Mischief Managed Afloat: Dumbledore Edition

We are absolutely thankful that we're able to go on this trip. When COVID-19 broke out, we were concerned that we wouldn't even be able to get Dumbledore in the water. But there have been some disappointments. Our original plan for this trip was to take Dumbledore through the Erie Canal as soon as it opened in May and spend the entire month of August at a marina on the Potomac in Washington DC. Obviously, that's not what happened. The Erie Canal delayed reopening by two months, the museums in Washington DC are closed, and we decided it was more important to enjoy the journey more than the destination. However, the two-legged crew members were all pretty disappointed they would be missing Washington DC, particularly the younger crew members who had never been there before. (The four-legged crew members only cared about being in places with dark cabinets and wet food.) We decided to make the most out of the situation presented to us. Lock 19 was seriously delayed in reopening...

After our first week of the trip, the first thing my mom wanted to know was what went wrong. Did we have trouble with any equipment? Did our anchor drag? Did a cat run away? Did someone fall overboard? I found myself flummoxed because there wasn't anything to tell her. Justin had done too good of a job on the equipment, we paid attention to the weather forecasts and avoided rough waters, and the cats are too scared of anything to try jumping overboard. The next week, she asked the same thing and I still had nothing juicy to talk about. But finally, I'm able to report that things actually went wrong. The week started out innocently enough. We arrived at the boat in Brockport Sunday night rested and ready for a week of fun. As we unloaded laundry and groceries, we noticed the cabin wasn't cool and comfortable like it had been so far. It was hot, stuffy and oppressive. The air conditioning clearly wasn't working. Justin dove down into the engine room to investigate t...

It finally happened! No, not world peace. We didn't discover a vaccine to Covid-19 either. And they still haven't come out with a second season of Firefly. But the Erie Canal locks system opened! There were a few last-minute preparations to work on before we could head off, so we spent Sunday night parked in our slip in Buffalo. While Justin finished up a few projects, Shianne and Makenna were itching to use the last few minutes of light to swim at a nearby beach. While they splashed, I enjoyed the stunning sunset as hundreds of bugs tried to suck out my blood. I wasn't sure if that was Shianne or a lot of mosquitos in a giant clump. Sometimes people will ask questions about how life on a boat is unlike regular life on land. With Justin's upgrades, there really aren't as many differences as you would expect. You do have to be careful not to drop things overboard when you go outside, and you get to throw cereal out the window when you're finished with br...