End of Phase VIII
06 November 2012
Soon to get knarley again
END OF PHASE VIII
November 6, 2012
Bear was released from the hospital yesterday. She is very weak but looking forward to getting back into ship shape. She did not have a heart attack as the symptoms indicated when we called 911. I am most impressed at the EMTs that extracted her from the boat since it is a bit of a challenge to get my junky rear topside through the narrow passages below deck. Bear has had many challenges this phase. We are hopeful that a few months back in the Texas, The Republic of will allow her to get back to the beach hiking fanatic of a couple of years ago.
At long last election night is here and the agony will soon be over, one way or the other. Perhaps some modicum of civility will return. So, here we are at the end of Phase VIII. Sandy is gone but we expect a strong Nor’easter tomorrow with more cold and much rain. Given the major events of this phase, it is only fitting that we end on a stormy note. Why Knot is soon to be asleep and the this will be the first time we have ever “winterized” a boat. Out of laziness and the pressing desire to get back to family, friends and Texas, we will contract with the yard to do that for us. All we need to do is remove anything adversely affected by freezing. Gee, I am wondering if stuff like grease and waxes are suspect. Since it will rain the last two days of our presence on WK, I removed all the stuff I guessed would explode during a freeze during the day today. The yard will take care of the actual protection of the systems aboard with the pink stuff. We are advised that said pink stuff should not be used in the water heater and the water tanks since it is not strawberry flavored and will leave a residual taste if so used. Taking a historical twist, we have opted to use cheap vodka in the tanks and the potable water system. Methinks 18 liters will do the trick. At the very least, it won’t leave the yucky flavor. At best it will make for some lively showers and coffee when we return. Many boats will winter on stands in the yard. They must be drained well so that even bilge water is absent. Some owners will shrink wrap their boats so that snow will not add weight to them. An interesting twist is to use the shrink wrap as a sort of green house for those wintering aboard in the water. This is done by using a zippered door and the whole deck is under white shrink wrap. Imagine the shadows one might see from those behind the shrink wrap on a party Saturday night.