Spiders, Thunderstorms, & Good People

We killed a huge *&%#ing spider with a 2×4 from Home Depot in our shanty boat, docked at St. Paul Yacht Club, while a thunderstorm proceeded in the background the other night. The 2×4 was a leftover from one of our many last minute projects to get Michi Zeebee ship shape to go down river – a ladder to reach our steering on top of the cabin (thank you Nina), mosquito netting in the cabin (thank you Rebecca), a bimini to protect us from the sun (thank you Diane), printed charts (thank you Dan), a bilge pump to keep us from sinking (thank you Dale), a pole for pulling in the classic tradition of shanty boats (thank you Danny), and reinforcement to the combing (thank you again Nina…can’t thank Nina enough) in an attempt to keep water out from the barge wakes that folks kept talking about around the yard.

We had come a long way to arrive at this point and no way were we going to lose it over a spider. To be fair it was four inches in diameter and kept scurrying around while thunder seemed to be cracking open the sky. For some reason we couldn’t find a shoe – we figured a 2×4 would do. Anyhow as I was saying a lot went into this boat before we arrived at this point and it wasn’t all us. Michi Zeebee really is a result of so many people popping in and out through the process to lend a hand, a tool, a gizmo, advice, and so much more to make sure we were ready for this journey. We are going to do our best to tell you about all the people that have touched this project from the beginning throughout our journey so stay tuned.

Right now we are writing from a pub on the St. Croix and Mississippi as we wait out another thunderstorm rolling through. We are so thankful to be where we are now and to everyone who has helped us along the way to make this project happen…and for that extra 2×4 to fend off any other spiders that try to hitch a ride. More stories to come as we venture down river, but for now we must batten down the hatches in preparation for this mighty Mississippi storm that’s brewing…we leave you with this photos and videos to enjoy in the meantime:

Michi Zeebee’s launch