Here comes the sun

Conrad and Mark practiced faces. This is "scared."
You can see more at kids.svperry.com.

After a serious boat rinsing yesterday, the sun finally came out today. Our solar panels made some ground on charging the batteries but they aren't going gangbusters like they were when we had the summer/equatorial sun.  We'll take that as our cue to start thinking about heading south.

Matt rode his bike to the propane place to fill our aluminum tank. While he was there he decided to buy a larger 20-pound tank (the kind you get for your grill) even though it is susceptible to rust, since we seem to burn through propane so fast.  With his backpack containing the smaller propane canister and the 20-pound tank strapped to the back, he was like a human bicycle bomb. He did his best not to make any sudden movements or dart into traffic. As it turns out, the second tank was not empty as we originally thought. Apparently, there is a valve in the storage area under the stove that we accidentally knocked and turned off when putting away a pan. So all the rearranging of the propane locker in the driving rain yesterday to pull out the spare stove wasn't really necessary.

While Matt did errands, Conrad, Mark and I hiked the Red Brook Pond Conservation Area. Although we didn't see any squirrels or rabbits "frolicking," we did see the cranberry bogs. Living aboard makes you appreciate these land-based moments with the kids.

We're planning to leave Bassett's tomorrow and not knowing if Martha's Vineyard has Wi-Fi for us, we may be without internet for awhile. See you on the other side.