Wine safety equipment

Some might say that wine is a vital boating fluid aboard Eolian.

They would be right.

And although box wine is now more frequently what is found in the liquor locker, the traditional wine bottle still makes appearances too.  Among other reasons, because no one would ever suggest that a "message in a box" would have any staying power in the ocean.

But now, this brings us to the crux of things.  Most of you have seen those "rabbit" wine bottle openers - you know, the kind with the two handles that grip the top of the bottle and the third handle that you push down and then lift up to withdraw the cork. 

You want to be wearing steel-toed shoes when you run one of these suckers. 

Like most things, I learned this the hard way.  I was (hurriedly) opening a bottle of wine in the main saloon.  It was summer, and it was hot - I was barefoot.  In my haste, I failed to properly engage the bottle in the clamp handles... and when I pushed down the handle which drives the screw into the cork, it instead pushed the bottle out of the clamps.  It fell straight down, and landed on my big toe nail.

The good news?

• There was no damage to the cabin sole - my toe protected it
• The bottle did not break - no broken glass - my toe protected it
• The wine was not wasted

But the bad news was that I lost the toenail as a result.  Did you know that it takes nearly a year to grow a whole new toenail?  And weirdly, did you know that the fingerprints on your toes (toeprints?) wrap up over the end and into the area where the nail would be when there is no nail?

No, I didn't know these things either.

Now I do.

Question:  Do you think it will be awkward for everyone if in the future I open the wine wearing nothing but shorts, teeshirt, and industrial steel-toed boots?

Wine safety equipment

Boat basil

I once read a science fiction story that had aliens coming to Earth specifically to obtain basil, which to them was a drug.  And of course, pesto was their equivalent of heroin.

Now, we don't crave basil that much.

Quite.

We find that basil goes well with almost everything, but it is not easy to grow up here in the Northlands (our friends in the Midwest tell us that there it is a pesky invasive weed!  Oh to have their problems!)

Captive basil

Nevertheless, we have a near-constant supply of the drug herb.  Because the grocery stores up here have discovered that many of us will buy hydroponically grown basil that we can take home with us and keep alive, captive.  This is ours - it lives in a beer glass right next to the sink.  And as long as I don't cook Panang Curry more than twice a week, it lasts for an amazingly long time - a month or more.  Eventually the new leaves get smaller and smaller - missing some nutrient in our tap water I suppose.  Eventually, it's RIP basil.

And then we go to the grocery store for a fresh captive.

Boat basil

*That* call

On Saturday, we got that call.  You know, the one that no boat owner ever wants to get.

Brent & Jill, our next door neighbors (bless you guys!) called us Saturday morning (we were away from the boat) and told us that our bilge pump was running every 20 minutes or so.

Yeah, THAT call.

I jumped in my TransAm and may have grazed some speed regulations getting to the marina.

Thankfully, what I found was not serious.  We were not in danger of sinking.  As Brent pointed out, the pump was no where near to running continuously, so the situation was stable.  But it was not pretty.

In order to describe what happened, I need to backtrack a little.  Remember when I told you that our refrigeration was seawater-cooled?  And that we had a small telltale stream running into the sink?  Now imagine that someone left the sink stopper in the sink, and that it managed to seal up the drain (something which we never seem to be able to get it to do).

Yeah, the sink filled up with seawater.  And because of our current state of trim, when the sink overflowed, the water ran outboard... and into the freezer.  Yes, we had a freezer nearly full of frozen seawater.  Not quite full of ice because of the near continuous stream of warm seawater which kept coming, but certainly full of seawater.  When the freezer overflowed, the water made its way behind the cabinetry attached to the hull, and then into the bilge, where the bilge pump took care of it.

There was no damage.  But do you have any idea how many pans of boiling water it takes to melt a block of ice that big?  No, I didn't either.

*That* call

Top 10 Aspects of Living on a Boat

By now you probably know that I really enjoy Brittany's writing.  Recently, she condensed into a Letterman Top Ten list much of what I have been trying for years to convey about life on a boat.  Now bear in mind that she and Scott are not living tied to a dock in Seattle, but rather are freely roaming the Caribbean, so some of this does not directly apply to us.  But I think that item 6 is absolutely key...

