Boat Camping

We sure made up for our lazy day yesterday. My foot felt better and hopefully wearing my running shoes (no more Tevas or flip flops) until we get rid of that stupid ladder will help. Plus we both slept through the night! Maybe one of the three times since we arrived on the boat! After my last ruminating about my poor sleep, we found the fan which we now have in the aft cabin. It makes all the difference to keep the air cooler and prevent the mosquitoes from buzzing in our ears…or at least keep us from hearing them. This morning we wasted no time getting to work after listening to the Net. Mike even managed to snag a free bike from one of the giveaways. Rusted, flat tire, no seat…but he has faith that with a little elbow grease he can get it to carry him to the store. I got another coat of varnish on the wheel (that thing is a thorn in my side) and while Mike was still tackling the plumbing puzzle in the head, I got to work on the electrical box. Talk about a rat’s nest! It has always looked a bit scary and has been on the ‘to do’ list for quite a while. Only to move up in priority since there was a leak right above it and we now get to install some new navigational equipment! I got to dissemble everything (sure hope I labeled it all right) and cleaned up the rust and grime on the busbars and back panel. I then got to clean every end of copper wire with something called Pur Coz (hailed as the wonder cleaner) and attach new connectors. Along with a coat of paint on the back panel to cover up the rust stains, it looks less like a fire hazard anyways. It was actually one of the most satisfying jobs but that was the easy part. Tomorrow will be the test to see if everything turns on or lights up. And that means… no electricity tonight. That’s a good combination with no floor boards! But thankfully, Mike had bought an adapter for our shore power line so we were able to plug in a lovely fluorescent light to see by. We weren’t really terribly hungry but figured we should BBQ the marinating chicken since we weren’t sure about power to the fridge for the night. As Mike was at the grill, I was fixing us a glass of Raki (to help us get through the night) and making a greek salad. While I was standing under the blue glow of light, cooking with no running water, and then later brushing my teeth with a head light on, it especially felt like camping tonight!