Cleaning the boat...

So you would think that cleaning the cockpit of The Mystery would be a quick and easy task.  Right?  Well, that would be a resounding NO!

Not only do we keep a bin of dog food (read big bin...enough to last 2 weeks for 2 German Shepherds) that has to be removed, but we also have another bin of "over-flow kitchen items (my crock pots, pots and pans, etc.) that has to be removed also. 

Then there are the seat cushions.  These ridiculous, ugly cushions don't even fit the seats properly, but they do hide the stains on the seats!  I don't know who the fool was that decided to spill varnish (which this is the ONLY varnish seen anywhere on the boat...including the woodwork!) on the seats, but thankfully the fool had removed the hideous cushions so the stains could be hidden.

Now, as if that isn't enough, I now have to get the made-to-fit plastic grate off the bottom of the cockpit.  This heavy, green matting is of the "industrial variety" and looks crazily similar to what you would find in a restaurant kitchen.  Did I mention how heavy it is?  Not an easy chore attempting to wrestle it off the boat without joining it on the dock~lol

Add to that the copious amount of dog hair and sand that practically covers the entire cockpit (I have to get the sand and hair off before they get into the boat don't I?  Attempting to get it into the trash bag is a lost cause...Shepherd hair seems to be "lighter than air" and flies everywhere!), I must sweep before actually spraying the cockpit down (don't want to clog that drain hole...again!). 

I'm not even going to mention saw dust~lol  Instead of carrying wood that needs to be shortened up the gangway to the saw horses, Bob simply saw it in the cockpit...grrrrr!

After getting everything off the boat, it's finally time to clean:-)  I grab my scrub brush, the bleach solution and the water hose and I'm off...

Now, don't think that my cockpit looks so much better because it really doesn't...remember the varnish stains?  Well, there's also a few "unknown" stains that simply refuse to be removed..and peeling paint where some fool (probably the varnish fool) tried to "paint" the cockpit with the wrong paint.  All I actually accomplish is sanitizing the cockpit, removing all the sand and hair and...well...that's about it.

I have now spent a total of 5 minutes cleaning the cockpit, another 5 minutes making sure it's rinsed very well and now it's time to move everything back into the cockpit.

The time spent removing everything and putting everything back is around 45 minutes.  Seems a little crazy, doesn't it?  I do this at least once a week and should probably do it every few days really.

Next boat...a storage locker under the cockpit seat that will accommodate the dog food bin and the overflow bin.  I also want seat cushions that are not hideous!  Not sure we'll ever not have a mat since it's there to let water flow under, but at least the heavy stuff won't have to be removed to accomplish the task.

Today's task...tackling the stuffed to over-flowing hole in the wall they call a closet.  This "closet" is not even deep enough to accommodate a coat hanger and I'm supposed to fit clothes in there?!?!  Not to mention...it's behind the head!