Editing The honeymooners (section)

==='''The AMS ''Honeydew'' '''===

The AMS (which stands for ''Alberto Marin's Ship'') the ''Honeydew'' is a 40' shallow draft houseboat; her beam is about 15'. She is of pre-war build, then again, these days, most everything is as US production shifts from Wartime to Peacetime production. With her small gas engine, she has a normal cruising speed is 2-3 knots. Cabins are plainly furnished on the portside of the boat, but the cabins are comfortable. The engine is also the generator for electric lights; she has a battery that will give an hour or two of light when the main motor isn't running. There isn't power for major appliances, so food is cooked on an oil stove on the aft quarter. The cabin roof is a sun deck with reclining chairs, tables, and sun beds. A canvas awning can be rigged in wet weather. The other deck areas are small and cluttered with hatches and fittings. There is a drop privy amidships, and there are two two-hundred gallon tanks, one fore and one aft. The forward is potable water for cooking, the aft is for gasoline.

There are two 20-gauge double-barreled shotguns and fifty cartridges in a gun case in the wheelhouse. A fire axe is clipped to the bulkhead in the galley. There are also several sharp knives aft, in a pair of broad cabinets with utensils, cooking and eating gear, and this qualifies as a basic galley. Other equipment inc1udes four oil lanterns and two large flashlights, several coils of rope, six fishing rods and reels (bring your own bait), a 78-rprn record player with a stack of jazz and Andrews Sisters records, and a boat hook. A four-seat rowing dinghy emblazoned with the name, 'Al's Little Princess' is towed aft. It can hold 5-6 people if the extra passengers sit between the rowing benches, but is easily swamped if heavily loaded.

[[File:AMS Honeydew2.jpg]]