The Three PPP'S

I had my head in the oven the other day, cleaning out several months of spill overs, all part of that spring cleaning gene that goes into overdrive around this time every year. I could head in that direction, of this need to clean or I could tell you a tale of an oven, a blackened turkey, threats of desertion, rallying the troops and winning the battle.

“Let me show you how to light the stove, first you pump...” ( I've gone with the stove story)

“ What do you mean , show me how to light the stove, what the f*#!* kinda stove is this?”

“ Like I said, first you pump, than prime, than pre-heat and presto your cooking with gas. Well kerosene actually.”
I'm thinking who in their right mind would buy such a thing. Someone who obviously doesn't cook.
“ I got it for next to nothing”, Mike says so proudly. I would have taken the nothing.
Being madly in love and wanting to show what a good boat person I could be, I learned to pump, prime and preheat.

Slowly making our way down the ICW, we found ourselves at St. Simon’s Island for Christmas.
Hadn't planned on that but that again hadn't planned on the storm at sea, or losing an anchor and chain, or a snowfall in Georgia, or a bilge full of used oil or a blackened turkey.
Stuck here with half a doz other boats due to the fact that the bridges weren't opening I decided to cook a turkey and invite everyone over for Christmas dinner. The 25^th brought clear blue skies and warm winds. This meant the bridges were back on schedule and everyone wanted to hit the road to make previous commitments. This left me with a 17 lb bird in the oven. Late afternoon plumes of black smoke started to waft from the oven. I'm not a expert on the workings of kerosene stoves but I don't think this is suppose to happen.

Do I scream or cry. The term “blackened” is a method of preparing fish or chicken using a mix of spices and a extremely hot pan. My blackened turkey was just plain black. Really black. Black like soot. The only saving grace was that the turkey was cooked. Tackling the bird wearing rubber gloves, I managed to peel off all the skin, I know...this is the best part. Mike and I ate turkey all week ( no freezer on board) and the smokey taste was actually pretty good.....not that I would try to repeat this method but it wasn't a complete loss.

It is now mid April and the bloom is off the rose. I don't have to love everything about the cruising life. I have learned to live with pumping the toilet and pumping up the dinghy but I have had it up to here with pumping the stove. My views were known to all in our anchorage where we had spent the last 3 ½ months. Everyone was on my side.

“For god sakes man, get your woman a new stove, it'll be a lot harder to replace her.”
It was good to have the male team on my side.
Dania Nautical Flea Market held once a year for 3 days is a boater's heaven on earth and only a week away. Strategy was discussed, options were tossed back and forth and a game plan was formed.
Cars were rented, time, directions and pit stops confirmed. I think we were ready.
Our group of 16 were 1 – 16 in the line-up. Our anticipation grew like a group of teenagers waiting for a sighting of Justin Bieber ( well maybe not that frantic) but we were excited. Eighteen wheelers marked the perimeters of the 2 acre Jai Alai parking lot, a massive white tent marked the bull's eye( this was also the beer tent) row upon row of vendors were eagerly waiting to take our money.

Biminis, toilets, hatches, scuba gear,fishing tackle, anchors, props, rope, line, winches and hardware. Bathing suits (ohhhh bathing suits) books, charts, flags, radios, radar, roller furlings. Look beyond all this because we have a mission. We are on the hunt for a propane stove. The keeper of the gate finally stood aside and we would have put those teenyboppers to shame the way we charged in. Heading off in a dozen different directions, we had purpose. The team did good. Within half an hour a stove was found, Mike was found to inspect it, I was found to say yea or nay and a deal was struck.

I loved my new shiny stove. I loved that I could just turn the knob and a flame would appear ...like magic. No more PPP.

Mike's joy came from the fact that after he converted the natural gas jets to propane ( $20.00) he sold the 50 lb tank which came with it and in the end got the stove for next to nothing.