More Milestones

Today we achieved a couple of important milestones! First, we were able to use our own shower!! That was oh so nice-- much more convenient than walking across the boatyard to the Captain's Lounge facilities. We decided to flush out our two 80-gallon water tanks on Tuesday. The book we read recommended adding 1 quart of bleach to every 50 gallons of water, which is what we did. We then flushed the water tanks out twice. At that point there was still a LOT of bubbling and bleach odor coming through the faucets. I was afraid I would emerge from the shower with blonde hair, so I opted for the facilities in the boatyard until today. Yesterday we flushed the water tanks several more times with plain water -- we must have the cleanest tanks in the Bay! In hindsight, I think we were a bit aggressive on the bleach/water ratio.

The second major milestone was taking our boat out in Sturgeon Bay for the first time! Terry, our broker, was kind enough to ride along with us and advise us on running the twin diesels (Caterpillar 3208's if you are into that sort of thing), turning, backing up,pulling into the slip, etc. Mark did an excellent job of docking! We are getting a small taste of what our cruising life will be like when we do the Great Loop-- it is challenging and FUN! Dealing with the small spaces and minor inconveniences is so worth the adventure! Can't wait to get started, sometime in 2013. In the meantime, we will take short trips to learn more about the MB and the cruising life.

View from the flybridge

Captain Mark takes the helm

Being 6'2" is not an advantage in our engine room

The Fireboat coming through the Steel Bridge