Time To Change Our Socks

 Having a boat is a lot of work.  Just the every day upkeep keeps you busy for a good portion of your time.  Getting that boat ready for serious cruising compounds the issue.  We've been working on a five year plan for about 4.5 years now.  I gotta point out that the first three years were spent repairing and replacing.  It wasn't really until last year that we started making improvements to the boat to get her ready for extended off-shore sailing.  We have our list of major boat projects but I don't think I've ever mentioned any of these.  What we have here are some details that make life on board a little nicer.

Last weekend Cheri took on a project that she's been asking me to do for several years now.  The shower in the forward head is a stand-up type that's separated from the rest of the room with a bi-fold door.  The door doesn't extend all the way to the floor and there's about a 4" gap at the bottom that allows water to splash all over the place.  When we first got the boat we had a water dam put in but it's only about 1" high and the floor still gets wet outside the door.  We've always rolled up a towel in the opening to catch the spray.  I've been planning to replace the dam with a taller one but......well, it's been kinda low on my list.  Cheri came up with a better idea.  She took some scrap pieces of Isinglass and cut them to fit at the bottom of the doors.  She installed snaps in the Isinglass that connect to stick-on pads that are mounted at the bottom of the doors.  With the doors closed the Isinglass hangs in front of the water dam and zero spray gets by.  No more rolled up towels, no more mess when you take a shower.  Job well done.

Another thing she came up with is for our glassware.  When we moved onto the boat we decided not to use plastic for our dishes or glasses.  After all, this is our home, not a weekend tent in the woods.  The dishes we use are called "Everyday White" from Bed, Bath and Beyond.  Our glasses are a mix.  For everyday drinks we do use the plastic insulated glasses but for wine, martinis and that kind of thing we use nice glassware.  These we keep stored in the cabinet in the Main Salon where the table folds up.  To keep them from getting knocked around we've always stored them in heavy cotton gym socks (clean!  I swear!) but we've noticed some guests get this funny look on their face when we offer them a drink and pull the glass down from the shelf.  Cheri has started knitting "cozies" for the glassware using a heavy yarn.  Each one is custom made for the shape of the glass and they look very classy.  Here's how it's done in her own words:

"I'm using "Knit Quick" round knitting looms, different sizes depending on the glass. Got a package of four at Michaels for about $15 and purchased an additional really small one, $5, for the cordial glasses. I'm using a 4p natural warp cotton knitting yarn that I got from Walmart. I believe the 4P is how many strands are in it. Came on a 800 yard spool. Probably enough to do all of our glasses. Can also be used to make dish cloths for washing dishes. I think the spool of yarn cost $10. Only thing additional that is helpful is a crochet hook.  Comes with a hook and a large sewing needle. Which I promptly lost.

First I crochet a round bottom for each glass, then hook the loop on the knitting loom and knit to the length needed...which for our needs is the height of the glass plus some for stuffing inside. Then I wrap stitch the round bottom to the sock and voila...glass sock.

The loom is so easy I taught my five year old niece to knit."

Cheri was inspired by some port curtains she saw that Pam Wilson had done for IP420 "Pappy's Packet".  She borrowed the design and modified it to make it her own.  They're shaped like shower caps with elastic sewn into the opening.  They stretch over the ports for a nice snug fit and look great.  The material she used has no definite pattern and she used different colors for different parts of the boat.  With the light coming through from behind they look like stained glass windows.  She had so much fun making them she made extra sets for different seasons.  In the winter she puts foil backed foam inside the curtain and it does a nice job of keeping the cold out.  We found that the one curtain in the forward shower kept getting soaked because the hand-held shower head hangs on the wall right next to it.  Cheri recently picked up some cheapo shower caps (real ones, $0.99) and replaced that one curtain.  It works great and the water just rolls right off.