Day 318, Year 6: Raining, Raining
Date: Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Weather: Overcast, Rainy, and Cool
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts

Sometimes it pours, sometimes in drizzles, but moisture in some form has been coming down for almost 48 hours . . . and the forecast says there will be more tomorrow. I know we need rain, but I have just never been a person with much tolerance for drippy skies. Mark loves to curl up with a good book on a rainy day, but I much prefer reading, or doing anything else for that matter, in the sunshine. One thing is for sure, however. I’m not made of sugar and I’m not going to melt. And it’s a good thing because it looks like we are in for a few more days of this.

Sam had a dentist appointment this morning, so Jed was took him to that while I picked up Heather and Jonah and brought them to Woods Hole. I had to drive into town to take Mark to work, so bringing them back with me was no problem. Heather and the boys come to Windbird for lunch today and we just stayed here again this afternoon. Both boys seem to be able to nap just fine on the boat and I love having them. We all just pile into the v-berth and Jonah goes to sleep while I’m reading. Sam and I continue to read and then he makes himself a ‘nest’ and after a little flipping and flopping, he is asleep. Jonah got up first this afternoon and we had a great time quietly looking at photographs from the summer on the computer. He loved reliving the fun experiences through the photos. All too quick it was time to go and our trip from Windbird to shore was a REALLY wet one. We timed our departure at just the wrong time when the heavens decided to pour. But we donned our foul weather gear and braved the weather. A wet Sam, Jonah, Heather, and Oma drove into town to pick Mark up from West Marine and then on to take Sam, Jonah, and Heather home.

We continue working on our boat maintenance issues. Mark doesn’t work tomorrow and he is going to continue to work on the electrical issues. Last night we did a fair bit of internet searching into tour stinky head problem. We think we will begin to attack the problem by buying a new toilet, and then follow the advice of Peggie Hall. We rediscovered her on the web last night after following her advice when we lived aboard in Boston. We had forgotten the value of using two products-CP and KO. CP is Clean Potty and KO is Kills Odors. They worked for us in Boston when we were using a holding tank, so hopefully they will work for us once again. But tonight we are reading the advice of boat guru Don Casey. We’ll combine the advice of the two experts and make a final decision on the path we will take with Windbird.

A last note is about the Newport Boat Show which starts next Thursday with VIP Day. Good friend, Larry Beavers, called this morning to see if we would like to take advantage of some free tickets he has been give and I most definitely said YES. Heather can’t go, but hopefully Jed will be able to go with us and we will take Sam and Jonah. We look forward to seeing Larry and our friends Alan and Helaine Kanegsberg who will also be there that day. Sure hope this rain stops by this time next week!