September 2016 - Boat Life Larks

Lagoon 380 sail catamaran in the boat yard

Boat Yard Living! Camp Chairs, Pallet Table, Trash, and a poor, sad dog in a crate.

"I think they’ve finally had that argument!” Harry, the forklift operator at Manta Point Boat Works, told the diesel mechanic, Fred. “HA! Tell me more!” Fred said. Nothing cheered him more than other people’s misery. "Wait, let me get out the bet book and see who won."

"Well, I was walking by their boat. You know how they've been removing the old striping? Now they are working on new striping. God knows why, when there was nothing wrong with the old stripes. These people are insane, but I don’t have to tell you that."

Pinstripe removal

"Yeah". Fred was finding the right page in the small notebook. "I've given them all sorts of advice, but they insist on doing everything the stupid old way. I think she's just using her fingernails!" Fred paused before continuing. "Just checking here. I said two hours, Harry said 5 hours, Ivan said 3 days and Sarah said they’d hold off until the last day. It’s been 6 days, and they’re at least 2 weeks from re-launch, so I guess it’s Ivan that won” Fred said. "But tell me the rest!"

"So, they put on a few feet of the new boot stripe. Apparently it wasn’t good enough, so they pulled it off. It got crumpled up and put in the trash. He said “Hold it steady next time” and She said “It’s too windy”. There was definitely a tone,” Harry said.

“A tone, huh? That’s not very exciting.” Fred said. "Remember when Wilma and Pete had it out over sanding technique? You could hear them from the grocery store! Then the boat just sat there racking up storage fees, with no propellers and a half - done bottom paint while they got a divorce and sold the boat at 50% value?”

“That was classic", said Harry. "I hear she moved to Montana and married a rancher."

“Who could blame her?" Fred said. "Anyway, according to the rule book, you had to hear the yelling from three boats away, and, preferably, someone should have walked off. Slamming doors is a plus."

"I could have heard them from three boats away if the wind was blowing in the right direction and it was a bit colder.” Harry was feeling dejected. Maybe there would be no winner’s beer today.

“Just so you know, the stripes are different. The old ones were skinny and blue and the new one is wide and gray. Also, I think the dolphin art they’re working on is cool”. Fred and Harry turned to look at Ivan, who had been silent up to this point.

“It’s not a dolphin, Ivan, it’s an elf," said Fred. He was feeling increasingly aggravated with his coworkers and made a mental note to check jobs.com that night.

“You guys are so stupid,” said Harry. "Its obviously a drawing of HER. Now they’re getting a boat divorce though, I bet it will be the first thing to be removed.”

At that moment, Sarah walked in the office, slamming the door behind her. "Will you boys pipe down? she said. "I was just admiring the mermaid art on the Claiborne’s boat and could hear you arguing from there - 3 boats down!”

Do you know what an omnimonopea is? I thought it was something I learned in English class decades ago. A tidbit that I had filed away to use on a brighter day. I asked my good friend Google, and he said it doesn’t exist, it’s not a thing from English class or any class at all. He told me about onomatopoeias, but I think that’s just the buzzing and clicking and gallunking of his faulty brain circuits. I’m sure that omnimonopea is a word.

Anyway, my Omnia stovetop oven’s name is Omnimonopea. So there.

Newsflash! There won’t be anything here that isn’t written elsewhere! Carolyn at The Boat Galley has written extensively on the Omnia, but I like my Omnia stovetop oven so much that I felt obligated to give it a blog shoutout.

A fluffy, scrumptious "Dutch baby" - the perfect breakfast. Thank you Alton Brown.

Our Lagoon 380 has an oven, which is pretty cool. But it takes a long time to preheat and uses a lot of propane doing so. And when it’s 8,000 degrees Kelvin inside the saloon, I don’t want to use the oven. And sometimes I just want to bake something quickly, like one of those little 4-packs of Pillsbury crescent roll dough. In land life I used the electric toaster oven a lot, but that was a real drain on the boat batteries.

