Water We Thinking

If you saw the last video of Kevin's painting fail hopefully this installment will redeem his skills in some of your eyes.  As we continue to work through Shelter in Place we've been working on lots of little things.  Right now it's a bit harder to do anything around here since we haven't had power or water for 12 days.

On Sunday May 17 we had what can only be described as a deluge of rain.  We'd had big storms a few days prior and everything was pretty saturated and the river was a bit up but not too bad.  But when it started raining Sunday it was serious.  We've seen River City Marina flood before with water over the docks but it went another couple feet above that and the Chicago River spilled over the wall and into the River City Apartments building.  This knocked out power to the entire building and marina, flooded the parking garage including about 25 cars, and they were forced to evacuate the building around 10PM Sunday night.

We fared better, as they …

Summer is fast approaching and we're itching to get outside and see friends, go to restaurants and bars, and at least go to the lakefront but we're still under Shelter in Place orders in Chicago.  So what have we been doing for the last couple months?  Colette is working from home and Kevin is working on our home.  All those little things are getting done and some bigger ones too.

After years of looking at a pretty bland bathroom we decided to spruce it up a bit.  We had such a small area to paint we grabbed a sample in a lovely shade of blue and Kevin began taping around the teak to give us a pop of color in the Master Stateroom Head.  So, how'd it go?  Take a look at the video below to see.

Oh, and we have more project videos coming soon so subscribe if you'd like to see 'em.

Whether you are already living aboard a boat full time, do the part time lifestyle, or dream of one day living aboard there are sacrifices to make.  Many liveaboard boaters have nothing but their boat as a place to escape the pandemic that is COVID-19.  We are such people, mostly.  Now, we are also very lucky in that we have a marina with a yard, a building with a bodega next door, and live in a neighborhood that is easily walkable with most essentials very nearby.  Many people living aboard don't have the amenities we have and they are stuck in a very small space indefinitely.  Certain parts of the country and world are coming out of shelter in place orders as of this writing in early May 2020.  Illinois is not one of those states, at least yet.

We have begun Phase 2 of shelter in place which means a bit more freedom but we are still a long way from getting back to "normal" or at least getting to whatever will be the new normal.  Fortunately for us we have more space …

Congratulations!  You made it through your first season with a boat but now the weather is changing and the high temperatures are in the 60s on a regular basis.  You've extended the season as long as you can but it's just getting too chilly to be out cruising around, and definitely too chilly for a swim.  It's time to put your boat into hibernation for the winter.  So, where do you start?

We live aboard Cygnet all year so winterizing is very different for us.  But we had Two Wrights for years and took her out of the water every fall and put her back every spring.  Our winterizing routine wasn't much different than most.  What you'll read below is a general winterizing program.  You may have a different requirement based on your boat and that should be found in the manufacturer's manual or online.  Don't take our word for it, find out from your boat builder what you should be doing.  It's a good idea to make a check list and use it every year.  This can…

What is all this crap? When you purchase a car you get the car and a set of keys.  You probably don't need anything else to use the car.  Put fuel in it, get insurance, turn the key and drive it.  You might want to get a toll pass and have a pair of gloves and a jump start pack but you don't really need anything to use the car.
Boats are different.  Unless you are looking at an inflatable or something made of rubber you are going to want fenders.  If you saw a previous post there is a difference between fenders and bumpers, just like on a car.  Bumpers are built into a dock and fenders are movable balls or cylinders that you place between the boat and the dock to protect your very fragile fiberglass, steel, aluminum, or whatever your boat is made of.  You definitely need them and you need the right size and type for your specific boat and docking situation.  Cygnet came with four large cylinder style fenders and they work great most of the time but in our specific slip we nee…

Well, you gave it your best shot.  You thought owning a boat would be as fun as everyone says it is but decided that boat ownership isn't for you.  Now you have this thing and you don't really know what to do to sell it, at least in a way that you retain your sanity and a bit of its value.  Selling a boat can be like selling a car, but it can also be like selling a house depending on the type of craft you own.  Selling a boat also costs money, something a lot of people wouldn't really expect.  The bigger the boat the more it will cost you.

If you have a small boat, maybe one with a trailer, you could probably put it in your driveway with a For Sale sign and you might find a buyer pretty easily.  Maybe a free ad on Craigslist is an option or an ad in the local BoatTrader magazine, or online site.  These things may work but you need to know how much your boat is worth in order to place the ad.  You can look at comparables on Craigslist, BoatTrader, eBay, and the others to f…