2025 July: NYC Fireworks & more

 

NYC - waiting for fireworks to begin

July 2025

Our son's family returned for the Macy's 4th of July fireworks and other adventures. It has become a family tradition for the 4th. We had some boat repairs to take care of before they arrived.

The hydraulic pump had been randomly failing in May and needed some taps to get working again. Clark ordered a new pump, but it didn't arrive at our place until late Wednesday. The new pump came with connection ports on the side rather than the top. So, the right angle 3/8" tube compression to 1/4" npt fitting needed to be replaced with straight fittings. On-line, Clark saw that Home Depot stock showed 3 available, and Lowes showed they had them also.

Clark went to Lowes and found one, but another person there was looking for the exact same thing for his steering. He then went to Home Depot, but none of the three listed in stock were actually in stock. It was near closing, but the store plumbing person said that Home Depot in Hazlet had them in stock.

The next day, the hydraulic shop, Ace and Napa didn't have them, and Lockwoods Boat Supply only had stainless steel fittings. Before going to Lockwood's, Clark stopped at the Hazlet Home Depot and found 1 win stock. Now he had two but needed three to complete the job. The Holmdel Lowes had two shown as in stock, so he went there next. Because of 4th of July traffic, it was a long slog to cover a very short distance to get there because the Parkway south was backed up, and cars were being rerouted to 35 south.

The clock was ticking as Clark finally arrived home and got to work on the boat. Family was expected to arrive mid-afternoon and Clark hoped to have the job done or at least mostly done by the time they arrived. The instructions for the fittings said not to use sealant or tape. Clark guessed that would be because it might contaminate the fluid with bits that would clog the one way valves. 

Clark tried the connection without sealant or tape and found it leaked like a sieve. With everything pulled apart, we have no steering. No steering means no trip. Clark added tape only near the thicker end of the NPT fitting and pressurized the system. No leaks. 

By the time he had reached this point, family had arrived. Our grandkids joined us for a test run and found that everything worked, but Clark found a 2" puddle of fluid. He tightened the fittings, and the next day when he checked, the 4th, there was no puddle! However, he did find a drip about to drop on each fitting.

After more tightening, we got underway for the beach at Sandy Hook for some lunch, beach time, swimming and exploring in the dink. The water temperature showed around 72 degrees. Heather and Ev decided they would stay dry today.

Unexpectedly, our trip adventures started only a few minutes out. We heard a noise and there was periodic thunking sound in forward and reverse on the port side. We anchored between the three channels in Pleasure Bay. It was time for Clark to go for a swim. 

Unfortunately, the stinging jelly fish arrived early this year and were pretty thick. Lillian spotted them first and warned Papa Clark! He decided to put on a shorty wetsuit and jumped in ready to cut a line off the prop shaft. Instead, he found a red, metal thing wrapped around the prop. It took 3 dives to unwrap. Clark gave a hard yank on the 3rd dive and it came off. No knife was going through that!

Mangled Crab Trap

We pulled in the anchor and got underway. Unfortunately, we missed the planned 10:00 am bridge opening. Being low tide, we disassembled the mast and lowered it as well as the antennas to fit under the bridge with it closed. Our son did the height check as we went under and reported plenty of headroom. Today we had the current against us and thus did not go under the bridge in reverse!

We made our way to Horseshoe Cove off Sandy Hook and once again dropped anchor. The grandkids could not wait to get wet!

Diving off the boat and swimming near Sandy Hook ...

Jack

Lillian

Chris, Jack and Lillian

We have a small yellow dinghy that we have had for more years than I can remember. We drop it in the water and tie it to the stern. The kids, big and small, love to play in the water with it. After some swimming, Clark connected it to the stern of our dinghy and towed the grandkids to the beach at Sandy Hook for beach time.

Clark and Chris in dinghy
Lillian and Jack in yellow tow

They came back with a container of sea shells and, poor Lillian, came back with a ton of bites from sand fleas. Clark had some too - anywhere covered by bathing attire!

Our daughter-in-law, Heather, and Ev stayed on the boat while the others went to explore the beach. We had a lovely time chatting the entire time they were gone. 

NYC has strict rules for security zones for the fireworks display. Clark did his homework and knew where we needed to go and when we needed to be there. We decided that we would eat dinner underway. Before we left the Sandy Hook anchorage, Clark one again checked for drips on the steering hydraulics. There were no puddles. Yay! NYC here we come!

