It ain’t that easy!

We finally got moved into our floating home called Pachina Mia, and have been slowly bringing her back from ‘on-the-hard’ hell. Mast went up without too much drama, and then we scooted off (in the car … boo-hoo) to Ottawa to spend Mother’s Day with my mom and sis. A few good dinners out and we were back to Belleville to carry on the work.

Boat systems have been coming back online, mostly without many hitches. Propane (stove/oven and BBQ) worked great right off. We have water (although Ann still won’t drink it yet), and the fridge/freezer is doing fine. Bilge pumps are pumping, and electrically everything is working well — all except the spreader lights which have a mysterious voltage drop in the line; probably due to them being nearly severed when the mast went up. Minor issue…

Sails are rigged, windvane is mostly installed, anchor and nav lights are functioning. The major remaining issues are finishing the radar and solar installation AND getting the engine running smoothly. Dave, our mechanic, was down and we got her running with a shot of ether. But she’s blowing blueish smoke, and is running rough. We did an oil change, and will probably reset the valves. Dave is investigating some other possibilities. Doesn’t seem to be a major problem.

When we hoisted the mast we chose to leave off our masthead wind instruments. They are delicate and would likely have been damaged by the crane’s cable. This meant one of us had to climb to the very top of our 45′ mast (which puts it about 50′ above the water) and somehow manage to install these things. Ann lost the fight, so I got to go up 😉

But Ann got her revenge the next day by climbing nearly as high to install the lazyjacks. Crazy woman!

Life at Stillwater Basin Marina is feeling quite comfortable. We’ve settled into a routine of lazy breakfasts, followed by a few hours of hard work, followed by yummy suppers cooked on board washed down with good beer or cheap wine. Ah the life…

One other major accomplishment was the installation of June’s/Mom’s space-church painting. It took Ann a few days to get up the gumption to drill holes in the frame and bulkhead, but she did it, and the painting looks great! Now there will be a little bit of Juney with us wherever we go.

The new owners of the marina are treating us well. They have an incredibly cute four-year-old daughter named Maddy who has been entertaining us with her questions, and her general joy of the world. She owns a cat Smokey has also adopted us, and is now so comfortable that he jumps on our boat uninvited, and sometimes even curls up on a settee to go to sleep.

If we can get the engine sorted, and finish a few more projects, AND declutter the boat, then we should be ready to get off the dock in a couple of weeks. Sheesh, this relaxing life is sure hard at times 😉

Addendum: As one of the few live-a-boards at the marina we get exposed to the full breadth of the joys of water life. A few nights ago I heard the SCCCRRRRRAPPE, BANG! CRASH!! SPLASH. I bolted upright in bed (while Ann keeps snoring away 😉 ) thinking something disastrous had happened to our boat, or someone nearby. But hearing no yelling or gurgling, I soon fell back asleep. The next morning I awoke to see the marina owner and others fishing something big out of the basin right next to our boat. I’ve been sworn to secrecy about what happened, but lets just say Ann and I and a few others spent the next couple hours fishing something out of the water that didn’t belong there.

And then just yesterday a neighbour boat owner knocks on our hull and asks me to come over to look at something. He points across the marina to a small boat and asks: “Should it be that low in the water?” I look closely, and quickly agree it looks low. So we go over and yes indeed, she’s sinking! No one knows who the owner is, it is locked, with no manual bilge pump visible. I go off and find some people. We cut the lock off, and see the cabin is 1/2 full of water. Find a pump. Boat saved!

Yup … always fun around here.