s/v Mowzer: Rainy Days

Today has dawned bright and sunny in quite a contrast to the last couple of days. A tropical wave passed through and with it came the most rain we've ever seen fall in one go. We managed to get caught out on Tuesday evening when it hit and by the time we reached Frenchtown, we were up to our ankles in run-off and soaked to the waist by passing cars. One of our neighbours on the dock commented that he'd been in a bar that evening when the water was flowing right through the back door and out the front!

Nothing daunted though, we have continued on with various boat jobs, not the least of which was getting ourselves de-cluttered and finding a home for everything. On a wee little boat (in comparison to our home back in Ottawa) we are learning that we need to take advantage of every nook and cranny and accept that except for those items we use multiple times every day, we will always have to move at least one thing to be able to get at the desired object. As a result it would appear to be imperative that once an item has a home that we both know, said item should always be returned to the designated home, otherwise I anticipate a certain amount of volatile commentary after moving a half dozen items to find the intended spot empty! That last note is really only intended for me for although I have good intentions when it comes to organization, now I really have to follow up.

The navigation / computer station with the Mac Mini running navigation software as an indoor backup to our chartplotter.

Port side of the saloon.

Starboard side of the saloon and galley. Notice the lovely cutting board Peter made us to fit over the stove - works a charm!

Downstairs by the berths is all packed away as well but due to some of the installation work we will tackle it will all probably need to be taken out multiple times until we finally have everything done.

We even managed to add a few pictures from home (notice the Roy Vickers print above the computer monitor at the nav station) and just before I left Genband, one of my co-workers from Israel gifted me a lovely traditional plaque with a blessing for our new abode. Thanks Nilly, and I wish I could remember what she told me it was called but I do remember that it represents the hand of Fatima and is used in both the Israeli and Arab households. I think it's just lovely.

I made good headway with the sunshade for the front of the boat. This is a big sewing project in that it involves about 15 yards of heavy Sunbrella fabric which I have to manipulate through my machine on the saloon table. As I heaved away, I noticed that the temperature inside the boat had climbed to 90F - is this what is meant by sweat shop? I also made a Bosun's Chair from a kit which was considerably cheaper than the ready-made. Combined with a safety harness this will let one of us ascend the mast to fix any problems such as a fouled line or burned out lightbulb. I'm anticipating I will be first up since I'm the lightest and given I made it, I actually feel pretty confident in the construction.

I'm really loving my Sailrite machine for handling all this heavy Sunbrella fabric.

Wednesday was engine service day so Henry had a chance to go through a full oil & filter change, drive belt replacement and impeller change with George. What a great boon to be able to go through it once with a pro! As Henry said once they had finished up, "Now I have to go read how to do it so I really have it cemented in my brain."

And finally today was once again laundry day. I will be happy when we are off the dock and a little less sweaty so that I don't have to go to the laundro-mat every few days. Combined with our wet clothes from the downpour I was a little concerned about the potential for a science experiment including the growth of mold and mildew so off I went in the dinghy.

While I was out for the morning, Henry started tackling the water-maker installation. He has roughed out the placement in the mid-port locker. We have a bit of carpentry work ahead to move the front panel of the lower cabinet out to accommodate the high pressure pump, but otherwise it looks like we will only have to give up the one vertical storage cabinet to hold it all in a really accessible location.