Poor Mary B got hammered last weekend coming back from Ballena Isle Marina, normally a pleasant beam reach. The weather on Sunday wasn't nearly as mild as it had been when she left Oyster Cove the day before. The wind kicked up from the northwest, making her sail home a slog to weather. As we all know, a gentlewoman never, ever, sails to weather. The unexpected rough water brought things crashing down inside the cabin. Shelves emptied themselves onto the cabin sole, lockers deposited their contents and Harry the cat hung on for dear life.
We have been caught with our pants down a few times, even on the trawler. We have these big storage drawers under the settee in the main salon that slide in and out on stainless steel rails. Unless I remember to put the pins in the drawer fronts to secure them, they slide back and forth. The problem is that when we are underway, we're usually on the flying bridge. Only the cat is witness to the chaos that ensues below. It has been so rough crossing Susuin Bay that the latched cabinets in the galley get pushed open by the weight of the dinnerware inside and deposit every bit of the contents onto the floor. We also have a knife block on the galley counter that makes a hell of a racket when it goes flying. It now, permanently, lives lying on its side, where it can't do any damage. It looks funny, and it's not quite so easy to select a knife, but at least I don't have a heart attack when the damn thing hits the deck.
On long trips, I wrap all the crystal wine glasses in dish towels and store them in an ice chest. The wine-glass rack looks nice when we are sitting at the dock, but the Devine Esther has had her glasswear go flying on several occasions. My solution to the flying-out-of-the-rack problem is to string a bungee cord across the slots, but that doesn't prevent the crystal glasses from banging together, causing chips and cracks in the rims. I recycled some plastic fruit sleeves and keep those on the wine glasses all the time now, so it doesn't matter if they bang together.
It's fairly easy for us to get ready to leave the slip these days. Put the pins in the drawers and stow the coffee pot is all I have to do, at least to get the cabin ready for travel. We have always kept our boat ready because we venture out frequently. I know people who live on board who have to spend several hours putting stuff away before they can go for a boat ride. That's just not my cup of tea. However, anybody can get caught with a mess if they don't plan correctly.
"If it can fall down, it will," was my motto to guests on the sailboat. Everything had to be stowed prior to leaving the slip, including food, drinks and cameras. Coats went into the V berth, where they wouldn't slide down and become a hazard underfoot on the cabin sole.
Sweetie has a new 32-inch television that he is very proud of. It is mounted on hinges that are attached a board that allows the television to swing back and forth so he can get to the electrical stuff on the back side. This mounting arrangement was fine for our 25-inch telly, but the new set is much larger. Hopefully, he will secure it with sturdy brass chains prior to our trip to Ayala Cove for our annual Thanksgiving pot luck next week. If not, I'll make a point to ride down below with the cat"¦ Not that I could do much to prevent the television from crashing to the ground, but at least I could say, "I told you so!"
