Buffington Island to Marietta, "marina"

When we woke up I check the deck from our window first thing. I was thrilled there were no mayflies, unlike the previous morning. Then I went upstairs to do my normal routine... and saw a number of them inside. Before going any further I sent our bug exterminator to go deal. He made of point of telling me not to come up.

Because we were anchored we kept an "all around" light on, which is both required and necessary. That apparently called every mayfly in the area. The back deck was coated. Normally Russ can blow them off with a leaf blower (who knew you needed a leaf blower on a boat) but the dew made them so wet they didn't move much. He worked on them a couple of times throughout the day, and got most of it done when we got to Marietta.

We did go through another lock today, Belleville. All chambers working, so we got in and out pretty quick.

O! M! G!

We have a couple of problems that are getting to be serious problems. Diesel remains one. A pump-out is another one. A leaky water pump on the port engine is another -- of late the bilge pump will run on occasion because of the leak. That makes me grumpy. 

In all honesty, we have some expectations when it comes to the definition of "marinas." Some things are just luxuries, like laundry or showers, and not needed. Power is a nicety, especially in the high heat, but since we spent so much time and effort into making our boat last without it it isn't essential. Water is handy when we need to fill up our tanks. But fuel and pump-outs are should not be extravagant. We had no idea diesel fuel was going to be such a hard thing to find on this part of the Ohio. We've found some pump-outs, but most are close to shore (to make it easy to tie into the city sewer lines) where the depth is 2 feet or less, so we can't get there.

inQuest in Marietta. Note the wild arching walk.
That is a thing here. Most marinas have them.

The holiday of course has made everything stop. We won't have any answers until tomorrow. Fingers crossed we can get something to happen. Because if not, we have to turn around and bag the whole plan.

The end of the day was awesome, however. My sisters-in-law came to visit and see the boat. I do not spend enough time with those wonderful ladies.

The siblings, in front of the restaurant where we 
had dinner. L to R: Polly, Russ, and Sue.