars. All of this training is a good break from painting and reinforces that we will be sailing soon. But don't you worry, we did some painting yesterday as well so we are in good shape. We touched up where the spar stands sat upon the cabin houses and deck.

We are in for a good slug of rain today so we will head below decks to finish off a few details. I get to climb into the "engine room" where all the plumbing comes together behind the cook stove to get the fresh water system up and running. As I tell Mary, it is a bit of schooner yoga. Mary tells me it keeps me young. Grumble, grumble, sputter...says the captain. I often tell my crew that a Coast Guard license is not a ticket up the ladder but rather a ticket to the bilges. Nothing stops a cruise faster than a broken head. As our dear departed friend, the Major, always said about living in combat conditions, soldiers will go anywhere and do anything if they have a suitable place to relieve themselves. I can only take his word for it. My advice to guests and parents of little children, plan ahead and use the head before you head ashore.

Have a great day. Be well. Do good.
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Unknown said…
I'm curious about the "engine room" and the fresh water system. Is the fresh water stored in a relatively high position to provide a gravity feed or is it stored low and fed via a pump? It would seem that for stability reasons keeping the weight positioned as low as possible would be the goal but then pumps would need to be employed to distribute the water. Is salt water used for flushing in the head? Of course being electrical engineers Al and I have been curious about the batteries for a long time. Where are they stored? What type are they (i.e. lead acid, NiCad, Plante, etc.)? How are they maintained? And on and on and on. "Inquiring minds want to know."
May 18, 2007 at 6:51 AM
Anonymous said…
I'm glad to see that you now find time for less pressing and less stressful preparatory activities. There is nothing…absolutely nothing…more worth doing than simply messing about in boats, pulling boats or any other kind of boat.
May 18, 2007 at 8:22 AM
Anonymous said…
We have been sailing the site since it went down the ways, have loved and will love every minute of the vicarious experience, have bemoaned to some degree the loss of the real touch of being there, and have unfortunately mourned the fading of some of the memories that drifted into the fog. But reading about it, seeing the pictures and recalling the experiences are about as good as it can be without being there.
In rowing over to the Boatique, we were wondering if Mary Day’s GPS setup creates and/or maintains a log of waypoints that can be recalled and printed as either an add-on or an alternative to the preprinted map. There is so much that goes on, so much to see, so many places on board and overboard (metaphorically!) to be at the same time (especially for us landlubbers), that it is impossible to get and keep a real clear sense of exactly where we are, where we’ve been and where we’re heading. As well, since the itinerary is to a large extent that of the winds, the expertise of the crew notwithstanding, since little has been done in putting up street signs in the Eggemoggin Reach or on the countless islands that slide by, since nothing is ever the same from one cruise to the next, such a plot would be a first class addition to the remembrance offerings of the Boatique. Just a thought.
The first mate… er… the Captain, wanted to know if the Coast Guard inspection is anything like the usual DMV inspection that ALWAYS finds that the headlight is a half degree off dead on perfect, or the turn signal light is blinking instead of winking.
Hoping the weather’s fair, the winds are fresh and the crew and company delightful....and the Coast Guard loves you...
P/VOC Summer 06
May 18, 2007 at 3:36 PM
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