Getting Settled

 We were able to get a mooring ball assignment the day after our arrival.  This is a great deal for several reasons: A. you don't have to worry about an improperly anchored boat dragging and hitting you B. We're closer to the marina and all it's facilities. C.  Boats willing to pay for a ball are usually better maintained and less likely to attract derelict boats.D. We can be confident the boat will be safe while we travel to Oregon for Christmas. 

Once we had the boat safely on the mooring, B6, if you're interested, we set about getting the boat as comfortable as possible for the next 6-8 weeks.  That involves, getting the shade over the main cabin setup, rigging the auxiliary solar panels, getting the bikes to shore and secure and filling the tanks with water, 30 gallons at a time.

After all that was done, we took care of ordering things we still needed, forgot back at home and extra solar panel.  We also made trips to West Marine and Home Depot before hitting the grocery stored for fresh fruit and veggies.  It was a busy time but so worth it in the long run.

We have a small solar panel on each side of the boat.  They live in the V-berth 

until we get settled then we connect them to the house bank.  It involves a lot of wires running

 around so we watch our step.

The bikes are conveniently stowed on a rack near the dinghy dock.

We bought a larger dinghy on our last trip to make this task easier.  We used to have to take the bikes one at a time to shore.  Now we can fit both of them and both of us.

I built a boom shade years ago,  It's a bit complicated to set up but drops the 

temperatre inside the boat several degrees.  An added benefit is the wind tunnel effect in the cockpit.  It's currently 85 degrees with 85% humidity so breeze is good.  If you zoom in, you

can see a hatch shade I made on our last trip to allow the forward hatch to be open even in the rain.

Sadly, all these niceties create a spiderweb of lines from midships forward. We need the agility and 

size of one of the grandkids to reach the bow locker!

Blue Moon looking good and settled in.

Our place in life for now.

Our view from the cockpit.

And our hard work is rewarded with a spectacular show.

David has a water bladder and two 5-gallon jugs.  He rigged a water pump with lines leading from the water source to the water tanks.  Genius, pure genius.