DOMESTICALLY CHALLENGED

Sunday, August 22, 2010

5:45 pm

With a whole chicken roasting in the oven I’m taking some time to reflect on the last few days. The weather has been nothing short of miserable this past week. The skies are grey in grey and there is constant sprinkle in the air. As some of you probably know I have a washing machine on board, however not a dryer. This makes drying jeans for example virtually impossible, not to mention bed linens. When I do a load of T-shirts the entire boat is turned into a clothesline.

I now also have a much greater appreciation for flush toilets. Our toilets on board need to be pumped and pumped again for water to remain in the bowl. Oh, did I mention everything gets pumped out to sea. There is a holding tank (2 actually) but they only get used in marinas.

Last week we ran out of cooking gas. We do have a second tank to avoid just such disaster but when W. went to change the tank the fitting on the second tank was different.. Since we don’t have a car here even the smallest issues become all day events. After hearing about our dilemma someone from the office offered to drive us to get the gas tank exchanged.

Since we have lived on board now for four weeks, we have noticed that on weekends there is no power at the dock. This means no hot water (no shower), no charging the computer etc., nothing you would plug in.

Wolfgang has just pointed out that we can’t have roast chicken too often because

1 1/2 hours in the oven will not leave much gas in the new tank. Ohhhhhh!!!!!!

We were planning to leave for Guernsey this week, but looking at this week’s weather forecast shows gale force winds for Thursday and Friday.

Yesterday we did one more provision shop with a rental car. You all know what Costco is like on a Saturday, well multiple that times ten. Total mayhem, of course not only in the store but imagine the parking lot.

Today’s shopping list consisted of a dinghy and motor for those days where we are at anchor and want to get ashore. For those unfamiliar with dinghies; they are inflatable boats that can be deflated and rolled up for easy storage. I’ll report back how that worked out at a later date. It took us longer to decide on which dinghy and motor to buy than our decision about this boat.

Most nights W. and I play cards after dinner when we not entertaining neighbors. Last week we met a lovely couple from Eastbourne. They also have a new boat, so we spent the evening with a few bottles of wine comparing notes. They have now sailed back to Eastbourne, but invited us to stay with them upon our return to Canada from Gatwick.