Phase Five Begins
April 29, 2011
After three and one half days driving east we are finally aboard Why Knot again. The trip was like a commute in that we have now seen the route several times and nothing is new. We found her, as expected, coated with dust and grime but clean below, that is if one does not open the Engle freezer which we left in the ultra freeze setting. When I unlocked the hatch and went below, I was surprised to see all in order. Bear remained topside. Then I noticed the portable freezer was not showing a green light. That is not a good thing. I then did something an old grunt should not do, I approached the freezer fully suspecting foul and opened the lid anyway. Woah, Nellie! Speaking of Pandora’s Box. The shore power cord came loose sometime in the past and that the stuff in the freezer had a few weeks to go back to nature. Hot, full featured air actually came out when I opened the lid. I usually tie the cord to the power pylon just to prevent that but in the haste to leave last time, I failed to do so. The only reason we opened the lid again was the curiosity about how the stuff all mingled into a goo that had a cool color. Since this is not the first time an experiment of this nature has been conducted on WK, we have a standard operating procedure to deal with FMD (freezer melt down). Close the lid firmly, step away from the unit, restore power and let the stuff freeze again then it will be relatively easy to handle. Looking back, the last time the freezer experiment took place was in New Orleans sometime in the last millennium.
Our month off has put us back into the need to sit here for a day or two and slip back into the water world. Sure, nothing has changed much except we need to do some provisioning and get used to moving about in confined spaces without bleeding. Already, Bear opened up a good gash on a hidden valve under a cabinet. Those hose clamps that have the tail sticking out make perfect meat hooks. Instinctively, one knows where they are after a few encounters, but they are easily forgotten on land. Thus, some things have to be relearned. Once aboard a few days, the old carcass will know where all the ankle biters and meat hooks are.
The few boats we knew when we left are now gone. The marina has a low occupancy and that is due to the cruising season being upon us. Folks are “out there” meaning underway to other places. That means that most boats here are locals that do not, perhaps ever, leave. Easily spotted, they have stuff like lawn chairs and very old dock lines and some have rugs nailed to the dock. Some have hand rails on the finger piers and signs that welcome you to the “M/V Muddwunk “. In short, the longer they are in place, the more “attached” to the dock they become. Given enough time, they will be fixed to the dock by a lattice of dock lines, gang ways and power cords. There is something sad about a dinghy that has been in one place behind the boat in the water for a few years. One such dinghy actually has weeds growing aboard.
Climb aboard and sail with the crew of S/V Why Knot on her voyages north. Welcome to Phase V.