Outsmarted!

Tape stretched across the box solved our problem!

One of our little darlings… I won't say which one in the interest of protecting her reputation… finds it inconvenient to squat when visiting the convenience box.  This periodic lapse causes a nasty mess on the floor outside the box for me to clean up.

Over the years, we've spent countless $$$ buying boxes with increasingly taller and taller sides, with no relief.  We have resorted to using an unlovely plain plastic storage box which seemed to have improved things, but she finally figured it out.  If she backs all the way to the corner, she can lift her tail and manage to whiz over the side.  

This prompted us to purchase a rubber mat with little resevoirs to catch said "spills".  This keeps them contained but still… the familiar scent wafting up to my nostrils plunges me into another unscheduled cleaning frenzy.  What to do? What to DO? 

Feline eradication being out of the question… We had to get creative.  This low tech solution seems to have solved our problem.  We stretched a length of whatever we had on hand at the time, which happened to be duct tape… across the top of the box from side to side a couple of inches from the back.  (We were even nice enough to tape the bottom edge to keep from de-fuzzing the cat when she rubs up against the tape)

Her tail hits the tape which causes her to be unable to clear the top of the box when she backs her bootie into position.  Eureka!  We've outsmarted a FELINE!

The Baggie Nazi

Click on the Picture to see it's origin

I remember visiting my Granny's house and seeing plastic zip type storage bags all lined up in her dish drainer.  She came from a different time where things weren't disposable as they are today.  Even disposable plastic bags got reused in her home.  

This grossed me out.  I will admit that I could be considered borderline germ-phobic and the thought of storing my leftovers in a wrinkly, cloudy looking and possibly greasy bag that had been sitting on a dish drainer with all of those germs having a party in that warm wet environment., just sent my mind into a spin. 

I've been the total consumer.  I've used them once and used them thoughtlessly in situations where it might have been more efficient to use a plastic container instead, but I was too lazy to get one out.  I had already decided that I would try to reuse them when we go cruising…

I've chickened out.  Bruce and I have opted to use small plastic containers in place of mass numbers of baggies.   I've become the Baggie Nazi!  Sure we will still take a bunch with us because sometimes, only a bag will do… but it really hasn't been too difficult once our minds were set.  We seem to roll through a small number of containers as long as we are rolling through our leftovers.  And with a fridge as small as ours, that is pretty much a necessity.  

So, we will be doing our small part to economize and to keep a little bit of plastic out of the landfills.  I'm amazed to see all of the small ways this change in lifestyle has changed ME! 

Leaking Propane Locker - CHECK!

A few weeks ago we had a torrential downpour that overpowered the drain hole in the bottom of our propane locker.  It's outside on the aft deck Starboard side so why would this concern us you ask?  That would be because the water rose to the level of some unused screw holes and began pouring down the inside of the hull and into my bed!

Now this is a seriously irritating thing, but it could become a deadly thing, as a fellow member of the SSCA pointed out to me later.  If water can get inside the boat, so can propane!  This must be FIXED!

I had done some reading about the wonders of Butyl Tape and placed an order.  I figured this was a good opportunity to see just how easy it is to seal these holes.  Bruce got everything disconnected and I went to work cleaning the areas around the holes so that I could apply sealant to the unused ones.  My original thought was that the holes we used to mount the gauges were the culprits.  Once everything was out, I discovered four other unused holes situated lower than those.  I applied a quick cure polyether multi-purpose calk to all of the holes except for the four mounting holes we are using.

Once that was done, I got to play with my new toy.  I had seen an article that showed the way to use Butyl tape so I was READY!  I had a bit of help in applying the tape to the four new screws (found amongst the pounds and pounds of spares that came with the boat).

Notice the box of spare screws

Jezabelle had to put her two cents in.  Once she gave her stamp of approval and retired back to her sunny spot in the cockpit, I moved on to the next step.

I applied more butyl tape to the base of the mounting bracket.  Maybe this is overkill but you can't be too careful in dealing with propane OR seeping water!  The butyl tape was also great as it held the screws in place making it very easy to hit the holes.  I screwed them all down, then it was Bruce's turn again.

He quickly hooked up both tanks, then he did a "bubble test" with a glass of soapy water to see that there were no leaks once he opened the valves.  No bubbles!  We're done!

Well, that isn't exactly true.  This job led us to investigate the locker on the opposite side of the boat for holes.  We found no holes, but it was full of scuzz which now had to be cleaned out.  Tack on another hour and a half...  But, now we are all clean and safe from death by propane asphyxiation.  And we have that warm fuzzy feeling you get when a job is ticked off the list!  Now, on to the next one...