Saturday, January 05, 2013

Emergency Flashlights

Isla, my mom and I made it back to Ft. La-de-da today.  It's always exciting and a teensy bit nerve wracking to return to your boat when you have been away for a few weeks.  Despite having never returned to a boat in any other condition than how I left it, I am always a little apprehensive.  You never know what you might find (full bilge? new leaks? dead batteries? colony of mice? infestation of roaches? drunk hobos?) and when I turned the corner today and saw Asante sitting just as pretty as we left her, I let out a little sigh.

While my mom watched Isla,  I hopped aboard and got to work opening seacocks, switching on power, checking the bilge, opening hatches, and squirreling away all our stuff.   I wiped down just about every touchable surface with a vinegar/water solution to clean off any toxins left over from our third and final fog (our friend set off three Raid foggers for us the day he found the roach)

Once I got the boat livable again, I put Isla to bed and found the energy to work on a little project I had waiting for me:  mounting our new emergency flashlights.  On Rasmus, Scott and I had three of these strategically placed throughout the boat and we used them all the time.  They are wall-mounted and only turn on and off based on connectivity to the housing meaning they have no on/off switches.   This might sound strange, but what this does is lessen the opportunity to misplace these things because, let's face it, finding a working flashlight on a boat can sometimes be like finding a needle in a haystack.   I mounted one in the v-berth, one right under the main companionway stairs, and one in our aft cabin.  Now we'll never have to worry about finding a flashlight when we need one, as there will be at least three that will be where they are supposed to be, unlike our fifteen million head lamps that disappear like socks from a dryer.


With that done, I am going to curl up with a book and get some beauty rest.  Tomorrow I am tackling the deck.  It appears the local parrots were using our boat for target practice.  A lot.

2 comments:

cath and Dan said...

sounds great! where did you buy it? I have been looking all over and cant find it.

Thanks

Laura and Hans said...

I know exactly what you mean! One time I was only away from the boat for a couple of hours and came home to find the port side full of water. Our water heater had sprung a leak and the bilge pump had become dislodged and was 'floating' instead of pumping. Needless to say, I'm also very happy to return home after being away and finding everything ship shape.

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