Waiting for Hoses

Well, the new cabinet shelves were finished and look great!  The teak bar along the front of the shelf is not only attractive, it is functional.  (It keeps things from sliding into the doors while the boat is heeled.)

Finished shelf in forward head

Finished shelf under salon bunk

Mike has been continuing to work on the watermaker installation.  He ordered high-pressure hose and fittings so he could make the hoses he needed, rather than order custom (crimped) hoses.  Making our own is a little more expensive, but with Mike's hydraulic experience, if we have problems with the hoses, we (translate:  HE) will have the intimate knowledge and be able to effect any repairs.  He cut and assembled one hose (with fittings) to run between the pump and the membrane housing.  The other hose, which runs between the membrane housing and the control panel, needs to be assembled after work is completed on the control panel.  (A custom panel is being made.)  Both hoses are rated for 4000 psi, so there is no room for any mistakes!

While waiting for the hose to arrive (we're on a very friendly basis with our UPS man!), he felt that some of the deck needed refurbishing, as it was getting water underneath the teak.  This project was the starboard side of the deck between the scupper and the aft decking (that was refurbished last year).  We managed to finish the project over 5 days (3 actual days of work).  Since we have detailed the operation in a previous blog, we won't bore you here.  And, there are more sections of the deck that need refurbishing this year.  These pictures give you an idea of where and how much was done in this project:

Decking removed; waiting for cleaning & prepping

Refurbishment finished

We are also continuing to inventory and pack spare parts on the boat.  As our cruising friends know, this will take a while.  For those of you who don't know, this will take a while.  Deciding where things go, how often you will use them, and actually how often you use them are ever-changing.  So, you just start packing things where they fit and/or make sense and hope that you won't always be digging down to the bottom of the most remote locker.  And, if you do, you just end up re-packing.

We did get a hint from a cruising friend (thanks Wendy!) that having little bags helps not only to keep items together but to identify where they are.  So Jenny hit the fabric store and made a couple of bags as samples.  They were used quickly and so another trip to JoAnn Fabrics is on the list. 

Sample storage bags