Nothing like a few days without water to make a believer out of you!

Just when things started to settle down a bit after the storms we landed a new challenge – a good old-fashioned water line from the well freeze-up. It’s a little irritating. Reaching for the spigot and getting nothing is a very sobering experience. Carrying water to flush also expands one’s horizons. My scheduled once a week shower, needed or not, got pushed out, too. It’s a beautiful thing!

Of course, we had all sorts of offers from friends and family for basic fundamentals, but I stayed the course, hoping to solve the problem on my own. It was not to be. And it was a weekend adventure so I was reluctant to bother any of our crafty plumbing associates. But I did.

Roy Arsenault is part of the Arsenault family of skilled technicians. We’ve known the whole well-known Arsenault family for a long time. Our daughters are good friends with Roy, Jack (now Dr. Jack) , Jules and Max. But still, knowing them as we do, I was reluctant to make the call. I hate to bother tradespeople during their down time, but figured a quick call for advice and information might not be too invasive. So I made the call to Roy.

Bingo! Roy picked right up, bless his heart. “Hi Roy,” I said. “Sorry to bother you but ... It’s Mitch, parent of Megan and Morgan Mitchell over here on Southport, how are you doing?”

“Good Mitch, what’s up?”

“Well,” I replied. “We’ve got a bit of a problem here at the house and I wondered if I could get some advice. Do you have a minute?”

“Yes” Roy said. “We’re just boarding a flight in L.A., heading back to Maine.”

“Oh.”

I explained that we had no water and that I was trying to figure out the cause wondering about the pressure switch, some circuitry, pressure tank, you know, the usual. It hadn’t really been that cold so I didn’t suspect a freeze-up. Roy suggested a few things, I thanked him and wished him a good flight back. “Maybe see you at one of the Hendricks Head ocean dips.”

I don’t dip, by the way. My idea of a dip involves blue corn chips and salsa!

Anyway, I checked out all the suggestions Roy had made and everything checked out. Still no water. Then on to further investigation and a call to the big cheese, Bill Arsenault. Again, I hated to bother him but I’ve known Bill since he apprenticed with Tom Prouty back in the late ’70s. I was helping Chuck Upton do some work on the Ebb Tide and Tom and Bill were working on the plumbing. Bill has always been helpful. At least he picked up the phone while shoveling snow off Knickerbocker Lake.

Bill walked me through some ideas then added, “Are you getting water into the system from the well?”

Hmmm. Really didn’t think that would be a problem but when I cut the pipe from the well and turned on the pump, bingo! Nadda! There had been a breach in the pass through in the cement foundation exposing the water line to frigid air. I tried but could not free the blockage.

To the rescue, Med and Shane (Arsenault employees) used a heated water pressure device to clear the water line and fill our toilets. They didn’t fill our toilets but the water did! Sure is nice to have friends in high places, because helpless is not a good feeling. Thank you one and all. We won’t miss the opportunity to live more rustically. We have dishes to do!