This year, there was a new venue on the south side of the Brooklyn Bridge rather than up the East River by the Williamsburg Bridge. For our size vessel, we were designated to the Echo zone in the Buttermilk Channel between Governors Island and Brooklyn. The larger boats were assigned to Delta between the Battery and Governors westward. This was a much better venue for us especially because there was much less craziness afterwards due to everyone not heading the same way to leave on the East River after the show.

The show would not start until 9:30, but we had to be in place about two hours beforehand. For our designated zone the water was over 40 feet deep - no anchoring. We would need to "station keep" until the show ended, and it was time to head home.

With each year, the grandkids have become more interested in their surroundings. 

Approaching NYC ...

Lillian tried many times to point out Lady Liberty to Jack. He kept saying he could see it, but we knew he was looking in the wrong direction. 

Finally, we got close enough that there was no mistaking it!

While waiting for the show to begin, we were entertained by the "goings on" around us. There was the usual craziness with a boat with a deck fire, people in the water by the Brooklyn Bridge, and the USCG keeping busy.

An NYPD police boat went by and the men on board waved to us.

Fire boats came out to entertain us with red, white, and blue water streaming from their hoses.

We found a spot for ourselves near a tourist boat for the evening.

Next to this sailboat looked like a good place to watch

Helicopters flew overhead.

It never got boring just sitting there. We had the VHF radio on and could hear the chatter. While we listened, the Coast Guard came on to tell a vessel to "back off". The man told the captain that he was tired of telling them to stay back as the boat was too far forward. The female captain decided to yell at the USCG rep. Not here wisest decision. "I'm not crowding you!" 

The vessel, "Calypso", was too large to be in this zone. The USCG decided she had to leave and told her so. She said, "Fine! Get this boats out of my way!" The Coast Guard led her out to open water and then boarded her for being belligerent and not following their orders. Three USCG boats surrounded her boat.

She clearly had a crowd of people on her vessel. We wondered, "Does she have a Captain's license?" "Does she have paying guests? Will they get to see the show? Will they get a refund? What do her guests think of being boarded by the USCG?"

A short while later we saw the USCG chasing a jet ski out of the zone. The vessel had no lights after sunset! Oops! Time to go home!

PWC being escorted out by USCG

After that we watched the USCG approach two kayaks on the side of the river. Some people are just plain crazy! Kayaks in the dark on the river with many, many vessels around and folks probably having a few too many drinks?! One of the kayaks had a white, all-around light showing. He was fine. The other had no lights, but added one when the CG showed up. They got to stay for the show.

As with other years, AM radio 1010 played American Independence Day themed songs for the duration of the fireworks show. Clark and Ev stayed at the upper helm to watch and station keep. Chris and family sat on the bow for a close-up view.

Night view before the show began

Lillian and Jack enjoying the show

From the moment they started, the fireworks ran nonstop, with no breaks for smoke to clear, right through to the finale.

Drooping Flowers

Dandelions!

Weeping Willows!

The Brooklyn Bridge added to the show.

Boats admiring the show

Bridge, ground and aerial all at once.

 Prior to this year's show, the Macy's Bi-Centennial fireworks in 2000 were the best we had ever seen with synchronized displays from the Hudson R., the East R., the Battery and the VZ bridge. At that time, fireworks fired from near Lady Liberty were going off at the same time. Our guests said this was the best they had ever seen. It would seem that this year's very different display may have edged the centennial out as the GOAT.

The first times we took the grandkids to NYC for the fireworks, they could not stay awake. One year Lillian fell into such a deep sleep before the show started, we could not wake her up. The next year she vowed to stay awake. She did. She saw one firework go off and passed out for the rest of the display! For this year's show, both Lillian and Jack stayed wide awake for the entire event but quickly crawled into sleeping bags for the trip home.

We got home just before 1:30 in the morning. I had packed up everything from wet towels to left over food from the fridge and had it stationed near the salon door for easy pickup for the walk up to the house. In short order everything was off the boat and the kids were in bed.

With a block party planned for all day Saturday, Chris and family got underway for the drive home right after a quick breakfast. 

