cooking with gas

I began wondering whether I was on the verge of running out of propane since I'd been cooking for a little over three months on the same tank. A couple of guys lifted the tank and said it felt close to empty so I dragged it over to the local hardware store to refill. It's a little smaller than your standard tank for a gas grill. The tare weight is 13.2 pounds and filled to 80% capacity it takes 11 pounds of propane. I was surprised to see I still had 5 pounds of propane in the tank. I may get six months out of it before it's empty. But the tank is old and lacks an overfill preventer, so the hardware store won't refill it for me again.

I somewhat covet a couple of aluminum tanks, though they are pricey at about $150 each for 6 pound tanks. Having two light tanks is nice so that one can be taken ashore for filling while the other is still hooked up. However, I think I am going to end up getting one larger fiberglass tank. The fiberglass will never rust and will be even more lightweight--a significant benefit for me being a girl and regularly nursing the torn rotator cuff that has plagued me for a few years now.

All winter I've had a large blue tarp covering half the cockpit because the propane line is running out of the port lazarette to the tank sitting in the cockpit. I put a coozie around the propane line so the lazarette would not smash the line or chafe against it. The tarp keeps rain and snow out of the lazarette, which leads directly to the engine room, and helped to keep more heat in the engine room this winter. Now that spring is here, I called my boat handyman to schedule a time for him to help me mount the propane off the stern rail. With a little luck, by the end of the weekend that project will be completed.

Even with a slightly jury-rigged propane set-up, I've been cooking up great meals aboard. I recently had friends over for my chicken and Italian sausage served with parmesan and white wine risotto and baby spinach sauteed in olive oil and garlic with a touch of kosher salt. Delish! I may have to attribute the blurriness of that photograph to the cook having had a few bottles of Spaten while creating the meal. The rest of the chicken was cooked in lime juice and white wine with garlic, adobo seasoning, onions, orange peppers, and edamame; the lime juice gave it a lot of zip!

I haven't been experimenting with the oven as much as I should but am planning on making a nice whiskey-infused pound cake soon. I managed a large casserole of mac and cheese, (with a blend of sharp and extra sharp cheeses), and have some potatoes in need of roasting. Getting the oven lighted can be a bit of a challenge poking around the bottom of the oven with a long lighter and propane flowing. I was pleased to see that the thermometer in the oven and the temperature on the dial actually matched up. My lack of success thus far with pizza and biscuits appears to primarily rest with having used baking sheets which take up the entire footprint of the oven and, thus, inhibit air circulation. With only 11" x 17" to work with, it's time to find some baking sheets 10" x 16" or smaller so I can have my garlic cheddar biscuits before a long run and turn out some gourmet mini-pizzas for friends.

project: clean up the salon (before and after pix)

Let's just start out with the simple fact that I am not a very good nor diligent housekeeper. I would rather live in my living space than keep it impeccable in case of company. Am I a bit embarrassed that my home is always rather cluttered? A smidgeon, yes; but not much and not enough to motivate me to change my ways. Instead, when I have guests I ply them with liquor so that they will be in good spirits and hopefully ignore or forget the clutter. If having the settee and cushions "just so" is more important than good company, good drink, and good food, they probably won't long be my friends anyway.

That said, there is a point at which the space is no longer functional when piled high with clutter. Those who visited my home when I lived ashore know that moving aboard was a harsh intervention for this hoarder! So, admitting that one does actually need to be able to sit on the settee...I undertook to enforce some order upon the space.

Settee, piled high with clothes and "stuff"

Dinette, piled with tools, insulation, cushions and more clothes

Crew cuddle cups at the dinette

Nav desk piled high with tools, cleaning supplies, and running gear

Don't think for a minute that I don't know where everything is aboard. It may be crazy, but I can thrust my hand into the middle of a stack of "stuff" and pull out the tool or gloves I was looking for!

