What's Behind the Mirror?

While this title may sound like some psychobabble for introspection and the like, it is far from it.  Nor is it the beginning of some horror story about spirits hiding in the mirror waiting for a  vulnerable person so that they can inhabit his or her body.  It is a literal statement concerning our boat Nalani.

Today is Monday, September 1 and we've been living here at Mears Point Marina for six weeks.  It's starting to feel like we're never going to leave.  It's like we're stuck in the nautical version of  "Groundhog Day."  Every day we wake up and it's the same thing over and over; our waiting for some news about the fixing of our sailing vessel.

And especially after a holiday weekend with all the accompanying hubbub, mechanics were off doing their own thing, which they are right to do, but we still anxiously wait.

One of the things about getting a boat that is new to you is that you have to relearn so much.  Our first boat together was very basic and very simple.  This boat is grander in scale and highly engineered.  Granted, my knowledge of the boat is an nth of what Gary knows, but even he does not know everything about it. 

While new electronics were being installed, even the mechanics were thwarted by the placement of "boxes" that fed power to the electric winches.  They found the one on the port side easily as it lay just under the decking and was accessible by removing a panel from over the pilot berth.  Done and done.

The second port side winch and one on the starboard side proved very elusive.  Nothing was found right under decks and more searches following all the electrical components brought up a big fat zero.  Mulling over it for days, no answers were forthcoming.

Being the social media addict that I am, I suggested that maybe one of the Moody or other sailing forums on Facebook might lead to some answers.  My husband was skeptical, but I'm a get to it person; thinking about something that proves a dead end over and over is no fun.

I got on the forum and posed the question.  I got an answer within 24 hours!  Oh, but it didn't really answer my question.  The poster suggested that I go to the Moody website and pose the question there.  I signed on there and found the question-and-answer forums, wrote out my question, filed it in the right boat size category, and waited.

Who knew how long it would be?  At this point, all we could do was wait, but I felt good knowing that I had taken a positive step forward.  The effort was well-rewarded with a detailed answer the next day from a Moody owner who was sailing the Chesapeake.

He said the boxes in question were behind the vanity mirror in the aft cabin.  I thought he meant the bathoom (head) vanity, but no, it was the huge mirror that measures about 4-1/2' by 3-1/2' feet.  Now, why would a boat company put something like that in such a strange place; who would ever think to look there?  Moody is a British company; maybe this is part of their UK humor.

When I passed along this message, Gary and the mechanic clambered up the ladder and onto Nalani to check it out.  Success!  Behind the mirror was a panel, which, when removed, uncovered the two missing electronic winch boxes. 

It was a great feeling to have solved the puzzle, so to speak, and to have had such great teamwork on the FB Moody Owners' Association page and the Moody webpage itself.  Many thanks to Laurence G. for a referral, Mike S. for a referral, and Michael B. for the answer.

* And just in case you're thinking, "Why didn't they just check the manual?"; well, it isn't in the manual because electric winches are an option. So now I can't blame the Brits for their quirky humor.   Lesson learned and we'll never skip the opportunity again to engage in electronic conversation to help solve a problem again.