NUTS & BOATS

 The twice monthly newsletter for to-be and already-are cruisers

Issue #5 - September 1, 2003
Publisher: Trish Lambert
www.takehersailing.com
(C) P. Lambert 2003

Welcome to new subscribers who have  signed up through www.takehersailing.com!

IN THIS ISSUE

• A Liveaboard's Eye View:  The Great Black Out, Toronto Style

• Cruising Strategy: Managing Mildew

 THIS ISSUE'S COOL CRUISING QUOTE

We need more fruitcakes in this world and less bakers!
Jimmy Buffett

(Note: Send me your cool cruising quotes and I will include them in future issues!)

Please forward this newsletter to anyone who is interested in the cruising lifestyle.

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A LIVEABOARD'S EYE VIEW
The Great Black Out, Toronto Style                                                   By Jeff Smith

Note from Trish: In this issue, I am sharing a story sent by a subscriber in Toronto, relating the experience of going through the recent power outage in the U.S. and Canada from the vantage of a catamaran home.

When the lights went out in our office around 4:15pm that Thursday afternoon, we figured that someone had hit a pole down the road. It had happened before, and we just assumed that this was a repeat performance.

As we headed the car down the driveway, the low gasoline indicator came on. Still, we figured, no problem...we'll just get out of the powerless area and fill up. Then we realized the size of the black out. Wow. We stopped into a trucking company across the street and begged for gas. They had half a can in their lawn cutting shed, and gave it to us. The guy even loaned us the empty can, in case we got a chance to score more fuel.

Every single traffic light in Toronto was off line. It was bedlam. Some people were logically treating the intersections like four-way stops while others were barreling straight through, so we had to be careful. Cars everywhere were running out of gas, people were getting scared and yelling at each other. It was spooky.

We just managed to make it home to the boat with the gas we had. When we arrived we immediately filled our water tanks, just in case. We felt very self-sufficient compared to the land dwellers. Our reefer still worked, our solars would have kept the batteries charged if it lasted a long time, and we had lights and radios. Just no dock lights or city lights anywhere.

The skyline of Toronto was a big dark silhouette. VERY spooky. Near the marina there's a 300-foot smoke stack. The flashing lights on it were not flashing. Fortunately there was a full moon, and it could be seen. A plane went past it and I wondered if he could find the runway at the Toronto Island Airport.

It was 31 degrees C during the black out (around 90F) and without power...no air conditioning. WHEW! We spent hours with our neighbor aboard his power boat in air conditioned comfort and then left our hatches open and 12v fans running to stay cool while we slept. Not so easy for some folks though. I felt badly for the old folks who were undoubtedly suffering in the heat.

The biggest scare was with respect to the water system. The report on the radio was that the pumps they use to run the water north to the reservoir were off line due to the power outage, and that the reservoir only holds enough water for 24 hours. So, had the power been out longer, we would have no drinking water (good reason to keep the beer supplies well stocked!) and no water for the fire hydrants either. The radio announcers were telling people don't water lawns, don't do laundry, and don't even flush the toilet, just in case.

The people at our marina took it all pretty much in stride compared to the folks who really needed power. Thursday night we went for a walk up the docks and joined in with a couple of groups as they chatted and relaxed. No sense of doom in the marina...but very tense outside. We heard sirens all night.

The power started to come back online at 6:00am Friday morning, but some areas were still without power for another 24 hours. When the power came on all the bilge pumps and air conditioning systems on the other boats started running, which woke us up.

Next morning I headed to a gas station where power had been restored. I managed to scrape enough cash together to buy half a tank of gasoline. Even the morning after the black out, at gas stations where the power had come back on, people were lined 30 cars deep and yelling at each other in semi-panic. Some gas stations were charging DOUBLE for gasoline...and people were paying it too.

It's funny, but I never made the connection to how much we need electricity until this happened. Bank ATMs, credit card and cash register systems, subways, airports..it's a domino effect...one piece tumbles and they all fall down. There were abandoned cars all over the place; they'd run out of gas, and without power the gas station pumps die. People were sleeping in the streets, there was no food to be had (the cash registers died so the stores closed!). Honestly, it was bedlam for some.

