Water We Thinking

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 ...

Woke up this morning to this. The inside should be bright orange, not charred. The new SmartPlugs are now DumbPlugs.  Here we are again without power mid-January.  The most interesting thing is that the plug in the middle wasn't actually plugged into power, we'd unplugged it a few weeks ago.  These inlets also have a thermostat that is supposed to shut the power down if there is too much resistance to avoid these problems.  We also were running a very light load last night, not pulling many amps since it has been unseasonably mild and we have heaters powered through other cords. We did have a thunderstorm last night, with some nearby lightning (super-rare for Chicago in January) but we see no signs of a lightning strike anywhere.  All the pedestals, where the power comes from, are fine and the cords are fine on the other ends.  The inlets are also covered from the rain, so it isn't a water issue.  We talked to SmartPlug this morning and they s...