Thunder, Lightning and Lots of Changes

Wow, lots of thunder and lightning here lately! Tornado warnings, even. Feels a lot like Michigan this spring/summer. I'm liking it a lot. Ok, I'm slightly nervous about the whole bit too, but even still it's been a nice change of pace from the normal Boston weather.


We've been improving Madrigal in lots of small ways lately - almost too quickly to blog about, but I'm trying to keep up.

Did we tell you that we installed the composting head (err, toilet) in Madrigal? We had bought it for the Fitzcarraldo but the new owners didn't want it and kept it for us. We've been using it since we moved to Thayer's Landing and it's working out well, thanks to the solar vent that Justin installed in the cabin top. Hooray solar power. That thing is a power horse.


The other bit we've been trying to put more focus on is safety. We're hoping to use the boat more this year and if we're going to be sailing more, the boat should be as safe as we can make her. Seamar sells affordable netting for the lifelines. We got the netting a good long while ago but couldn't put it up due to the big topsides paint job that was taking place. Well, Justin added the grip paint over the weekend (well, *our* weekend, which was Thursday or Friday) and so he then added the netting too. The grip paint is another vast improvement for Madrigal for safety, as we're not slipping around on deck when they're the slightest bit damp. It made a world of difference.

Anyhow, it's hard to keep spending money for these upgrades, but we're doing it as wisely as we know how. Maybe one of these days we'll go a good long stretch without buying something new for the boat. Until then, this boat just keeps getting fancier and fancier.

The end of the beginning

Today is Jenny's last day working at the library in Watertown. This is a huge day. All of our income and expenses will suddenly change. In fact, our lifestyles in general will change, and change rapidly, because this is also our last week living at Constitution Marina. This coming Saturday, May 1st, we leave for Thayer's Landing in Weymouth.

The boat is all ready for the move. This past week I replaced the electric head/undersized holding tank combo with the Airhead composting toilet that we had originally purchased for the Fitzcarraldo. There will be no regular pumpouts there, so a new solution was needed. Having such a small holding tank on an electric head with 2 liveaboards just sucked anyhow. I also installed a Nicro Day/Night solar vent to assist the composter and provide our head with some much needed air circulation. Over the winter I installed a direct from dock water system to go along with our tank water. That way we can take showers with normal amounts of water while docked. Our batteries, and charging system is all set. The engine is up and running after a few little flukes with sticky oil pressure regulators after the long cold winter. Fuel filters are changed and we are excited to move. This week I have to dive under the boat (in the cold Boston Harbor!) and clean up the prop. I could tell on our first run of the season that it is a bit gummed up with crust and gunk, so that shouldn't be too big of a deal to clean.

and then we're off.... out of this Big City. That calls for two appropriate songs.

Big City, by Merle Haggard

and Money Stinks, by DRI

Two fantastic songs about leaving the city and leaving steady jobs.

:)