Water We Thinking

Well it took almost six weeks to restore power to River City after the flood of Sunday May 17.  In addition it took almost two months to get internet back.  That's why we haven't uploaded any new videos, our iPhone hotspots work, but 4K video takes a whole bunch of bandwidth.  Now that we have the ability to upload at will here is the latest installment of "What I Did on My Covid Vacation." Enjoy!

On May 17, 2020 we had a flood.  River City, which sits on the South Branch of the Chicago River rose more than seven feet and the marina and building attached to it were flooded.  The building was evacuated but we on our boats were fine.  It took a few days for the water to return to normal but because the building was flooded we lost power and water. We've managed to get a temporary water solution by using the city pressure water from the spigot at the building on the weekends when they aren't using it for cleanup.  We also have a 250 gallon tank sitting nearby with water just in case we need it.  In fact as we write this we've been told we won't have availability to water for a few days at least.  Thankfully we have 150 gallons on board plus about 20 gallons in the hot water tank.  We can last a couple weeks if need be.  We've definitely upped our Solo cup and Dixie paper plate budget this month. Power is a bigger issue for us at the moment.  We have no inte

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

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. Ready to go out in the world 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.  Fortu

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 c