Welcome Aboard Bluewater!
We hope your stay aboard our boat will be enjoyable, and we encourage you to ask as many questions as you like. This handout covers some of the basics, and it’s for your infor-mation and your safety. Please let Milt or Judy know if there’s anything you don’t understand or need help with.
We want you to enjoy your time aboard Bluewater. Anything you don’t understand can probably be explained, so please ask—no matter how silly or inconsequential the question may seem! And please don’t be embarrassed to ask if you don’t understand something or need help operating anything onboard.
One very important point: if you hear strange noises, notice odd smells, or something just doesn’t “seem right,” notify Milt immediately. Call him immediately, no matter whether it’s high noon or the middle of the night and he’s asleep. He wants to know!
Housekeeping. We ask that everyone do his or her part to keep the boat neat and clean. Personal items not being used should not be left lying around, especially in the main saloon and pilot house. Overnight guests are asked to make their own bed and to keep their stateroom area and head shipshape. Washstands, toilets, areas around toilets, flooring, etc. should be cleaned regularly. Cleaning materials and supplies are beneath the lavatory. If you can’t find what you need, just ask.
Electricity. When Bluewater is away from the pier, we must make our own electricity and at the pier we often have a limited amount of electricity available from shore power, so we must manage electrical consumption carefully. Please:
· Keep in mind that air conditioners use a lot of power and we do not always have enough electrical power to run all air conditioners.
· Turn off any lights or electrical other equipment you’ve turned on but are no longer using.
· Use large-draw electrical equipment such as the microwave oven or hair driers sparingly.
· Open the refrigerator and freezer as infrequently and briefly as possible.
Marine Toilets. There are two marine toilets (“heads”) aboard, one for each stateroom. Marine heads are temper-amental creatures! Spare parts are limited, and it’s no fun to repair a broken head at sea. The following will help keep your head happy and healthy:
· Extraneous material must not be flushed down the toilets. No Kleenex, no hairpins, no dental floss, no tampons or sanitary napkins because they will clog the plumbing. Only personal waste and small amounts of toilet paper.
· Toilet lids should be left up so any overflow will be immediately visible.
Fresh Water. Bluewater carries 400 gallons of fresh water and the onboard watermaker can make approximately 20 gallons per hour when a generator is used. Watermakers convert salt water to fresh. They are finicky and may gag on saltwater input that has too much sand, sediment, oil or other foreign matter, so they cannot be run in all harbors. With careful water management, we can all have the water we need. We manage Bluewater’s fresh water carefully and ask that you use only what you need. Specifically:
· When you open a faucet, a trickle will often suffice.
· Don’t leave water running while you brush your teeth or rinse dishes . . . open and close the faucet.
· We try to limit our showers to one a day. Take a “Navy shower” – turn on the water, rinse down, turn it off while you soap up, then turn it back on to rinse. You’ll find a handy water diverter switch on the shower head which can be used to “mostly” shut off the flow.
Galley. The galley is Judy’s province. If you have special dietary needs or requirements, or strong likes and dislikes, please let her know early when she can do something about them. Likewise, if you’re getting too much of anything or not enough, speak up!
· When you remove a soda or beer from the fridge, please replace it with one from the ship’s stores. That way, there’ll always be a cold one when you want it.
· We do not leave dirty dishes in the sink. If you finish with a dish or glass, wash it and stow it--or leave it on the galley counter if you don’t know where it goes.
· Bluewater is ordinarily roach-free, but in our warm climate, roaches can be a problem aboard boats that are not kept scrupulously clean. Cleaning up means that no scraps of food or trash should be visible when the job is done
Daily Routine. Aboard Bluewater, we try to keep life relaxed. Depending on how we feel, weather conditions, where we’re heading, and other considerations, our daily schedule when cruising usually goes something like this:
8:00 am. All hands up - coffee followed by breakfast
9:00 am. Underway – or enjoy the day in port
12:00 noon Beer or wine ration for the crew, if desired
1:00 pm. Lunch
4:00 pm. Arrive at destination Swim or snorkel or relax.
6:30 pm. Happy hour
8:00 pm. Dinner
9:00 pm. Movie, TV or after-dinner conversation
11:00 pm. Lights out
Safety Equipment. Inherently, the Nordhavn 47 is a very safe boat. You’ll find Nordhavns all over the world, and many, like Bluewater, have crossed oceans and other treacherous waters to get where they are. To make Bluewater even safer, we’ve added lots of safety equipment. If you’d like an introduction to the onboard safety equipment such as life raft, emergency beacon, flares, fire extinguishers, etc., just ask Milt or Judy.
--Milt & Judy
Very Important Note
If anything breaks or malfunctions (especially the head), please report it to Milt or Judy immediately. Please do not be too embarrassed to report it at once -- things usually only get worse with time and it’s best to deal with problems quickly!