Wednesday 13 Nov, HHN day 33: A very full day of stowing all our new goodies.
We awake still aground sitting in 2.4m of water. It’s quite a step up to the dock. But the wind has decreased and while it’s still below freezing, the warming sun is back with us.
Today will be a stowage organization day. All the currently stowed items in the mid-cabin (under bed and in the bilge) are removed, plus we bring onboard all the boxes from the car and marina delivery room. 6 solar panels, spare windlass and motor, spare electric toilet motor, new Sailrite sewing machine, lots of canvas and other materials for sewing, 3 gallons of antifoul paint and various other bits and pieces all ready for going completely off grid for the coming years, or at least till we get to New Zealand. Bit disappointed the Sailrite machine comes in several boxes and need “constructing”. Not an ideal thing to do on the wooden dock! It finds its new home in the locker under our aft berth, in a space vacated by our recently departed Seadoo, which left us for Ebay.
Then in the newly acquired bilge stowage compartment in the mid-cabin we manage to squeeze a surprising amount of heavy items, all packed so well that they have zero chance of wandering anywhere in a rough sea. And finally a lot of lighter items, like spare bimini and spray top, go in another newly vacated bilge area, shared with the main hydraulics unit. Lots of hoses and electrics there to potentially damage, hence light items only.
Then the 6HP Suzuki outboard – oiled, greased and thoroughly wrapped in a yoga mat and plastic sheeting – gets stowed deep in the aft deck locker. We hope it will stay in hibernation there for the rest of time, because it’s the backup to our main 20HP outboard.
The bimini frame is reconstructed but left folded down till we get to warmer times. And finally we test the windlass. I only meant to drop the anchor briefly into the water and then retrieve it, but I was so intrigued seeing literally hundreds of stink-beetles coming out with the chain that I didn’t stop pressing the down-button till the anchor was long in the mud! Ever since we arrived we have been plagued with these damned pests. Somehow they even managed to infiltrate inside the cabin over the summer. Oana just loves them! Haha… not 🙂
In the evening we continue with the stowage, re-stowing all the items previously in the spare parts area under the mid-cabin double. Going through each box and throwing out stuff we think we will never need.
At the end of the day, with everything stowed and our waterline apparently still in the same place (!), we feel cleansed, just like when you move house and finally get all your stuff packed away and the house looking tidy again. I have to say though, this cavernous house called Cloudy Bay is getting rather packed. I can’t think of anywhere we have not yet exploited to store things. We will likely need a full removal truck when we finally vacate Cloudy! Well, one good thing: with nowhere else to store stuff, it’s time to stop buying stuff. Because there are no “self-store” warehouses on the high seas!