en·tro·py (ˈɛntrəpɪ) : noun
1. lack of pattern or organization; disorder; chaos 2. order leading to disorder
Why is it that every time I get the boat spic-and-span something breaks? It’s usually just some seemingly small issue… such as the galley faucet that started leaking today. But since we live in a boat-shaped 38′ by 12′ space total entropy ensues – in a matter of minutes.
To get to the faucet the entire under-sink-cabinet has to be cleared out. Since there was a leak everything has to be dried as well. In a house this would be no problem: Simply put everything from under the sink somewhere next to you on the floor. If you do this on a boat you loose pretty much ALL of your floor space. But you put everything on the floor thinking this will be a quick fix…
So once you have everything out of the cabinet and on the floor you realize you will need the shop-vac and some tools. Only then do you realize that now you cannot get to your tools because your have blocked off all floor space.
Next you notice that the water needs to be shut off to remove the faucet. This pretty much ends your ability of staving off entropy. You cannot simply shut off the water to the sink only – the entire boat’s water supply has to be turned off. It’s a good thing we have a fresh water foot pump faucet in the galley.
Well, we better head out to catch the bus to Home Depot (yes, we have the ‘Deep in Mexico) and buy a new faucet. I need my living-room/dining room/office and galley and bathroom back!
Update November 4: After getting a lot of comments regarding the size of my under sink cabinet I’m adding a photo. Top shelf is pyrex and plastic storage containers, bottom shelf contains cleaning products. Underneath is even more space which is filled with canned food and also accessible through a floor board. Behind the cabinet on the left is a large cabinet for a regular size garbage can, which is accessible from above and the side. Love my galley!
To get to the faucet the entire under-sink-cabinet has to be cleared out. Since there was a leak everything has to be dried as well. In a house this would be no problem: Simply put everything from under the sink somewhere next to you on the floor. If you do this on a boat you loose pretty much ALL of your floor space. But you put everything on the floor thinking this will be a quick fix…
So once you have everything out of the cabinet and on the floor you realize you will need the shop-vac and some tools. Only then do you realize that now you cannot get to your tools because your have blocked off all floor space.
Next you notice that the water needs to be shut off to remove the faucet. This pretty much ends your ability of staving off entropy. You cannot simply shut off the water to the sink only – the entire boat’s water supply has to be turned off. It’s a good thing we have a fresh water foot pump faucet in the galley.
Well, we better head out to catch the bus to Home Depot (yes, we have the ‘Deep in Mexico) and buy a new faucet. I need my living-room/dining room/office and galley and bathroom back!
Update November 4: After getting a lot of comments regarding the size of my under sink cabinet I’m adding a photo. Top shelf is pyrex and plastic storage containers, bottom shelf contains cleaning products. Underneath is even more space which is filled with canned food and also accessible through a floor board. Behind the cabinet on the left is a large cabinet for a regular size garbage can, which is accessible from above and the side. Love my galley!
[…] smell seemed to be getting worse. I started digging deeper and removed more items from the cabinet (wait, didn’t I just do this last week?). Soon the entire galley was filled with stuff. Mike brought in the dock hose so “while we […]
Woke up with a plan to start clearing out stuff we don’t use and re-organize and a project presented itself…We are in the middle of dealing with a leak right now. Good opportunity to clean out, repaint, re-organize and reduce. I keep all of my supplies in a large plastic bin that fits snugly behind all the pipes and hoses. Double duty as I have a storage space for products while working on projects. I slide under galley table and everything stays out of the way.
I love bins! But we had so many cleaning products that they held each other upright. No space for a bin! LOL. On our new boat I have bins everywhere!
Indeed, I do have a rather large space under my sink. I love it! Added a photo to this post for those of you who are interested. Happy to report that the new faucet went in today!
Ha, know this well. Even to the point of “I know I have one of those things, but to be honest it is simpler to just walk up to Ace then try and dig it out…”
Wow
I know it’d be additional work up front, but you might consider installing some in-line shut off ball valves to each system. That way you could shut off each water system individually without sitting down the whole boat’s water?
Mike
Wow that IS a lot of cleaning products!! I don’t know where we’d put it on Nyon… I think we should have called our boat Entropy… Then we wouldn’t feel bad if (who am I kidding, when) it lives up to its name! Haha.
Heh… I remember those days….those effin boats, you love em but can’t leave em. It’s always something.
Wow, that’s a lot of cleaning products on the table! You must have a lovely big cupboard under the sink. Thanks for the post, now a I have a name for the organised chaos we live in 🙂