Our lives are full of so many “Take 2” opportunities. Often, it can extend to “Take 3”, “Take 4″… you understand, I am sure. Maybe it is the trial and error approach, or the scientific method of hypothesize, experiment, analyze, deduct and then repeat. Or it may be in the quest for reaching a more perfect outcome or something that just needs to be done because it simply broke, or does not work. For what ever the motivation or reason we find ourselves in many “Take 2” moments.

Change is consequently always in the air. Maybe it seems more in your face when you are trying to reduce everything down to the confines of the small space in a 40 foot boat.

Maybe if there were no change, we would have no life, and we don’t want to go there.

Since my last blog the dance of change forwards and backwards continues. In this blog, I intend to inform you of some of the take two events of the last month.

EXAMPLE ONE – BAKING DAMPER (Aussie Bush Bread) One cold rainy day my body was calling for some comfort food. The solution was to bake some fresh from the oven pumpkin damper loaded with melting butter and flowing honey. The process is a messy one and the smells from the oven tormenting, but the efforts are worth it when you finally get to take that first bite. On this “Take 1” Harry took a bite , and decided to say nothing, until I took my first bite and announced my disappointment in the nasty after taste that was produced. I guess I put in an offending ingredient… but what??? We kept eating the damper until it was all gone, we don’t like to waste. With each bite we hoped that the after taste would not eventuate, but it never changed. What is it they say about doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Anyway, the time came to do “TAKE 2”. I vowed to myself that I would meticulously follow the recipe to ensure success. In the process I discovered that I had previously put in three and a half teaspoons of baking soda instead of baking powder. Problem solved. Hopefully all future takes will be delicious or at least edible; but you know there are many opportunities for making other tweaks to the recipe.

EXAMPLE TWO – STORM SAIL At the end of 2021 we were based in San Diego at a boatyard doing major upgrades to Flapdoodle including a new engine. At this time we made a dash over to Tucson to visit with our daughter Jaimee, and as if we didn’t have enough to do for a few days in a town where we used to live and still have lots of friends, we carted over the storm sail so we could spread out in a land based house and sew on the sail slides.

Some months later we decided to check that the sail could actually slide up and down the slide track that had been installed about 6 years ago, when the mast was pulled and upgraded along with the rigging. Sadly the sail did not run smoothly. What to do??? “TAKE 2” involved unpicking all the sail slides that had been meticulously hand sewn and searching for a different way to attach them. Then, resewing the slides in a manner in which they did not have as much movement.

We met with success and the sail can now be hoisted.

EXAMPLE THREE – WATERMAKER After much research Harry purchased a water maker to be installed about 5 years ago. At the time it was not a priority project but when it eventually got installed we discovered after much experimentation and the replacement of every possible part, that the water output for the energy used was not what we had hoped for. Thus we ended up with this pile of redundant parts.

“TAKE 2” found us purchasing a completely new unit and forgoing the cost of the previous watermaker and all its spare parts. The new unit arrived and Harry fitted it. Well, if it was as simple as this it would be wonderful. This was just an exercise in seeing if the high pressure part of the watermaker would fit.

We are now at the testing stage for our second watermaker. Installing the watermaker involved shifting other systems and working a three dimensional puzzle in order to to fit all the required objects into the allotted space. Plumbing and wiring skills along with much body yoga were also required. Extra parts needed to be sourced, altered and changed out. Here is little a slide show depicting some of the many steps involved.

The jury is in proceedings and waiting for a verdict on the efficiency of the “TAKE 2” version.

As it turns out, we have many “Take 2” projects on Flapdoodle. We have installed the same winches more than once. We have patched our dinghy more than once. We have installed the hot water system more than once. We have installed a new battery system more than once.

THAT’S BOAT LIFE FOLKS! – “If you pay attention to the patterns of your life, you will realize everything always works out. Everything always takes you to a greater destination. You still grow, and think you can’t survive, you somehow divinely make it through. That’s life. Always remember that.” – Idil Ahmedk