Boat Habits Do Not Die!

Today the remnants of hurricane Idalia are dumping rain over the Carolinas and we are under a flood watch as we live in a low-lying, swampy part of northeast North Carolina. School is cancelled, Frank is off working at the Coast Guard base, and what was I up to this morning? Using nature's bounty of water! Maybe it's because we lived on a boat for over a decade, or maybe it's because I've been a "tree hugger" for as long as I can remember, or maybe it's because sea water amazed me as a little (and older!) girl, but I am always looking for ways to best use this precious resource. 

While cruising and making our own water, we found lots of ways to conserve and really only washed the boat when we had a good downpour. As we prepared for this rain yesterday, I connected hoses to our rain barrels that were sure to overflow given the forecast and ran them to the pool which has been low since we haven't had rain in a while. The spigots are open and water is flowing from our roof to the pool! I had to adjust the hoses this morning to get a little better flow, but the pool water level is rising nicely.

We live down a gravel road so I've mostly given up on having a pretty car (which pains this Midwestern girl's heart), but with this steady rain I decided to go out with a rag and wipe some of the dirt off knowing that she will get another few hours of rinsing! Of course, both neighbors across the street were leaving their houses during this time and no doubt think I'm absolutely crazy. So it's probably good that they left before I continued on to wipe down the mailbox, painted fence posts, porch railings, front door, and porch siding, but guys, it's BRILLIANT! Now I don't have to tap into our water table and run our pump (we are on well water out here in the sticks) to get the clean house that I love! No electricity to run the pump, no wear-and-tear on the pump, no sucking water out of the ground when I can use it as it falls from the sky. My apologies to my new neighbors, but this is me!

I may have looked insane, but I'm always happy to clean!

And for anyone that is curious, I did visit the boat yesterday to make sure all was well. We weren't super worried, but I did take down the sunshade, added a few lines (as the marina had requested everyone double up), and checked for chafe. She's looking good (albeit maybe a little lonely) and the MWR Norfolk Naval Sailing Center crew is keeping a good eye on her and the docks!

~Jo, Country Domestic Engineer