An Early Spring

As is typical in boating, our practices this winter didn’t follow the plans made in the fall.  We had imagined we would be out sailing more, nearly as frequently as during the summer, rather than house-sitting and splitting our time commuting between boat and house.  We didn’t spend much time winterizing, imagining we would be out and using all those systems, whereas in fact they have been sitting for the better part of three months without much happening.  I managed to put off an oil change, radar troubleshooting, installing additional storage racks, rewiring a bilge pump, fixing a backflooding problem with the shower sump, and any number of other sundry small projects that make sailing life safer and easier.

So now we’re set to head north in less than a month, and it’s time to go through what is effectively our spring commissioning.

I’ve been a little scared to crack open the engine compartment, and if you have ever tried to pump cold oil out of a sump you would be too.  Of course it’s my intention to warm the engine up before I take a crack at it, but the engine has been a warm-weather creature to this point, and I’m also a little worried it’s not exactly going to fire right up when I hit the starter.  Better here than just off the Customs dock in Bedwell Harbour, of course, but I’ve got plenty to do already without having to nurse along a sick diesel.

Our radar has been claiming it doesn’t exist for some time now and  I’ve been trying to find a method with which to get up the mast and get the hood off it without freezing to death.  My technique so far can be described as “wait for spring” but time has run out on that one.  The nice days we have been having, I have not been at the boat, and the days I have been at the boat have been uniformly rainy and miserable, which aren’t the best for poking around at delicate electronics, anyway.

The bilge pump wiring could probably wait but it’s one of those few things I can do as easily in bad weather as good so it is probably the only thing that will actually get fixed to my satisfaction before we leave.  That, at least, will provide some comfort if the shower sump floods back into the cabin; in fine weather there is no problem, but when we are out getting tossed around (as seems likely to happen on a February sail) the fact that the head floor drain was built in without a one-way valve results in evil-looking slime creeping back out of the sump and making a bid for freedom.  I’d let it go its way, but unfortunately I am often between it and the companionway.  Only one of us may prevail.

Despite the daunting laundry list of things that need to happen between now and February 10th, I’ve found that having a good hard deadline does wonders to fix the mind on what is most necessary and to actually make progress on projects that have seemed insurmountable.  I wouldn’t give odds, then, that I won’t get up the mast by then (although whether or not I am capable of debugging the radome is another matter), and I’ll get the oil changed even if I have to use a blowtorch to heat the pan to do it.

Come to think of it, our insurance settlement for a burnt boat might just cover the cost of hotel rooms in Vancouver.