Almost Time

The boat heater is in and it does an adequate job. The interior of the boat is sparkling clean. The exterior - well - after some drama, a few small, third degree chemical burns and a new pressure washer, the outside of the boat was clean for a brief moment in time. Seagulls target clean boats. It's like a video game to them, I think. But several projects yet remain.

The canvas enclosure is green. It should be white. Once we've been through another round of Better Living Through Chemistry, it will be white and put back up. Then we need a radar reflector. The Inside Passage supports some commercial traffic, not the least of which is the ferry that runs from Bellingham, WA to Whittier, AK. Those larger boats rely on radar to show them what's out there on the water. Fiberglass hulls don't do a very good job of reflecting radar back. Thus, a metal reflector hung in the rigging so the big guys have a shot at seeing us little guys.  The cats have ripped the fabric covered headboard in the master cabin to untidy shreds. I'll recover that with something less attractive to kitty claws. We hope.  Every trip out to the boat now, entails carting a load of stuff down the dock to stow aboard for the voyage. Fifteen cases of catfood. Dishes. Silverware. Pots, pans, clothes, towels...everything we'll need to function as a household. We don't have an exact target date for actually getting out of Dodge, but the week of  April 25th is starting to look promising. Point of fact: we have to be gone by May 1 when our subleasees take possession of the slip.

We keep hoping that Mother Nature will get the memo about spring between now and the time we shove off.