Still messing around with the boat...

Much to my surprise, the un-diluted bottle of bleach that I had liberally sprayed throughout the V-berth and head certainly had its intended effect. The boat is starting to actually feel habitable. The bleach made a world of difference on me wanting to sprawl out in the V-berth for any period of time.

I gotta believe that disposing of the four inch thick spongy bed mattress that came with the boat was definitely the right decision as well. All it seemed to do was absorb moisture and propogate germs not unlike a dishwashing sponge. It didn't seem that it would ever dry out in the hot sun and I certainly wasn't going want to be sleeping on a giant moist germ-collecting dishwashing sponge... so that thing was unceremoniously carted off into the marina trash dumpster.

In its place is a sleeping pad for camping, a sleeping bag, and a small air-mattress... not entirely nautical, but functional for the time being.

The alcohol stove had its turn today... I pulled it out of its recess and gave it a thorough examination and cleaning. The valve to the back burner was stuck in the open position but I finally worked it enough that it now opens and closes readily enough. The burners were encrusted in rust and burned crud but not after I put a metal battery terminal brush to good use. I made a mess in the cockpit but it was better than taking a chance on losing some small random fitting overboard.

The real test came later and Voila! The stove actually worked... both burners were burning away... I still need to get use to controlling the amount of flame coming out of the burners though... and I'll also need some real stick matches... that Bar-B-Que grill lighter that I purchased doesn't light on cue and the plastic cigarette lighter that I claimed off of a bar-room floor not long ago seems to take a layer of skin off of my thumb every time I attempt to use it.

On the menu tonight, not that anyone really cares, was maccaroni and cheese along with boiled red potatos and diced Italian hard salami. The water boiled readily enough inside the pressure cooker. I've got too much cookingware aboard the boat but the pressure cooker certainly is a keeper. I'll hold off on buying a propane stove for the boat for now.

Memo to self: plan meals ahead of time, dig out all the food items and seasonings as well as the pots & pans to be used BEFORE lighting up the alcohol stove.

The Wood is Permeated...

Permeated... now that's one word that is not often heard.

I finally relented and sought out some professional help to come check out the head onboard the boat. There is still a lingering foul odor emanating from beneath the V-berth and I simply won't be able to sleep in the V-berth until that odor is completely done away with.

A quick inspection by the father & son team disclosed that all the fittings and hoses were new and in good order and that there were no leaks to be found... and the rubber elbow that I inserted to eliminate a hose kink was the right thing to do.

They readily concluded however that the surrounding wood was nevertheless "permeated"... uh-oh... that sounds expensive... and that the only remedy was to treat it with bleach... okay, not expensive... and to use un-diluted bleach. With that they took off... "now you know what to do".

I proceeded to remove all the gear that I had stored in the V-berth and liberally spray bleach into every crevasse imaginable...whether real or not.

Permeated?... I'll show permeated... that permeated wood will come to understand permeated... as in permeated with bleach.

Messing around with the head...

The least pleasant thing to mess around with on a boat is by far the head. It stinks to say the least and is problematic to fix and maintain.

The wastewater holding tank is located directly beneath the V-berth, right next to the water tank and try as I might, there is still a slight residual odor wafting from that tank... all inspite of my best efforts to sanitize the thing and retire it in place. A port-o-potty is on my puchase list... it has less moving parts and is air-tight... that as well as a cedar-bucket for when I'm offshore.

I spent a whole day the previous week siphoning that tank dry with the dock waterwater siphoning hose... dumped half a bottle of bleach into the head as well. It was a vast improvement but nevertheless all it takes is a few drifting molecules to offend one's nasal passages.

Next on my list of things to do is to replace the gasket and other parts on the head and see if that helps. I've been sleeping out in the cockpit in the evenings... if for no other reason than for the cool breeze and to get as far away as possible from the unpleasant molecules.