Chore List Growing

No matter what port we're in or what we've accomplished in the last port, there always seems to be more chores on the list than the time we've allotted to them. Could be there are lots of chores … could be we're lazy. Whatever ... the chore list is growing and we're attacking it slowly. We want to make sure we don't run out of chores and get bored.

We didn't break much on the trip here. Thank, Neptune! Heck, it was only 77 hours, not an ocean passage, so we were hoping we'd arrive in basically one piece and, thankfully, we did. We did break a sail slide which David has already repaired … downwind sailing with big gusts and waves is tough on the main. He's also been fiddling with the new Dyneema reefing lines which aren't quite right. He wants to add new fair leads to the bottom of the boom to raise the main sheet off the top of the bimini … we've noticed some chafe there.

The dreaded list of sewing repairs has gotten out of hand. The zipper broke on my foul weather bibs and needs replacing. Getting too chubby, you insinuate? Perish the thought … they're 15 years old and the plastic ziphead just snapped right off. David's broke, too, but his just require replacing the little lanyard on the pull-tab.

I noticed that the stitching on the boom crutch cover has disintegrated with UV exposure over time, as have the covers for the handholds on the coach roof. All need restitching.

The outboard engine cover which is only a couple of years old is falling apart. David has lashed it with line till I get around to making a new one. I think it wasn't made as robustly as I thought it was and we have some thoughts on the replacement design.

David has also noticed some chafe on the forward hatch where the dinghy rests during passages. We need to make a chafe guard of some sort to take care of this.

The head hoses are starting to calcify and need some attention and the shaft brake was squeaking a bit during the last passage … enough to warrant an adjustment.

So … as you can see, the chores never end. BUT, we're in a charming little seacoast town in  Namibia … on a free mooring ... where people are very friendly,  skies tend to be blue and the days are mostly warm and sunny. Really … we have no complaints … but I guess we need to get busy.

Recycling on Nine of Cups

Yesterday's post described donating our old genoa to ReSails and their efforts to turn old sails into useful items. Truth be told, I hate clutter, so I always have the urge to throw things away if I can't see an immediate use for them. David likes to keep things aboard in case we need them in the future. Experience and David's insistence have taught me that many common items have multiple uses and by saving them, we can recycle and put them to work again and, perhaps, save a few shekels along the way.

Here's a list of our most commonly recycled items on Nine of Cups and their uses:

Plastic grocery bags are kept and used as small waste basket liners.

Net veggie bags (like the ones onions come in) are used for shell and shellfish collecting.

Wine and champagne corks are used for storing needles, as well as fishing hooks and lures.

We rinse and re-use hardly used Zip-loc bags … we never know where/when we'll find them again and they really can survive several uses. We might not reuse them for food, but once rinsed, they can certainly be used for boat parts and bits.

Empty plastic laundry soap jugs with handles can be cut and used as dinghy bailers.

Plastic 1 ltr water/soda bottles w/caps  can be used as beer bottles if you're into homebrew or other liquid storage. We use just the screw caps for roach cookie containers.

Glass jars and screw top lids can be re-used for canning/preserving and other food storage.

Old t-shirts become rags and polishing cloths. Never too many rags aboard! Since most of our t-shirts and clothes are purchased from thrift shops anyway, this is double and triple recycling at its best.

Old sails can be cut up and useable chunks are saved for sail repairs plus I make canvas buckets, canvas covers, etc.

Old wire from lifelines can be used  as snakes for cleaning thru-hulls. I also reinforce the rim on canvas buckets with old lifeline and David makes security cables for locking things up … like the dinghy and dinghy engine. We also use them as a theft deterrent when securing fuel cans on deck in dodgy ports or ashore in the dinghy.

Old sink sponges may not good enough for the galley, but they're certainly good enough for some other parts of the boat. We have a pail under the galley sink and old sponges go there to be recycled for cleaning the heads, the floors, or maybe the bilge.

Old bimini and dodger material (e.g. used Sunbrella) can be used for patching, but also for making handy ditty bags and totes.

Odd bits of line and small-stuff (a real nautical term) can be used for securing items en route, keeping things together, tying off noisy halyards, etc.

Old jacklines can be used as hoists when making courtesy flags, as reinforcement for the handles on canvas buckets and as hoist straps for dinghies.

Old plastic bowls or cups make great epoxy containers and empty, washed tuna cans are good for varnishing.

Catsup and similar squeeze bottles work well for dispensing epoxy or other chemicals.

Empty spray bottles can be used for concentrated cleaners/chemicals that need to be diluted or just for spraying fresh water on the stainless before cleaning.

Old dock lines are turned into ocean plait mats and used aboard or given as gifts.

Toothbrushes are like gold. We use them for cleaning and polishing the stainless, as well as cleaning other hard to reach spots, like parts of the tea kettle, for instance.

I save cardboard egg cartons because many fresh markets sell eggs by the “each” and do not provide containers. Taking home a “bag” of loose eggs poses its own set of challenges.

Old water hoses are recycled as chafe guards on mooring lines and engine hoses.

Old bits of chain and shackles can be used for securing to rocks when tying ashore or to wharves/piers that have rusty old tie points.

I'm sure there are hundreds more ideas for recycling used items to new uses on board. Can you add to the list? We'd be happy to share your ideas.

Quiz Night for Dolts

Wednesday nights at Royal Cape are usually reserved for Twilight Races out in the bay. With winter weather, the usual Wednesday night racing slot is now occupied with Quiz Night. Friends from the Portugal Day sail invited us to join them. We told them in advance we were not good quiz kids. Our memories are shot … and short. I love trivia, but I never remember it. They decided to overlook our long list of shortcomings. With the lure of wine and camaraderie on a cold, dark Wednesday night, we decided to go.

A separate room was set aside for the Quiz Night participants. There were a raucous four teams competing. Kim, the Quizmaster, did her best to keep us in line. We named ourselves the Dynamos, ostensibly because we were such quick-witted folks. Truth be told, the Nine of Cups crew are more on the doltish side, but we kept it under our hats.

There were several rounds of questions. Some were easy like: What holiday did South Africa just celebrate on June 16th? (Youth Day). Some were not so easy like: “What's the name for those little plastic bits on the end of your shoe laces?” (aglets … really?).  There was a music quiz which our team did well at (despite us) and a movie quiz, to which we contributed a fair bit. The South African sports questions were over our heads completely, but we did know the year of the tragic Sydney-Hobart race (1998). You'd think we would have gotten the geography questions right, but we didn't. One problem we had was translating the questions. We  heard “What gopher has the nickname Golden Bar?” Huh? What was actually said: “What golfer has the nickname Golden Bear?” … aha … Jack Nicklaus!

After a round of wine tasting generously provided by Nederburg Wines where five bottles of wine were placed and left on our table for the duration of the evening, we were decidedly more lucid and, hard to believe, more raucous. There was endless gibing and  good-natured taunting and banter between the teams. At the end of the evening, believe it or not, the Dynamos WON! (absolutely not due to our presence on the team). Our prize? A free dinner at the yacht club over the weekend.

We've decided that if we were to stay in Cape Town, it wouldn't take long to become very involved with friends in racing and all the activities that are offered here at Royal Cape. The people, the city, and the yacht club are like magnets, a force field that keeps us close and participatory. Really … it's time to go!