We’re Baaack!

 On September 16, we had the boat hauled out for, what we thought would be a two week, bottom paint and general maintenance stop.  However, it turned into a seven week ordeal…I hate to use that word, because it has been said that the only difference between an ordeal and an adventure is your attitude!  I agree with that saying100%, but will also admit that by the end, my attitude was getting pretty crappy…so ordeal it is!

The original plan was to get the bottom soda blasted down to the barrier coat (which we were told there were two layers), and start from scratch with new bottom paint.  We also needed to check thru hulls, change zincs, and get props tuned…easy peasy…not!  The very next morning we received a call from the guy soda blasting the bottom, that he had great concerns because there didn’t ever appear to be barrier coat on our hull, and it appeared the gel coat was chipping and cracking because of it…we needed to have the bottom epoxied😟

Oh well, luckily we were staying with my dad, and had a long list of projects we could work on!

I started with outside teak projects, because the weather was perfect for that task.  After the first week, I decided to move inside to some of the projects difficult to complete when we are living aboard.

I refinished the tub, and painted the inside of the medicine cabinet, and under the sink, in the main head.

Two weeks into our stay, as the bottom job was progressing slowly, it was determined that our shafts were worn and needed to be replaced…ugh!  First off…why are we learning this now??  Secondly, they were only 3 years old (for those of you who have been traveling with us for a few years might remember they were replaced in Carabel, FL), but apparently they were some installation mishaps, which caused unusual wear.  Adding 7-10 days for shafts to be made.

Well, now that I have more time it would be best to refinish all of the interior stairs, as this is a nearly impossible task when we are living on the boat.

At the end of the 10 day window, we learn the shafts will probably take 3-4 more days…

I’ve always wanted to reconfigure the storage area under the galley sink, and move the trash can to a more accessible spot.

Old trash can spot repurposed to store (and give easy access to) all of the baking pans and serving dishes.

What do you mean another 3-5 days for the shafts…😟

Well, I do have materials left, and the only storage area not yet updated is under the sink in the guest head.

I was also able to clean all of our blinds, paint the metal housing to our movie screen, and clean and polished the stainless steel rub rail removed from the sides of the boat, for teak restoration.

On one rainy weekend, I took my sewing machine and fabric to my dad’s house, and set up shop in his basement. Those fender covers are $65 each at West Marine.  I was able to make 8, so we have a backup set…yay👏

Keith was also extremely busy during this time, but his projects aren’t always as picturesque as mine🤣

In search of a new helm chair, we spent several hours walking through a junkyard.  I would test for comfort, and he would determine if it could be retrofitted for our purpose…we settled on this one for $65.00.  🙄 I know…purist yachtsmen will get their eyeballs stuck in their heads forever, with the eye roll they probably give us, but we don’t care…we go for comfort and functionality, and I guarantee my $65 helm chair is more comfortable than their $4,000 helm chair.

He crawled around the bilge installing this new barnacle buster system, which required attaching 8 transducers to the inside of the hull…will it work? We shall see! He also installed two new transducers for our depthfinders, and all of the wiring needed for both of those projects. He replaced all of the zincs and line cutters, cleaned and painted all thru hulls, replaced exhaust riser and hose, and rebedded port engine exhaust.  All of this in addition to some maintenance on our truck…he was also a VERY busy person!

He was responsible for all projects involving a ladder! He sanded and refinished the one piece of teak that wraps around the bow of the boat and can’t be reached from inside. He also found a spot where the Portuguese bridge was not actually attached/sealed where it meets the hull (under that teak piece) so his fiberglass skills were put to use.

And finally, after 4 weeks of excuses and delays, on Wednesday, October 25, Keith gave the ultimatum…either deliver our new shafts by Friday, or return our old ones and we will get new shafts farther south!!!  And guess what happened…those are new shafts in the picture above, delivered on Friday, October 27…yippeeee!

On Thursday, November 2 we were back in the water😆😁😄😃😀🥹 

The good thing that came from our extended stay, is that I got to see my dad every day😘. Thanks for letting us stay with you Dad…I hope we didn’t cramp your style too badly!

We didn’t take very much time out for fun, but we did squeeze in a few seasonal activities.  Thanks for sharing your Halloween fun with us, Melanie and Dave.  

We made every effort to visit our immediate family members, but I will apologize now to all of the friends and family we missed!  I am sooo sorry, but we just couldn’t stay any longer!

This waterman bringing in his crab pots was the first boat we came upon after leaving the marina.  It was cold and windy, and definitely time for us to head south!

Heading for the Bay bridge, and sweet freedom!

