Bath Season Is Over

As the temperatures drop, signs of winter are everywhere. The last flocks of geese are honking their way south. The ducks are begging more than usual. And the hoses are out.



Walking back to the boat Zach saw this sight and immediately knew what it meant.

"Mom, is bath season over?"

Yes, we have a bath season. As a year round live aboard in a winter climate baths are not a right but a seasonal privilege. And when the hoses go down that means the marina is shutting off our dock water for the season (because the pipes can freeze and burst on the docks).

This means filling up our water tanks requires a trek up the marina yard to the old office building where the long, mismatched, string of hoses terminates at a water tap with a heated source. So we trek up there, turn on the water, trek back to the boat, open the door to bring in the hose and let all the cold air in, fill up the tanks, then with wet cold hands trek back to turn off the water. Then begins the ritual of walking the whole length of hose and lifting it up to drain the remaining water out. If you don't do this, the water in there can freeze, and when your neighbor needs to fill up they might encounter an ice blockade preventing them access to fresh water. Not good.

So we go on an even tighter water rationing routine than usual. Part of that is no baths. Also the heating system on our boat isn't quite strong enough to warm the extreme corners of the boat, and our bath tub sits in one of those extreme corners. But hey, at least we HAVE a bath tub!

So it's shower season. Zach plays in the shower up at the marina bath house or at the local indoor pool where we swim. And this weekend he hit the jackpot! We went to Grandma & Grandpa's house in North Carolina and he was in bath bliss. I mean LOOK at the size of that thing!



So bath season may be over. But we manage.




And we always carry some bubble bath with us, just in case.