Prepping the Boat to Leave

In the morning we are flying back to the States for 10 days. So do we lock the doors and get up and go like we would in a house? Sort of but not really. We don’t run around and check all the lights because we only use them when it’s dark. We don’t put the a/c thermostat on low to conserve energy because well we don’t have a/c. We don’t ask the neighbors to pick up our mail to deter thieves. What we do do is a mega clean. We washed all the sheets, towels and dirty clothes. I also washed the sheets covering the sofas, it still astounds me how much laundry we go through. Yesterday decided to rain ALL DAY LONG which put a dampener in my laundry day plans. We don’t have a dryer so the majority of the clothes got put through an extra rinse cycle (or 6) out of the lifelines and we hung what we could on our grab rails inside.

We moved to the marina yesterday afternoon and Carl continued tidying the deck in the rain.

Today was a gorgeous day so I continued with the laundry. Carl cleaned out under the seats in the cockpit knowing that we have a few extra visitors of the roach kind lurking under there. We’ve seen them on deck and the last thing we want is an interior infestation. I gave the galley a good once over and vacuumed top to bottom. The bathrooms have been cleaned and bleached to limit the mildew. Having the hatches closed for a long period of time turns the interior into a a nice mold growing sauna. I then made little foil cups and put poison in them to be put around the boat in case we had any roachy friends decide a nice warm quiet boat would be a great place to set up shop. The last meal cooked for lunch today was pizza and we went out for dinner hoping not to mess up the galley and leave roach crumbs all over the floor.

We still haven’t figured out a locking system for our entrance so we’ll stick some wood in there for now. All the hatches will be dogged down as well as ports. The kids and I will exit through the companion way and Carl will close it from the inside and jam it with wood. He’ll then climb out the hatch and lower the dingy on top. Locked up like Fort Knox.

Bags are packed and the marina manager is giving us a lift to the ferry terminal in the morning. Ferry, taxi, flight then an hour drive to Carver, MA. We don’t have the warmest clothes so hopefully our toes won’t fall off and even if they do I’m sure Santa will bring us some extras for Christmas.

Merry Christmas everyone!