Mirror Mirror on the Wall....

While we were awaiting our custom lift muffler to be built, Frank got really antsy and decided to make Moitessier prettier. He hates waiting around for parts, and I find that he gets really grumpy (and mean) when he's not working on the boat and towards our dream.  So to stay occupied he decided to take on a couple of cosmetic projects inside our home.

Mirror Before

First, he decided to replace our mirror in the head.  This had been something that had been bothering him since the day we got the boat.  On the forward wall of the head, there was this pathetic square of mirror that you could barely see yourself in, mounted asymmetrically on the center of the wall.  I could tell it hung in the back of his mind as to how to fix this as he would bring it up in conversation at least once a month.

Mirror After!

"This mirror is so small and stupid..." "What do you think about taking it down and painting the wall...."  "Damn...this thing is so ugly hanging here...." "I don't understand why anyone would mount such a tiny mirror in this beautiful space..."  One day, it dawned on me while I was laying in bed, that instead of taking it down and repainting the wall, that we should put up a mirror in the same size and shape of the actual space.  I mentioned it to Frank in passing and of course, he was thrilled with it.  He obsessed with the idea for about a week and finally decided to just go ahead and do it.  We were hesitant at first because we thought it would be very expensive to get a custom mirror cut, but after discussing it with a local mirror/glass company, we discovered that it would cost a mere $25.  DONE DEAL!  That same day he made a poster board template and brought it over to get the glass cut.  The mirror fit perfectly on the wall and it was pretty easy to mount.  A tube of mirror glue from Home Depot, a piece of stained molding to cover the edge (as the mirror had to be cut 1" smaller than space in order for it to be fit), and Voila, I no longer have to hear him moan about that damn mirror in the head again!  Not only does the head look so much better, but the optical illusion it created gives the impression of a larger space.  Now I can freely pop my blackheads without having to lean over our sink.   Aah....the finer things in life.

Still need to fill the missing pieces

Being as the mirror project went pretty smoothly and quickly, Frank was still antsy for things to do.  He decided that workroom needed some re-organizing.  One thing we hated having to do was rummage through an entire drawer of sockets and wrenches searching in vain for the ever elusive 13mm socket that, of course, we would need in the midst of our daily dose of engine yoga.   So he decided to mount them on the back of the instrument panel case.  This makes things easier to find as everything is right at hand  as well as free up valuable drawer space.  In the process, we discovered that we have 3 incomplete sets of sockets and wrenches with an equal amount of doubles.  Derr...

Now that the tools are nice and organized, he decided to install manual foot pumps for our fresh and raw water.  We had existing hand pumps that were beautiful and shiply, but the idea of having hold on with one hand, wash a dish with the other, all while pumping with your teeth?  This was not practical unless somehow you had a third arm...so we opted to install Whaler Tiptoe II foot pumps.  We had first used these when we crewed a Swan 48 from Bermuda to NY, and were sold ever since.  Unlike the typical foot pumps that have a protruding lever that inevitably catches                                                            ankles, these twist and lock flush with the floor.  A simple twist of the foot and they pop up ready to be used.  Brilliant!  I didn't like the idea of drilling 3" holes in the beautiful teak and holly floors in Mykitchen.  Luckily Frank was smart enough to install these while I was at work, otherwise I really would've had a fit.  They look great and utilize a space that would've otherwise been inaccessible.  Though impractical, we didnt want to let go of the beautiful brass hand pumps, so in order to keep the aesthetics, we decided to leave them in place and use them as the faucets.  We removed the innards of the pumps and saved them in a ziploc for future use.

 

Bowsprit turning to dirt :-(

Fortunately and unfortunately, these projects went by faster than what we're used too.  Yeah, that's right nothing is ever good enough :P Frank used this downtime to do a little poking around....Never really a good idea.  I hate leaving him alone when I go to work because I always come home to a new troublesome/expensive fix of something he decided to inspect.  This time, it was our bowsprit.  We had long known of the probability of our bowsprit having rot.  This is a nearly 30 year old mahogany timber that lives a fairly rough life on the bow.  It is not uncommon for rot to develop around screws and in areas underneath where air can't easily circulate.  We had read on the Hans Christian forums that this is a pretty common problem, especially near the Samson posts as well as where it lies against the deck.  In order to better inspect it though , the windlass had to be removed.  Of course, when this

was done, there were clear signs of extensive rot.  We were hoping that if there were some issues that we would be able to scarf in a repair.  With our luck, we weren't able to get off the hook (or off the hard) so easily.  After the initial discovery of rot, it was clear that we had to remove the bowsprit one way or another.  This naturally was not an easy task.  The bowsprit and pulpit combined weigh an excess of 300 lbs, not a small sum when it's 12 ft overhead.  We had to commission our yard to come with their forklift and carefully slide it up and out.  Fun Fun!  Thankfully, the people we have working here are really skilled at what they do and nothing too exciting happened.  Though the image of it hanging on the boat by an inch and balanced on the other side atop a ladder stacked high with wooden blocks still makes my palms sweat.  I was pretty pathetic and may have caught a fly or two when my mouth was agape during this ordeal.  The forklift operator even laughed at me and told me not to be such a girl about the whole thing.  Hehehe....oops.