It was interesting watching society react, that's for sure. On Sunday at the grocery store I found all the shelves bare. People had come in on Saturday and bought everything in sight, especially bottled water and rice, beans, milk, and other staples. It frightened folks and everyone is now stocking up for the next time.

All in all, quite an eye opening experience. From now on, I am going to drive only on the top half of my fuel tank and make sure the water tank and beer locker stay well stocked!

INPUT TO ISSUE #4

I received some great feedback on last issue's Cruising Strategy article on lightning.

Wally Moran provided a resource to provide better solutions than our "chain over the side" scenario.

Marilyn, on S/V Tortuga, shared a strategy that some of the cruisers use when lightning threatens.

Jeff Smith, our guest contributor for this issue, shared another of his interesting stories, this time about an up close lightning experience of his own

Check out their info.

CRUISING STRATEGY
Managing Mildew                                                                     By Trish Lambert

Since the last two articles in this section have dealt with the weather that attends the ITCZ, it seems fitting that this issue talksabout a side effect of that weather - mildew.

Dealing with mildew onboard isn't limited to the tropics or to the humid summer months. The only place that I didn't have an ongoing battle with the stuff was in the dry air of Baja. Everyplace else, it's been an adventure trying to keep the grunge off the overhead and our clothes smell- and spot-free. Leather seems particularly susceptible: I've had what looked like whole terrariums growing in and on my boat shoes!

I think most of us who have been at war with mildew on our boats agree that good ventilation is the most important weapon for fighting the good fight. Install plenty of fans, including the solar-type vent fans, to keep air moving and lockers ventilated. Also, some folks either drill holes in their locker doors (an action that makes me shudder just writing about it) or replace door faces with rattan to encourage air flow.

Another tactic to minimize the grunge is to suck as much moisture out of the air as possible-also known as minimizing condensation inside the boat. Air conditioning units accomplish this as a side effect of their main function. Another idea is to use Damp-Rid containers (easily available at supermarkets or warehouse style stores in locations where mildew is ubiquitous), though this tactic, like A/C, is only workable if the boat is stationary.

Zapping mildew, preferably before it even shows up, can be done with one (or all) of several "antimicrobial" solutions. I used a bleach/water combination in a squirter bottle, using household bleach (which is a 5 or 6 percent solution), about one part bleach to seven parts water. Be aware, however, that bleach pretty much destroys rubber, so if you are using a squirter that has any rubber components, the tool won't last long. If you have a steel hull, don't use bleach as it will react with the iron. One steel boat owner I know uses TSP on his hull.

Other options are a vinegar/water solution, or a borax/vinegar/water mixture. For the latter, the borax (should be available in supermarkets) needs to be dissolved in hot water, then mixed with vinegar and water. Commercial products also used to wipe down surfaces are Simple Green and a product called Dri-Eaz Milgo (highly concentrated gallon costs $35 and make 128 gallons of usable stuff; you can locate it for sale on the Web).

Don't wait till you start seeing the black specks on your paint and woodwork. The key with using the solutions is to including the wipe down process with regular boat cleaning chores...take out the garbage, run the vacuum, wipe down the walls, etc. Also, periodically empty clothes lockers and air out your garments to minimize the grunge invasion into cloth and leather.

Even with all these precautions, it's best to accept the fact that mildew comes with the lifestyle in most parts of the cruising world. And if you really can't stand the stuff, there's always Baja, which isn't such a bad spot to hang out on the water!

TELL A FRIEND
I've been thinking lately about boat names, and some of the crazy appellations people put on their hulls. How about CIRCUMDECISION? Or TIDY BOWL III? The friend who shared that one with me observed that she can't believe that there was actually a I and II preceding this one!

I'd like to collect a list of "the good, the bad, and the ugly," and I need your help!

We all notice other boats' names, sometimes with admiration, sometimes with laughter, and occasionally with horror. When your attention is grabbed by a name you pass in your travels, send it to me. I will keep a list, and when it's reached critical mass, I'll share it with everyone by way of this newsletter.

Send your input to me at trish@takehersailing.com.

See you next issue! And please drop me a line any time!