Cruising Cats: April Fool trick?

April 1 - 9, 2006

Houma, Louisiana



We'd heard that Houma, Louisiana, is a "must stop" and we heartily agree. We
are convinced that this pleasant little place is our salvation and in no way
responsible for the misfortune that befell us the day after our arrival and
would extend our stay to almost two weeks.



The morning, just happened to be April 1, otherwise known as April Fools Day
in the U.S. We had no idea any practical jokes were planned for us until
Jim went into the engine room just to check on things. There, he discovered
a problem that had to be repaired before we could resume our journey.



So we counted our blessings to be at a dock here with a good chance of
getting parts and service and not in a remote anchorage or place ravaged by
a hurricane. It appeared at first to be just one of those things that boats
do to get your attention when they think you haven't spent enough money on
them lately.



We did not have a car, and knew nobody in town, but we had the use of a
phone book, and phone and Internet access, when Jim began his quest for some
way to lift a 1,258 pound engine, find replacement nonstandard size parts
for a 22-year-old boat, and a mechanic in case of damage to the
transmission.



The difficult part would be to convince co-captains Rosie and Cinder that
the floor was removed to give the crew and other humans access to the engine
room underneath, and not to provide the cats another place to explore. And
the humans did not desire supervision, even if purrs were offered. No,
indeed.



Instead, the cats had to endure the indignity of being shut in the bedroom
while strangers came and went and made unfamiliar noises on the other side
of the door for several days.



As Jim tackled the frustrating mechanical problems and the cats endured
temporary incarceration, I noticed other indications that this may not be an
ordinary problem at all, but perhaps the work of gremlins that were up to no
good.



One ominous sign was that the carnation buds I bought did not bloom. This
is highly unusual for carnations.



But it was the three large putrid, bloated catfish that appeared out of
nowhere and with at least 200 feet of dock and several other boats to
offend, settled out of reach under the dock right next to Genesis, that
convinced me that this was an April Fool joke planned and executed by
gremlins.



But, we persisted, and thee cats endured, and eventually, Jim located four
new engine mounts that only needed a slight alteration to fit, and a
mechanic who helped him install them and who found and installed a
replacement transmission and even exchanged one of our empty propane tanks
for us.



Perhaps the gremlins grew bored with us. Perhaps Rosie and Cinder were able
to chase them away.



The engine was running again. Some of the carnation buds began to bloom. The
three catfish floated out from under the dock. Jim scooped them up with a
net and disposed of them.



It appears all is well, except that the shipment of the electronic
navigation chip that Jim ordered to be delivered last Friday has been
delayed because of a mechanical problem with the plane containing the
shipment.



We will stay in Houma until it (the chip) arrives.



Spare gremlin chasing purrs so that we can move on without further delays
would be much appreciated. Next we go past New Orleans, across the
Mississippi River and Mississippi Sound to somewhere on the Mississippi
coast. We probably will not have cell or Internet service for a few days.



Purrs are on the way from our end to all in need.



Annie, crew for Rosie & Cinder

On Sun, 9 Apr 2006 13:51:55 -0500, "Annie Wxill"
wrote:




April 1 - 9, 2006

Houma, Louisiana



We'd heard that Houma, Louisiana, is a "must stop" and we heartily agree. We
are convinced that this pleasant little place is our salvation and in no way
responsible for the misfortune that befell us the day after our arrival and
would extend our stay to almost two weeks.



The morning, just happened to be April 1, otherwise known as April Fools Day
in the U.S. We had no idea any practical jokes were planned for us until
Jim went into the engine room just to check on things. There, he discovered
a problem that had to be repaired before we could resume our journey.



So we counted our blessings to be at a dock here with a good chance of
getting parts and service and not in a remote anchorage or place ravaged by
a hurricane. It appeared at first to be just one of those things that boats
do to get your attention when they think you haven't spent enough money on
them lately.



We did not have a car, and knew nobody in town, but we had the use of a
phone book, and phone and Internet access, when Jim began his quest for some
way to lift a 1,258 pound engine, find replacement nonstandard size parts
for a 22-year-old boat, and a mechanic in case of damage to the
transmission.



The difficult part would be to convince co-captains Rosie and Cinder that
the floor was removed to give the crew and other humans access to the engine
room underneath, and not to provide the cats another place to explore. And
the humans did not desire supervision, even if purrs were offered. No,
indeed.



Instead, the cats had to endure the indignity of being shut in the bedroom
while strangers came and went and made unfamiliar noises on the other side
of the door for several days.



As Jim tackled the frustrating mechanical problems and the cats endured
temporary incarceration, I noticed other indications that this may not be an
ordinary problem at all, but perhaps the work of gremlins that were up to no
good.