Oh, ok, maybe I will say something new. Here’s a quick and tasty way to have fresh baked pastries on-board for a fancy (feeling) weekend breakfast or brunch. Simply make the crescent rolls as the directions indicate, but roll in chocolate chips in the center. Viola! Chocolate Croissants (Pain au Chocolat for you purists). Ok, maybe referring to Pillsbury dough as “Pain au Chocolat” is going too far, but I’m eating it on a French-built yacht, so…well I digress. They’re yummy, quick, cheap and fresh. The Pillsbury dough containers will last several months if you keep them dry and refrigerated. This is a favorite go-to brunch item aboard Independence (when we can find crescent rolls!)

Roll chocolate chips into your crescent rolls before baking. You're welcome :)

Lucy loves her pain au chocolat.

So where does the Omnia come in you ask? Well, don’t you see? I just made those crescent rolls in the Omnia without preheating the oven and sweating my rear off in a hot boat! The Omnia base heats up over my medium sized burner in about 2 minutes, the main dish holds the 4 rolls perfectly and the whole thing is cooked and done in about 8 minutes. I couldn’t have even gotten the big oven preheated in 10 minutes!

I honestly use this thing daily, if not 2 or 3 times a day. Brownies? No problem! If you are making brownies from a box, just pour it in the pan and follow the directions. The Omnia is about the size of an 8x8 pan for recipe planning. How about bread? No problem! (it’s just shaped like a giant doughnut….mmmm, doughnuts!!) While we’re at it, how about a doughnut shaped Ring of Cookie!

I think I’ve made it pretty clear that it is the baked goods that win my heart. But, if you are, shall we say, a "healthy person", one that likes “vegetables" (AKA vile weeds!) then the Omnia is for you too. Roasted root vegetables? No problem! Toss in EVOO, sprinkle with salt (kosher of course!) and pepper and roast away.

So, in closing I just want to say thank you Swedish people. You’ve given us Abba, Ikea, Volvos and now the Omnia stovetop oven. Seriously, thanks! I haven’t turned on my actual oven since I bought this thing.

Made from scratch Chocolate Hazelnut Scones. Yum.

TIPS for using the Omnia:

*Season the pan. If you’re a Lucy and don’t know what I’m talking about and are reaching for salt, seasoning is what chefs did before they were spoiled by Caphalon and T-fal. You need to bake a good amount of oil into the pan and then keep it clean by just wiping it down with water (no soap!). Over time, the layer of oil will keep building and it will beat any non-stick wonder product made up in a chemists lab.

*Preheat the base as described in the Omnia directions. Use high heat for this. Add the pan with it’s lid and leave it on high heat for 1-2 minutes. Then reduce heat to medium-low for the remainder of the cooking time. Actual cooking is done at low or medium-low, no higher! Don’t forget to turn it down after the pre-heating like I always do!

*Keep loose items away from the center cone as much as possible. The center cone is by far the hottest part of the Omnia and that’s where things burn first.

*Don’t rely on time. You’ll need to check the food visually or with a thermometer to check for doneness. For baked goods like brownies, the toothpick test is best.

*The Omnia comes with a little rack to keep foods off the bottom. Don’t put that in a locker under a bunch of other pans and forget about it for 6 months. It’s pretty useful. (I’ve just discovered this, since I’ve owned it for 6 and a half months and did not follow this advice!)

A personal size frozen pizza, cut into slices and fit in the Omnia on the rack. I had doubts, but it worked perfectly!

Click here to buy the Omnia on Amazon: RV Camping Boating & Home Stove Top Oven with Baking Rack + 12 Custom Parchment Paper Rounds for Omnia Stovetop Cooking

We suffered over the decision to buy a watermaker. Did we really need one? Was it worth the expense? Should we get a built in version? Can't we just get water at docks or jerry jug water in? In the end, we decided to add a watermaker. We are hoping to do a lot of cruising in the out islands of the Bahamas this winter and want to be as self sufficient as possible.

Not having a generator onboard we were limited to systems that use 12 VDC or can function off of our little 2000W Honda generator.

The Rainman is made specifically for the Honda generator and is completely portable. It, like our portable A/C, takes some lugging around (it’s heavy!) and setting up, but it definitely beats the complexity of a built in system. It makes 32 gallons an hour, which is enough for us for 4 or 5 days. The Honda uses about a quart of gas an hour while operating the watermaker.

