One may wonder why when your out on a boat everyone waves hello. You could walk down the street and your neighbors don’t even wave and on a boat it all changes. Everyone is your friend out here. When on the water you want as many friends as possible if something happens. As Captain Ron says “If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen out there.”

Well last night after a long day of work, we came back to the dinghy dock like normal to find nothing wrong. Whats the problem then? Well our frickin’ lock was seized! So after half an hour of trying to get a very expensive brass combination lock by Abus open, it was not going to happen. Hope was lost, shattered into pieces. How were we going to get back to the boat for the night? We were thinking, “Man, I try to help others out and now our luck has soured again!” Just when all hope was lost with us we were helped! A kind couple with this angelic little girl came over to us. Asked if they could help or give us a ride back to our boat. Since it was 8pm and their was not anymore shuttles to the boats for the evening, we took up their offer.

The inflatable dinghy filled with groceries and goodies prepping for their trip to the Bahamas, two adults and a child made for a snug ride as it was. Adding two more grown adults made it a very intimate ride. First was their boat to drop off all the supplies and we were so impressed how fast Isobel could climb up out of the dinghy on her own up the side of the boat. Then we headed to our boat and couldn’t give enough thanks to the Bill, Lara and Isobel that saved us from spending the night ashore when all hope was lost. Here is their blog, check out them and their journey as well. Always inspiring to see families living aboard. Thank you S/B Sunrise!!!

This morning we got up and jumped on the shuttle back to shore to try and remove the lock. Tried everything we could including PB Blaster, screw drivers, hammers, wrenches. Tried hitting it, turning it, re-locking and still nothing. The combination worked but would not click open. Last resort was the master lock from the main marina office, a huge pair of bolt cutters. So it resorted to cutting the lock and finally we were set free. Anyone have any suggestions for a lock to be used that may be more reliable than the Abus bronze lock for saltwater conditions? We are open to suggestions.

On a side note, I made some kick ass pancakes this morning. For the first time since we moved aboard, we have eggs without refrigeration. Oh my gosh, no refrigeration? Yes, not only are we living on the boat we do not have a fridge or freezer. Yes, you can keep eggs without a fridge as long as you flip them all the time to keep the yolk floating. So I made some delish pancakes.

Shawn’s Fluffy Pancakes
3 cups Bisquick
1/2 cup powder milk
2 eggs
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 tablespoon vanilla
1-2 cups water
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix ingredients together till a paste like consistency. We cook ours in a small skillet that has great Teflon on it so we do not need to use spray Pam. These made some large pancakes but so good. Kept us full for half the day! Would be even better with some bananas in it or blueberries, mmmmm.