"Looking for Johnny Cash."

                                           
                                           

                  I'm taking a break from Sailing stories to tell a favorite of the trip down from Minnesota.  Both of us are big Johnny Cash fans, and decided to see his infamous house, the one from the movie, Walk the Line, in Hendersonville Tenn.  In true form we got lost in Nashville, and arrived in Hendersonville shortly before midnight.  We Googled the area and drove around the lake where we the house should be for about an hour with no luck.  So we went back to the "main drag", and found an open gas station to ask directions.

                  Boy did we get an ear-full by the attendant. Johnny's grandson had worked at that station at one point, and had gone to high school with the only other customer..etc.., but more importantly we were on the right road all along.  As the story goes; one of the Bee Gees had bought the home shortly after Johnny's death, and was going to turn it into an amusement park.  During renovations it "mysteriously" burnt down, causing rumors of drugs and insurance fraud.  We were a bit downhearted until he said, "Johnny's grave is just up the road, first graveyard you'll see on the way back to Nashville."  What the hell we thought.

                We drove a short distance up the road to the graveyard, and as instructed looked for a large headstone saying "Cash".  We found many civil war graves, and some graves so old you couldn't even read the names.   After awhile it was getting really late, and yeah it was spooky, really spooky.  Even the cats were getting freaked out, so we gave up, and headed back to Nashville.  In a way we were jinxed for the rest of trip, Looking for Johnny was the only time we searched a graveyard, but we have yet to see a famous home in daylight.

"You can bet on the sharks, I'm betting on the dog."....

        Recently we stopped at a little bay for just a night to charge up the batteries.  A night turned into many days of overcast skies, rain, and no sun.  Our previous good feelings of cruising around with an electric motor faded each day as we sat watching the solar panels slooowly bring the batteries back to life, as big diesel engines cruised by.  The only ones in that anchorage who were enjoying the weather were the sharks feeding around the boat. 

           Usually rain or shine we'll go to shore once or twice a week to use wifi and get fresh food.  This bay was surrounded by private docks and beach houses.  Not wanting to give cruisers a bad name by trespassing on private property, we sat tight for six days.  But by day six, okay maybe four, we were sick of only beans, and rice to eat, and getting restless.  Like a bad B movie every time I'd think about jumping in to swim around, a slow moving fin would start to circle the boat, damn predators!

            Finally on the seventh day the sun came out, salvation arrived, it was another sailor, and he had a dog!  "A dog, he has a dog!", I tried not to scream too loud.  I grabbed the binoculars, and with the predator instincts of the sharks, eyed the other boat.  Excitedly I explained, "A dog needs to be walked.  He'll have to go to shore, and show us where the dighny beach is.".  Sure enough thirty minutes later the other sailor and his dog rowed into some trees, an hour later they came back with grocery bags!  I grabbed my backpack, jumped in the dighny, was though the trees, and on to dry land in record time.  It took a few more days to fully charge the batteries, but that was okay every thing's better with sunshine and fresh fruit!

          
        

        

"I'm not a drunken sailor, I just have soapy sandals....Probably didn't help that I was carrying a case of Black n' Tans"....

                Walking on dry land, after being used to constant boat rocking, is similar to when you where little and spun around as fast as you could then tried to walk in a straight line. At first the land in front of you seems to be moving, and your knees don't work right.  In my experience the longer your on the boat the longer the vertigo lasts.

              Recently we were anchored in a very ritzy residential area.  I'm talking the big Spanish style mansions, with the gates, and gatehouses, blocking almost your entire view of the courtyard fountain, and grand staircase leading up to the main entrance.  Safe to say whenever we went to shore we stuck out like a sore thumb.  After eight days straight on the boat I needed a walk.  I was pretty wobbly the whole way to the grocery store, but only got a few funny looks.  While I was inside it rained, no biggie I live on a boat my feet get wet.

             Walking back, with my wobbly knees, and carrying a case of Black n' Tans, my feet start feeling slimy.  I stopped, checked my sandals  to see what I stepped in, and saw suds. (I had wore those flip flops while cleaning the deck, and they were still soapy.)  So there I am walking down the street, with my wobbly knees, carrying a case of Black n' Tans, and my feet slipping around in my sandals, past all these mega mansions.  I was getting a lot of looks from the other "walkers".  (Similar to the ladies who walk around Lake Calhoun with matching walking skirts and stretchy tops in neon colors.)  Finally one judgemental couple actually made a comment.  I know that some sailors fit the stereotype, but not me, and after graciously taking the dirty looks for the last mile I felt justified in replying, "I'm not a drunken sailor, I just have soapy sandals."


                   

             

"Baking Soda use number 1,098!"

            No it's not some new Caribbean foot cream, it's just old fashion baking soda.  Without a Target around every corner we've had to get very creative, and make a lot of our own house hold products.  Number one ingredient in most, Baking Soda!  The following list are some of the uses we've discovered it's great for so far....

             1.  Insect bite relief.  Down here we have no-see-um bugs, mosquito's, and a variety of bugs that leave nice itchy welts all over.  Instead of overpriced creams we just slap on some baking soda paste, and relief is ours.  Plus it helps get rid of the welts they leave behind too.

             2.  Keeping with skin care, it's a great exfoliate.  Rub a little on your face after you wash it, and it's smoother than a baby's bottom.

             3.  Health wise it's also an antacid.  A tsp with a cup of water and heartburn's gone.  So much cheaper than Tums, just don't eat too soon after drinking the mixture,trust me.

              4.  You ever make a Volcano for science class?  Let me guess the lava was, red dye, baking soda, and vinegar.  Guess what that works, minus the red dye unless you want a mess, to unclog any drain.   Sprinkle in some baking soda, then a little vinegar watch it bubble, way cooler and cheaper than Drano.  Your drains should be clear in no time.

