While our cruising lifestyle may be on pause during the Scottish lockdown, our maintenance log isn’t. Several scheduled service items came due in mid-May, including annual testing, lubricating and changing the oil and filter in our gasoline engines, changing the hydraulic zincs, and charging our backup batteries. We also completed some unscheduled maintenance work, such…
Load Shedding
One of the challenges with the smaller electrical systems found on most boats is managing the power load. Whenever electrical loads are running on a boat, they are delivered by some power source. It might be the generator, it could be shore power, or it could be the inverter. But, whatever the power source, it…
The Short Straw
Yesterday, the crew’s dad spent several hours under the engine room floorboards cleaning and pepping the bottom in preparation for painting. It’s dirty. It’s greasy. It’s hot. And it’s uncomfortable. Given all those things, Mom still ended up with the short straw. She bathed, cleaned ears, and trimmed nails on all three dogs. It was exhausting.
Dylan, Dee Dee, and Dora hate all three events, ears being the worst. It’s no spa treatment for them. Although they do get their favorite treat when it’s over. The only time Mom breaks out this prize.
But the results were, almost, worth it. For Dee Dee it’s hard to tell anything was done. She looks the same before and after. Pretty girl.
With Dylan there’s no doubt as his beautiful back curls come into all their glory. Handsome boy.
Dora is a bit more subtle. Her white fur brightens considerably.
For now the Red Head crew is clean and sweet smelling. Of course, that will probably change once they head out to the dog park. Sigh….
Thundershirt
Dylan, Dee Dee, and Dora had a great run after leaving Key West. Eight days of great to practically perfect weather. Well, almost. Unfortunately, there were several brief but rambunctious thunderstorms in the evenings. Red Head and her crew were safe but poor Dylan was very unhappy.
Dylan appears to be following in the footsteps of his grandma Dyna. She went through a period of about a year where thunderstorms sent her into a panic. The time coincided with her hearing declining. We surmised that the sounds became strange to her. At any rate, she stopped when her hearing was pretty much gone.
We’ve noticed lately that Dylan seems to be having trouble hearing. Not really surprising, he’ll be 13 soon. Now he has also started to become distressed in a storm. When the thunder starts, he becomes inconsolable. He often “escapes” to the tub or shower, clawing at the tile. It’s heartbreaking to watch and frustrating as we are unable to settle him down.
We know several dog owners who swear by the Thundershirt, so we decided to get one for Dylan. It arrived today and we think old Dylan looks rather distinguished. We’ll give it a try the next time the thunder rolls in. Keeping fingers crossed.
Water Leak
Saturday morning we lifted the floor covering in the master stateroom head to access stores and found the floor underneath soaked wall-to-wall. We opened up the storage area below and it also had a lot of water in it. The first task was to get everything out of the storage areas and all dried and…
Reduced Generator Output
Our Northern Lights 12kW generator ran for years without any hard-to-diagnose problems. It just ran, and that’s the way we like it. For its entire 6,600-hour life, it’s been able to reliably produce 42 amps. It’s nominally a 50-amp generator, but due to highly non-linear load on Dirona, the power factor often is less than…
Quick Update
Surgery went well, now taking everything one day at a time. Sounds like Governor is opening restrictions on retail business on Monday the 18th, with the hope to open bars, restaurants and salons on June 1st. Minnesota is mostly a follow th…
Quick Update
Surgery went well, now taking everything one day at a time. Sounds like Governor is opening restrictions on retail business on Monday the 18th, with the hope to open bars, restaurants and salons on June 1st. Minnesota is mostly a follow the…






