Toilet talk

The day started with maintenance. Because Matt and Dasha will be cat-sitting this weekend while Ellen and I head to Vermont for a wedding, we figured it made sense to do a toilet repair before they stay on the boat. The nor-easter will be enough for them to think about.

Our toilet is a Vac-U-Flush unit. Basically the toilet is connected to a vacuum pump that sucks the shit out of the bowl and sends it to the holding tank in the keel. The pump creates a vacuum that does the sucking. But the ball valve seal in the toilet had a slow leak into the pump that caused the pump to cycle in an effort to maintain the vacuum.

Here’s the bathroom with the toilet bowl and the old seals removed. The new ones are waiting on the counter.

There are some tasks better suited for a dock than the kitchen.

Reassembly.

Done. Works perfectly.

Anyway, we took the toilet apart (wasn’t really that nasty), cleaned everything that could be cleaned, and put it together with new parts. Works perfectly. Hooray! We also scheduled a pump out from the pump out boat. That should happen tomorrow.

After the head was squared away we went for a walk across town to the Institute of Contemporary Art. Had a good time walking along the Greenway, saw our first ever public sunscreen dispenser, had an excellent long walk. (Yesterday we went for a run in the morning and then logged more than 15,000 steps. Today we took it easy and just did another 15,000.)

Unicorn rides!

Today’s theme was ART. (To be fair, it’s the theme most days. That and FUN.) Found this labyrinth on the Greenway…both art and fun.

Here’s a bit of trivia for you: we’ve seen more rabbits since arriving in Boston this week than we saw over the past 26 years living in Freeport. No bunnies to be found in our neighborhood – probably because there are too many foxes, cats, mink, and raptors around. But just walking back to the boat from dinner last evening we saw around five. And then this big one today.

The last few pictures are urban eye candy for your enjoyment.