Just a day in the life of a new boat owner.

It has been an eventful, busy, and overall successful day and a half.  OH, and HOT!  I love the heat and I love it even more when there's high humidity to go along with it, but it has been two days of temps in the mid- to upper-90s with equal humidity, and I'm ready for a break.  It just so happens that the break is approaching or skirting close enough to cool the air and lessen the humidity.  A thunderstorm is about 8 miles away (thanks to my nifty radar) creating a good blow and show as it passes, but I don't think I'll get much water from it, and that's good.  Without the rain I can leave the boat open and take advantage of Nature's air conditioning.

After getting my rental car yesterday, I went straight to a Super Wal*Mart that's on the way to the marina and spent 2 hours filling 2 carts and my little Civic with groceries for the trip, and I still don't think we have enough food, but every time I've planned a trip and been responsible for the food, there's been way too much. I don't know that I'll keep the streak going,

Throughout the shopping trip, I was communicating with Nicole who was planning to bring the kids and dinner to the boat when she thought the youngest was ready for a nap.  The timing turned out well.  I'd gotten to the boat and had most of the groceries on the boat when Nicole pulled up.  She dived right in and started putting things away for me, and when she was done with that, she unpacked the boxes I'd shipped from home and directly from vendors to the boat.

We cooked and ate dinner - it was delicious - I read a story to Julian that Nicole videoed so he could watch it anytime, then we cleaned up so we could hug goodbye.  They were all great sports with the heat, the food was wonderful, and it was a great visit.  And we didn't take one picture - well, besides the video - so I have no record of their visit to post.  I hadn't unpacked my camera yet, and Nicole was mostly busy helping and keeping Sydney from diving off the steps to the salon floor.  Oh well.

Dave, the mechanic, was finishing up his work in the engine room just as we sat down to eat.  Not quite finished, because he discovered a leaky coolant hose on the generator and wanted to change it but couldn't because the engine had been running and was too hot.  Instead of having him drive back out here or begging the yard to do it, I volunteered to get it done.  I was up bright and early and attacked it in hopes of getting it done before it got too hot.  Too late.  It was too hot when I woke up, but it had to get done.

And it went well.  I had the usual difficulty removing coolant hoses that had nearly become one with the engine parts they were attached to, and I tore up a knuckle trying to reach one of the clamps, but I needed to check out the first aid kit I'd gotten for the trip anyway.  I'd hoped to have the yard guy here today to help me get the generator started and leak check it, but they were busy.  We'll do it tomorrow.

I found the nagging water leak and fixed that. The owner had told us he'd noticed water in the bilges that had always been dry, so he knew there was a leak somewhere but wasn't sure where.  Using no skill at all, I stepped on a small patch of wet carpet where should have been dry carpet, tore the nearby cabinet apart, and found water spraying or spritzing from under a hose clamp that wasn't tight enough.  That seemed too easy, but I tightened it up and was done.  No more leak.  I then filled the fresh water tanks back up.

I discovered the TV works.  I'm only getting local channels, but I've kept up with the news all day, and I noticed that iit doesn't change much. I've heard the same 6 top stories on a never-ending rotation sprinkled with the occasional special interest story, but it provides the noise in the background that I like to have.

Oops, the rain did make an appearance.  I'd already come inside, because the bugs were being attracted to the laptop screen and then to me.  The bugs convinced me that the idea I had to beat the heat by sleeping outdoors isn't one of my better ones.

I got a few projects started enough to figure out what I need from the hardware store finish the jobs or at least make significant progress before the next trip to town.

I put away all of the engine room spare parts that I'd ordered.  Nicole opened the boxes for me, but we put them aside to stow below later. I made several trips to the dumpster to throw away boxes and packing material.

And I made so many adjustments and minor repairs around the boat that I've forgotten half of them.

Chuck and Scott were supposed to arrive today, but their flights were cancelled due to bad weather in Philly.  They're coming in the morning instead.  One less night on the boat in this heat without A/C is a good thing.

I'm boring myself, and it's cool enough now to take a shower and get ready for bed.  It'll be another busy day tomorrow, but Chuck and Scott will be here to share it with.  Now that my laptop is unpacked, I'll try to keep up with reporting the events.

Greg.