Got attacked and boarded last night...

I got woken up by the sound of something hammering on my deck right above where I sleep. I could hear my solar panel wires being moved back and forth violently. Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap! Yelling. Wires moving. Tap tap tap tap! Yelling. Wires moving. Tap tap tap tap tap tap! Yelling. Tap tap tap tap tap tap!

'Sounds like I've been boarded by enemies.' Out of bed. Tactical flip flops on. Companionway hatch and door open. Out on deck ready for battle.

One of the birds I've been chasing off the boat flies off. Just one. At a time when birds are usually sleeping. No other invaders in sight.

He decided he wasn't having this person taking over his sweet ass boat, and was gonna come declare war. By himself. At four in the morning.

I lived in what used to be a prayer house from an 1800s church years ago. I had a couple warblers build a nest in the prayer box right above my couch. Watched them build a nest, lay eggs, hatch babies, raise them, and call them out of the nest to go live their lives elsewhere. All within a few feet of my head. It's one of my favorite experiences in life.

I have the feeling the attacker this morning was the original one who came out when I was still here. I was cool with him and later his partner coming out. I kinda figured they might hatch some chicks. I'm cool with helping the animal world out a little. I didn't know at the time that I was leaving.

I've scoured the deck from the first morning on to make sure there aren't any nests built or eggs laying in ropes. There's nothing. I've looked in every nook and cranny. There really isn't anywhere they could hide them. No signs that they're using anything as nest material. Nothing.

Word got around in the bird world that it was a safe place to sleep. Can't blame them for that, but I have to evict them. The amount of bird shit is staggering. My deck is typically close to spotless.

I know they're gonna come back as soon as I leave, but at least they'll be used to the idea of not being here when I get back. Most of the forty or so that were here when I got back got the hint and haven't returned. There's about ten left that give it a couple tries every night, and then fly off and don't return.

I've got to admire this little guy. He didn't give one fuck about the odds. He felt wronged, and was gonna risk it all to try and get rid of me. Gotta have some respect for that.

In other news...

I finally got to wake up, make some coffee, and sit here enjoying my coffee and a couple smokes while listening to some tunes. It was glorious! Once the coffee kicked in I text my friend. I'm running low on drinking water.

'Hey' Give it a while. Lately he's been the early riser and I've been sleeping in. It was the opposite before I left. An hour goes by. I get the 'nocs out, check his boat. His dinghy's there. 'Kinda odd.' Shoot him another text.

I see my first text hasn't been delivered. "Message will be delivered when recipient is online." 'He must need to go get his service re-upped.' I try calling just in case. Get a message confirming his service is out.

An hour or so later I go up on the bow to get some sun and watch boats go by. I see his dinghy leave his boat and head for the dock. 'Good. He'll get that handled. I'll talk to him later.'

Back down below. I open the entire boat up. The more I can air this thing out the better. Breakfast. Reddit. Nap. Shoot him another text, 'Hey.' 'Hey. I'm trying to fix my motor.' 'Shit. What happened?' No response. (We all remember about getting boat stuff done first, right?) No big deal.

I go up on deck with the 'nocs. Watch him fight with his motor. Leave. Come back. Fight some more. Finally I see his dinghy slip away from the dock. He's got a paddle in his hand. I had no desire to watch him paddle against the current back to his boat. I go back down below.

I checked my anchor rope earlier. The other thing I wanted to do was check my batteries. Had some lunch first. Smoke. 'Time to get it done. I'll probably pack my gear tonight so next time he can come get me I can get the fuck out of here and go work. Then we can have two dinghies fucking up all the time. 😆'

I disconnect my charge controller in the right order. Panels first, then battery. I grab some tools and a flashlight. Climb down into one of that lazarettes. Unhook both batteries. Pull them up on deck. Climb out of lazarette. Pop the caps.

They're low, but the plates are still covered. 'Perfect.' I add some distilled water untill each cell is full but there's still room for venting during a stabilization charge. A few extra drops for good measure since I'm leaving soon.

Caps back on. Light cleaning of all connections. Batteries reinstalled, cables linking them together, power wires to inverter and charge controller hooked back up. Out of lazarette. Charge controller hooked up to batteries. Solar panels hooked to charge controller. Quick check for operation. All good.

That's all I came here for. Now I just have to wait until my friend figures out how to get us back to shore and I'll be out of here. Hopefully I don't run out of water.

Hashtag Boatlife!!! 😁