First I pulled out 5 big life jackets, two of which are really nice offshore jackets with strobes, decided to keep those. There was also this huge bag with something rusty and metal but a bunch of fabric stuck to it. I put that on deck in the toss out pile (but more on that bad decision later).
I spent a few minutes down there cleaning up and trying my best to identify all the bits and pieces. I tell you when I finally do have it all figured out, it will all be labeled AND I'll have a nice little drawing explaining it all. I'll definitely need that as my memory starts to go :-) I managed to figure out quite a bit, but the rest will require DJ's help.
The aft locker is also huge (by comparison to the Glass Slipper) and managed to swallow up nearly everything we had in our old cockpit locker and still have room left over! But there is a little, serious design flaw I need to fix before we head out.... The little wheel that has the cable for the steering mechanism is totally exposed, which means you really shouldn't set anything on it or around it that could cause it to get jammed - as you'd risk having no steering. That pretty much excludes using the locker.... So I've now got a new project on my list to build a little box around it. Given my new woodworking skills - that shouldn't take more than a day or two :-)
Well, anyway back to my cool surprise.... so when DJ got home last night he inspected my bag of rusty pipes. He insisted on pulling the whole thing out of the bag, cutting off the fabric that was stuck to it... Turns out it was the emergency tiller! I'm telling you I hope I never have an emergency that would cause me to use that thing! DJ says with some sanding and some kind of paint it will be fine. (another project to add to the list!) So glad he looked before I tossed in it the garbage bin!
So I woke up in the middle of the night thinking.... then what is in that long blue bag that I thought was the emergency tiller and so carefully stored in an easily accessible spot. It's definitely some kind of metal pipes... what could it be.... and the I shot upright! It's one of those nifty things you use to lift the motor off the dinghy! A total $600 dream come true!!! No I was too lazy to get up in the night and dig it out, but first thing this morning I was up digging it out. Soon I was dancing a jig in cockpit as it really is a hoist for the dinghy motor! Of course then Coleen, ever the wise, said "Well, mom, you knew there had to be one, a woman owned this boat, how do you think she did it?"
I tell you that girl is learning a thing or two about cruising. We were talking yesterday about where to store our folding bikes. I had hoped to store them in that huge starboard locker, but it was looking doubtful. Coleen said we should put them under the dinghy when it's lashed on deck for passages. Then she followed up by saying, but we get to the anchorage, we'll have to bring them inside whenever we leave the boat, so they don't get stolen.
Anyway, we are having a lot fun discovering hidden treasure on our new boat. So far no bad surprises. Today, we have a long list of errands onshore. I'll admit I haven't been to shore since.. ok I can't remember - i think last Sunday!
Top on the list of errands is some shoes for the Captain. I'm down to one pair of sandals and a pair of dress boots for work. Can you imagine a woman with no shoes? Any way got to get some sneakers... I had my first injury of the adventure yesterday. It had been a chilly morning, so I was running around in wool socks, stepped down off the cockpit seat, with my hands full and slammed into the battery charger. Nearly took off my big toe! Anyway I can't run around town with that thing in sandals - grossing everyone out. Got to break down and buy shoes :-)
Ahh, the cruising life......