Spring at Last- Time for bottom paint

Entering the boat lift

We are so excited that boating season has almost arrived in the midwest! Mara Beel has been de-winterized and cleaned up after a very long, cold winter. It was great to be back on board, even for just a few days. We cruised down the Mississippi from Louisiana, MO, 60 miles or so to Port Charles Harbor near St. Charles MO. The river was nearly at flood stage, which meant a faster than usual current and plenty of floating tree parts, large and small. The water is supposed to go even higher in the next few days.

Up she goes- with Mark keeping an eye on things

Our existing bottom paint will be blasted off, and then the hull will be inspected. The plan is to apply 5 coats of barrier paint, followed by 3 coats of bottom coat. The bottom paint layers will each be a different color so we will be able to see when the paint is wearing thin. We will be ready for salt water!

Set her down easy, guys.

The work should be finished in 2 weeks or so- just about the time our new grandson is due. When baby Mather has arrived and the river levels are good we will bring the boat home to work on her during the summer months. Our Great Loop adventure will continue in the fall.

Winterizing for dummies

How many YouTube videos does it take to feel confident about winterizing our boat? More than I can count!

Here we are back on board, getting Mara Beel ready for her hibernation. This will be a tough winter for MB, as she has spent previous winters snuggled comfortably in a nice warm building. This year she will be floating in the chilly Mississippi with a bubbler to keep the ice away. We assume that MB has never been truly winterized, so this is new for all of us.

Yesterday Mark changed the oil in both engines. I think he said 7 quarts per engine. He watched this being done in Sturgeon Bay last year, so he felt confident about doing it himself. He may never want to do this again!

Today Jeff is working for us. He is winterizing the fresh water and raw water systems, the generator, the heads and showers, to name a few things. He does this on 50 boats every Fall, so he's knowledgeable and efficient in draining and flushing with antifreeze.

I am not much help due to my stylish new footware.

The view from our slip

Last Day on the Water

We reached our winter home across the river from Louisiana, MO on the 8 th. Mara Beel will be hibernating in Two Rivers Marina-- probably her first winter outside of heated storage. We had a beautiful trip up from Port Charles. We had fog early but it quickly burned off and turned into a perfect day. 

The Wisconsin

Lots of interesting sights along the way.

Golden Eagle ferry

2 locks and 1 railroad bridge opened right on cue for us, as if they knew it was my birthday!

This guy hung around our slip for quite awhile checking us out with a malevolent stare. Maybe we were in his space. Then he or she brought reinforcements.

We will go back to the boat later this month to get her winterized. The end of the boating season is always bittersweet. 

Manitowoc

Today we enjoyed a non-cruising day in Manitowoc. Mark spent an hour or so meeting and greeting new friends this morning while I had some much-appreciated alone time.

We rode our bikes a short distance to the farmers market where we stocked up on beautiful fresh produce, including blueberries and peaches. The rest of the morning was consumed by laundry here at the marina. It was a very warm sunny day, and everyone seemed to be taking  advantage of the perfect weather. 

After lunch we took an ambitious bike ride along the lakeside trail to Two Rivers.  Our friends Denise and Tom live there so it seemed logical destination even though  they would be picking us up later for dinner. It turned out to be a scenic but longer than expected 15-mile round trip ride. Here's the immediate result:

 Denise and Tom and their daughter Lauren took us to the Charcoal Grill for dinner and then to the grocery store. The Packers are playing tonight, but no need to miss the game- the grocery store had plenty of TV's tuned on to the game, and the checkers all wore Packer jerseys. People here love their Packers- over 100,000 are on the waiting list for season tickets!