One thing leads to two

Originally we were going to spend a week at home before returning to GTB. As is usually the case that plan changed. My Dad went in to have a spot on his ear checked out and found out it was cancerous. A few phone calls and he had an appointment at Mayo Clinic to have it removed the following week.
While we waited for his appointment day to arrive we were able to catch up on a few things around the house and also get out for a little fun.

Some of that fun included a day of golf with Mike & Nancy. Two of the most patient people I know to put up with our lack of golf skills for 18 holes.

Don't we look the part!

In spite of our lack of skill we had a lot of fun on the links.

We also got to see the munchkins again and GramPam even got Ellie to go to a recital with her.

Turf war in the backyard.

A happy GramPam. She thinks Ellie's going to be a priss like her!

Friday came and we were sitting in the waiting room at Mayo 40 minutes before Dad's scheduled appointment. The whole procedure took less than 4 hours including the tissue biopsy. He was discharged with a clean bill of health for his ear and a nice sized bandage as a souvenir. We drove back along the Mississippi River with a stop in La Crosse for lunch.

Our one week stay at home turned into two but it was worth it for everyone's peace of mind.

On Sunday we threw a few things in the car and pointed the hood south, back to GTB and Tourist.
Upon our arrival back at the boat I was alarmed at how it had been taken over by spiders and their webs. Not since we left the boat at Atlantic Yacht Basin have we seen so many spiders and the mess that goes with them. I could hardly control the string of expletives spewing from Pam's mouth as we fought our way into the boat. Words like "Yuck" and "Ooey" and of course 'Get away you stupid idiot!" were being flung at the intruders.

This doesn't begin to capture the mess we came back to but you get the idea.

Needless to say I spent a few hours cleaning Tourist on Monday. I even found a couple of mud wasp nests around the boat.

Tuesday brought rain through the area and plenty of it. Nice to be in a covered slip in spite of the spiders and wasps.

Rain rolling off the adjoining dock.

The forecast for the remainder of the week looked pretty good with only a brief period of rain in it so we decided to leave the dock and find an anchorage for a few days. Of course any boat owner knows that a boat is always a work in progress and with that in mind we headed out knowing that our sump pump was acting a little sluggish.

We crossed over into Kentucky Lake and stuck our nose in a couple of places that sounded good but with the possibility of some wind in the forecast didn't provide us with enough swing room for our comfort. One cove when we got back into it had a campground and beach right off the anchorage. Not a bad spot but too many people with yelling kids and barking dogs.

Campground beach before the week-end crowd.

We moved on to a familiar spot in Duncan Bay after checking out one more place for future consideration. Once we were settled we dropped the dinghy into the water to go for a ride. Of course there's a certain amount of work required to get the dink ready and that normal job expanded when upon starting the motor I noticed it wasn't pumping water. WTF! It was pumping water the last time we used it. I tried sticking a toothpick up the discharge opening but felt no resistance. Only a little substance on the pick when I pulled it out that looked like a spider web. Hmmm!
I lowered the motor back into the water and let it sit for a few minutes thinking that maybe a spider decided to take up residence somewhere in the cooling system and I could soften it up.
Much to my amazement it worked! When I fired it back up a small glob came out of the discharge port. Maybe my assessment was correct! Whatever it was the motor worked for the remainder of our time out.

Tourist anchored in one of the coves of Duncan Bay.

The waters up a little above the summer pool stage in Ky. Lake.

So remember the sump I mentioned? Of course it decided to bite the dust. I suppose after 10 years of use it was living on borrowed time. This whole sump system on this boat has always been a thorn in my side from the time we purchased the boat. All sinks and showers drain into a common sump where it is pumped overboard except when we are under way at which time because of the attitude of the boat it runs through the overflow tube into another area under the bunks in the 3rd stateroom. Of course when this happens not all of it gets pumped out and starts to smell sour. As you would expect to get at this second sump you have to first move things off of the bunk then lift it up to get at the things under it that need to be moved so you can get to the floor to remove it so you can get at the sump with a shop vac to remove any remaining water. Brilliant!

The sump. The left side as you look at it is towards the bow. That's the float switch with the blue writing on it. It of course is mounted at the higher end of the sump and the pump in the deeper end. It never ever pumps the sump water to a point below the float switch. You can see the overflow drain hole to the right. Anything above a slow speed tilts the boat and sump sending the water to the overflow.

Enough whining. Fortunately I had another pump on board and replaced the old one with the thought to change the location of the float switch in the near future. Why this thought waited 10 years to surface I can't explain!?!

I'm happy to report that our Princess Chairs still work. We last had them out back in 2009 here in Ky. Lake.

Of course one thing leads to another. When I got the air pump out to inflate the chairs the switch wouldn't work causing me to cut out the switch and wire it direct.

Conditions were great for our time out. A brief period of rain one night but otherwise air temps were around 80 and the water temp was 81 with a clear sky overhead.

Morning view over the stern.

Sunday morning we woke up to an old familiar nemesis from our days on the Upper Mississippi. Fish Flies!

Not too bad. At times they're so thick it looks like the boat has a fur coat.

After a few Ooeys from Pam we pulled the anchor and headed back in before the Sunday crowd hit the water. Our next mission; get ready for the Franklin & Ellie invasion.