With the fourth of July behind us, we had one more major boat problem to investigate. In Florida Ev found the washing machine had a pool of water under it after doing a load of wash. One an earlier occasion, I noticed some small amount of moisture on the floor, but on the next occasion, I had a pool! Clark decided we could not investigate the problem as long as we needed to use the boat. Once the washing machine got pulled out, half the boat would be inaccessible!

With no boating plans for the next couple of weeks, now appeared to be the time to dig into the washing machine issue. Clark and I pulled the boat apart to get to the washer and then enlisted the help of a neighbor to help us pull it out of the well it sits in.

The washing machine is hidden inside a cabinet next to the engine room. We had to remove all the woodwork surrounding it

including the steps to go up to the pilot house from the staterooms and heads. 

The wooden trim around the washer had to be taken down so that the washer could be removed from its closet.

About 3' step down into area in 
front of washer

With the steps removed it was a long step up to the pilot house. We had a small stepstool to help. With Clark's long legs he could climb out. I could get a knew up and than had to have a "tush push" from Clark to get the rest of me up and out! 

To push the washer forward, Clark got access through a tiny opening inside the closet in our guest stateroom. The opening was no more than 18" wide. Somehow he managed to climb in there with the washer! He was able to push from in there to get the washer out into the open. He told me "no pictures", but I could not resist!

He fits!

Once the washer got pushed / pulled out, the only way to get to the back side was to drop down into the engine room via a hatch in the galley and make our way forward from there. We got a lot of exercise crawling into and out of access points. Boat yoga! (A couple of days later my thighs were complaining of the abuse!)

Long step up with the stairs gone!

Even with the washer pulled forward, Clark could not get access to the workings of the machine to check for bad seals or leaks from hoses. We had to lift the washing machine up onto the landing area. The washing machine had to be tipped forward as we lifted it as we only had two inches of space above the washer without the added slant to the machine. 

We decided and got confirmation from a Krogen Express rep that we needed at least 3 people to do the washer lifting. Our neighbor said he could come over and lend some strength to the job. Clark tied lines around the feet of the washer, so he and our neighbor could use them to lift. I had the tip and lift job from the engine room. We almost did not succeed. 

Bob had reached the end of his rope and had no more strength to pull up with. I heard him say, "I think we have to lower it back down." and thought "No way do I want to start over!" With the machine tilted, I had free hands and was able to get under the machine and lift. My help gave the added oomph needed to get the washer up on the landing on three of its four feet. Clark put a cabinet in place under the 4th foot and we were ready to start taking the washer apart! 

Washer ready to be worked on!

Bob left but said he could come back to help put it back in place if we had it ready by Friday. After that he would not be available for some time as he had conflicting plans.

We hoped that the washer problem would not be anything serious. We did not want to have to take the machine off the boat and get a replacement. The horror story we were told about what we would need to do for that swap to happen was beyond anything either of us wanted to hear or partake of . Basically, taking the closet apart would seem like child's play compared to taking other parts of the boat apart.

The good and the bad news is that we found no "smoking gun" as Clark likes to call it. We did manage to do a lot of cleaning of the floor under the washer, checked the seals and hoses, leak tested various things, ... We found nothing of note. Clark did drill a hole in the floor to allow any water that might leak to drain to the bilge pump. I think he put in a couple of new washers for the hoses. 

It is disappointing that we went to all that effort and found nothing wrong. While at the same time, it is quite a relief that the washer has no major defects or apparent problems. As a test, we washed a very large towel that had been used during cleanup in the washing machine. All went well. 

Clark noted that on the "large" load setting the water comes up high close to the brim. We had some pretty rocky days in Marathon. That, plus the wild rocking the machine does on the spin cycle, leads Clark to believe that the water I found was overflow from the top of the drum. That is our best guess. He said I should use only small or medium settings - basically one towel at a time or underwear only! With the washer and dryer that Marlin Bay installed this past season, I am thinking I will not be using our machine at all unless totally desperate. 

With the difficulty we had getting the washer out, I was concerned about getting it back down into the "well". I had visions of crushed fingers as gravity helped with the downward motion. I convinced Clark that we needed more male help. He called upon another neighbor. Now we had 3 men and me. Clark gave us all assigned positions. I got put on tilt duty again. Clark took the "Watch your fingers" position. Our two neighbors took hold of the lines to lower the washer down. 

