2/21/10... Bump in the Night? Willy?

Today was my first day for solo work without the man around. I am tired of the drive back and forth all the time... Sooooo... I figured we should stay the night on the boat. Why not??? It's just like camping kind of. The only thing that bothered me was the remaining mildew and other general nastiness the boat still had... This would be the third (I think) time she has been bleached and wiped... It gets better each time but, number one Charlie only lets me use so much bleach before he starts to get bothered by the fumes and number two we are never there long enough to actually get to the bottom of an entire area. Today was going to be my day to scour the front of the cabin so, we could sleep in it.

I was pleased that all of the mildew was able to be cleaned completely from the front of the cabin. I was also pleased that the eye sore stains had 95% lifted and left clean in it's place. On a Willy note, the man needed some silicone anonymous help. I know that a tube of silicone is important on a sailboat for so many reasons buttttt, Willy had coated his entire boat with it... inside, outside, over paint, over windows, secured hatches closed... yes, and most important use, place 1/4" silicone over any area where you see mildew. Over time, you will be amazed at the smell that can be created when you scrape the moldy silicone off.... ummmm yummm. :(

Sleeping on the boat for the first time??? Hmmmm... Very happy for the space heater Charlie brought along. We even had to open the hatch during the night to cool off a bit. BUT... no matter how many comforters, sleeping bags, quilts, pillows, and jackets you lay down in an effort to soften a bed of molded acrylic or fiberglass or whatever it is... it is NEVER soft. We tossed and turned through the majority of the night and did sleep through more than we thought we would. The wind was pretty brutal. You could hear every rig hitting up against something for the entire night... Some of the noises even echo. (Almost sounds like someone walking around on the deck.) It must have sounded like that to Charlie too because he asked in the middle of the night if Willy was alive or dead... I blurted he was alive because the thought of his ghost haunting the boat at that point was unbearable to me. I confessed the next morning I didn't know about Willy. Maybe I should look into it :)