out of the mud? 25 March 2015

Tonight we are at anchor. It is a calm and beautiful night. We motored for about an hour and a half, but we did move. Let me explain. We had planned to leave on Monday noonish, it is now Wed night. The rumor is that if you stay too long in the Bayou, you get stuck in the mud and never leave. We were beginning to think it was true. However, there are worse fates. We were there for over a month. In that time we were wined and dined and had so many tasty treats.  Time with old friends and new.  Invaluable technical advice.  History lessons come alive. It was hard to pull our feet out of the mud! Often times we hear of would be cruiser that never hear that sucking sound and just stay put. What an easy thing to do. When we untied the dock lines there was no room in the cockpit, as the lazerettes were empty and “stuff” wasn’t stored. Many people would say we were “knot ready”. As I fixed dinner, Reggie stowed stuff and it is better, but still ‘not ready’. Tomorrow is another day.

Words that come to mind about our stay at Chico Bayou-good people, good food, good times, good work, leaks.

Leak #1: transmission leaking, go see Tom the transmission king. He worked it over and we had a new part sent from London. That took several ‘boat hours’. I now know that a ‘boat buck’ is equivalent to $100 and a ‘boat hour’ is equivalent to a day. Transmission is perfect. Check

Leak # 2: unpleasant smell from the propane locker.  New propane tank. Check

Leak # 3: the upper saloon windows have been a concern for awhile and then they started leaking. New windows installed. Check. Uncheck. Still leaking. Reinstalled, Check.

Leak # 4: water pump running, when it shouldn’t. Sound of running water in the bilge. Night before we are to leave. Well maybe not.  Reggie disassembled the entire boat, found the culprit and repaired. Fresh water leak fixed, check.

Why didn’t the bildge pump come on when all that water was dumping in to the bilge? Pull the bilge pump, another day project. New pump, check.

These things are all good to have repaired and replaced, but we also have new dinette seats which are more comfortable and have extra storage! Fresh paint, new curtains, new lights, new heater stove, new companion way and window covers, a closet that doesn’t drip and smells of fresh cedar.

Submit is more fit and we are more blessed.