We had our first stormy weather last Saturday, so what did Rich and I do? We went to the bay area. What should we have done? We should have stayed home to make sure the boat didn’t leak like a sieve. So how did we fair? Not too bad, but not great. It’s a boat, so leaks are inevitable and we had several. The major ones were the hatch over the V-berth and the portlight over the nav station. The ones we knew would leak were the fill ports for the diesel and the water tanks. Other leaks we didn’t know about were around the chainplates.
So the hatch over the V-berth is probably the worst one based on it’s location (right over Rich’s head) and the amount of water that leaked onto the bed. Luckily, it didn’t soak through the mattress cover to the foam so we didn’t have to rip the whole bed apart to dry it out. The portlight over the nav station is the one window we didn’t have the correct gasket for so Rich used some of the gasket material from the round portlights. We were pretty sure it wouldn’t cut it and it didn’t. Rich is ordering the correct gasket from MMI Marine tomorrow.
Luckily, most of the stuff that got wet were in plastic crates so the cleanup was fairly easy and nothing was ruined. Nearly all the drip trays beneath each portlight had water in them. We’re not sure if we just didn’t have them dogged down tight enough or if they all just leak a little. The round portlights in the V-berth were perfectly dry inside, and it’s a good thing because water pools agains the windows on the outside. The drip tray beneath those portlights were totally dry.
We’ve known we would have to buy a heater since the first day we brought the boat to Isleton from Richmond. That day was rainy and wet and all we had was a small ceramic electric heater and it sucked. I really wanted a diesel heater because they’re supposed to be economical, reliable, and they put out a dry heat. Unfortunately, they require a vent through the top of the cabin which means another hole in the boat (no thank you) and the initial cost is pretty high at around $800. We contemplated a portable propane heater, but they put out a wet heat and we already have enough moisture in the boat with two adult humans and one cat breathing non-stop. We decided to try an oil-filled radiant heater first because they’re cheap. We bought one at Lowe’s for about $70. It was a little chilly so we used it last Saturday night. I had it set on medium at 80 degrees and the boat was about 73 when we woke up. Not too shabby, but the real test will be when it’s colder outside.
On Monday I stopped to feed Piper on my way home from work and was shocked and a little horrified to see someone cutting up the pipe Piper calls home. It was in three pieces, two were loaded on a flat bed trailer and the third was being cut in half. I slowed down but didn’t stop and have no idea where Piper is. I went back later that evening and still couldn’t find her.