Saturday, February 14, 2009

visited her today

It is so weird to sit inside a COLD boat. I went to check on Central Air this afternoon and found her to be in ship-shape... or just about, anyway. I stepped down into the chilly cabin and placed a couple Damp-Rid things in there. I can't believe what a disorganized mess I left in my cabin. Just for the heck of it, I opened the cooler and found that -- oops -- I hadn't cleaned or emptied it at the end of the season. It contained a gallon jug of partially frozen water, two Dasanis, and 3 beers. It smelled kind of funny in there too -- not 'funny ha-ha'... more like 'funny disgusting.' I lugged the whole mess home to clean and empty it.

The cockpit was dry, and I checked the bilge by lifting the lid from the battery compartment on the cabin floor. Once upon a time, I thought that as long as the visible areas in that compartment were dry, then the bilge was dry. Yeah... not true. So I got down on my hands and knees and reached down into and under the battery compartment. Every time I do that, I get nervous, like an alligator lives in my bilge and will start thrashing around and then bite my hand off. Well, nothing bit me, but I did end up with a wet hand. Darnit!! It wasn't a huge amount of water, but anything more than 'bone dry' worries me. I'll get a bilge pump and empty it before launch and then check it periodically throughout the season. I'm sure there is not a serious problem, but water is heavy and I want to go fast.

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