Life in a boat yard

Life in a boat yard

It has been awhile since we have sent out an update. Why? You ask. ^#@*#! We don’t talk like that, and I’m not going to now. Suffice it to say, there has been some progress with the projects, but it is slow. Why? You ask.  Remember the boat list rule? 10 items on the list, complete one and now you only have 19. The engine was as close as possible to an exact fit. However, the hoses, cables, through hulls,… need to be changed. The new lifeline stations look great, so why not get rid of that bent pulpit? And—it is hot!

Oh, right, I said I wasn’t going to go into all of that.

Everyone here is pretty much doing what we are doing, so there is a lot of discussing. We are getting some good advice and occasionally, Reggie gives some advice as well. There are no bow waves, but instead the sound of grinders and power washers. Let me introduce you to some of the people here. They are friendly, helpful and one of the main reasons we are not progressing faster.

George, on our starboard, around 70, born in Cuba, painting his boat. He is not a painter. He loans us his car-we commiserate.

Susan and Gordon, on the other side. They have at least 3 boats and no house. She has herbs growing in the cockpit.  He is building a hard dodger. They expect to be here for another year! We hope to be out of here before they are. She baked a yummy sweet bread and gave some to us. It was dinner, with some cream cheese, last night. We exchange tools, stories and advice. We seem to be on the short end of this exchange.

Cindy is a Montanan and now is living here on her boat and working at the local Military history museum. We have also borrowed her vehicle on several occasions, but were able to take her to dinner, once.  It is so hard to repay all of the kindness.

Montanan? Did that make you sit up and take notice? Brian and Dawn Anne aren’t really from Montana, but they sail out of Dayton. They were only here for a few days, but that was enough time to go out for dinner a couple of times and have lunch on their beautiful yacht. Can’t wait to see them again this summer on the lake.

Lunch on their yacht…hmmmm….seems like there was something else…Oh, right. How could I forget that? Kathy and her friend Nick were there also! Many of you know Kathy. We first met her when she showed up at our boat at Flathead Lake and wanted to know if she could crew. We said “yes” and were so pleased for a few years. Then she and Sean decided to race against us. What’s up with that?  Awesome friends, great competition.

This afternoon we were humbled when Dean and Nancy dingyed in to take us out to their yacht.  The back of their boat card is filled with my notes! They told us to call them before buying or doing anything, because they now know the best products, deals and places. Good thing we have a cell phone or our phone bill would be way out there. It was a little hard to come back to the slums, but I’m over it and loving Submit again.

The crew at the marina is great, as well as the people who have “tagged on” a business. Steve, the Monkey Fist salvage guy, is our most often visited place. We take stuff we have removed from Submit and come back with stuff we might need. We tasked him with keeping track of the revolving stuff-he may have nightmares. Jerry, the wood guy, is the one who saved hours of work and frustration, by supplying and building the new engine stingers.

So why aren’t we further along on our projects, you ask? We are too busy yakking and enjoying ourselves to work on frustrating projects.

Gotta go, Oh, Hi. Sure, I guess we could go out for a beer!

Barbara……