One accessory we opted for that has completely paid off this summer in the Chesapeake was the brackish water flow guage. This allows the unit to be used in pretty much any type of water.

Rainman watermakers can also be mounted inside the boat, in lockers and to through-hulls if you are so inclined. We toyed with this idea, but in the end we have put the membranes in the aft stateroom, the pressure pump assembly in the forward v-berth and run the hoses between. The raw water pick up goes out the porthole. So far the unit has worked great! We have even used it while underway.

Honda 2000 generator and Rainman Watermaker

The Rainman's pressure pump assembly and our Honda genny on the swim step.

Hastings monitoring water creation!

Now I leave the membranes in the aft cabin. Tucked in their case, they fit perfectly on the shelf by the bed.

Brine goes overboard through the drain in the head.

The pressure unit sits on a shelf in the forward v-berth. The raw water pick up goes out the portlight. It even works when making way (you just have to be careful not to get air in the line).

Obviously we don't run the Honda genny down below, because we don't want to die. So it still gets lugged out from it's storage locker.

Filling the tanks!

On another note, we have diesel and gas containers that we use to fill our tanks with. Even in the Chesapeake, we have come across marinas that are too shallow or sketchy for us; we have been able to use our dinghy and containers to fill up on diesel for our engines and gas for our dinghy engine and generator.

We purchased the Rainman from SeaTask in Ft. Lauderdale. Chris has been wonderful showing us how to use the unit and answering follow-up questions. We have no affiliation, just happy customers!

“Did you arrive by aircraft? If an aircraft hadn’t been available, how long would it have taken you to arrive to Washington, D.C.? How would that have changed your travel experience?”
This sign greeted me in the National Air and Space Museum and made me giggle. I arrived by sailboat, and it took three and a half months.

The sign writer may think traveling by sailboat would be scary. They may want to know what it’s like to be in a storm, on a boat, out there, alone. They may ask how it feels to look out at night, and see no one. No land, no cell service, no help. I’m actually a rather anxious person, but it’s not the sea that causes my anxiety. It’s the city.

We spent 3 or 4 days sailing up the Potomac. In the 95 miles from Chesapeake Bay, we had seen very few people. The night skies were so dark we could see the Milky Way reflecting in the water. First, we sailed by Mount Vernon. Then boat traffic picked up. There was a bridge, and aircraft landing at an airport. Helicopters flew overhead. Voices on the radio increased.

We had to dock. Get the lines out. The dog went wild, howling and barking. (He thinks this procedure helps our docking communication. It does not.) (He also must think “I’m going to kill you, you brimstone beast” means “Bark louder, please”) Construction hammers nearby. The dock master helps us tie up. Another human! I probably should have put on clean clothes. Maybe brushed my hair?

We walk into the neighborhoods to drop Hastings off at day care, constantly watching for cars trying to run us over. They go so fast! And where are we? Get out the map!

We walk to the Metro station. The sign states: “It’s time. Pardon our dust while we build new escalators”. That means the city knows these old escalators are about to fall apart and drag your body through their teeth into dark machinery.

I linger. Matt is already 3 steps down. I’d looked up Metro etiquette and knew to stand to the right and walk on the left. Not that I’d be walking on the left. No, I’ll be standing on the right, clutching the railing, concentrating on keeping my feet in the correct position, preparing to leap off at just the right moment and avoid certain mauling by the exit teeth. Luckily, my shoes don’t have laces. If they did have laces, they could get caught in the exit teeth and I’d become Flat Stanley and be dragged away, crunched to death.

Matt turns around to look at me. "What’s wrong with you?” he says. So many things. There’s the height. I don’t like heights, they make me feel sick and un-moored. Then there’s the death by escalator. And if I survive the escalator, what if Frank Underwood is at the tracks downstairs? What if I trip getting on the Metro and fall underneath it and get electrocuted and then run over? And if I survive the Metro, there will just be more escalators. Or elevators, where you can get trapped in the heat with some screaming kids and a pregnant lady and an unhinged person, and you’d die of thirst, or the cable would break and send you hurtling to the ground.

