Monday, November 9, 2009

Pumps & Pancakes!



The day started with a nice sunny morning, putting the cook in a creative mood after a long gap. A grand menu of hot "pan to plate" pancakes & honey, fresh orange and freshly brewed coffee followed. The best part was sitting out in the sun and having it, bare feet & without any woolens! The calm following sea with a light breeze enabled the cook to cook in relative comfort and the Skipper to enjoy the breakfast without worrying about spilling things. The catch, and there always has to be one, was that despite buying the smallest of the ready mix bottles, the quantity of batter was enough to last for a couple of breakfasts! So a bit of experimentation followed for lunch, different combinations with cheese, chutneys, pickles etc! No prizes for guessing tomorrow's menu either, weather permitting of course!

          One of my bilge pump seems to have gone "Whacky" and I mean literally. Realized it was not working in the morning so checked all electrical connections, strainer and everything that could be checked without any luck when finally gave it two good whacks out of sheer frustration, rather than any technical competence, and it came to life! So till the next port the starting procedure includes, in addition to putting the switch on, opening the floor boards and whacking the pump while muttering a silent prayer! Having been somewhat lucky with the bilge pump, the confident electrician decided to tackle the fresh water pump next which had stopped working soon after Freo. Found a blown fuze that needed replacement, but then Murphy started acting and every fuze except the required 15 Amp one could be found. Confidently used a 30 Amp one as a substitute, started the pump and saw a wisp of black smoke rising near the pump! The supply to the pump was promptly switched off and the electrician sacked even faster! So no watermaker, which isn't a problem really as I have enough for more than a month, but the worse, no hot water baths! Which in this cold effectively means no baths till New Zealand! Looks like the Indian Defence Attache who has promised to be at Lyttleton before me will be able to sniff me out before I get alongside!

6 comments:

Nishant Philip said...

funny...hilarious...

DS Pathania said...

SIR,

The bilge pump behavior reminds one of old saying 'Laton key Bhoot batoen say nahin mantey' REGARDS AND HAPPY SAILING

Unknown said...

One more reason not to have baths and to shave youir white beard . Eeeks!!

I hope you have carried deodrants with you !

Jay said...

You could possibly do "sponge bath" with towel soaked in hot water. If you have a thin towel (like "pancha - in Marathi") it would only need mugfull of water warmed in microwave I guess which would be closest thing to hot water bath ... :) ... Have you tried pancakes with chopped onions and chopped green chilli mixed in pancake batter ... gives kind of spicy flavor to pancakes.

SUBIR said...

Hi Dilip, The way you are fixing things you are going to end up being a very handy man to have around!! Good show.You can probably warm water on yur stove in a tea pan and sponge yourself - excuses to skip the bath just won't do. Take Care.

Attri said...

Hi Skipper

The cook seems to perform a mischief by giving good chow. He seems to know that when the skipper is well fed, he has a tendency to let the electrician loose to wreck the things up.

Watch the cook.