Cleaning up the salon was not simply about relocating the piles of stuff so that some surfaces were visible. Storage lockers needed to be cleaned, bulky housing insulation removed, and Reflectix insulation properly installed. The dinette was missing a cushion. Other cushions needed to be re-purposed.

Eewww! Wet, moldy housing insulation taking up needed storage space!

I am loathe to hack up items and risk ruining them. But that's silly. These huge cushions from some fancy chairs I got rid of in 2005 were taking up space aboard. They were four inches too big to fit the dinette.

24" x 30" when I need 24" x 26"... what to do?

Took the plunge, tossed the cover, and cut away the batting

Just need to trim the cushion down

Used my dad's river knife to trim the cushions

I saved the "logs" of foam I trimmed from the cushions and saved the batting. I now have my sewing machine aboard, so when I get around to it, I will make some roll pillows and sew up some nice covers for the dinette cushions. For now, some sheets folded around them will suffice.

The dinette seats two, if the cats will let you in

And the settee can actually seat a few guests, or I can stretch out for a cat nap.

The settee to starboard also has a large table that drops down from the bulkhead

I haven't managed to clear off the nav desk yet and the ample galley gear and provisions are still in the process of finding their "spots." I cannot afford to waste space and need every locker to be used in the most space-efficient manner I can muster. My djembe (drum) does double-duty as a laptop desk!

I freely admit I still have too much stuff, both in general and on the boat, but it is a process to weed out the items I really can put to good use and that which I can live without--and which is which is not always what one may first assume! Nonetheless, it feels good to make little bits of progress aboard here and there, chip away at the "to do" list, and meet wonderful new liveaboard friends along the way.

ship's cats

In undertaking my move aboard, my crew didn't get a vote on this new lifestyle, though it has many implications for them. My "crew" is made up of two cats, 10 year-old littermate brothers, Maximus and Hunter, and a 6 1/2 year-old yellow lab, Buttercup. Their antics, hijinks, challenges, and silliness are often regular tidbits among my blog posts. For The Monkey's Fist I am taking a moment to focus on the experience of having cats aboard.

My guys are older and cats in general do not like change. I have moved often and work hard to minimize the stress of moving on my guys. We've lived in some small digs, but the boat would still be quite a downsizing for us all. But cats love to find nooks and crannies to explore and small, cozy spaces to snuggle up in. For that, boats can be perfect. My guys enjoyed having their cuddle cups atop the lockers in the stateroom; they were up high and also next to port lights to peer outside. Even as I reorganize the boat as I settle in, they never have trouble finding a spot to nap. The dog and cats are fast friends, and in the close confines of the boat the cats seem more apt to snuggle up with the dog and not mind sharing space with her.

Just shy of one month aboard we rode out the edges of Hurricane Sandy. While all my shore-based friends were telling me to abandon ship, and I was out in the wind and rain every hour or two adjusting lines, the cats (and dog) slept through the whole affair. The cats had gone through several hurricanes and tropical storms when we lived in Miami, so the noise of the wind whipping outside was at least not a new experience. But I figured the boat's rocking would upset them. Nope; they just curled up napped.

The two biggest challenges I have had are litter boxes and escapes. The litter box presents a few issues aboard: space, litter type, and dog-proofing. Space being at a premium, it's crazy that I have two litter boxes aboard. I would like to "wean" them down to one, but I feel the combination of two litter boxes and the litter they prefer has kept us from having "out-of-box incidents" that made life afloat very unpleasant at times. I don't think I can fit a litter box behind the companionway steps as s/v Dos Libras does, but I may see if I can make it work. Right now we have a "top-entry" Clever Cat box that is on a small settee so the dog can't reach to get in it, but it needs to find another home because it blocks access to a locker I need into frequently. A litter pan with a small raised rim to help lessen (but definitely not eliminate) litter being kicked out is located under the navigation desk...in some prime storage space I could really use for tool boxes or provisions. I am hoping that eventually I will work out a better space-saving solution.

