Messing about on a boat

I do love messing about on the boat and let me give you a quick run-down of my activities yesterday.

Victoria left on Friday morning and since there was not much wind yesterday and my tendonitis (in German this has the lovely word “Sehnenscheidenentzündung”) has become worse, I decided to stay in the sheltered bay at Kalvholmen. I got up at 6am to make some coffee and to do some “real” work on the notebook. I had finished that at about 9 when I dived into the water to cool down, since by that time it was already 25 degrees. After that I dismantled the 3 starboard winches, cleaned them in diesel , greased them and re-assembled them. This whole process took about 3-4 hours. It is a dirty and fiddly job, but very satisfying once finished. The winches purr with a soft noise and don’t have that harsh metallic sound.

 

The hardest part is adding the final piece to the puzzle. This piece has 2 palls that are spread out from the centre by 2 springs. Once these palls stand are out, you can’t lower it into the main assembly. The first time I did this job it took me ages to figure out that you need some dental floss 🙂 You wrap the dental floss around the two palls to bring them together, working against the spring by tightening the floss. Then you can lower it and fit it into the main assembly. After that you pull on one end of the dental floss and it will come out nicely. Voila – job done.

Here a picture of the final piece in the puzzle with the two palls sticking out.

 

 

Once the winches were done, I had to have another swim. This time I took a sponge with me, so that I could scrub the waterline. It gets covered in dirt very quickly. I think most of the dirt is actually pollen that swims on the surface of the sea.

By this time it was time to have some lunch, so I made myself some buns with cheese. When I was in Stockholm to drop Victoria off, I had the glorious idea to buy 2 kilos of ice for the fridge (the fridge itself is not working). It worked marvelously and for 1 evening I had some cold beer. But by Saturday midday the ice has melted and about 2 liters of water where sloshing around the bottom of the fridge. So out comes my old friend the sponge and the fridge is now super clean – but no longer cold 🙁

By now it is about 2pm and I believe time for a nap. The sun has disappeared behind some grey clouds and it does not make sense to stay on deck as the sun-tanning effect will be minimal. So, down I go to get comfy. But the clean fridge is now in stark contrast with the cabin floor. I realise that I haven’t hoovered the boat while I was in Stockholm. Yuck! But I got a dustpan and brush and decide to brush the cabin floor. Quickly done I thought. While I was trying to get to the floor at the front cabin, I needed to undo the board that makes one triangular bed instead of two straight bunks. So I lift up the cushions and realise that there is a lot of dust behind the cushions. Dustpan and brush in hand I set to work. Working in a confined area means that in order to clean the starboard side, you have to move everything over to the port side. There is actually a lot work involved to remove some dust. Nevertheless, the floor is clean, it is now spotless under those cushions and about 3pm.

The only thing is, that when I open the hatch under the port bunk, I noticed that the dirty laundry underneath gives off a “lovely” odor. Since new guests will arrive shortly (in 2 weeks), I decide to empty the space and move my stuff to some other place. But while I am at it, I also tidy away the oilies. I hardly need them and it looks much tidier when the are in the cupboard. Opening the cupboard makes me realise, that in the last few weeks I just stuffed my clothes into the “hanging baskets of Akka” and that all the things a crumpled and messed up. So, everything out and freshly folded and back into the baskets.

It is now 4pm and I decide to have another swim (clouds have disappeared) and for a beer. After hanging out the trunks&towel, I sit down on the navigation table to check the weather for the next day. The whole navigation area is a place where many things end up. iPhone & iPad cable, USB modem, purse, radio, pencils, handheld GPS, laptop charger, navigational charts, camera, sunglasses, swimming goggles, logbook, notepad, pieces of string, … After a while it gets real messy and since I am on a roll, I decide to have another go at tidying the area.

At about 5pm I am done and notice that I am getting hungry. I make myself some tuna salad and do the washing up afterwards by which time it is 6pm and time to call Victoria on Skype. I get the good news that Tashi has not got hand-foot-and mouth disease and decide spontaneously to celebrate with a can of beer. I get my iPad-kindle and settle down on deck to read. At 8pm it is time to go to bed and as I step down into the cabin I find myself grinning at a very tidy boat.

Here Akka at Kalvholmen.