We rolled into the Tropical Tip late yesterday. The 5th wheel is parked, but not unloaded; probably just going to leave it set up and loaded because we'll be heading back out again in a month. First order of business: get Wild Blue out of storage and back in the water...
Even though we took great care when putting her away (indoor storage, Damp-Rid, dryer sheets all around the cabin, fresh coat of wax, all food and paper products removed, Comet cleanser around everything that touches the ground), after 6 months it always needs work. I evicted several mud-dauber nests (under the windshield cover, in a couple places under the cabin brow... I had covered all the through hull openings), did some hand-to-hand combat with spiders. The boat was put away perfectly clean inside and out; it came out with a layer of dirt, evidence that some birds had gotten into the storage unit, and a bit of mildew in the head and v-berth area. We gots some work to do...
We took all the cushions out of the boat and scrubbed them down with a soap/diluted bleach bath. Every bit of Sunbrella got the same treatment...
Then, the entire cabin (top to bottom, cockpit to v-berth) got a thorough scrubbing...
When the boat first came out of the storage unit, I got inside... it looked pretty darn good to me. Alas, there is a vast difference between "guy clean" and what women will allow. It now passes "woman clean".
The Honda fired up immediately, but wasn't peeing normally. My first thought was that something got into the water intake or exit. I pulled the motor up and ran a wire into the water exit and cleaned the intake. Better. More poking and prodding with a longer/thicker wire, and the Honda made a spitting noise and the pee flow got stronger and back to normal. Another eviction.
More work over the next few days before we can take her out to play. I need to check all the systems - water, pumps, water heater, Wallas, fridge, etc, etc. We'll do some close in day-tripping to check her out thoroughly.
It's been six months. After driving the cruiseboats this past season, the left side helm felt odd... and the boat seemed kinda small. :wink: Oh, and pulling the 5th wheel about 10,000 miles. Different perspective.
It was a warm day in the Tropical Tip and felt pretty darn humid. The local weather weasel called it a "cool morning" (in the mid-60s) and unusually dry... that perspective thing again. 8) With the highs the next few days in the mid-80s, this feels like summer to us... yeah, they called it "comfortably cool autumn temps". I thought I might have forgotten how to sweat the past few months... it comes back fast. By the bucket.
We're not moved back in to the house, yet, but it sure looks better with the boat at the dock. Really looking forward to some time on Wild Blue.
Best wishes,
Jim B.