Gravity helped a lot. Clark had a board in place to prevent his hands being crushed. Getting it down took no more than 10 or 15 minutes - most of that was getting into position. Our neighbors left us at that point, and we called it a night. The guys came over at 7:30 to help (after work). Clark and I would tackle putting it away the next day.

In fact it took us two days to put it all back together. When we pulled off the screwed-on trim, we heard a piece of trim crack. Someone had glued it to the wall! Before we could reassemble everything, Clark did a repair job with Elmer's glue. He had to leave it 24 hours to dry. 

It was like putting a puzzle together to put it all back in the right order. We had to take out a couple of pieces that went in prematurely such that the next piece would not go in. Eventually, we got the job done. I hope never to need to do this job again. 

Meanwhile, Clark keeps checking the connections for his steering hydraulics and keeps finding drips. The boat jobs never end. One thing comes off the list and another is added. Yet another takes forever to complete!

2025 June: 45 Years and Counting

 

12 June 2025

The past week or so has been interesting. I will start with the occasion of our 45th wedding anniversary which occurred on the 7th of this month. Unexpectedly, we spent that day at a funeral / memorial service for Clark's Aunt June. We found out on the 5th that the service would be held on the 7th in Massachusetts. Road trip!

Since the 7th fell on a Saturday, we had agreed, even before we got this news, that we would pick an alternate day to celebrate. Nowadays, we prefer to avoid crowds and choose to go out for lunch together on a week day instead of dinner on the weekend. We made a hotel room reservation in Framingham, MA with a check-in time of 4:00, so we had time before we left New Jersey on Friday to celebrate our special day together.

We have shared some memorable events on our anniversaries in the past. For our 10th anniversary, Clark had our house at the time treated for carpenter ants. That was a great gift - necessary at the time but not what I was hoping for! (I've never let him forget that one.) On the other extreme, for our 15th anniversary, he bought us a chandelier for the dining room. He read somewhere that for the 15th anniversary, the appropriate gift should be crystal. 

15 Years Married

Readers may remember that we, not so long ago, did a repair on this chandelier. It is holding up well!

For our 25th anniversary, Clark gave me a boat as we had been "in the same boat for 25 years". He worked hard on this gift, and it was a total surprise. Notice the two "huggy bears" (that's us) up top and a string of hearts at the bottom.

 For our 45th anniversary, I did not expect anything other than going out to lunch. As long as we did not have exterminators in the house, I would be content. Clark surprised me yet again as he had worked hard on gifts! I, sadly, got him nothing, but that is what he expected.

When we were in Vero Beach, I noticed my friend, Cathy, wearing a necklace that I fell in love with. I guess I made a spectacle of myself because Clark took note and bought a similar one for me for an anniversary gift. 

It is a Compass Rose - nautical (what else)! He said he chose blue to match my eyes. My eyes are not quite this blue, but the thought counts big time!

"I'd be lost without you"

He also got busy with a new plaque for the kitchen wall. I have no idea when he managed to do the work required to put this together - design it, get supplies at Michael's, stain the letters, glue it, etc.  

He gave me the presents and then took me out for lunch at a local restaurant before we left home to drive to Massachusetts. 

We hoped to connect with a couple of folks while up in Massachusetts. A friend in Franklin was visiting family and therefore out of state. Clark's cousin, whom we reached out to, had alternate dinner plans for Friday. So, after we checked in to the hotel, we went exploring (on foot) to eat at one of the nearby restaurants. We found a lot of chain restaurants and a bar but nothing that struck our fancy at the moment. Then we read the menu for Ken's Steakhouse and knew we had to eat there. We both enjoyed our meals, so it was an excellent choice.

Saturday morning we noted that we should expect rain as we prepared to go to the funeral home. The service was scheduled for 11:00. Rain looked to be arriving around noon.  The memorial service was held at the funeral home with a service to follow at the cemetery. The funeral director hoped that the rain would hold off until after the cemetery visit. I was told that folks knew it would rain because it was a Saturday, and it has rained every Saturday for something like 30 Saturdays in a row! Unbelievable!

I had never met Clark's Aunt June; Clark had not seen her in decades. We are close to her daughter, Barb, and wanted to attend for her. We found out, when we looked at the program, that the service was for Aunt June and her sister who passed away a short while earlier. Both sisters were in their upper 90s in age. Barb and her cousin, Muffy (aka Martha), brought both tears and laughter to the service with wild and touching stories about their mothers. 

