MORE ON LIFE ON BOARD

THE GALLEY

The galley is what the kitchen is called on a boat. Ours is on the starboard side of the boat, amidships at the bottom of the companionway. It is 5ft x 6.5ft and includes a stove, fridge/freezer, double sink and plenty of storage, but not much counter area.

The three burner propane stove is gimbaled. This means with the release of a lever at the bottom of the stove the whole unit will pivot. This enables the stove to remain level if you want to use it while sailing or if the boat is rolling a lot at anchor. It works well. It’s been a challenge getting used to cooking with gas again instead of electricity. In order to operate the stove you must first turn on the propane. This is accomplished by flipping the switch on the little black box you can see in the picture above the counter to the right of the stove. You must also insure this switch is turned off when you are finished cooking. That is to prevent the propane from leaking into the boat.

On to the sink area. We have a pressurized water system which runs on the DC from the batteries so you have to flip a switch in order to have water pressure. To the right of the centre tap there are two small taps which are connected to the two water tanks and are operated by a foot pump. To the left, is a single tap which has saltwater drawn into it by another foot pump. This allows us to have access to water without having to use electricity. The saltwater access enables us to conserve water because we can use it for cleaning and for rinsing dirty dishes before washing. There is also an under-sink, inline water filter.

The fridge is 7.0 cuft. and runs on both 12v DC and 120v AC. Amazingly it only draws 3 amps of energy. Although it is small we can store enough meat in the freezer to last 1 week + if it is just the two of us on board.

So far the biggest challenge for cooking in the galley is the fact that neither of us has much of an appetite and I never feel like cooking because it is always so hot. Just like at home in the summer, I never felt like cooking then either.

Before we went to USVI all we had to cook in were two light-weight pots and a frying pan, so that in itself was challenging. We bought a bigger pot and pan with lids and a pressure cooker which had been recommended as a necessity on board. I must say I have tried out the pressure cooker and it does come in handy. Besides you save on propane because it takes less time to cook food eg a stew in 15 minutes instead of a couple of hours.

THE HEAD

For you 'land lubbers' the head is the bathroom or toilet. We have two on the boat one is an ensuite in the aft (owner's) cabin and the other has access from the salon and is next to the fore (guest) cabin. Both have showers - the aft head has a separate shower room, the fore head the whole room is the shower room. We also have two sunshowers which is what we will probably use more often than the showers in the heads. These are black vynal bags that are filled with water and then lashed to the deck during the day. The sun heats the water and then it can be used to shower, rinse off saltwater after swimming or even do dishes. Again saving precious battery power.

Now the important part - how do you operate the toilet. No you don't just push the handle to flush it. First you have to determine whether you can empty waste directly into the ocean or whether you have to use the holding tanks. In most marinas you are encouraged to use shore facilities or holding tanks which are then emptied while at sea. What can be flushed? As with a septic system on land only those things that can be(food scraps) or have passed through the human body and certain toilet papers can be flushed. No plastics, Kleenex, sanitary products etc. These both clog the system and don't degrade in the ocean. You don't want to have to unclog the pipes if you are responsible for the clog.

The process for flushing is done using the mechanism you see beside the toilet. The silver lever on the side of the white column can be positioned either forward or back. The black handle on top moves up and down. First the lever is placed forward, the handle is moved up and down and the bowl fills with water, the amount depends on how many times the handle is moved up and down. Next you do your business. Then the lever is moved back and the handle is again moved up and down until the bowl is emptied. And that is how the head is used.

Next installment The Nav Area. It may be a couple of days from now because hopefully some time tomorrow we will be sailing. (now I probably jinxed us!!)