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...

We've talked a fair amount about what we do in winter to prepare Cygnet for the coldest months and to help keep us warm as the temperatures dip to inhumane levels.  When someone new hears about our lifestyle they still most often ask about what the winters are like, how it's possible to live on a boat through sub-zero temperatures.  If you're a regular reader you know a lot about how we prep and cope, but this year we did make some changes which have been good and bad.  One of the issues with preparing for the cold is we often can't change what we've done halfway through winter, the weather doesn't allow it.  For example the tape we use for closing off openings in the hull and for sealing up windows doesn't stick well when the temperature is below 50ºF (10ºC) and the nearly constant Chicago wind means removing or adding plastic sheets can be a challenge. So what did we do different this year?  The number one difference is the plastic wrap on the outside ...

We've passed the four year anniversary of living on Cygnet and one thing we've realized in that time is that she's is too big.  We don't mean she's too big for living aboard, she's just about perfect for that, but for taking her out for a casual cruise.  We've done trips with just the two of us before, like our trip to  St Joseph, Michigan , but those cruises are generally because we are doing something special and we don't have a crew available.  Having a third person aboard makes a huge difference in what we can handle.  If you are thinking about living aboard as a single or couple you need to be aware of this. Docking is a challenge.  Our home slip is a pain to get in and out of since it is a very small marina. We have a boat about 40 feet in front of us and about three feet next to us.  The way the marina is designed we actually have to back out of it, something we don't recommend but there isn't enough room to turn around.  The river can b...

Remember the character Jack Klompus from Seinfeld?  He was the guy that Jerry's dad Morty was always having problems with in the Del Boca Vista retirement community.  No matter what Morty said, Jack always said the opposite.  He was the type of guy that nobody could get along with, someone who thought that -no matter what- he was right, and even if he had an inkling that he was wrong would never admit to it. Jack Klompus We have a Jack Klompus at River City Marina and it makes life shitty.  Many of you reading this probably have a Jack Klompus near you, whether you have a guy or girl as part of your condo association that's always mucking up the works, or a neighbor who likes to cut his tree branches down and leave the mess in your yard.  Maybe there is that guy at work that you just can't stand dealing with because he's such a pompous ass.  Our Jack is a guy who thinks he's the king of the marina, someone who is involved in every aspect of the place ...

First of all, we are very sorry for taking so long between posts.  We won't bore you with the details, but just know it has been a very busy and difficult couple months in our work and personal lives.  So again, sorry. ______ Oh shit it's winter again!  Well, at least it seemed that way this past weekend when we got our first snow of the year.  After learning so much last winter we are doing some things differently this year, not everything, but some things.  We aren't wrapping the boat until January.  That has the most to do with the fact that we want to take Cygnet out for New Year's Eve.  You see, this year, Chicago is premiering a  New Year's Eve  shindig like NYC.  It just so happens that it is based on both sides of the river near Michigan Ave. which is a short ride from our marina.  Hopefully the weather holds up and we can have a front row seat for the "star ascension" without dealing with any crowds. Once we wrap we wi...

The weather has broken and we are warming up nicely.  It's been a couple weeks since we had frigid temperatures in Chicago and we've even seen one day in the 70s.  If you're reading this in a warm climate and thinking 70 isn't that warm, let me tell you that after a winter in Chicago 70 is amazing! The sun is heating us up quite nicely during the day and the heaters are keeping us toasty at night. The first day we had over 50 was a sunny one and out of habit we left the heaters on when we went to work.  With the warm sun the wrap acted like a greenhouse and got the unheated rear deck up to 105! The interior of the boat was at 100, which we both agreed was a bit high. 1. Outside  2. Rear Deck  3. Engine Room  4. Interior Of course it's a bit early to take the wrap off the boat as the weather has gone back down to more seasonal levels this week.  We shut the heaters off on warm days and leave the zipper door open to the wrap to let in some fresh ai...

Now into our first winter living aboard we were invited to the annual River City Marina Rat Party. Every year in the beginning of December those of us brave or dumb enough to have a boat in the water through the winter (and some of the summer folks) are invited to a party in the marina to celebrate our curious way of life.  The party is more of a boat "crawl" where we start on one boat and visit all the others with a finish on the largest of the winter dwellings owned by Dr. Doug.  This year we had a great turnout, we invited a few non-boating friends to join and everyone had a great time. Night and Day  The evening started with a cocktail aboard Cygnet as our friends arrived, then we en-masse went to Castaways, owned by Captain Pat to join the rest of the crews.  On a calm and relatively mild early December evening it was packed.  Castaways is no little runabout, it's a big boat, about the same size as Cygnet, but it was packed to the gills with our nei...