Dealing With Liquids

Marathon, FL
No LL

Boy is it hard to get friends and family up north to feel sorry for us when the temperature here falls to 60.

Our anchorage out in Sisters Creek turned out to be a great choice. It is quiet there. We are sheltered from the city lights so that we can watch the stars and the moon. Despite the fact that we're only 2 meters from the mangroves, the cold weather suppresses the insects.

This morning however, as I got in to the dinghy, I found what appears to be 1/2 gallon of pelican poop all over. Yuck what a job cleaning that up. The remarkable thing however is that it happens so seldom. Given the number of very large birds flying around, one would expect to get bombed more often than we do.

When we bought Tarwathie4 years ago, I thought it odd that the gray waste water from the galley sink drains down to the bilge. That's a rather disgusting practice, keeping the bilge permanently dirty and smely. There is an unused thru-hull penetration with a sea cock under the sink. Yesterday, I converted the plumbing to drain the gray water directly overboard.

After the conversion I learned why Al Hatch made it drain to the bilge. It appears that the bottom of our sink is exactly at sea level. That means we have standing water in the sink drain always. Worse, when we go out to sea, the waves will cause water back up the drain in to the sink. I may have to reverse my conversion. Before doing that, I'm going to ask other Westsail 32 owners how they do it.

Balderdash Tournament tomorrow aboard Anythings Pawssible.

p.s. I've been babying my knee for two days now, and it's feeling better. The main thing is to keep a stiff straight leg as much as possible to avoid bending the knee.