The stories of the antics of June and her sister took a lot longer than the funeral director hoped. Before we left the funeral home, it started to rain. A few umbrellas were handed out. Clark and I had our raincoats with us, so we were fine. A long procession of cars drove the short distance to the cemetery. Words spoken at the cemetery were extremely brief due to the weather. Afterwards, we all drove to a local church hall for a luncheon where we were given the mandate to try the Circus Peanuts.

Some folks who saw my Facebook post of Clark and I sharing the Orange Circus Peanuts wanted to know the back story on this activity. The back story is that Aunt June apparently like Animal Cracker cookies (the original), black licorice, and circus peanuts. The only one of those I could agree on is the animal crackers! Barb insisted we at least pose with the peanuts, thus the picture!

Clark discovered he has a whole lot of Bent-family relatives in Massachusetts that he did not know about. We managed to pull the clan together for a family photo. Clark and I are  in the back row on the left. The family members are multi-generational including 5 grandkids.

Bent Family Clan

Our trip to Massachusetts took us past the exit on Route 84 to Cheshire, Connecticut where our son and his family live. As we approached the area on the drive home, we reached out to Chris to see if we could meet for dinner, and the answer was a resounding "Yes!" We met at J Timothy's Tavern in Plainville. The restaurant choice was made by Jack (age 7). They have the best chicken nuggets!

Having called ahead for a reservation and told, "no way but come take your chances", we arrived at 4:45 in hopes of grabbing a table. For downstairs the wait would be over an hour. Upstairs is a first-come-first-serve arrangement where we stood in line waiting for a table for 6 to become free. They had only two tables that seated 6, but it worked, and we got a table. We had a good time together and good food. Lots of wings as they are known for their wings. After dinner we said our goodbyes and continued on our way to New Jersey to arrive home shortly after10:00. 

Since we have been home, Clark got busy again with  boat projects. The sealant he needed for the port engine antifreeze leak came on Saturday while we were out of town, so he could jump on that fix immediately on Sunday. 

Part with leak issue

Clark cleaned it all up and spray painted a section with Yanmar gray. After allowing the sealant adequate drying time and putting everything back together, we took the boat out for a test run and found no evidence of any more leaks. 

When we arrived back in our creek from the trial run, we found the swans had returned. They have come to our creek for several years not. 

As a follow up on my last post, we decided to try to dispose of our U.S. flag by visiting the Rumson firehouse. Success! Not only did we find someone willing to take the flag, but the person Clark found is active in the Boy Scouts and took the flag to include in their next flag-burning ceremony! Yay! 

Our dinghy saga continues. Even after waiting three weeks for the patching in Vero Beach, by the time we arrived home, one tube was deflated yet again. Clark did some research with soapy water and found a leak around a seal. He added more "goop" (Sikaflex-291) to block the leak. Maybe this time???

The list of things to fix / address on the boat never ends; it just changes. A work-in-progress item is the sign boards that attach to the side of the boat. Clark took them down to be refinished. The varnish is peeling in places. He sent me to the store to buy Teak Cleaner / Brightener, which thankfully I found at Home Depot, and it appears to have done what was needed. Spots where the wood was exposed were grayish/black in color. This product from Starbrite brought it back to a golden color.

Sign in need of work!

Meanwhile, he is also working on varnishing the wooden "eyebrow" on the boat. That is a tedious job. I helped him with this job briefly, but then got sidetracked by seeing that the boat railings were in bad shape. I pulled out the "Barkeeper's Friend" and polished every bit of metal I found on the boat exterior!

We had the folks that do our grass cutting put down dirt and grass seed. They did a good job with instructions to keep it watered. We have had rain for a few days, so I got a break from my nightly routine of watering the seeds / baby grass as it grows. 

For fun, I bought myself a jigsaw puzzle. Although it contains 1000 pieces, it was relatively easy to put together as the piece parts are so distinctive. The finished work barely fit on the card table I used.

Tada! Finished jigsaw puzzle!

When not working on the boat, Clark has been playing a bit of guitar. I went out for an eye doctor appointment at a place co-located in a plaza with a Michael's. I went in to look around and walked out over an hour later. Two of our grandkids are coming to visit next week, and I wanted ideas on how to entertain them. I bought a couple of items but mostly took pictures for ideas. In July, we will have all 5 grandkids here, so I took notes for arts and crafts for that occasion as well.

