Blossom on the hard
We returned to Blossom on Monday, a day ahead of schedule,
since Erika had become nothing more than a rain storm in our area. We thought
we’d only need an hour or two but we ended up working most of the day. Once she
was all set, we met with John, the facility manager, completed our work order
and drove off. It felt so strange to be leaving Blossom behind!
On Tuesday we drove to Ft. Lauderdale and celebrated the end
of our year with our friends CJ & Margie, at Coconuts of course. It was a
fitting celebration as we met them back in ’09 in the Bahamas when we were
aboard Lucky, when & where the seeds were planted for Blossom…
See you next year
Florida!
It doesn’t seem possible that we’ve been away for 19 months.
7 were spent commissioning in Stuart and 12 were living aboard Blossom. We
covered over 5000 miles (Martin has a very cool blog entry coming that maps our
travel!) It was an amazing year of learning, growing, exploring and adventure.
We’ve enjoyed the fabulous company of “old” (not in age ;) friends and made
several new friends. It’s a wonderful community on the water and we’re looking
forward to reconnecting with people in the months and years to come.
And now it’s time to head to our land home and reconnect
with our friends and family there. This
is our transition to our “6 & 6” schedule. We’ll be splitting our time, about
50/50, between Blossom and California.
We’ll be giving the blog a rest while we’re in California. I
suppose we’ll sneak a blog post in if anything Blossom-related occurs, but we
don’t anticipate having much to write about. Our current plan is to splash
Blossom on January 4th, 2016.
And so we wish you all a fabulous autumn and we’ll see you
next year!
Boat Business:
Here is our “Storage Protocol”. A few comments about our
list…
We’re leaving Blossom for 4 months, on the hard, in an
extremely hot & humid climate. We don’t have to worry about freezing
temperatures so that hasn’t been addressed.
There were several sources for this list. The heart of it
was plagiarized from another blog – Windtraveler. They posted their list when
they left their sailboat on the hard in the Caribbean. (They’re a family of 5 with
three children, including twin toddlers, living aboard their sailboat, a great
blog!) I then reorganized a bit, deleted tasks which didn’t apply to Blossom,
and added tasks specific to our boat, things we were told by the folks who
helped us at the yard, input from various friends, experts, owners, forums and some
gleaned from the internet.
I created this “protocol” so that we’d have a record of what
we’d done. We plan to be putting Blossom up for 6 months a year, every year, in
various locations, so it’s important for us to know what to do and what works. I’m
sure we’ll be making changes over the years. Did we do it right? Well, we’ll
report back in January and let you know!
Storing Blossom
September-December 2015,
River Forest, LaBelle, FL
Interior
- General clean: special attention to
heads/showers (remove all existing mold/mildew) and galley/lockers
- De-clutter all storage compartments and
cupboards. Good excuse to “spring clean”
3. Wash inside of all
cupboards/drawers/settees (vinegar wipe)
- Prop open all drawers, cubicles and
lockers to promote ventilation. We used cozies, rags and towels. Don’t need to be wide open, just enough
to let air in.
- Raise mattresses up on plastic storage
crates (creates some space to put things underneath, just don’t clutter up
too much – need air flow)
- Turn up all cushions for air flow
- Empty, defrost, clean refrigerators and
freezers, leave open
- Remove all food and perishables from
pantries, drawers and lockers
- Clean and empty water from Keurig
- Scrub down all appliances
- Store cleaning supplies in bins to
contain spillage
- Remove all garbage, clean containers
- Clean and store clothing/sheets/pillows/towels
and pillows in vacuum sealed bags
- Close all curtains & blinds, cover PH windows with sun
screens & towels…anything to block sun
- Close deadlights
on guest state room port holes
- Close all boat
hatch screens in GSR & MSR
- Place ant traps and roach motels in ER, galley,
showers
- Hang Sun Pak packet in basement (any area
that no one will be entering – they’re toxic)
- Wash Hella fans (vinegar)
- Vinegar wipe/wash walls,
overheads and floors (used a short handled swiffer with microfiber cloth over
it, sprayed with vinegar solution. Very efficient!)
- Clean leather chairs with
leather wipes
- Remove all port hole screens, clean,
polish and store
- Make sure all electronic are unplugged
- Remover batteries from cameras,
flashlights, small appliances
25. Check medical kit for
expired items
- Check ditch bag
for expired items
- Final walk through – make sure everything
is open/askew/leaning to promote air flow throughout boat
- Install fans to promote air flow: salon,
GSR, PH, Utility room, ER
- Dehumidifier – placed in galley sink to
drain overboard, set to 50% humidity (less than 50% can harm wood, more
than 60% can promote mold/mildew, or so I’ve read…)
Machinery Spaces
- Empty holding tank, flush with fresh
water, treat with Zaal
- Empty gray tank, treat with enzyme
- Empty fresh water tank
- Change out Seagull filters
- Make sure hot water heater is emptied.
*Varied opinions on this. Can leave and drain upon return, empty before
leaving or add additive like bleach.
- Treat diesel tanks with stabilizer
- Close fuel valve @ tanks
- Pickle water-makers
- Drain and clean bilge
- Confirm bilge pump is on in “automatic”
position and working
- Turn off AC & DC switches according
to list
- Turn off wing and generator start
batteries
- Change all racor filters
- Change oil, oil filters, fuel filters,
all engines
- Flush A/C with barnacle buster
- Clean all sea strainers and close sea
cocks
- Clean ER
- Clean & tidy basement
Exterior
48 Check decks for loose
items & stow
49 De-clutter and clean
exterior lockers
50 Remove all settee
cushions, store in boat
51 Clean and mildew treat pilot house window screens
(we have suction cups, not snaps, so we put them on the inside of the windows
for storage)
52 Put fiberglass mesh inside through hulls - leave open the
seacocks for the scupper drains & galley sink (for dehumidifier). Squirt
with bug spray for good measure
53 Wash boat lines
54 Wash fenders and store in
lazarette, secure large fenders in cockpit
55 Wash boat mats
56 Deep clean barbecue
57
Service/lube
bicycles
58
Cover and
store kayaks (we were able to store in a building)
59 Tie FB chair covers on
60 Hang anti-mildew packets (Sun Paks) in all outdoor
lockers and in (covered) dinghy
61
Put fender
in stack exhaust (dry exhaust boat)
62
Put all VHF
antennas down
63
Cover all vents
with plastic (John suggested using shrink wrap tape) (keeps out bugs and
moisture)
64
Put grease
(automotive or we were told Vaseline works too) around jack stands and blocks
to ward off bugs *We couldn’t do this because they’re relocating Blossom in
a couple of weeks
65 Take photos of boat on stands Lock boat (and lazarette)
66 Lock boat and lazarette & leave key with yard
manager
Dinghy
67 Remove all loose items
68 Service dinghy outboard (change oil & filter)
69
Turn off
battery switch
70 Tape Sun Pak to console
71 Stabilize gas
72 Disconnect fuel tank
73 Run outboard to empty
engine of fuel
74 Removed/opened drain plug
Administrative
75 Email list of approved vendors/persons to the yard
76
Bring
Wheelhouse up-to-date (update maintenance log)
77
Make list
of spares/parts needed for next season
Arrangements for time on the hard:
· Power wash hull
· Wash & Wax
· Replace zincs
· New bottom paint
· Monthly boat wash (exterior)
· Weekly checks – Someone will come in to boat every
week to make sure power is on, house batteries are charged, and that
dehumidifier & fans are working, no mold/mildew
