Shitter's full!

Since leaving Block Island we stopped in Newport for a couple of days. Dad has been there many times before so he showed me the Newport Shipyard that housed many old America's Cup boats and beautiful yachts that had come up from BVI for the summer. Apparently, boaters can't get insurance down south during hurricane season so they bring their boats up north.

Next we headed to Martha's Vineyard. My dear friend Annie K. has a house on the Vineyard and she was sweet enough to save us a mooring before we got there. She also let us do laundry at her place and showed us around town. It was a tremendous help! The night we got in she escorted us to dinner and we had the best meal. I had a salad that had mashed potatoes on top with a lemon butter sauce (yummy!). She ordered french fries with parmesan cheese, mushrooms, caramelized onions and truffles on top (double yummy!).

The following day Dad and I got the boat ready for a visitor. Chip came to town!! Yippee! But before he arrived the most disgusting thing that could ever happen....happened. Dad and I noticed that there was something leaking from the exhaust pipe connected to the waste tank. A waste tank is where everything from the toilet goes until we are able to dump it out in the Atlantic or pump it out. Dad thought that he had opened the tank while we were out in the ocean, but apparently there was a blockage because we discovered that not only was the tank not empty, it was about to burst. (GROSS!!!) I got the pleasure of opening the tank. I slowly unscrewed it one turn and brown juice dribbled from the opening. As I was gagging my Dad said, "let me take over". I, being the dedicated crew that I am, said "no, I got this." - HUGE MISTAKE! I unscrewed the cap and a brown volcanic like mass spewed from the top just missing my face. Yes, folks you know what that brown mass was. I don't think I need to spell it out for you. I was surprised that I was able to keep calm but at that point I did let Dad take over and I went below to wash my hands about 50 times or more.

On a brighter note, Chip did get in later that afternoon and we had a lovely dinner on the boat before heading to town for drinks with Annie and Ted. Today, we rented bikes and explored more of Edgartown and Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard. And, tonight we'll head back in to town for some dinner. More highlights from Martha's Vineyard and 4th of July to come.

The one thing I learned this week is that the gauges on a boat are typically right. If your Dad says that the waste gauge should be reset - DON'T reset it. It probably means the shitter is full!