HINGHAM SHIPYARD MARINA - SETTLING IN

He Said: Hello Blog Readers and Happy Hump-day: Today is our 6^th day at Hingham Boatyard and it has been full of events.  

I see for all of you desert rats you reached about 106 or so the other day.  You know it’s June in Phoenix and it happens every year. The weather here has been all over the joint - very windy on Sunday, some rain on Monday, and yesterday and today are really nice.  It’s in the low 70’s during the day and 50’ish at night which is terrific sleeping weather with the windows open on the boat.  We are plugged into shore power but have really needed no heat or a/c since arriving here. We made our way to Wal-Mart a couple of days ago to buy some stuff we couldn’t find within our little village.  No Target anywhere so we didn’t have too many choices.  Our best purchase was a small grill (propane) for the aft deck, and it works great.  

Now that we have been out here for about 2 weeks it is time we start eating in, not only for the food quality but also the $$.  I believe I mentioned earlier that places like this are pretty full of their prices on stuff in general, including food.  We’re trying to kinda get back to our Az. Ways of eating in thru the week and week-ends out.  We have been walking lots, it’s what you do when you have no wheels.   I may forget how to drive anytime now.  The walking and exercise is important to my health so it is all good.  By the way, today it’s been 7 big months since they opened me up, probably a date I will never forget.  Thank god for great doctors. 

Got a little boat story for you.  With the purchase of the Carver we also have a 10 ft. dingy with a 3.5 HP motor.  After 3 trips I was thinking about pulling the plug and letting it go to the bottom of the Atlantic.  After being pathetically towed in 2 of 3 trips I thought I best call the local marine.  John, the mechanic, informed me about a fuel release thing I wasn’t aware of and now we are cruising again.  We’re probably not going to sink the boat.  The big boat has 2 waste holding tanks and 1 has been full for 4 days, no big deal we just use the other bath.  Sounds kind of crazy, but the issue is we have to move the boat to the waste removal dock.  This sounds simple but I am not quite confident in moving the boat and bringing back to our slip with just Pat and me.  Today my good buddy, Tim (Seattle), will be here for about 5 days and tomorrow morning we will make the 200 yd. cruise to the waste joint.  Those are my 2 boat stories, certain that once we head towards Annapolis in about a month the boat stories will be all over the joint. I’m getting tired of punching these buttons, but will continue to keep you all up to date with our stuff.  In the comment area of our blog we would love to hear your 2 cents worth even if it means telling us that we went off the deep end….. 

Take Care, Jack (no longer co-captain after getting towed 2X)  L8R 

She Said:  What a difference a day (or two) makes.  A couple days ago I would have called us pathetic, but today I’m feeling hopeful. 

As we began to settle into Hingham Shipyard things were looking good.  We found plenty of shopping (including 2 grocery stores, a liquor store with great wine prices, a Lowes and even a Dollar Tree) and restaurants within walking distance.  We got adventurous and took the dinghy to Lowes where we stocked up on essentials.  We were feeling pretty good about ourselves.   

Then . . . I’d been concerned about our water and “waste” levels, but we couldn’t find any gauges.  Saturday morning I saw a red light flashing in our master “head” – it meant our waste was full.  Disposing of waste shouldn’t be a big deal, right?  Wrong!  The mobile pump-out station can’t get to us for 4 days and we’re not capable of moving the boat by ourselves to the stationary pump station.  At this point I’m not feeling so good about us. 

We decide to chill-out a bit and take a leisurely ride in our dinghy to buy gas and attempt to forget about the waste problem.  It’s surprising how many people leave their big boats docked and go for dinghy rides.  So off we go.  We travel about 100 yards and the little 3.5 horsepower motor dies.  The motor holds less than ½ gallon of gas.  It looks like we ran out of gas before we got to the gas pump.  No problem, the Highham Harbor Patrol comes by and offers us a tow to the gas station – a bit embarrassing but at least we’re safe.  Upon arrival at the pump we’re informed that the station closed 10 minutes earlier.  We’re towed back to our slip; we check the tank and it’s not empty.  Good news – we’re not as pathetic as I thought.  Bad news – we’ve got a bigger issue than gas.

 

Our dinghy and little motor.  She hasn't been very cooperative.

 

It’s a new day.  There’s still no progress on getting pumped out.  Jack cleans up the dinghy – maybe a little TLC is all it needs.  We go out for another dinghy ride.  We get just about as far as we did the previous day, and it dies again.  To complicate the situation it’s a bit windy and we’re getting blown across the bay.  Fortunately, a nearby boater sees us trying to row back home and rescues us.  Once again we’re towed home – we are definitely pathetic.  We can’t operate a dinghy – how in the heck are we going to operate Meant To Be?

 

It’s a new and better day!  I’m reading one of our manuals and find out that we have TWO waste tanks and only one is full.  We can use one of the heads.  Things are looking up.  Then we call the local Tohatsu dealer (the dinghy motor) and find that we were given wrong info regarding running the dinghy motor.  We aren’t as pathetic as I thought we were.  To top off the day, we get one of the DVD players working and even get a couple of local TV stations (especially during high tide).  We now have local news.  I am indeed hopeful – tomorrow is another day!