One ominous sign was that the carnation buds I bought did not bloom. This
is highly unusual for carnations.



But it was the three large putrid, bloated catfish that appeared out of
nowhere and with at least 200 feet of dock and several other boats to
offend, settled out of reach under the dock right next to Genesis, that
convinced me that this was an April Fool joke planned and executed by
gremlins.



But, we persisted, and thee cats endured, and eventually, Jim located four
new engine mounts that only needed a slight alteration to fit, and a
mechanic who helped him install them and who found and installed a
replacement transmission and even exchanged one of our empty propane tanks
for us.



Perhaps the gremlins grew bored with us. Perhaps Rosie and Cinder were able
to chase them away.



The engine was running again. Some of the carnation buds began to bloom. The
three catfish floated out from under the dock. Jim scooped them up with a
net and disposed of them.



It appears all is well, except that the shipment of the electronic
navigation chip that Jim ordered to be delivered last Friday has been
delayed because of a mechanical problem with the plane containing the
shipment.



We will stay in Houma until it (the chip) arrives.



Spare gremlin chasing purrs so that we can move on without further delays
would be much appreciated. Next we go past New Orleans, across the
Mississippi River and Mississippi Sound to somewhere on the Mississippi
coast. We probably will not have cell or Internet service for a few days.



Purrs are on the way from our end to all in need.



Annie, crew for Rosie & Cinder


Purrs are on the way south that the gremlins will leave you alone for
the rest of your trip.

BTW, my late DH always said that a boat was a hole in the water into
which you poured money. (We always had a boat of one kind or
another.)
Purrs and Hugs,

Nan and the furkids

A wise man talks because he has something to say;
a fool talks because he has to say something.

On 2006-04-09 13:51:55 -0500, "Annie Wxill" said:




April 1 - 9, 2006

Houma, Louisiana



We'd heard that Houma, Louisiana, is a "must stop" and we heartily
agree. We are convinced that this pleasant little place is our
salvation and in no way responsible for the misfortune that befell us
the day after our arrival and would extend our stay to almost two weeks.



The morning, just happened to be April 1, otherwise known as April
Fools Day in the U.S. We had no idea any practical jokes were planned
for us until Jim went into the engine room just to check on things.
There, he discovered a problem that had to be repaired before we could
resume our journey.



So we counted our blessings to be at a dock here with a good chance of
getting parts and service and not in a remote anchorage or place
ravaged by a hurricane. It appeared at first to be just one of those
things that boats do to get your attention when they think you haven't
spent enough money on them lately.



We did not have a car, and knew nobody in town, but we had the use of a
phone book, and phone and Internet access, when Jim began his quest for
some way to lift a 1,258 pound engine, find replacement nonstandard
size parts for a 22-year-old boat, and a mechanic in case of damage to
the transmission.



The difficult part would be to convince co-captains Rosie and Cinder
that the floor was removed to give the crew and other humans access to
the engine room underneath, and not to provide the cats another place
to explore. And the humans did not desire supervision, even if purrs
were offered. No, indeed.



Instead, the cats had to endure the indignity of being shut in the
bedroom while strangers came and went and made unfamiliar noises on the
other side of the door for several days.



As Jim tackled the frustrating mechanical problems and the cats endured
temporary incarceration, I noticed other indications that this may not
be an ordinary problem at all, but perhaps the work of gremlins that
were up to no good.



One ominous sign was that the carnation buds I bought did not bloom.
This is highly unusual for carnations.



But it was the three large putrid, bloated catfish that appeared out of
nowhere and with at least 200 feet of dock and several other boats to
offend, settled out of reach under the dock right next to Genesis, that
convinced me that this was an April Fool joke planned and executed by
gremlins.



But, we persisted, and thee cats endured, and eventually, Jim located
four new engine mounts that only needed a slight alteration to fit, and
a mechanic who helped him install them and who found and installed a
replacement transmission and even exchanged one of our empty propane
tanks for us.



Perhaps the gremlins grew bored with us. Perhaps Rosie and Cinder were
able to chase them away.



The engine was running again. Some of the carnation buds began to
bloom. The three catfish floated out from under the dock. Jim scooped
them up with a net and disposed of them.



It appears all is well, except that the shipment of the electronic
navigation chip that Jim ordered to be delivered last Friday has been
delayed because of a mechanical problem with the plane containing the
shipment.



We will stay in Houma until it (the chip) arrives.



Spare gremlin chasing purrs so that we can move on without further
delays would be much appreciated. Next we go past New Orleans, across
the Mississippi River and Mississippi Sound to somewhere on the
Mississippi coast. We probably will not have cell or Internet service
for a few days.



