Pusillanimously abandoning Carol to face winter alone—remember that I have never claimed to be brave—I flew to San Diego and GANNET yesterday. To my surprise above is the little boat as I found her with decks so clean they don’t need to be scrubbed, so obviously the birds have not been roosting on her, and a dock so clean that obviously sea lions have not been basking there in my absence. In fact there are only a few sea lions around and they are uncommonly quiet. Perhaps the loud ones have gone elsewhere for the winter.
Inside the cabin was not so pristine. There was mold, heavier toward the bow, and I found my sleeping bags to be wet. They were not under a hatch and I wondered if GANNET had a leak of which I was unaware. Not wanting to sleep in clammy sleeping bags unnecessarily I took them up and washed and dried them. You may recall that I use a three part sleeping bag system given to me by Tom of Baby the Sea Beagle fame in which one bag zips inside the other and a Goretex cover snaps over both. I am glad I did. The temperature dropped to 39º during the night and I was at times cool inside both bags. The coming lows are forecast to be higher, but I unpacked a third sleeping bag that I may use as an extra quilt tonight and/or start sleeping in my silk long underwear.
To my profound disappointment and disgust at myself I found that I had left only a finger of tequila on board. I will not do that again. I rectified this disaster this morning by walking 3.5 miles to the nearest BevMor, my favorite local liquor store, where I bought two bottles of Laphroaig and two of Plymouth gin. They only had Navy strength which is 114 proof and must be diluted. I can do that and have.
I also went to a nearby supermarket for berries, a roast beef/cheddar cheese sandwich, half of which I ate for lunch, the other half I will eat for dinner, and some bite size brownies.
Ubering back to the marina, I ate lunch and then spent almost three hours removing mold. In the bow forward of the v-berth condensation on the inside of GANNET’s uninsulated hull caused by the difference in air temperature inside versus outside was dripping like a rain forest. That, not a leak, was what soaked the sleeping bags. While I was working the temperature inside the cabin was a comfortable 72º with the hatches open. Outside was 59º.
It is great to be at sea level, to be on the water, to feel the little boat constantly if slightly moving. I love Carol, but I am a creature of the sea. And it is due to snow 6” in Chicago.
