Sleepless at Lock 13

Interesting night. The thunderstorms moved on, but the rain continued. We settled in... Joan made a great supper and we played some Yahtzee and cards. It was one of those rare occasions where I was winning... all the time.

The rain let up enough to get the log away from the back of the boat and put the motor down. In neutral, the motor surged as I powered up, then settled into a steady roar. May be some water in the fuel, but the filters seem clear. More to come on that later.

As the rain lightened, the temperature went up... and the humidity. We opened the center window and put a fan in it to keep some air moving through the boat. I turned on a small light so we could see to play cards... damn mosquito... and another... in seconds, we were embroiled in hand-to-hand combat with scores of those nasty critters. I've never seen them come on that fast! At first we were keeping score of our "kills", but the numbers grew fast and furious. We turned the fan around and put the light outside under the open center window to try to draw them out of the cabin. Izzy was in "hunter mode" as she did her part to eliminate the pests. Since I have asthma, I'm not crazy about spraying OFF, especially in a confined space... but, we were gaining on these little bastards; desperate times call for desperate measures.

If anyone had been outside watching, it must have looked like we were performing some odd tribal dance. In the end, good triumphed evil. Yes, I consider these skeeters evil... even these tiny NE versions... on the Gulf Coast, they're so big that we hit 'em with a club, then Joan takes the front legs, I take the back legs and we toss 'em overboard. But, I digress.

We closed up the front window, sprayed OFF on the screens we could keep cracked open and went to bed, exhausted. Between the clattering trains (which Joan loves) and the thumping noise of Izzy going after the last few survivors, there wasn't much sleep.

But, it's a new day. No rain for now, just a fog over the water and in the valley to the west. No sign of the buzzing, biting pests, but that may just be a retreat while they gather up for the next round. We both have some fresh "wounds", but we dispatched many of them... they brought it on by drawing first blood.

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In another vein, I am getting tired of having the same conversation over and over... "Great boat you have there. Love those Cape Dorys."

Me: "It's a C-Dory. Not the same thing as the Cape Dory boats."

Them: "Oh, I think they're made by the same company. Great boats."

Me: "Yeah, we were sailors. The Cape Dorys are nice sailboats; they even made a 28' trawler, but this boat is made in the Northwest. Not the same company. C not Cape. They've been around since the 70s."

Them: "Well, the name looks the same. Even the same logo. I'm pretty sure that's made by Cape Dory."

Me: "We went to the factory in Washington State when we ordered this boat. Definitely not the same company, but it sure is a great boat."

It goes on while we try to educate each other. I've had that same conversation several times a day since we came to this part of the country. Cape Dorys are part of the culture here, just like C-Dorys are in the PNW. But, you know that. I'm now taking a new tack...

Them: "Nice boat you have there. Love those Cape Dorys."

Me: "Thanks!"