Purrs are on the way from our end to all in need.



Annie, crew for Rosie & Cinder

So what do you do while you are detained? The cats really sound like
they are at home as long as they are with you. Hope your chip comes.
And hope you are up river when Hurricane season starts!

"Nan" wrote in message
...
.... BTW, my late DH always said that a boat was a hole in the water into
which you poured money. ...
Nan and the furkids

Hi Nan,
Thanks for the purrs.

We've been told that boat stands for Bring On Another Thousand

Annie, crew for Cinder and Rosie

"Karen" wrote in message
news:2006040915440616807%kchuplis@alltelnet...
So what do you do while you are detained? The cats really sound like they
are at home as long as they are with you. Hope your chip comes. And hope
you are up river when Hurricane season starts!

Hi Karen,

When we are detained, we are dealing with the problem, doing laundry, buying
supplies, cleaning up, writing my journal, walking about and looking at
things, talking to other boaters about locations of marinas or anchorages or
the price of fuel, catching up on sleep, watching the weather, going over
the charts and other information to plan the next part, and most important,
giving Rosie and Cinder lots of attention.

Our plan is to be in New York when hurricane season starts, but at the rate
we're going, it's going to be difficult.

Thanks for the purrs.

Annie, crew for Rosie & Cinder

On Sun, 9 Apr 2006 16:38:40 -0500, "Annie Wxill"
wrote:


"Nan" wrote in message
.. .
... BTW, my late DH always said that a boat was a hole in the water into
which you poured money. ...
Nan and the furkids

Hi Nan,
Thanks for the purrs.

We've been told that boat stands for Bring On Another Thousand

Annie, crew for Cinder and Rosie

That, too!
Purrs and Hugs,

Nan and the furkids

A wise man talks because he has something to say;
a fool talks because he has to say something.

"Enfilade" wrote in message
ups.com...
Again, better the gremlins be playful when in dock than on open sea
during a storm. We have gremlins at the airport too....worse in some
aircraft than others for no apparent reason.

--Fil

With the Gulf Coast so torn up and short on services, we feel extremely
lucky to have had the problem while here. We are careful and take good care
of our equipment. We have put a lot of work into the boat to keep it in
good condition. This came at us from out of the blue.

I will say that the cats handled the whole inconvenience very well.

Annie, crew for Rosie & Cinder

I love reading about your adventures. I'm curious, how do the Hoomins react
to your co-captains?


"Annie Wxill" wrote in message
...



April 1 - 9, 2006

Houma, Louisiana



We'd heard that Houma, Louisiana, is a "must stop" and we heartily agree.
We are convinced that this pleasant little place is our salvation and in
no way responsible for the misfortune that befell us the day after our
arrival and would extend our stay to almost two weeks.



The morning, just happened to be April 1, otherwise known as April Fools
Day in the U.S. We had no idea any practical jokes were planned for us
until Jim went into the engine room just to check on things. There, he
discovered a problem that had to be repaired before we could resume our
journey.



So we counted our blessings to be at a dock here with a good chance of
getting parts and service and not in a remote anchorage or place ravaged
by a hurricane. It appeared at first to be just one of those things that
boats do to get your attention when they think you haven't spent enough
money on them lately.



We did not have a car, and knew nobody in town, but we had the use of a
phone book, and phone and Internet access, when Jim began his quest for
some way to lift a 1,258 pound engine, find replacement nonstandard size
parts for a 22-year-old boat, and a mechanic in case of damage to the
transmission.



The difficult part would be to convince co-captains Rosie and Cinder that
the floor was removed to give the crew and other humans access to the
engine room underneath, and not to provide the cats another place to
explore. And the humans did not desire supervision, even if purrs were
offered. No, indeed.



Instead, the cats had to endure the indignity of being shut in the bedroom
while strangers came and went and made unfamiliar noises on the other side
of the door for several days.



As Jim tackled the frustrating mechanical problems and the cats endured
temporary incarceration, I noticed other indications that this may not be
an ordinary problem at all, but perhaps the work of gremlins that were up
to no good.



One ominous sign was that the carnation buds I bought did not bloom. This
is highly unusual for carnations.



But it was the three large putrid, bloated catfish that appeared out of
nowhere and with at least 200 feet of dock and several other boats to
offend, settled out of reach under the dock right next to Genesis, that
convinced me that this was an April Fool joke planned and executed by
gremlins.



But, we persisted, and thee cats endured, and eventually, Jim located four
new engine mounts that only needed a slight alteration to fit, and a
mechanic who helped him install them and who found and installed a
replacement transmission and even exchanged one of our empty propane tanks
for us.