Today, while Clark worked on the Sunset Delight name signs, I scrubbed our back deck (on house not boat). I used the cleaning recipe of 1 gallon water, 1 cup bleach, and 1 tablespoon Dawn to scrub off the dirt. It looks better but needs more work to be great! The kids will want to play out there next week, so it needed to be cleaned before they come for their visit. I had to pick the only day this week with temperatures in the 80s!

2025 June: Lube Oil Cooler Repair etal

 3 June 2025

We have been home for precisely three weeks, and we have been busy ever since we got here. The boat came home with a list of complaints for us to address. The house greeted us with its demands as well. Even so, we have found some time for fun, family, and friends.

I'll start with the boat task list. Some of the fixes were simple and some complicated and requiring parts.

On the last day of our trip Clark discovered, when we arrived home, that we no longer had a measurable amount of oil in our starboard engine. Given that, that engine got highest priority regarding diagnosis and repair. Clark rather quickly traced the problem down to the lube oil cooler. He found a leak and oil mixed in where there should only be water.  

A Google search revealed the following regarding one of several functions of the cooler:

Preventing Overheating: 

• Lubricating oil absorbs heat as it circulates through the engine.
• An oil cooler dissipates this heat, preventing the oil from overheating and potentially damaging engine components.

Clark did engine checks before we left Atlantic City, and all was fine. By the time we had traveled 13 hours to arrive home, the oil was gone. The oil pressure read much lower than it should have though we did not notice this drop as we traveled. Apparently is was not low enough to trigger an alarm.

Since he did not know how heavy the engine part would be, he requested my assistance removing the part. Of course the part had to be in a place with limited space for maneuverability. Cozy to say the least!

Lube Oil Cooler

We put a board down to limit the amount of space the cooler would fall should we not be able to control the drop as well as we hoped. 

Part removed!

Clark inspected the bottom of the cooler. 

Corroded drain cock extracted from cooler

We had to order the replacement part through our local Yanmar dealer. The part came to us from California, so it took a bit of time to arrive in New Jersey. Almost $6000 later, the part was ours, and we could have the fun of reinstalling it. 

Besides lifting the part into place, which weighed somewhere around 50 - 60 pounds, (my guess based on Clark's grunts when he was carrying it), getting the bolts lined up with the holes in the engine took some finagling. I insisted Clark put a board in place to help support some weight while we 'monkeyed around' with it. He added some shims to assist with holding it up as well.

2x4 and shims in place to help lift and hold
the part in place

We had a variety of wires / cables that would infringe upon our ability to reinsert the part, so Clark pulled them out of the way with a bungee cord temporarily.

Making space to insert part

As Clark prepared the part to insert it into place, he noticed that a plug was sheared off and wondered why that would be the case. Using a heat gun and some tools, we got the mutilated part out of the cooler. Later, I noticed a part in the packaging and mentioned it to Clark. It was the other half of the part we had extracted. It apparently sheared off during shipping! Good thing we did not need it! Fortunately, Clark had what he needed to fill the hole with a plug.

Part sheared off cooler in shipping!

After a lot of grunting, groaning and shifting the cooler to and fro, we got one bolt in the right hole and not cross-threaded! Yay! Only five more to go! Finally, the part was in place. Clark connected the various pieces needed to complete the install, removed the bungee cord and the boards, and finally refilled the engine with oil. Thus, we had a new lube oil cooler and an engine oil change all in one go.

Installed!

Unfortunately, when the work was completed, we found ourselves at low tide and a bad time to take the boat out for a trial run. We went out the next day around noon and high tide. Clark was pleased with the results as he took the engine through a wide range of RPMs to see how the repair held up. I drove while he went down and inspected the engine.

Heading home after our trial run on the repair

The "fun" does not stop there; however, as a couple of days later, Clark found a problem with the port engine. It never ends! This time he found an antifreeze leak in the water pump. So now the part has been removed from the engine while we await sealant. He actually had the replacement part on hand, but he needs a sealant for the install. Sadly, the sealant is still several days away from arriving. The port engine remains out of commission until this fix is addressed.

