Where's the Money Going? Compliance, that's where.

An interesting phenomenon happens when we're in a safe place with readily available internet and more free time than we know what to do with.  I blog.  Twice in two days.  Not the exciting "we almost died (but were totally safe, Trevor's Mom, I promise) and now here we are" antics of my older blogs.  Nope, today I'm going to talk about plumbing.

Yesterday I bemoaned the City Marina making us change our sanitation system.  The people at West Marine (the ultimate store of boating things) were completely unhelpful.  We even asked a boat yard how much it might cost for a new system.  "I'm working on one right now, and it's already up to $3000."  What?  There's no way we, the poor people in the cruising community, can afford that kind of money.  Hell, that's half what the whole boat cost!  So we were frustrated.  We talked to a knowledgeable woman at the marina office about our options.  "Can we anchor out and bring our toilet in to empty a couple of times a week?"  "You can, but you can still get a ticket."  A ticket!  A ticket for improper equipment.  The Florida Keys are a marine sanctuary, and if you're caught with a toilet that can't be pumped out, you can get a whopping ticket.  Blast!  We looked sad and said we just couldn't afford a new toilet and all the fittings (that might fail and dump poop into our boat at any time).  She then proceeded to tell us about a "permanent portable" that West Marine sells.  It's just like what we have, except it has extra fittings so you can run a hose up to a fitting on the deck and get that crap pumped out.  It makes us compliant with the law (not outlaws anymore!) and costs less than $300, fittings and all.  Hey, that sounds more reasonable.

So off we went to West Marine (we were assured they had a couple of the helpful people there that day) to check out the better toilet.  We shopped, we compared, we monopolized the salesman's time, and we got the equipment we needed.  Plus a couple of t-shirts (mine says "Captain", and Trevor's says "First Mate"; we're so cute!) that were on sale.  And we bought hardware for another project.  Do you have any idea how expensive deck fittings are?  Crazy expensive!  Either the pump-out fitting or the water-fill fitting was priced at $45!  Slap the word "marine" on it, and you can triple the price.  We're going to Home Depot for the last of our supplies later today. 

We have projects.  Today is going to be crazy busy.  The mechanic is coming at some point to put the motor back together.  Hopefully, all of our problems with that will be solved.  We've got this toilet project.  Pump-out day is tomorrow, so we're on a bit of a deadline.  And we're plumbing our water tank to the deck for easier filling (currently, we have to move the mattresses, lift a door, and run a water hose through the hatch to fill it).  Busy times!  We won't know what to do with ourselves when we accomplish all this stuff.  Maybe we'll get to that fabled retirement condition where we sit around and read books and play Scrabble.  Oh, I love Scrabble!

Also, we're thinking about staying here a while.  We might pay for a month when we go up to the office today.  So if you're wanting to come visit us, this may be a good time.  But not Jan 25 throught Feb 1; that's when Thaddeus is coming to visit.  And Trevor will be gone for a week starting next Wednesday.  But roundtrip tickets from Chattanooga to Key West can be as low as $244.  Just something to think about.  :)

Alright, time to get to work.  Retirement is hard work.