Copied from Windtraveler with her permission:

In the last installment of Top 10 Tuesdays we gave you the ten things that drive us mental as live aboards.  But fear not friends - where there is a yin, there is a yang! This week we bring you the things we love best about living on a boat.  So, with no further ado - here are the:

Top 10 Aspects of Living on a Boat

1. Cost of living.  Our boat is fully paid for.  We owe nothing to anyone and everything we have is ours and ours alone.  Our bills are minimal.  Right now, because we are at a marina, our expenses are significantly higher than if we were at anchor.  They are still, however, much less than our former "land based" bills!  All of our bills (slip, electricity, water, gas) combined are about $460 per month.  When we are on the move - our bills are considerably cheaper (we don't have slip fees, we make our own water, we replenish our batteries with solar power...etc - we do, however, have to buy diesel from time to time).  If there is one way to get yourself stuck in a rut - owe money to the bank.  Too many people overburden their lives with bills.  They buy way too much - they owe on homes, cars, expensive toys, credit cards and more...how can you break free when you need to stay on the hamster wheel to pay off all that stuff?
2. Living simply.  Living on a boat is a simpler life,  period.  We don't watch television.  We read.  We walk to the grocery store.  We take pleasure in daily chores and routines.  We cook simple meals.  We maintain our boat ourselves.  We don't rush from place to place.  We don't overextend ourselves.  We have no real timelines or deadlines and stress is something we don't see too often anymore.  We love it.
3. Less clutter.  I'm talking about minimalism!  Because our home is small by anyone's standards, we are forced to have less 'stuff'.  If something comes on the boat, something must go off to make room for it.  While this was challenging at first (I would not call myself a "minimalist" at all!), it is a fantastic way to live.  Filling your life and home with "stuff" is a symptom of our "more, more, more" society and really good marketing.  The perfect example of this (because it has become very relevant!) is babies and children.  Have you seen how much "stuff" people have for their kids nowadays?!  Home's are overtaken with it all.  It is literally mind boggling to me.  My friend's on boats?  Their babies don't even have an eighth of this stuff and are just as happy (if not more).  You too might find you live a fuller life, with less.
4. More self-reliant.  When you live on a boat YOU are the electrician, the plumber, the carpenter, the mechanic and the handyman (or woman).  While these individuals are available in certain ports - if something happens at sea (and it will!) - you'd better be prepared to get right down to it and figure it out or learn to deal without.  Nigel Calder has something of a cruiser's bible that will help you greatly in your plight and get you started, but you'll learn a lot as you go (whether you like it or not).  While I've switched out a dampener plate, re-routed hoses and know what a butt-connector is; Scott has taken to this particularly well.  He is not only incredibly handy, but a skilled perfectionist too - meaning his work is almost always impeccable.  No "honey do" lists here!  There is a tremendous amount of satisfaction (and money saving!) in knowing you don't need to pick up the phone to get something done.
5. Living green.  I will probably expand on this more in a later blog post - but this is one of the things I like best about living aboard.  While I have always been environmentally-conscious, I definitely didn't live a "green" life when I was on land.  I have found that living on a boat has made me much more conscious.  Not only do we use less resources like water, electricity, fuel, paper...etc, but we have discovered the incredible world of natural products as well!  Because we no longer have the stores we were used to in the USA to buy certain products like cleaning agents, we have had to improvise and have found the uses of things like vinegar (literally, can do anything), ammonia (laundry), essential oils (citronella, btw, is a natural bug repellent) and more.  Our lives are greener, and less toxic because of it.  Win/win!
6. Sunrises and sunsets.  Life on a boat usually means you have at least one unobstructed horizon right outside your companionway.  Sunrises and sunsets just never get old - there is nothing like sipping a warm cup of tea in the cockpit while the sun is rising or enjoying a nice glass of pinot noir while the sun is setting.  The stars in the night's sky are icing on the cake - if Scott and I open our v-berth hatch, we have the most incredible view and can just lay on our backs and look up at the Universe's nightly beauty.
7. Wildlife.  There is SO much wildlife to be seen!  Tropical birds, monkeys, iguanas, whales, tropical fish and (of course) dolphins can be daily sights to the cruising sailor.  
8. Adventure in every day.  Whether it be a hike to a beautiful waterfall high up in the hills, a wild ride on a local bus, a trip to the market or a faulty duck valve in your marine head - there is sure to be at least one adventure a day!  Some adventures are good, some are not so good - but they almost always leave you with a good story.
9. Freedom.  Knowing we control our own destiny every. single. day is incredibly liberating.  Sure, we both work - Scott on a boat, me on my computer.  But you know what?  It sure as heck beats sitting in traffic and going to an office every day!
10. Being able to travel...in our home.  This is unanimously the best aspect of living aboard.  The fact that we travel with all our belongings around us is wonderful.  No need to pack bags, no need to worry if we forgot something.  We simply float around the world in our home and go wherever our little heart's desire.  All we need to do is point our bow in the right direction, trim our sails and away we go!

What do you love best about living aboard?  Or if you are not living aboard, what do you think you would love best?

Love,

Brittany & Scott

For more from Brittany and Scott, you will want to check out Windtraveler daily.  I do.

Top 10 Aspects of Living on a Boat