Who knew that having a new knee could keep you pinned to the mat for so long? It's been 3 weeks and 3 days since the surgery, and I'm still hobbling around like a tipsy sailor.
I've been able to observe the daily goings on here in the marina since being captive on the boat. Dean, our neighbor from Fellowship, a Bayliner 38, has been kept busy replacing his main water tank. The original tank was aluminum and just low enough in the bilge to come in contact with salt water. Over time, tiny pinhole leaks developed until the tank would no longer hold water. Unfortunately, the tank is located under the berth in the guest cabin and is not easily accessible. Dean always does beautiful work and is taking his time with the project. Since he lives onboard, it's challenging, but he doesn't seem to mind filling the water tank daily to wash dishes and take a shower until the new tank arrives. That's when the fun part will begin.
Cabo Bob tried to replace the zincs on his engines but couldn't reach the ones on the outboard side of the big Caterpillars. Frustrated, he took the boat up to KKMI boatyard, where they have really skinny mechanics who can squeeze into impossible places. In Bob's defense, the zincs were screwed in place at the Caterpillar factory, and it would have taken Herculean strength to remove the bolts. KKMI threaded the new zincs in place with Teflon tape so they will be easier to replace in the future. The only sad part about this story is that Bob missed one entire weekend of boating. He and Diane use their boat even more than we do. Of course, now that I've been hacked and sawed, who knows when I'll be out on the water again...
Our old trawler is a lot like my husband and me: a bit long of tooth and battle weary, but still functioning. Life throws many challenges in our path, but it's how we deal with them that develops character, and battle scars.
Our last rafting party with the Divine Esther and Dean left a few feet of broken teak trim on the port side of our trawler and broken vents on Fellowship. Luckily, our friend Lyn Reynolds offered to make the repair. Lyn is a magician with wood. He arrived with a workbench and two boxes of tools, one labeled "This and That" and the other labeled "These and Those." He had the splintered piece of trim removed and measured in no time and began forming the replacement piece by hand with chisel, rasp and file. The repair was complete in just a few hours.
And finally, the galley faucet turned balky and gave up the ghost on Monday morning, leaving me with no water for the rest of the day until Sweetie could make the repair after work that afternoon. I am ambulatory, if a bit wobbly, so it was no hardship to maneuver myself up to the marina facilities. Like my mom always says, "You get to be a certain age, and it's patch, patch, patch." That goes for boats as well as people, so when your gallant vessel squirts or squeaks, just remember that it happens to the best of us.