Port water pump showing leakage from the shaft

The cost of parts is bad enough. The cost of the associated labor would be staggering! Thank goodness Clark took a diesel-engine repair classes in north Jersey back in the year 2000 to learn how to work on a diesel engine. Prior to that, he had only ever worked on a gas engine. He drove two hours each way to class, more than once, to "get his hands dirty", but he learned a lot and has used what he learned ever since! 

Meanwhile, Clark continues to work on his to-do list - crossing things off and adding new items as time goes on. We managed to cross off a couple of simple ones fairly quickly. For example, the U.S. flag we fly from the boat started to look like Swiss cheese. I had repaired it multiple times until there was not enough material to sew together. It was no longer regulation size as I had hemmed it a couple of times. This was easy, Clark ordered a new one!

Wind-shredded U.S.
Yacht Ensign Flag 

For as many years as I can remember, a U.S. flag collection bin sat in front of the local Acme food store. We drove there to properly dispose of the flag, and of course, the bin was no longer there! Now we need to find a Boy Scout to take the flag and dispose of it via one of their flag-burning ceremonies. Trouble is, we don't know any Boy Scouts any more.

One other repair that should have been easy turned into a small challenge. The zipper tab on one of the full-enclosure panels corroded through and fell off. Fortunately, it was an easy panel to remove. We took it to our local canvas-supply store for repair. Both the repairman and me thought the fix should take a few seconds. Hah! He fiddled with that thing for quite a while until he finally went to get a different tab. Turns out the one he first tried must have been defective as the second one slid on as it should. Bonus on this one, they said, "No charge".

Clark is not the only one with a boat chore list. He asked me to redo the painting of the boat name on the stern. The red lettering is fine, but the gold paint on top of the red had worn off from too much salt spray. I said it looked "antiqued". Clark said, "It needs to be redone!" 

We went to the store and bought a tiny, tiny can of paint for the job. Because we needed to use the gold color, the can of paint cost over $50! Of course it was the most expensive color. Before the salesman rang up the bill, he asked if I had noticed the price. I said, "Yes". He told me that some colors cost less than half the price of the gold. Of course they do! I used maybe an eighth of the can, so we will have more should it need to be done again. The hard part was applying masking tape to the rounded edges.

Crawling back and forth on the swim platform and trying not to scoot all the way off the end or the side into the water for four hours was not fun. Trying to stand up with cramped legs from the awkward positions I had to sit in was not fun either. It took a while for the blood to start flowing in my legs again before I could move. 

Eventually, however, I got the job done. I hope it lasts as I do not want to do it again any time soon. I stood on our neighbor's property to inspect my work. I was surprised that it actually looks great from a distance. Thankfully, few people should be coming in for close-up views. 

Skinny swim platform I crawled back and 
forth on for four hours with paint brush in hand

With the above task list, I have only scratched the surface of Clark's list of boat items. Meanwhile, I have a list of house items! We hired the company that cuts our grass to put down some grass seed in our front yard. We had to dig up the front yard last year for a sewer line repair, and the seed I threw down has done nothing. Fortunately, these folks seem to know how to do the job correctly. They put down dirt, seed, and hay to keep the birds out, and we see signs of growth. 

Young blades of grass are sprouting up! Of course, that means we, i.e. I, have to take care of it. We had several days of light rain after they did the job, but then that stopped. So now I have the daily task of watering the grass. After I set the sprinkler going, I find other gardening chores to keep me busy. Number one of my list is my never-ending battle against the small black ants that love to build their tunnel entries between the pavers down to the boat. 

All the way down the walkway I see ant hills! Not wanting to use harsh chemicals, I have been battling them with Boric Acid powder. It seems less toxic than other solutions. After all, we do have nightly visitors that cross our backyard.

Young buck by the edge of the creek
in our backyard

For years we have had deer crossing our backyard. Frequently we see a doe with one or two fawns. Never before have I seen a buck and I wondered where they hung out. I was pretty excited to see a buck in this year's traffic. He had two doe with him (not in picture).

We have a plastic fence along the edge of our property that was put up by the previous owners of the house next door. They wanted privacy and put up fence panels and a lot of trees and foliage to block the view of their property. I noticed while the grass was being watered that the fence had taken on a green hue and aiming the hose at it did nothing. I got a bucket of water and a Mr Clean Eraser and washed it down. Now it's white again!

