Boat Chores...on and on and on

 

I don't really like doing boat chores. I doubt anyone does. They're usually tedious, repetitive and dirty, but a necessity if you're living on a boat (or in a house, or a cave or whatever). For sure, David does the bulk of the maintenance and repairs and for that I'm thankful. I do, however, from time to time, take on some chores of my own and though I complain all the while I'm doing them, I get them done and take a certain amount of satisfaction in completing them.

What usually happens is David has a long, long, long list (I cannot emphasize the “long” part enough) and as we sit sipping morning coffee/tea, he assigns time commitments to each task. When the time commitment stretches beyond a month or two, I know it's time for me to pitch in a bit. General cleaning, provisioning, laundry, cooking, bill paying, excursion planning, blogs/websites are my usual contribution, but when pressed I varnish, clean/polish stainless, clean bilges, sew/repair covers, sails, UV, and whatever else is necessary to get us out of the marina and on to our next destination. I admit, I am not as fastidious as David about any of these chores, but I'm adequate and sometimes adequate is just what it takes to shorten up the timeline.

My current list includes a ditch bag inspection, a safety gear check (more on that in a later post) and cleaning/polishing the stainless (my absolute favorite task, next to sanding and varnishing). Since we've been away for a year, cleaning below decks has taken on new meaning. Though David did a great job completing the reefer/galley project, he didn't have time for any other cleaning and it really shows. Lockers are crammed full of stuff that doesn't necessarily belong there. I have no idea what we have aboard for stores and that will require a major inventory to sort out what we have and what we'll need in the months ahead.

Every place we turn, there seems to be another something to be done. With every chore we complete, we find two more that need to be done and we add them to the ever-growing list. While cleaning stainless, I noted a screw missing from one of the forward stanchions. That means I should be checking and tightening all the screws on all the stanchions. When polishing the dorades, I noted that the insides need sanding and painting again. And there's a big worn spot on the sail cover that needs patching, and …

So we'll take it one day at a time; one chore at a time. The list will be managed and we'll fit in some Adelaide sight-seeing as well. Mid-February is our intended departure time. We'll see how it goes.

Jet Lag, Hot Weather and Down Under

 

The 15-1/2 hour time difference has had me upside down for a day or two, but I'm recouping and it's beyond wonderful to be back. Leaving sub-zero temps and the snow in Boston was a challenge on many levels, but cold hands and feet and shoveling are now only a memory as I cope with the heat. The temperature has been hovering in the 90s/F (30s/C) and it's very dry. The forecast is calling for over 100F (38-43C) in the next few days. Luckily, it cools down in the evenings, especially on the water, and comfortable sleeping is not usually a problem. Typically, the mornings and evenings are calm and the wind blows 15-25 knots every afternoon. I'm not complaining. I'm able to go barefoot again.

Crown Marina, where Nine of Cups has been berthed since last February, is pretty, but quite basic. It's meant for local sailors to berth their boats and go home after short sailing trips as opposed to transients like us, who stay for awhile (or longer) and live aboard. The makeshift showers and toilets are in modular buildings and a long, long ways away ... out of the marina area, across a street and across the parking lot. Planning for bathroom activities takes forethought. There are no other amenities and doing laundry portends to be a hassle as David can readily verify. We do have water and electricity at the dock which is a big plus as I transition once again from the land of plenty to a world of moderation.

Palm trees, filled to capacity some mornings with chirping birds, line the secure entrance walk from the parking lot to the dock area. There are several empty berths due in part to the summer sailing season and also to the fact that the marina is not totally finished. Seagulls and cormorants roam the docks and provide our morning wake-up call.

The list of to-do chores on Nine of Cups is long and grows daily as we discover new issues to deal with on a boat that hasn't sailed in nearly a year. That said, as David plans the necessary repairs and maintenance to allow us to leave in February, I've been working on the “Things to See and Do in Adelaide Before We Leave” planning. Since I only spent three days here at the marina before leaving in a rush last February, the area is all new to me. David has only worked and done necessary errands during all of his time here, so it'll be an adventure for both of us to explore the city and its environs in the coming weeks.

You are, as always, invited to come along … as long as you're willing to pitch in on the chores. We'd love the company ... and the help. But now, it's time for a nap.

Gotta Love Skype

 

We Skype to the US sometimes when we're on the boat, but we never appreciate Skype as much as when we're geographically separated and we want to keep in touch … frequently. When David and I first met (at a medical convention in Las Vegas, no less), he lived in Denver and I lived in New Hampshire. There was no Skype then … nor e-mail, come to think about it. We wrote letters and put stamps on them and mailed them. Our phone bills were so gigantic, we finally decided it was cheaper for me to move to Denver than to continue to support AT&T in such a fashion.

With David in Adelaide, South Australia and me on the other side of the world in Boston, it's tough enough with the time difference (15-1/2 hours) to keep in touch, never mind incurring huge phone bills to do so. E-mails suffice when we have lists of stuff to exchange or things to add to the “to-do” list, but hearing a voice and actually talking about our days makes all the difference. Yes, we could also do live video, but we prefer to conjure up beautiful images of each and just do voice to voice rather than see raggy morning hair or dirt and sweat … or the galley.

We've worked out a three time per day sched for chatting. I get up around 0600 and call … it's bedtime for David. He gets up at around the same time the next morning and it's afternoon for me. I go to bed around 10pm and it's afternoon for him. There's always something to talk about.

Since David's computer hibernates when he's not using it, I usually give him a 3-ring warning on his Australian mobile phone and he knows that I'm trying to Skype him. (Look at that...Skype has become a “verb”.) I hear that familiar Skype ring-tone on my iPad, press the Accept button and I hear his voice saying “Hi, sweetie”. The connections have been consistently clear and being in such close contact makes the separation much more bearable. More to the original point … it's all free. (How can that be?) Free or not, I'm still moving to Adelaide in January. Of course, that might have been my original plan. I'm pretty devious.

Speaking of David …

On the Second Day of Christmas, my true love sent to me...

Two bigger duffels

And a Christmas morning greeting on Skype