Perhaps the gremlins grew bored with us. Perhaps Rosie and Cinder were
able to chase them away.



The engine was running again. Some of the carnation buds began to bloom.
The three catfish floated out from under the dock. Jim scooped them up
with a net and disposed of them.



It appears all is well, except that the shipment of the electronic
navigation chip that Jim ordered to be delivered last Friday has been
delayed because of a mechanical problem with the plane containing the
shipment.



We will stay in Houma until it (the chip) arrives.



Spare gremlin chasing purrs so that we can move on without further delays
would be much appreciated. Next we go past New Orleans, across the
Mississippi River and Mississippi Sound to somewhere on the Mississippi
coast. We probably will not have cell or Internet service for a few days.



Purrs are on the way from our end to all in need.



Annie, crew for Rosie & Cinder

Annie Wxill wrote:
April 1 - 9, 2006

Houma, Louisiana



We'd heard that Houma, Louisiana, is a "must stop" and we heartily agree. We
are convinced that this pleasant little place is our salvation and in no way
responsible for the misfortune that befell us the day after our arrival and
would extend our stay to almost two weeks.



The morning, just happened to be April 1, otherwise known as April Fools Day
in the U.S. We had no idea any practical jokes were planned for us until
Jim went into the engine room just to check on things. There, he discovered
a problem that had to be repaired before we could resume our journey.



So we counted our blessings to be at a dock here with a good chance of
getting parts and service and not in a remote anchorage or place ravaged by
a hurricane. It appeared at first to be just one of those things that boats
do to get your attention when they think you haven't spent enough money on
them lately.



We did not have a car, and knew nobody in town, but we had the use of a
phone book, and phone and Internet access, when Jim began his quest for some
way to lift a 1,258 pound engine, find replacement nonstandard size parts
for a 22-year-old boat, and a mechanic in case of damage to the
transmission.



The difficult part would be to convince co-captains Rosie and Cinder that
the floor was removed to give the crew and other humans access to the engine
room underneath, and not to provide the cats another place to explore. And
the humans did not desire supervision, even if purrs were offered. No,
indeed.



Instead, the cats had to endure the indignity of being shut in the bedroom
while strangers came and went and made unfamiliar noises on the other side
of the door for several days.



As Jim tackled the frustrating mechanical problems and the cats endured
temporary incarceration, I noticed other indications that this may not be an
ordinary problem at all, but perhaps the work of gremlins that were up to no
good.



One ominous sign was that the carnation buds I bought did not bloom. This
is highly unusual for carnations.



But it was the three large putrid, bloated catfish that appeared out of
nowhere and with at least 200 feet of dock and several other boats to
offend, settled out of reach under the dock right next to Genesis, that
convinced me that this was an April Fool joke planned and executed by
gremlins.



But, we persisted, and thee cats endured, and eventually, Jim located four
new engine mounts that only needed a slight alteration to fit, and a
mechanic who helped him install them and who found and installed a
replacement transmission and even exchanged one of our empty propane tanks
for us.



Perhaps the gremlins grew bored with us. Perhaps Rosie and Cinder were able
to chase them away.



The engine was running again. Some of the carnation buds began to bloom. The
three catfish floated out from under the dock. Jim scooped them up with a
net and disposed of them.



It appears all is well, except that the shipment of the electronic
navigation chip that Jim ordered to be delivered last Friday has been
delayed because of a mechanical problem with the plane containing the
shipment.



We will stay in Houma until it (the chip) arrives.



Spare gremlin chasing purrs so that we can move on without further delays
would be much appreciated. Next we go past New Orleans, across the
Mississippi River and Mississippi Sound to somewhere on the Mississippi
coast. We probably will not have cell or Internet service for a few days.



Purrs are on the way from our end to all in need.



Annie, crew for Rosie & Cinder


Egad! Of course this HAD to happen on 4/1! Purrs that the rest of the
journey is uneventful and all pleasure.

--
Sam, closely supervised by Mistletoe

Annie Wxill wrote:
snip hilarious story of gremlin attack
Spare gremlin chasing purrs so that we can move on without further delays
would be much appreciated. Next we go past New Orleans, across the
Mississippi River and Mississippi Sound to somewhere on the Mississippi
coast. We probably will not have cell or Internet service for a few days.

Purrs that Cinder and Rosie chased off all the gremlins for good and
that you get the part you are waiting for soon, so you can get moving again.

--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.
marina (dot) kurten (at) iki (dot) fi
Stories and pics at http://koti.welho.com/mkurten/
Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/
and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki