Now everything about living/traveling on a boat is not wonderful, almost everything but not quite. Monday evening after an 12 hour work day I found myself sitting on the transom rinsing laundry in bucket and wringing it out by hand. It was very hot so at least the water was cooling me off a bit. For moment I saw myself as one of those Indian women in the Slumdog Millionaire movie washing clothes on the river bank. Not a good comparison. I then took my bucket of clean laundry and headed to the deck to pin it up on the lifelines to dry. After a few minutes I looked back at my handiwork. I began to laugh so hard I was nearly crying. All my efforts had produced towels and wash cloths that looked like they should be in the rag bin. That's when I had an ah ha moment about laundry.
I decided I don't really need all those clothes in my locker. A couple of swim suits, cover ups and an outfit for the rare trip to town are enough. I don't even need that bin full of shoes. Other than flip flops when I go ashore, I'm always barefoot. And those once fluffy over-sized bath towels - they're out of here too. As soon as I get a chance I'm going to replace them with those little quick dry towels from the Dollar Tree. Think of all the room I'll have in my lockers.
Now you might wonder why doesn't she just go to a laundry mat? Well those things are harder to find than you think - at least within walking distance of an anchorage. It's way too hot to even consider going to a marina. I'd probably pass out before I even carried my stuff to the washer. The heat index yesterday was 114 degrees. Thankfully it's much cooler on the water - and only occasionally miserably hot usually around 4 p.m. I've been trying to run the generator then so I can run lots of fans while the batteries are charging.
Aside from the nasty laundry business and way too many work hours, we've been enjoying this anchorage. I've managed a nice swim each morning during the time when the current is slack. Coleen is learning to snorkel too. We've gone to shore each evening after work and had a nice walk on the trails. Last night we had some grilled stuffed pork chops, new potatoes and snow peas for dinner. We didn't manage to eat until about 9 p.m.- and then sat out on the foredeck taking turns reading The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
There's another huge park just across the river that needs to be explored. It has even more hiking trails. So we've decided to stay a few more days. Thankfully my trip to NY was postponed for a couple weeks!