Line up the ducks

We ferried the bikes ashore the other day for the first time in a while. They were a little worse for wear, what with hanging off the back of Escape Velocity in the salt environment for so long. Jack spent the morning yesterday changing a tube and generally getting the rust to back off and after a couple of hours of loving ministrations they are now good to go again, ready for our many upcoming forays to gather the materials and supplies we need to start our repair list.

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While Jack worked on the bikes, I tackled our pile of laundry in the marina laundry room. Yes, we have a washer on board, but it’s small and I needed to wash our blankets and fleecy clothing. I’m hoping we won’t need most of it again any time soon.

When we got back to EV I emptied out another cupboard. I’ve been working my way through the boat, giving the huge storage spaces some much needed cleaning, airing out and sorting. We were closed up in cold weather for a long time and that means condensation and that means mildew. We’re considering adding vents in many of the closed spaces and that would definitely help the air circulation. On the other hand, our experience this fall was unplanned and unlikely to be repeated. In more southern climates, the hatches are open and the boat stays fresh and dry.

The cupboard I emptied yesterday is the lowest in our bedroom, and we keep our shoes there. Good thing I did. My cowboy boots had mildew all over them, inside and out. Yuck! I tossed out a pair of black leather shoes that I wore pretty frequently on land but that are totally inappropriate with the shorts and sundresses I plan to be living in now. I found a cute pair of espadrilles I’d forgotten about.

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I scrubbed the space and rinsed it well with fresh water. While it’s drying the shoes will benefit from a good airing.

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And yes, I know cowboy boots are not exactly proper boat attire, but who among you would give up a good pair of broken in boots like that? I could use some ideas on getting the mildew out of the toes, though. It’s a tight squeeze in there.

We ended the day at Duffy’s with our new Manta friends Lisa and Marty of True Colors, the folks who lent us their car last week. They’re new owners like us, so we’re at about the same point on the Manta learning curve and it’s reassuring to compare notes and know that eventually we’ll figure it all out.

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We’re loving the warm weather, and today we plan to climb on our bikes and give these lazy legs a good workout.

4 Comments

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4 Responses to Line up the ducks

  1. When we lived in Hong Kong we used to have heaters in the closets for the shoes, even though the flat was air conditioned. A bit nuts, when you think about it. You can get big bags of dessicant that might help.

    • I think we’ll do the dessicants as we’ll as some snap-together plastic grids to keep the shoes off the surface and allow for drainage. And maybe a vent. Or go barefoot.

  2. jere is an idea for shoe mildew. perhaps this solution and a bottle brush could get the mildew in the boot toes
    http://www.howtocleanstuff.net/how-to-remove-moldmildew-from-leather-shoes/

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