A Tale of Two Chemists: From the Sublime to the Disgusting

From the Sublime to the Disgusting

Wed 25 - Thur 26 October 2023

Whilst sitting at a bar on Sunday, watching the Patriots game, I met a lovely local couple called Tim and Deb. We exchanged phone numbers and they very kindly invited me round for dinner last night. I had the greatest time! After picking me up at the marina, we first went to “The Club at the Webb” for a couple of drinks. This bar, or “speakeasy” as Deb described it, has only been open for three days, but it was charming. It is located in a former children’s library and has several rooms with wood paneling, armchairs, sofas and artwork on the walls. It appears to be attracting quite a few customers, and mostly they seemed to know each other already. Everyone was extremely friendly and it was a great atmosphere. We then headed round to Deb and Tim’s house, located about 3 miles southwest of the marina, situated on the banks of a small creek. I got to chat with their friends and neighbors, who had also been invited round, and ate a wonderful Eastern Carolina barbecue, with pork butt, potato salad, coleslaw and the best baked beans I’ve ever eaten! The whole crowd were so welcoming and it was a fabulous evening.

So that was the “sublime” … now onto the “disgusting”. This morning I set to replacing the main sanitary hose from the aft head (toilet). Frankly, the locker through which it runs was smelling pretty grim and I realized that the hose itself was stinking. It was good quality, but probably ten years old, and they don’t stay impervious to odor for ever. It wasn’t a pleasant job, but by flushing plenty of fresh water through at the outset, I was able to minimize the mess. Getting the old hose off the back of the toilet was the hardest part and the rest of the refit went fine. I have one more hose that I want to replace in the lazarette (where the septic tank is mounted), but I have to wait for the new one to come in from Defender. (Note. Defender charges $11 / foot for this particular hose, with free shipping for orders over $100, whereas WestMarine charge $21 / foot for the same item. Now that’s what I call disgusting. I hate WestMarine !).

That’s it for now

Mike