Eureka! aww poop.

Eureka!, originally uploaded by CidnieC.

After contemplating the girls berth and the much needed baby containment device for more time than one would imagine, I finally came up with a workable design. The good news? It is workable, doable and easily removable once the need for a baby berth has passed. The bad news? The design all hinges on a part that is apparently non existant.

See that handy bit of pvc there? That is essentially the shape I need, except I need all 3 openings to be 1.5 inches. As you can see, this one has 2 openings the correct size but the third is much too small. I have searched for this to no avail. It does not exist at Home Depot, Lowe's, Ace Hardware, Sears Hardware, Tractor Supply or Ewings Plumbing. Surely I can not be the only person who needs something like this?

This feels very much like shoe shopping. For years I would have the perfect shoe in mind before I set out only to not be able to find what I want. I always find "something close" but not close enough. This is probably why I will be selling a metric butt load of barely worn shoes before we move aboard. Sorry for the digression there...

Anyway, a big thanks to the Bumfuzzles for hipping me to where to find fabric for the enclosure and mounting brackets. I'd like to send a big thank you out to someone for finding me the above pictured piece, except with all 3 opening being either 1.5 inches or 2 inches. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Maura perplexed by the plethora of plumbing

Maura perplexed by the plethora of plumbing, originally uploaded by CidnieC.

The sign queries whether we need help. That my friends, is what we call an understatement.

Cupcake Friday

Cupcake, originally uploaded by CidnieC.

One of the advantages of not giving your kids sweets on a regular basis is that you can take your girls out for a cupcake at your favorite bakery and because they aren't inundated with sweets- it becomes an event. The weather was gorgeous and I couldn't get anything else useful done for the day so the girls and I headed out for cupcakes and conversation. We all had a great time.

That is a seriously big cupcake for a small person!

Fiona's first bit of cake

kids 055, originally uploaded by CidnieC.

Kitty had her first little taste of cake- vanilla infused with Tequila and lime zest. She dug it. Rather than hear how awful a parent I am for letting her sample a tiny bit of cake, I think we should focus on the personal growth demonstrated by me. I will give you the shirt off my back, my last dollar but I will not share my dessert. I shared with Kitty. See how I am growing?

Cupcake

Cupcake, originally uploaded by CidnieC.

Nothing is better than an Ultimate Chocolate Cupcake as big as your head.

Debunking the boat

While Maura was at school having her little head crammed full of knowledge, Kitty and I went to the boat to give her a bit of a wash and ponder the sleeping arrangements. We scrubbed her down quickly enough- and by we I mean me with baby on my back- and spent a good hour measuring berths, cabins and wondering how exactly to make this work. I don't know that we've made much progress but I think I've come up with the only reasonable solution.

 My first thought was to spit the aft cabin so each girl would have her own space. Then I measured it out and realized each girl would have a tiny, narrow berth. Then there is the issue of the cockpit seat which gives the cabin top over the berth an awkward shape guaranteed to cause head injury on a daily basis.

 My next thought was to block off the pilot berth for the baby. At anchor, there won't be enough ventilation and that electrical panel would prove far too tempting for little fingers. If put the cloth far enough back to prevent little fingers from flipping switches, Kitty would be essentially sleeping in a drawer. A dark, noisy, unventilated drawer.

I briefly considered giving the girls the fore cabin. It is wide enough to split down the middle, then add a cloth enclosure to keep Kitty in her bunk. Then I remembered the one time that Mark and I slept in the aft cabin and how that didn't work. I admit to being a bit of a princess with a pea when it comes to sleeping accomodations. I slept much better in the fore cabin, even with the extra motion.

The only workable solution is to give the girls the aft cabin with no divider down the middle. I told Maura I was really sorry, but she would have to share. I reminded her that they have solo bunks at Ursuline Academy*. She felt that she would be ok sharing with her little sister, so long as she was allowed to use the pilot berth should she so choose from time to time. I assured her this was fine.

Now all I've got to do is figure out how to enclose the end of the berth to keep the little one in. The berth has a shelf and storage area which means the cloth "gate" will have to have an odd shape and multiple attachment points to keep her safely contained. I've got a bit more thinking to do on that...

You can see the shelf area on the left, otherwise
known as "baby escape hatch"

*(Ursuline Academy is the convent boarding school Maura gets threatened with when she doesn't like my rules. I remind her that I love her, but the nuns don't!)



 

Hey, that's not a picture of a boat.

You noticed. I thought I might distract you from the lack of refit photos by a cute baby photo. Ah well. Fiona is here modeling a shirt with my favorite motto 'Keep Calm and Carry On'. That IS boat related. That is my little mantra whether it be for encountering sailing situations that make me nervous or Murphy moving into our fore cabin and delaying progress on the refit.

Mark's work load has once again prevented progress. I could try to sort out the bulkheads on my own but I feel that my typical MacGyver chewing gum + duct tape + velcro approach is best not tried on something as important as structural repairs. Best to leave something so important in the capable hands of Mark, even if those hands are otherwise preoccupied.

I'm planning on sorting out the sleeping arrangements this week and hope to begin construction of the baby berth by next week. I've still got a few issues to think on and sort out but we will get there. I'm looking forward to my first real sewing attempt. This should at least be entertaining as the last time I tried sewing was when I was 9 and tried to make some clothes for my Barbies. If you want to know how well that turned out, you should know that my Barbies wore clothes fashioned out of fabric, scotch tape and staples for the rest of their lives.

Here's a photo of Maura taken at the Faire.  We like to point out 'key skills learned' with tongue firmly in cheek to her whenever one of us tries something new or something mundane to make it more interesting. Cleaning your closet? Key skill- organization. Not taking 30 minute showers or running the water non stop while brushing teeth? Key skill- water conservation. Having your mom reassure you while you scream in terror while you ae strapped into a harness, hoisted 30 feet in the air and told to bounce on a trampoline? Key skill learned- conquering that fear of heights which is handy when your parents need to send you up the mast. Don't worry, after the inital Bungee Bounce attempt and its screams, Maura declared it "awesome".