Hydrangea Blue (not yet in bloom)
in front of white fence

I have put up some decorations on the outside of the house. 

Mobiles on the back deck

Years ago I had a hobby of buying cement statues and painting them. I positioned them along our front porch to greet visitors when they come. (Our visitors are mostly people delivering our packages.) The statues are mostly either animal or nautical in design.

Fisherman carving wood

Fairy collecting stones in her skirt

Mermaid sitting on a Conch

Lighthouse

Captain and Wheel

The man who made the statues cast his own molds and used a secret recipe for the cement. When I met him, he was confined to a wheelchair and this was how he spent his time and earned his money. He and his wife went from craft fair to craft fair in our local area. Once I found him, I looked for him wherever I went. One day I took a wagon with me to have something to carry them home in. I was somewhat addicted to adding to my collection.

The first one I ever did was what the craftsman, "Harry", called the "Frog on a Log". After that, I was hooked!

Frog on a Log

I have to admit to being sad. My go-to store for craft supplies has permanently closed - JoAnn's Fabrics is no more. I drove by shortly after arriving home to look at the store in hopes that our location had not closed. It had not, but it was on its way out. I stopped in to take a look.

Empty racks at JoAnn's Fabrics store

The sign out front said "4 more days" until doors closed permanently. I wandered around to see if there was anything I wanted. All merchandise was 70% off with an additional 50% off after that. Sadly all the material that was left was not anything I could find a purpose for. I bought a couple of packs of bias tape, a couple of packs of needle threaders, and a bouquet of fake flowers. Normally it would have been over $30. It rang up at $4.98! It felt almost criminal.

$2.00 Bouquet of fake flowers from 
JoAnn's Fabrics 

I am missing my boating buddies. We have quite the community of friends in Marathon. I know more folks there than I do here in New Jersey. I did manage to snag a lunch date with my long-term friend Janet. A few days later, Clark and I managed a dinner date with friends we know as a result of Clark's guitar lessons he used to take. The first two restaurants we tried had almost two-hour waits for a table. We tried the Nauvoo Grill close to our home and found we could walk right in to sit down. We went there.

I thought one way I might meet more people would be to attend church. We used to go to a church here before we left for our adventurous boating life. The last time we attended this church was 10 years ago when we left to do the Great Loop. 

When we attended in the past, the congregation was small, and we wondered if the church was still operational.  A week ago Sunday, we decided, spur of the moment, to drive over to see if a service was being held there. The sign out front said 11:00 service. We arrived about 10:55 and headed in to check it out. 

A woman greeted us at the door clearly surprised to see us. We asked about service, and she said the English-speaking service was at 10:00, and the Spanish-speaking service would start at 11:15. I can speak about 6 words of Spanish so that did not seem like it would work well for us. 

This past Sunday, we dressed up and tried again - this time for the 10:00 service. We got there at 9:45, and the place was empty. A man saw us, came out of the church office, and introduced himself as the pastor's husband. At 10:00, when the service started, four people sat in the pews. Clark and I had actually doubled the church attendance by being there. 

Pastor Isabelle started the service by saying it would be spoken in "Spanglish". It was a sad state of affairs. During the service, the pastor mentioned that she recently attended "Conference" where she learned that 8 more churches had closed. This one appears to be holding on by a thread.

The pastor rearranged the service slightly as her musician had not yet arrived. She put off the opening hymn until later. Eventually, a woman rushed in, spoke rapidly to the pastor, and then rushed to the piano. Apparently, she had been contacted as a quick replacement. I gathered from the pastor's reaction that the regular pianist / organist was not coming perhaps due to illness or other emergency. 

After services we talked to the pastor's husband again briefly. Clark inquired as he saw instruments in the corner and learned that the Spanish service makes use of bongo drums and tambourines. Clark suggested we might want to attend that service instead. Not knowing Spanish might make it challenging though. 

Missing my boating friends and the ones I spend time with putting jigsaw puzzles together, I decided to buy a puzzle to work on. I may have bitten off more than I can chew however, as the puzzle appears to be about the same size as my card table. It should keep me busy.

1000 Pieces - "The Beach Hut"
I have a little room at the bottom to work!

When I am not working on the boat, maintaining on the garden, or taking care of the house, I can be found reading my novels or riding my bike. Mostly one will find Clark on the boat.