Not wanting to lift heavy clay litter onto the boat, I switched to corn-based World's Best Cat Litter. Unlike the clay I use, it is not scoopable. In theory, the corn absorbs all the pee and you just scoop the poop. Ditto for the Feline Pine. Both left the boat smelling like a litter box, the cats regularly protested by going outside the box, and just as much (if not more) litter was tracked outside the box. As heavy as the Fresh Step clay is, and as big a carbon footprint as it has, it simply does the job and keeps my guys happy.

Keeping the dog from getting into the litter boxes looking for "treats" is much more difficult aboard. Ashore, the litter box was in a utility closet with a door ajar enough for the cats to get in but too narrow for the dog to access. Now I have to either find ways to keep litter boxes up high enough that the dog cannot get into them or create barricades so she cannot access the boxes. A tower of random items blocks the dog from getting to the one under the nav desk, but also makes it very inconvenient for me to clean that box or get to anything in the nav station. I have a fledging plan to use wooden garden trellis to close off the area under the nav desk and cut an access port for the cats. The trellis will keep the dog out, but allow ventilation.

The other challenge I have had is escapes. My guys have been inside-only cats their entire lives. It doubles their life expectancy when they do not face the cars, illnesses, cat-fights, wild animals, and other dangers of going outside. I was hoping perhaps they would stick to the boat and be able to experience the outside, with all the smells, bird-watching, and patches of sun to lounge in. Unfortunately, both cats now seize opportunities to head topsides, wander down the dock, hop on other boats, and generally make me frantic. Cats don't exactly "come" when called, and they prefer to go on walkabouts when I'm urgent to leave the boat for something or other, so I run below cursing and rattle a cat food bin until they come running back in expecting dinner or a treat. When the weather is mild, I would much prefer to be able to leave the hatch open, but will need to make a screen dropboard to prevent escapes.

My experience so far has only been one of marina life. I expect I will face additional challenges when we hit rough weather at sea, ports that don't have our preferred food or litter available to purchase, and whatever other surprises may arise when cruising with cats. Pets aboard definitely make cruising more difficult due to the space taken up with provisions, bedding, toys, et cetera for pets, and due to the restrictions on entry of pets into various countries. But I made a commitment to my pets for their lifetimes and they give me their unconditional love. 

With all the hassles and compromises, why bother having ship's cats? Well, in the winter they are great little space heaters. It never hurts to have a mouser aboard. But most of all, they are wonderful companions who listen no matter how many times I've told them the same story and who come nuzzle me when they sense that I'm down.

There are also the little surprises... the other day I came aboard and found water all over the galley floor. The sink half-full of water for dishes couldn't have been rocked enough by the winds to spill all over. I wiped up the mess and cast it off as another boat mystery. About fifteen minutes later Hunter appeared on the dinette and one look told the story:

I guess someone went for an accidental swim in the galley sink; oops!

Bottom line considerations:

- Having pets aboard will limit your ability to travel; I can jump through some hoops and take them to the Bahamas, but my beloved Barbados is a no-go due to quarantine requirements.

- Finding a pet-sitter is more complicated aboard--you need someone who knows enough about boats to at least "do no harm" aboard.

- There is no better mouse (or rat) trap than a cat; they'll have more than earned their keep if they keep vermin from chewing through hoses!

- There are safety risks for boat cats, from osprey to cat-overboard incidents.

For more posts on this topic, visit The Monkey's Fist.

essential provisioning

Really love my Myers Dark, but being a boater on a budget, had to go for the Gosling's ($23) instead of Myers ($41) and Carolans instead of Bailey's this go-around. Now I've got all my essential provisions for making my favorite cold-weather drinks: Peppermint Patties, Hot Buttered Rum, and Irish Coffee.

Hoping to get hauled and work on the boat at the end of next week. Trying to find a good boatyard where my friend and I can do the work self-service and the haul-out is not outrageously priced. Very excited to get a few of these essential repairs made and a couple of creature-comfort upgrades done. The boat will always be a work in progress, but every boat is; "the list" is never done.