Teetering …. but Life Is Good!

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What a MESS! Birds and RATS, oh NO!

So we walked down the dock and recoiled from the mess.  YIKES!  The birds have been busy.  OMGoodness.  But the good news is there’s no osprey nest on top of our mast.  Of course, there are a dozen black birds at the masthead and the deck and the Shadetree Shades (thank goodness for the Shadetree Shades!) are COVERED with BS.

What a MESS! Birds and RATS, oh NO!
What a MESS! Birds and RATS, oh NO!

Worse is that the deck is a MESS – mostly with RAT crap and chewings….. oh no …. what will we find inside…..

Whew!  Inside looks fine, thank goodness after all the rat crap on the deck!
Whew! Inside looks (and smells) fine, thank goodness after all the rat crap on the deck!

Luckily (or maybe due to us making sure they can’t get into the boat….) there is no evidence of any critters inside.  No bugs, no cockroaches, no ants, no RATS, no STINK, nothing inside.  It’s just as we left it.  The bilge is bone dry, the boat smells good and the refrigerator compressor starts instantly….   WHEW!

Nothing a bit (or a bunch) of scrubbing won't fix... not in the immediate plan, but we're flexible...
Nothing a bit (or a bunch) of scrubbing won’t fix… not in the immediate plan, but we’re flexible…

OK, I can deal with outside.  It’s just a bit slower than anticipated.  So out come the swimsuits and the hose and the Woody Wash … and sponges and soft scrub brushes and scrub brushes for the fiberglass nonskid….  all green and moldy… but literally 3 hours later …

What a difference 3 hours makes -- boat's almost clean, canvas is on, mainsail is on the boom and we can sleep aboard.  WOOHOO!!!  (ps ... dinghy still need inflating but that's what tomorrow is for, right?  :)
What a difference 3 hours makes — boat’s almost clean, canvas is on, mainsail is on the boom and we can sleep aboard. WOOHOO!!! (ps … dinghy still need inflating but that’s what tomorrow is for, right? 🙂

AMAZING transformation.  When we first arrived about 2 PM today and walked down our dock I would have said there is NO WAY we’d spend the night on the boat tonight … too much to do.

But here I am, sitting here in a relatively clean boat, with the canvas cockpit enclosure in place, the water tanks full, the head re-c0mmissioned, the main sail on the boom (more on that tomorrow), dinner cooked and cleaned, sipping wine and writing this post…..

LIFE IS GOOD! Another winter on the boat, 80 degrees and sunny, David can wear his shorts, can’t WAIT!

OK, so coming back was traumatic, isn’t it always?  But a few hours later, there’s light at the end of the tunnel …  and did I mention that LIFE IS GOOD!

6 COMMENTS

  1. Welcome home, you two! Wish we could do the same, but we’re still recovering from last week’s freak snow storm – 10″ of snow! And no electricity for almost 3 days… How I do envy you right now!

    • Oh NO! I’m thinking all the bird crap, RAT crap (????) what’s up with THAT?, and green moldy stuff is much better than ANY snow…. David couldn’t wear his shorts and my life wouldn’t be so good ….. 😉 Sorry Keith! You need to relocate south! 🙂 Cheers — J

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