A Weather Delay Well Spent

Day 169 |  Columbus

There was no captains' meeting last night because of heavy rain. When we turned out the lights we were 80% sure that we would spend another day here in Columbus to wait out some stormy weather. The 20% of uncertainty woke us up at 6:00 and we got dressed and ready to cast off if others were out and stirring. No one was moving, so we turned our attention to our largest remaining boat project -- replacing our sump box with an automatic pump. A successful swap will eliminate a large amount of standing gray water in our bilge and eliminate a major source of  boat odors.

Barry had preassembled the new pump unit months ago and we had made many trips to West Marine to secure enough hose clamps for the operation. The first step was to remove the rug and floor boards. Then we (I was the sous mechanic) disconnected the old box and removed it. That all went smoothly and things were looking good.

The new pump slid right in with a smaller footprint, giving us a bit of new storage space. After a final review of the wiring instructions, it was ready for final hook-up and testing. All worked as planned and Barry did his Engineer's Victory Dance before we cleaned up. Not long thereafter, the captain's meeting was held on the dock. Before darkness fell, we both prepared for departure and double-checked our dock lines and fenders in anticipation of tonight's severe thunderstorms. We are under a tornado watch until 11:00 pm.

Barry was nominated to call the lockmaster at 6:00 in the morning to check status. Once cleared for staging, ten boats will depart in a pre-assigned order as close to first light as possible. We will travel approximately 65 miles tomorrow, go through two locks, and then split up among three anchorages for the evening. We have a week of long days with few available anchorages and/or marinas. Cell and data service will probably also be spotty. The goal is to be in Mobile a week from today (Nov. 12).