Two Weeks
- Keith Ouzts
- Jun 12
- 2 min read
We have been on the boat for two weeks now. We have had a few successful trips up and down the Mississippi River and have gotten a couple of scars and bumps as well. It’s been a good fortnight! (Ten points to Gryffindor for use of the word “fortnight.”)
What have we learned? Well, we can be comfortable on the boat, for one. It is a lot smaller than our house, of course, but it is well laid out and functional. Neither of us is stir crazy and there have been many days when Julie was napping or doing artwork in the air conditioning, and I was topside doing my own stuff. We aren’t falling all over each other or getting in each other’s way.
It’s a little disheartening that we are still in the same marina, however, it also gave us a great opportunity to really get to know the boat and work on some finer detail chores. And we know that after July 6th (weather permitting, of course, always…) we will head to the Lake City Marina and then Wabasha, MN. We will have plenty of chances to learn about other marinas, docking at different places, and still enjoying the day.
This would be easier with a truck and camper. I have a slight sense of having lost my freedom to move about. It’s great that Wal-Mart delivers and we can get restaurants to bring us food also. But with no vehicle, it’s either my feet or delivery. I’m old-fashioned, I like to touch and feel whatever it is I’m shopping for. But I think once we start moving downriver I’ll feel better about that.
Biscuit has been wonderful. He’s very clingy to me, always wants to be wherever I am. But he is calmer now than he was the first couple of days and is settling into his own routine as well. He was very helpful as I was staining wood trim this afternoon…not.
I haven’t started a real Captain’s Log yet, as we haven’t gone anywhere. I did collect basic info such as start and stop times, miles, hours on our last couple of trips, but in a haphazard type of way. We have a pretty good checklist now for pulling away from the dock that includes all the log entries I should make.
All our friends and family are keeping in touch either via the blog or phone calls, texts and emails. It’s great to hear from everyone, we really appreciate you!
Blessings to all ya’ll!!
Would you guys get a bike or two to strap on the boat? So you have more freedom while you're docked?
Happy sails to you!!!!
Didn't Biscuit help?
A suggestion for the benefit of all us gawkers: the blog’s entries are not well-identified as to when they are made, showing up as “43 minutes ago” or some such. It’s hard to tell what order they’re in. It will be very helpful down the road, er, down the wake?, to have them start with an actual date, so that we can follow along more easily if we are looking at more than the most recent one. Thanks.
Also, us urban dwellers may be more familiar with the Lyft/Uber world than you’ve needed to be. I prefer walking, too, but sometimes that’s not an option. You may be more mobile without your own vehicle than you think.
For the record....it was my idea to stain the woodwork. Matter of fact I was going to do it 😀 but then Keith said it needed to be sanded by 3 different kinds of sand paper so he did that part. I did vacuum the dust from all the sanding, and wiped the wood down. Then he stained the hard to reach parts, and I helped stain the port side of the helm. He Then finished up doing the starboard side, and under the Jackery. It was a good idea and I really appreciate him doing the majority of the work on getting it completed. Oh and walking to the hardware store for supplies too!