Dotty Work Day – Engines, Bilges, and (Almost) Explosions

Keeping Dotty afloat takes a village and good tea.

Today was one of those deeply satisfying shantyboat work days. The whole crew pitched in—Chris got Freddy (our trusty outboard) humming beautifully; James battled bilge wiring; Miah took one for the team handling propane lines and sink leaks. And me? I kept obscure boat parts streaming in from the magical interwebs.

Working together, covered in grease and grime, troubleshooting leaks and testing gas lines, is how a crew becomes a crew. It might look messy from the outside (because, yeah, it absolutely is), but every dirty job done is one less potential catastrophe mid-river.

And after all the chaos, because we’re nothing if not civilized, we paused for tea.