Or, you could get flattened by any of the one million drivers trying earnestly to run you over. What about the plague? It could become airborne in the city. Out on the sea, the plague isn’t likely. And then there’s terrorism. These bag checks in museums are a laugh, and they don’t even bother with the joke on the metro!

And so I hesitate at the top of the escalator. People rush by on the left side, rushing to catch the next Metro that will whisk them off to the next danger. I’ve been here long enough to calculate the speed that each step takes to separate. I don’t want to step on the middle of a separating step, of course! That would make me fall!

Don’t forget the helicopters that fly directly over our boat non-stop. It seems like they are flying at 50 ft, and our mast is 55. I lay in my bunk, and I can feel the explosion, the way the mast crashes down and tears the fiberglass boat open, like the way I open a bag of salt and vinegar chips, but a lot noisier!

I put my best foot forward, which, honestly, doesn’t seem wise. Shouldn’t you put your worst foot forward so it can test the troubled waters? Or is it like George Washington, leading the charge? My right hand grips the hand rail, which vibrates in an unnerving way.

A teenager, who grew up without the benefit of safety commercials, who still knows everything and is indestructible, puts his worst foot forward and lurches onto the escalator. He begins to tap the rail to the beat of a tune coming through his Beats by Dre headphones (this was last week, before Courage by Apple). It unhinges me. I want to turn and tell him to stop, but I don't, because that would be crazy!

I push through the hurdles in my mind, the traps that lie in wait, and arrive at today’s museum. “How would your life be different without modern travel?” the sign says. It would be a lot less stressful!

Escalator safety commercial:
What do you find scary about modern life? Maybe being crushed by a vending machine?

References: Frank Underwood - fictional character on House of Cards, set in D.C. (a Netflix Series).
Beats by Dre - headphones for cool people
Courage by Apple - Apples claims it took courage to remove headphone jacks from their new phone. Insert eye roll.

Potomac River Day 1

We left Mill Creek around 10AM and headed into Chesapeake Bay and towards the mouth of the Potomac. The weather was much more settled with the wind completely dying as we turned into the Potomac River. Honestly, Day 1 was fairly boring. The shores are far from view and not exciting; there was no wind; and we only saw a few other power boats the whole day.

Motor Sailing the Potomac

We found a very lovely anchorage in Breton Bay with a boat ramp to dinghy to for walks. The night was fabulous with a perfectly dark clear night sky - stars and the milky way reflected in the still water. I was surprised to have dark night skies so close to Washington D.C. (70 miles away). It was in the 60s at night so we slept really well!

Breton Bay Anchorage

Potomac Day 2

We did a few boat projects and dinghy-ed to Leonardtown. Neat little town with friendly people. We were lured in to eating at a restaurant with a patio and had an outstanding lunch. Back at the boat, we decided that instead of traveling for a few hours we would chill the rest of the day and do a long day tomorrow. Have I mentioned how lazy we have become?

Leonardtown Wharf

Potomac Day 3

Walking the dog before sunrise - before coffee. Motored back out to the river. I tried to call the Dahlgren Patrol to get clearance before entering the Middle Danger Zone where the military does artillery practice, but had no luck. Hopefully we won’t get shot! We sailed….actually sailed, with sails up and engines off- we hit 8 knots a few times! I even wore a cardigan as it was quite cool and breezy. We had to motor through an obstacle course of crab pots to get to our anchorage. Grumpy Captains app has mostly good reviews except for one, who complained about non stop sirens and burning smells. A look at the chart explains the issue: the otherwise calm and serene anchorage is a danger zone - used by the military to explode ordinance. When explosions are taking place, a loud siren blares and calls over the radio are made to warn boaters.

Potomac Day 4

Fresh water in the upper Potomac!

Up, breakfast, coffee even though it’s already 90 outside - wait - why is it hot again? Dog shore run. We’re off, and due to light and on the nose winds, motor. Mount Vernon. Fort Washington. Airplanes over head. Other boats! I see the Washington Memorial. And there’s the Capitol! Wow. We planned on picking up a mooring, but the marina put us at a slip due to an event the next day. We checked in at the office and the TV is hashing over the same stories they were talking about 3 months ago. We haven’t missed anything.

It’s thrilling and a little terrifying to be in a big city- and not just any city, but the capitol - incredible!