Taking stuff off of the boat

 To those of us who keep a boat in Portland, "Top Dog" is a familiar sight. Parked right there on Route 66 from spring to late fall, this local couple with their beautiful Checker cab and hot dog trailer feed lots of locals and passing truck drivers every day. If you could look inside the cab, you'd see an elegantly dressed female manikin sitting in the back seat.

As we arrived on Saturday, the Top Dog crew was closing the awning and getting ready to quit for the season. I guess we got the hint.

 Taking the last few things off of the boat

It's never fun but it has to be done. The docks at Portland Riverside aren't as steady as the ones we're used to in Norwich, so it's pretty much a one man job.

 There wasn't much, really. Just four or five trips up to the car to get the last of the things off that might freeze. After a week of temperatures in the 70s, Saturday provided a cold wind which didn't make this chore any fun.

Next stop for the boat: haul out, power wash the bottom and then into the shed.

Removing the "string of pearls"

On Sunday, we drove back down to Norwich to retrieve the black fenders that we keep between the dock and hull of the boat. Unlike past years, they were partially encrusted with small shells and we scraped most of them off before loading them into the car. It was a nice bright day and we were in high spirits to have this job behind us. Of course, we had to do a little shopping on the way home.

We shot some video of our weekend and in this chapter, Frances makes her debut as narrator for part of it.