The Blue View- Carpe Compedem (Seize the Shackle)

The topic of this week’s Blue View is how to seize a shackle. (Okay – maybe I took a few liberties with my very bad, very rusty Latin). Seizing a shackle prevents the shackle pin from working loose, and on Nine of Cups, we seize most of our shackles. Any shackle that will be in place any length of time, any that are hard to get to or inspect, and any that would result in injury or catastrophic damage if they came loose, are routinely seized.

Depending on the shackle size, I use 8-12 inches (20-30 cm) of .032” (.9mm) monel seizing wire. Monel is a lot more expensive than stainless safety wire, but I prefer it, and a 33’ (10m) roll lasts me a year or two. There are special tools available for twisting the wire, but I find pliers and heavy wire cutters work fine.

The technique I use is shown in the illustrations below.

There are a couple of caveats.

• If the wire is twisted too tightly, it will break (duh). If and when it does, the only recourse is to remove the broken wire and start again.
• Make sure the ends are clipped close to the twists and tucked tightly against the shackle body to prevent it from snagging on a line - or a body part.

When the seizing is to be removed, I grasp the twists with pliers and work the wire back and forth a half dozen times or so until the monel fatigues and breaks. The remaining wire wraps are then quite easy to remove.

All Hail, Queen Elizabeth

"I am always busy, which is perhaps the chief reason why I am always well.” -  Elizabeth Stanton Cady

No, I'm not talking about Elizabeth II of England, I'm talking about my 93-year-old Aunt Elizabeth of Oxford, Massachusetts, better known as Aunt Bette, matriarch of my mom's Lacoste family (or is that LaCoste … correct spelling of the family name is a bone of contention). One of 14 children, Aunt Bette is one of three surviving aunts and dear to us all. Before leaving New England, David and I took an hour-long trip to visit with her for morning coffee and catch-up chat.

She's an amazing woman. She still lives alone in the house that she and my Uncle Bill built 70+ years ago, part of a family farm that lies along Oxford's main street. She's added a screened-in front porch in the last couple of years, but the house is still pretty much the way I remember it as a kid. It's small and cozy. We have always gathered in her little kitchen … the more the merrier. Her daughters (my cousins) live close by and check on her regularly, but she remains feisty and fiercely independent. My kind of woman!

I don't remember my life without my Aunt Bette. She's always been around and involved in my life. The whole family baled hay at the end of each summer and then we'd all go out for a lobster dinner after the bales were neatly stacked in the barn. I have memories of all the cousins playing in the hay loft in the big red barn. Uncle Bill always had milking cows and I remember him bringing in the raw milk and Aunt Bette running the separator to obtain the cream for making butter which she sold for 50 cents/lb. Her saved-up “butter money” was responsible for many a Christmas present and treats throughout the year. Like her sisters, she was frugal with her money out of necessity, but generous with her time and love.

She's always been a gardener and, until this past year, she maintained a huge garden and supplied much of the family with fresh produce at harvest time.

She still cans and preserves and shares her garden all winter long. She tromped down the steep cellar stairs while we were there to show us her winter veggies and storeroom pantry of canned goods.

David even got a chance to sample her renowned dandelion wine out of a mason jar ... which he readily admitted packed quite a wallop.

We reminisced about family reunions and Saturday nights playing cards at her kitchen table with the whole family gathered around. We chatted about her kids and her grandkids and great-grandkids and even great-greats (my first, second, third and fourth cousins).

I asked her the secret to a long life. She laughed and said “being good!” but decided that “staying busy” was one of the paths to longevity. Lord knows, she's never idle for very long. Whatever it is, I hope she's around for many years to come.

Aboard Nine of Cups & New Year's Eve

We left Lin's at 0430 and headed from Boston back to Chesapeake, VA in a rental car chock-a-block full of “stuff”. Where does it all come from and where will we fit it? Geez! The 575 mile, 11.5 hour ride through eight states was exhausting, but seeing Nine of Cups tied up along the wharf was worth the effort. It' good to be home again. We offloaded the “stuff”, exchanged out rental cars (long story, but it made sense), then, since Nine of Cups was still winterized, we opted for a hotel room for the night. What luxury as we fell into a king-sized, comfy bed and sipped a glass of wine. Though we had had romantic thoughts en route, they all disappeared as our heads hit the pillow. The next morning came rainy and raw and begged for lazing at the hotel till nearly noon. We finally set out to move aboard Cups once again.

Having been alone since mid-October, Cups was sulking. As we began unpacking and stowing stuff, we soon noticed some problems. First of all, she smelled and leaving all the hatches open to air her out wasn't an option. The aft head which worked when we left wasn't working at all. This was bad news since a replacement forward head was waiting for us in the boatyard chandlery, but the chandlery was closed till Tuesday. David's efforts to fix the head were all for naught since the problem ended up being a bad pump and a spare pump was with the new head. Sigh! Pee bucket and long trips up to the boatyard toilet are in our future.

None of the dock faucets are operative … all have been winterized except for one at the dockmaster's office which meant we had to haul water in 5-gallon plastic jugs to the boat. We cannot see the dockmaster's office from the boat … it's quite a ways up the dock (that's also where the toilets are located). Luckily, we have a car at least for the week, so we can get the fresh water we need to get our on-board tanks sorted out and have running and drinkable water. It's a lengthy process de-winterizing her 5-gallons at a time, so we're using water from the jugs in the meantime for dishwashing and cleaning and have purchased bottled water for drinking.

We'd recently purchased a heater to use in conjunction with a little one we already had on board. It's quite chilly here, but with shore power, we figured we'd be warm and snuggly. We found out rather rudely that our existing heater didn't work when it immediately started smoking when turned on. The new heater heated an area about 12” away, not conducive to “snuggly” in the least.

Several other little niggly things have made their way to “the list”. There were already several repair/maintenance projects on the list... like the new head installation and alternator repair, for instance ... so with virtually no effort at all, David has plenty to keep himself busy for quite awhile. Happy New Year!

A trip to WalMart took care of the warmth issues … new flannel sheets, a bed warmer and two new heaters plus timers. The price for a new head pump at the local West Marine was nearly equal to the cost of the entire new head we'd just purchased from Defender. Our frugal natures willed out. We decided to tough it out till Tuesday when the chandlery opens and we can claim our new head delivery. We've hauled enough water, so that we're now adding drinkable water to the tanks. All problems are surmountable when we're together and back aboard! ;-)

We've been preparing for our New Year's Eve celebration midst the niggly boat problems. We have two bottles of champers aboard … left in the cockpit, chilling is not necessary. We purchased a turkey breast and sweet potatoes and some greens (greens promise prosperity in the new year) for our Eve dinner along with berries and cream for a decadent “crumble” dessert we'll conjure up. We've got grapes for good luck to eat at midnight!

We've already planned our New Year's Day feast with a traditional southern Black-eyed Pea and Sausage Stew, some more greens and cornbread. Though we're Yanks, we figure we're south of the Mason-Dixon line and when in Rome …

Here's the recipe we'll be using …

We wish you an amazing and wonderful 2017. Cheers!