No more grungy towels for this solo cruiser
Issue 39 : Nov/Dec 2004
Early September . . . the Dog Days whelp no more . . . overnight cruises are again pleasant. By 6 p.m. the anchor is secure, the sail neatly furled and the boom nested on the gallows. The Old Cat and I are the sole occupants of Canoe Cove.
The sun won’t set for another hour and a half, but this serpentine and secluded cove is a summertime overnight destination, facing north and south off a tributary to Beaver Lake. A relatively high and wooded bluff to the west already shades me from the sun’s waning heat.
First, a toast to Sir Francis Chichester, then time for a cooling dip. The lake still holds its summer heat, now showing 79°F, but refreshing when I dive into it. After a swim to exercise muscles not used for sheet pulling and wheel turning, it’s time for a full bath while sitting on a shallow rock at the shoreline. Ablutions completed, the evening up-cove breeze feels cool on my wet skin when I climb aboard. Quick, grab the chamois and dry off.
Did you say chamois?
Chamois? Sure, chamois. What do you use? A towel? I learned about the advantages of the chamois through trial and error; you get to learn about it in one easy reading. The chamois I use is synthetic (it comes from an oil well, not from the “small, goatlike antelope of the mountains of Europe and southwestern Asia”). It is about 2 by 3 feet, now that it has finished shrinking. Mine came from Wal-Mart and cost $3.94 some years ago.
It is holed and stained, but it has never soured, works equally well at wiping dew off the brightwork, mopping up tea spilled in the cockpit, or drying my sweating brow. A good rinse overboard and airing out is the only care required. I hang it from the boom gallows. Of course, it needs to be damp to work, but this is easily accomplished when you cruise in fresh water.
I used to practice segregation: a towel for me, and the chamois for The Old Cat, but I found that my boat was getting the better end of the deal. Now we share. I don’t carry a towel aboard anymore, and my wife, Mary Lu, appreciates not having a grungy towel to bleach and wash after I’ve been mini-cruising.
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
