Boat Maintenance

Boat Maintenance …. Monday 6th May 2013

It's hard to write an exciting blog when it hasn't been a particularly exciting day! Basically we spent the whole day working through a list of jobs that we feel we need to get done before we leave the boat for a month. These included such classics as cleaning the aft holding tank ventilation pipes, repairing the sail cover and cleaning out a number of storage cupboards. Who said living aboard a boat was a glamorous experience? We did get to meet the dockside manager Mike Loch and marine shop manger Tim Nichols, both of whom were really nice and very helpful. In fact the Wilmington Marine Center does seem like a safe, friendly and pleasant place to leave the boat. The one disadvantage is that it's a few miles away from town and all it's facilities, but tomorrow we should be picking up a rental car so that should make us much more mobile. We did take a brief walk this afternoon, but the surrounding area wasn't too attractive - like an industrial park with a large sewage treatment plant as an added attraction! I have to say that none of this is evident from the marina. What we did detect this morning from the boat was the unmistakable smell of coffee being roasted, so on our walk we tried to find the coffee shop. It turned out that "Port City Java" does all it's roasting just up the road from the marina, but sadly there is no cafe. However, as we were peering in through the windows, a very nice gentleman did come out and gave us coupons for a complimentary drink when we do get to one of their shops. Well that's it for now. If all goes to plan we are due to be hauled out tomorrow morning. We'll keep you posted!

Mike

34 10.231 N, 77 57.020 W

The entrance channel to Wilmington Marine Center - this shot taken from the back of "Cotinga' on the dock during a thunderstorm this morning - it brightened up in the afternoon