What a Muckety-Muck MESS!!!

Neill warned me about the state of Etude. "A little rough," he said. "Needs a good cleaning." He didn't exaggerate. Not just dirty, but mildewy and full of the previous owner's STUFF. Dozens of spare parts, books, books, safety gear unopened geriatric jars of herbs & 18 cans of tomato soup. And the bedsheets! At least a dozen plus pillowcases. None of it very clean. For 5 days we swamped out, scrubbed and sorted. In the summer heat, in a boat that's NOT in the water--think sauna on stilts. Then we return to a little motel room that's piled full of our STUFF, which we can't load on the boat 'til we get the other STUFF off. It got to me last night. So today I left Neill on the boat and came to Beaufort. Did laundry, replenished the cooler, and dumped some stuff at a thrift store. Went back to make lunch--our first meal from the galley. Only sandwiches, but it felt like a milestone. Civilized!

Back to town to post this at the library. I swear, librarians make the world go 'round. God bless every one of them. A library is home away from home.

Beaufort's a friendly little tourist town. Like Durango with water in place of mountains. And MUCH older. Houses built in the 1780's in the old town. NC feels verdant. The corn's about 4' tall and they're trucking out potatoes already. Lotsa small farms and big gardens tucked away behind the trees. And boats everywhere.

Etude needs work on her propane system and holding tank. (Think septic tank, landlubbers.) The marina it's at can't get to it, so we may have to put her in the water and head north. Get the work done later. And keep a sharp eye out for outhouses. Hmmmm. We found some giant corks on board!