A storm of Mayflies

Yesterday we stopped at Little Falls, NY.  There were six boats on the dock.  We all hunkered down for a big storm last night.  The rain began in the evening, and the wind picked up, and George and I stayed up until midnight, playing bridge online and reading.  When he finally went to sleep, I stayed awake and finished a novel.  The rain was pounding us, and I wondered how long that power could continue.  But before I closed the book, the rain had quieted, so I did sleep well.

After a leisurely reading of the AJC this morning, George changed the fuel filters for the first time.  I was his helper.  All seemed to go well until we cleaned up and started the engine.  It sounded terrible! There was air in the fuel line.  Why?  How to get it out? Who could help us?  I went to the office for a shower, and George went around to different boats, asking for advice.  He found Bob from Field Trip and had a consultation.  Thirty minutes later Chris, the dock master, called a local diesel mechanic, who said he'd come over and take a look.  Chris offered to take Martha from Field Trip and me to Price Chopper, the grocery, and George waited for the mechanic.  When I got home, the problem was fixed.  Our emotions had run up and down the scale from "We are so handy" to "We are the pits and
should not own a boat."  Now they were back in the middle around "We are doing ok" and "Aren't we lucky that other people are around to help us?"

It was time to go to the movie.  We decided to watch The Princess Bride at home instead for a few reasons:
      It was lunch time, and we do not miss a meal.
      The weather was still misty, but I didn't want to ask Chris for another ride.
      I had just walked in from Price Chopper and wanted a minute to unpack and relax.
      I had a plan for a crock pot meal and wanted to put that together.
      We were invited to visit Patriot for docktails at 5:00.
George had never seen The Princess Bride; I have seen it twenty times; we both enjoyed it.

After the movie we washed off the boat, which was dirty from locking through and from a mayfly invasion last night.  Wouldn't you think a big rain would clean the boat?  That's what I thought.  However, the mayflies came out and frolicked and died all over the boat.  They stuck to the floor.
Then crows followed the mayflies and pooped in several locations as they ate the insects. The boat looked worse than ever.  We filled our water tank and also rinsed the floor.

Carcasses galore! 

Many were still alive but not moving on.

We're headed down the dock to meet new friends and check on their plans for tomorrow.  I think all of us will be headed out unless we get a notice that the canal is closed due to flooding.  We did not get as much rain as had been predicted, so we'll be able to move west. I do want to give a shout out to Chris, the dockmaster here.  She drove boaters to lunch, to the laundry, and to the grocery store.  She was a huge help, calling the mechanic for us.  She is one of the reasons that Little Falls is a great place to stay.