Head Case

Commonly called "the head" in boat terms, the marine toilet on a sailboat can be the source of many headaches.

There are basically three different types: pump, electric, and composting. Listening to boaters debate the pros and cons of each type can make your head spin. I don't know much about the composting type. We have a pump version on our mono hull, Star Dancer, back in Chicago. Bangarang has three electric heads, which I personally think are head and shoulders above the pump type.

A head shot

Sometimes I think we should have our heads examined for buying a boat with so many heads. They need periodic maintenance and have a well-earned reputation of being fragile and touchy. However, off the top of my head, I can't think of any problems we've had since we bought our sailboat last December.

Until this week.

Another head shot

Our master suite head finally reared it ugly head, froze and stopped working. We've made so many improvements, upgrades, and repairs on our boat since moving aboard, and we needed this like a hole in the head! Luckily, we didn't lose our heads over this; we could use the other two heads until we got the master head fixed.

All his various tools make my head spin.

Kent got it into his head that he'd didn't want to pay someone to do the repair. He has a head for mechanical work and decided to tackle the repair head-on, himself. I suggested that maybe we hire someone, but he's pretty headstrong, and didn't think it was over his head. (Kent's ability to fix anything himself is one of the reasons I fell head over heels in love with him, but I don't tell him because I don't want it to go to his head.)

He dove head first into YouTube and watched some marine head repair videos. Then he buried his head in his marine catalogs, looking at parts. He made a couple of phone calls, ordered some parts, and headed over to the local marine store.

Courtesy of YouTube

A couple days later, Kent had accumulated what he needed to fix the head. When he spread out his tools and the parts, I couldn't make heads or tails out of anything.

A head piece

The marine head joker valve

There were a lot of parts and he hadn't given me a heads up about the cost. Since he was doing the work himself, I wasn't about to go head to head with him about the expense. In fact, I even suggested that we get ahead of the game, and buy several spare parts and kits! The other two heads are noisy and need some work too, I pointed out. We put our heads together and decided to order extra parts. But now, he had enough parts to get a head start on the master head, and headed below.

Head to toe in the head locker

Repairing a boat head was not fun, but wasn't as bad as we'd expected. Kent laid out the parts and scratched his head. One look at the instructions was all it took for me to bang my head against the wall, but Kent kept a cool head and dove in.

An exploded head view

It took three hours. He says that, now that he's done it once, it will take two hours next time, as long as he puts his head into it.  

The old joker valve

Fixed and almost installed

Now that I've watched him do it, I think any knucklehead can do it, as long as he has a good head on his shoulders and he doesn't have his head in the clouds!      

Happy head, happy skipper!

       

Priceless at Price's

When you live on a boat and sail from place to place, you quickly realize that there are certain things you took for granted when you lived on land, like finding a place to get your haircut. Kent trusted me to cut his hair with an electric razor--just once. So, when we landed here in St Augustine, one of the first things he did was get a haircut. At a real barber.

Yelp directed us to an established barber within walking distance of the harbor. Yelp's average rating for the shop is 4.7 out of 5, not that I believe all the ratings in Yelp, but that's pretty impressive. So, we walked over for a haircut. It turned out to be pretty "kitchy," so I decided to write about it briefly in our blog. Urban Dictionary defines "kitchy" as "something that is really cheesy, yet cool." Yup.

Apparently, Price's does not take appointments, and often, even on weekdays, there is a line to get into Price's Barber Shop. However, we went there in the rain and were able to walk right in. The shop is a family business and dates back to the 1930s. Some of the barbers have worked there over 30 years, but the gal who cut Kent's hair was too young for that!

Posted on the wall:

Buzz cuts $13
Regular cuts $15
Flat tops $16
Beard trim $5
Ears, nose, eyebrows included

You can get an old fashioned full shave and/or neck shave there too. (Do they do legs?)

Nothing was mentioned about waxing.

I was the only woman in the place except for the female barbers.

Price's, an old fashioned barber shop

Big fish on the walls

The expected lineup of magazines to read while you wait

A good old fashioned barber's chair

Snipping away

Typical of a classic barber shop, it has a timeless cash register
that goes "ca-ching," tiled flooring, and barber stations complete
with clippers, shears, and tall glasses of Barbicide. 

Decorating to attract the men

An eclectic collection of taxidermy...

...all donated by local celebrities.

The owner has been quoted saying that "cutting hair is much
like therapy," making friends and being listening ears
to many in St Augustine.

Happy client, post-haircut

"Phrfection!" and Our First Night in St Augustine

Bangarang sailed north from Ponce de Leon Inlet and we are now moored on a ball in St Augustine's Municipal Marina, north of the Bridge of Lions, with a fabulous view of two bridges and the historic downtown area.  

Mooring ball: a good choice over anchoring since there
is a very strong current here, and only $20 per night

The St Augustine Municipal Marina and
the historic downtown in the background

The King of Lions Bridge

The King of Lions Bridge opens every half hour to let
boats with less clearance pass, like Bangarang

A view off our bow

Bangarang just motored under the Bridge of Lions

A few other boats, almost all sailboats, around us in the mooring field

We're settled in here in St Augustine, probably for a couple of weeks. St Augustine on our first night in town...

A1A Ale Works, a microbrewery across from our harbor,
has good food and beer. Across from the harbor, it's
popular with the sailors

Ponce de Leon, of course

And, no, I'm not misspelling "Perfection" in the title of this blog entry. "Phrfection" is the name of the boat Kent raced on last night. 

One of the many things Kent and I like about living aboard and cruising on Bangarang is meeting new people. We did a little touristy shopping downtown and, completely by chance, we met Lisa, who is the current coordinator for the Cruisers' Net here in St Augustine, an organization that brings cruisers together to socialize and network. Lisa alerted us to the Cruisers' Net radio short-wave broadcast each morning at 8:00 and a Facebook page to keep everyone abreast of weather and social events.. She also invited us to their bi-weekly Friday nighter at the nearby San Sebastián Winery. We didn't know exactly what to expect, but figured we'd at least get some tasty wine. It turned out we had a great time and met a lot of other sailors there, many of which live on their boats like we do. They come from all different backgrounds--young, old, single, married, other, etc--but have boating in common. We were the only new people there that night and we received a very warm welcome.  

After hearing that Kent had raced in several Mac Races and a Bermuda Race, one of the women there, Madelin ("with no e") invited him to participate in a moonlight sailing race the following evening. We met Madelin at the St Augustine Yacht Club for a brief skippers' meeting, to see if any of the skippers needed crew. They didn't, so he crewed on Madelin's boat, the Phrfection. The boat is a 1980's Beneteau First Class 10, made for racing. Kent was assigned to trimming the mainsail.  Phrfection came in first, ahead of the other boats by four minutes! Of course, with Kent on the crew!

Moonlight for the race

Madelin's boat, the Phrfection

We met the crew, all very nice

Kent had no idea what to expect, since he's never been on
this boat before, but they won and he had a great time

We've made some new friends, have a supper date on our calendar, and have been invited to join the yacht club. We're really enjoying our cruising network and friends. 

I had to include a picture of this poor boat, in storage
and obviously neglected for some time, with
wild vines growing up the mast!