              5.  Rust is a big problem living on a boat.  Again baking soda and vinegar to the rescue.  Make a paste, use and old paintbrush to apply, wait an hour, or overnight if really rusty.  Than go to town with a green scubby, toothbrush or steel wool.  The nice thing is sometimes it dissolves it without scrubbing needed, great for tiny, and hard to reach places.

              6.  Basic boat/household cleaner.  Use equal parts baking soda, ammonia, bleach, and vinegar.  For swabbing the deck I do 1/2 cup each with two gallons water.  I use this for the deck, floors, tub, everything.  If it's a mildewy, or moldy job I just add some borax.

              7.  Laundry: borax, lemon joy, and baking soda, with a touch of vanilla extract keep our clothes clean, smelling good,and soft.

              8.  Putting out fires, I haven't had to test this yet, crossing fingers I won't ever, but hear it works well.

                I could go on and on,  but to keep it short will say to be continued.....

"There's always stuff to do, just not always the motivation."

            I use to watch "Little House on the Prairie", and wonder what do they do all day stuck way out there?  Now, living and working on a boat, people ask me that question a lot.  When you don't have modern conveniences, there's always stuff to do, just not always the motivation to do it.

            First thing in the morning is check the anchors, sails, dighny, and make sure nothing fell overboard overnight.  There isn't a walk-in closet to hide dirty clothes, so I try to do a load every couple days.  I'll admit I use the, "I think the water tanks are low.", as an excuse sometimes. Of course that's just the normal housework.

             There is also the "boat" work. We check the lines, or ropes, often to make sure they aren't tangled, or frayed, and I like to roll them up like rugs just to look nice.  Every time it rains there are new leaks, and rust.  (My rust buster, soak it in a mix of vinegar and baking soda then attack it with a green scrubber, or toothbrush.)  And like any boat/home owner, a huge list of remodeling projects to do.
  

               Being a chronic procrastinator I do find plenty of other distractions.  Today for instance I read "Programming Perl edition 3", instead of laundry, and of course Blog writing. (We're low on water, really!) At night, or when it's raining, we have; books, T.V., cards, and occasionally Internet for entertainment.  The oceans right there, if the waters not brown I'll jump in!  The truth is these past eleven months have been very busy, rarely boring, and I love it.

"Lave sus manos, or not."

                      Living on dry land I took having fresh water for granted.  At the dinner where I worked, I was the hand washing Nazi, running around the kitchen yelling, "Lave sus manos!"  Living on a boat, surrounded by salt water, it's more, "I can wait another day to shower."  When you don't always know where the next fresh water fill up is, every drop counts.  So we work on the three C's, conserving, collecting, and consumption.

                       Conserving was the hardest to get use to, back home I never had to think about the amount of water coming out of the faucet.  We can store almost 200 gallons of fresh water on board.  Sometimes we can substitute salt water for everyday uses.  It is very good for getting dirt out of clothes, add a little pure vanilla extract to take out the fish smell and they've never been cleaner.  Lemon Joy is one of the best things ever, and one of few cheap soaps that suds in salt water.  We use it for dishes, salt water to wash, then fresh to rinse, cleaning the deck, and ourselves.  Also the lemony smell helps a little with the mosquitos.  Rainstorms are our friends, I like to soap up the deck when I know ones coming than let mother nature give it a rinse.

                        Rainstorms are also our chance to collect fresh water.  At first I had every bucket tied off to the railings.  It was like the roof top scene in "28 Days Later", and working about as well.  So we built a rain-catcher, and put up gutters on the side of our cockpit hardtop.  Sometimes there's a big spot of bird poop on the rain-catcher, we put that water in a special jug.  Fortunately we haven't need to use it yet, but that's why we have boiling pots, and filters.

                         Overall the best thing we do is just limit our consumption.  Only one teapot in the morning for both, coffee, and oatmeal.  We wear the same clothes for a few days in a row, and showers are reserved for going to shore.  When your just on the boat as long as your partner doesn't think you smell, who cares.  A few drops is all you need to brush your teeth, wash your face, and a half of cup to shave, we're not total "Hippies", yet.  Most important I've learned to bite my tongue, instead of yelling "Lave sus manos!", when my man's making dinner.  I do have a spray bottle handy, my bleach, borax, and vinegar mix, to clean up with after.

                       

                   

"Getting the Shaft!"

               We were very excited for our maiden voyage on the boat.  Our plan was to motor/sail from Sunset Bay Marina to Port Salerno, where we were getting the bottom done. About 400 yards into our trip the trouble began, we lost control of the boat and ran aground.  Thankfully we have a Tow Boat U.S. membership, and they quickly picked us up. 

                To our relief, and dismay, we discovered the shaft was misaligned,  making steering difficult.  Great news, it wasn't our inexperience, bad news we had to remove the shaft, remount the motor, than put it all back together with only .008 mill room for error.  It wouldn't be an easy task.  The shaft is welded to the motor, and the stuffing box, graphite wrapped around the shaft to keep water out, is under the bedroom floor.  After that all 14 feet of steel rod has to come out a tiny hole in the back of the boat.

                Lemon Joy use number 1,001, greasing a shaft.  We sawed off the end than greased the whole thing with Lemon Joy, and, with the help of Harley Jack, pulled that sucker out. I thought getting it back in would be the hard part, but once the motor was properly remounted it was a breeze, despite only having a hairs width of error.

                 Even knowing it was more mechanical, than human, error I was nervous when she got back in the water.  All that sweat and Lemon Joy paid off, she motors like a dream.  At least most of the time, I wish I could say they were always mechanical, and not human, errors.