04 October 2007

Airing it Out

I like my boat to feel fresh and clean. Actually, that's only partly true. What is more true is that I want my beautiful wife to like my boat and she wants it to feel fresh and clean.

So I do a few things. I keep it clean. And, now I keep it fresh. Behold the Down the Hatch Vent, otherwise known as The Freshmaker:


I love this thing. From the front and from the side:


Another virtue of this gizmo is my planned overnight with Camille to Angel Island. When I was a kid, I was always sent up to the v-berth when spending the weekend in the Keys. Of course, this was in Florida in the summer and the interior of a boat was miserable but, alas, that's where I was sent. And we had a gizmo like this to keep the v-berth nice and fresh.

Except the one time we really needed it. It was hot humid muggy and rainy. When the hatches were shut you could just see the mildew growing. Ugh. So out comes the contraption, hooked up and spraying cool wind and rainwater into the v-berth. Everyone else on the boat was cool and comfortable and I was cold and wet. I still remember this 30 years later of course so who am I to deprive my daughter of such once in a lifetime memories?

5 comments:

Zen said...

Such a good DAD!

Anonymous said...

We used to call those "gizmos" GALLEY GHOSTS.

Christy ~ Central Air said...

Edward, it's FABULOUS! Did someone sew it together for you, or did you buy it? (Are you willing to share your source?)

I'm glad that y'all are feeling clean and fresh.

~Christy~

EVK4 said...

Christy, I have a somewhat secret source: West Marine. Don't let everyone know about it, places like that are a great resource until the masses find out.

Actually, the reason I didn't have one sooner is that I kept trying to find one used and/or cheaper. Usually that's not hard to do with WM but this time it proved futile.

If you were to have one sewn, I would change the design from clips at the bottom to weights; it will make the gizmo point into the wind more easily.

Christy ~ Central Air said...

Ha-ha-ha. You and I are in the exact same position then. I *thought* that might be the WM version. I am currently looking for one that is used and/or cheaper, before I break down and buy one from 'the man.'

Thx for the info!