Osprey Marina, Myrtle Beach, SC

Rain, leaks, spider, fog.
We didn’t get off the boat today. It rained, thunderstorms, and we had leaks into the cabin that have never happened before. Lots of towels and inspections of “where is the water coming into the cabin from.” Boats do a good job keeping water from coming in through the bottom, but notoriously not so hot at rain penetration and condensation.

I was in the bilge cleaning the strainers on the engine and heat pumps when a thunderstorm hit. Susan was fighting the rain entering the cabin and I was wondering how I would fare if lightning hit the boat while I was next to the engine, the largest metal object on the boat that is grounded. YIKES I kept thinking. Finally I have the engine room all ready for tomorrows departure and crawl out of the bilge to see the water intrusion Susan is fighting. It was coming in near the ceiling and running down onto our settee cushions. Made no sense. We sopped up water and the storm passed and I went outside to see if I could find a crack that allowed the water in. I finally figured it out and not sure what to do about the situation. The boat is sitting slightly bow down and water on the fly bridge is running forward getting in somewhere there should not be water. I have a LOT of fuel on board (about 2100 lbs) and that is probably making the boat sit bow down. Also I probably need to fill the 220 gallons (1800 lbs ) of water that sit at the transom of the boat. So, I’m going to burn some fuel off and see if the boat trims up. Ha, what’s probably the problem is the ton of clothes we have in the forward cabin.

The spider incident. Actually happened last night. Susan thinks there might be a spider in the galley sink. I’ll be up when I finish brushing my teeth. I go up the steps to the galley and look in the drain and legs are sticking up through the drain grid. Every hair is sticking up on my arms with the heebie jeebies. It is a big black spider trying to come up through the sink drain. The thing had crawled up the drain hose from the sink drain hole in the side of the boat. I turned the water on and it wouldn’t go down. So, then I switched to HOT water and cooked it. Punched it into pieces with a knife and washed it on down. Kind of Edgar Alan Poe terror on Liquid Therapy. Susan and I knew we were going to have nightmares. So, now we keep the stoppers in all of the sinks. We’ve owned this boat 6 years and it’s the first time anything has crawled up the drain. We are in a swamp and fresh water here. So, I guess that’s the explanation.

No today’s picture is not that spider. Swamp sunset with fog after the final thunderstorm today.