Every day on Centaurea, i plan to make a proper big “to do” list, and each day i fail to. At leat i know which “big things” need to be completed before launching, which is essentially my sole short-term goal. In the meantime, when the “big things” can’t be gotten to (time and money, folks…), i just try to make sure i accomplish one little thing each day.
Yesterday, i ripped out the over-complicated head system and diminutive token holding tank. 54 freakin’ hose clamps! 54! Enough said… Last night, i made rice for the second time on the Optimus, and learned several valuable lessons. First, tank pressure must be well below the operating “green zone” on the dial, or you just can’t simmer. Boil like a demon in a lake of fire yes, simmer no. Second, i learned that attempting to simmer usually results in either clouds of noxious asthma-inducing kerosene vapour, or pillars of fire that threaten to singe the curtains (all the curtains, at that). Today, i made noodles and chicken dogs for lunch, two dishes which are happy to cook at one of the two standard Optimus cooking temperatures, namely, Magma or Lava. Needless to say, i’m developing an interesting relationship with good ol’ Opti Prime; it remains only for me to learn all of it’s secret ways…
It rained last night. Oh haha, so funny to watch a naked man (me) squirm out of foredeck hatch to disentangle a windscoop. Slippery hitch my eye! Hatch closed, i soon was exposed to two more interesting lessons: A) the prism in the foredeck hatch leaks, and B) sleeping under a leaky prism is just this side of Not Much Fun At All. Funny thing is, in all this time spent inspecting the boat, keeping it aired out, and occasionally bailing her dry, i’d never actually been aboard during a rainshower to see where all the water comes in. Now i know; it comes in right wherever i happen to be. Saw that one coming, didn’t ya?
So, naturally, the task of the day has been to re-bed the foredeck hatch prism. All in all, i really like the design of the Laurin fordeck hatch. There’s a 3/4″ upward-projecting lip molded into the flush foredeck, and the 1/2″ thick solid fiberglass hatch has a matching overlapping lip that smoothly caps everything when closed. Positive screw-action dogs make sure the compression gasket seals well. Light comes from a 5″ Fresnel-lensed glass prism in the center of the hatch, which i daresay doesn’t let in much less light than a full-sized scuffed/smoked/hazed lexan hatch.
The chrome on the bronze prism ring was a little flaky, so i tried to take it all off with a sander, wirewheel, grinder, and vehement cursing. Now i have a ring that is half bronze, half chrome, and polished all over. Yay!
January 7, 2006
makin’ a list, checkin’ it twice
January 5, 2006
sailing is good
Rather than get into the next phase of my head-tearout on Centaurea(the half-full holding tank and associated lines/valves), i took a break from greater responsibility this afternoon, and tended to Ripple instead. Shortened up the two-blocked after lower shrouds, and got the mast into a better position, then went for a fun little turn around the harbour. Pretty light winds, but good fun; great to blast out of the hole on every minute puff. Tourists motoring alongside for the obligitory photos (really, the boat is that damn cute), and just generally enjoying the hell out of life.
A final footnote, as i made my way back to the dock; a pair of dolphins coasting alongside for a few boatlengths, nearly close enough to touch…
pizzaboxhappy
i think that a great deal of the otherworldly specialness of take-out/delivery pizza is not the pizza itself, but that special aroma. It’s the aroma of warm, greasy cardboard. That’s what really does it…
momentum, and heads
Okay. Easing back into life in a tiny box. My summer of house-sitting has softened me up; it’s time to whip myself back into shape.
No monumental amount of work done on the boat this week. After cleaning out the interior, disconnecting the engine, and getting the stove to work, i’ve lost a little forward way. Still, i managed a few tasks on the ol’ girl.
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