Chesapeake lighthouses

The dolphins are so happy to see us, and we are soooo happy to see them!

On November 4 we pull into Tilghman Island for a fuel stop before heading south.  I am always entertained with boat names, and usually let my mind get creative in picturing how a boat got a particular name.  However, the name on this boat is fairly self explanatory, and I have challenged my brain to find some happy/positive spin…one week in and I’m still working on that one.

It is common, when traveling along the coast, to get with a pack of boats, and pass, or be passed by the same boats every day.  One boat we have seen every day for the past 4 days is named ‘Mother Fricker’.  Why, you might ask yourself, would someone name their boat that…unless he is a ####, and he hears it so often that it just made sense to name the boat that, however, I have found that to be untrue. He seems like a very polite man, but if I talk with him on the radio, I call him ‘Mother F’ and he laughs… people🤷🏼‍♀️

Today is Sunday, November 12, and we are taking our first layover day since we left on the 4th. It’s a cold and rainy day here in Southport, NC, but watching this beauty fish all morning, has been the highlight of our day!

Hiding in the Chesapeake

 It has been a busy three weeks since my last post.  We have covered a lot of miles, and seen wonderful places.  Right now, we are happy to be hiding in the Chesapeake, while Hurricane Lee wreaked havoc in the North Atlantic for the past week!

From Portland, ME we stopped in Portsmouth, NH to anchor for one night, from there we traveled the Annisquam River to Gloucester.

People are clamming at low tide.

Interesting floating cottages.

Just WOW!

As we were leaving the Annisquam River we passed our friends Barbara and Ken on Northwind, entering the river heading in the opposite direction.  We couldn’t have planned that crossing if we had tried, which we didn’t.

The moorings in Gloucester Harbor seem kinda close! We are tied to a mooring, and this is the ‘ball’ for the boat that comes in behind us😬 good luck picking that up!

From Gloucester we visited Salem

The channel was marked far behind our stern, but many tour boats cut right across our bow.

From Salem we transited the Cape Cod Canal to anchor in Onset for the night.

Our next stop would be Woods Hole, where we planned to anchor and take the ferry to Martha’s Vineyard for the day.We could have taken our boats to the Vineyard, but strong winds were in the forecast for the near future so we didn’t want to waste the extra day that would require.

Fab Four on an empty ferry😁

Loved the Gingerbread Cottage community!

After a fabulous day exploring, and a good night’s sleep, back on our boats…we were off to…

New Bedford

Did you know that New Bedford Harbor is totally protected by huge breakwater walls and a hurricane/flood gate that closes?  We were there the night of the Super Moon, and they actually closed the gate to protect from ‘unusually high tide’…impressive!!

“The barrier extending across the harbor consists of a 4,500 foot long earthfill dike with stone slope protection.  The barrier has a maximum elevation of 20 feet and a 150 foot wide gated opening to accommodate commercial and recreational navigation.”  (nae.usace.army.mil)

 An off-shore wind turbine project was being staged here in New Bedford…impressive! Check out the local article

https://nantucketcurrent.com/news/first-vineyard-wind-turbine-heads-out-to-sea

The Whaling Museum was incredible!  So much to see…so much to learn…also…very sad! This heart was modeled from a juvenile Humpback…can you imagine the size for an adult?

The fishing fleet here is huge, and many vessels are rigged for scallop fishing.  Of course we had to find the seafood market, and guess who filled the freezer with fresh scallops…yum!

From New Bedford we took a side trip to Montauk to visit/meet Gail and Eddie’s friends, Pam and Steve.  They were wonderful hosts, and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit.

Montauk is a great town to visit…especially if you have a local connection!

After leaving Montauk, we planned to stop in Port Washington, but conditions were so calm, and the timing of the current was perfect so we pushed on to get East River and NY City behind us.  

Eddie and Gail decided to anchor at the base of the Statue Of Liberty, but we (having already experienced that, and deciding once was enough) continued on to Coney Island.

Flashback photo…this was taken on July 18, 2019…three weeks after I retired!

It was a cool experience, but tour boats and ferries made for a very uncomfortable evening.

This year we opted for our quiet hideout behind Coney Island.

Next stop…Barnegat 

There she blows!  Off the coast on New Jersey we spotted our third whale of this trip.

I was at the helm, and Keith ran to grab the camera.  As he waited patiently (with the lens zoomed out) the whale resurfaced right next to our boat…

Surprise…he just pressed the shutter button and luckily we captured this…no more than 10 feet from our port side…wow!

And now we enter Barnegat 

Keith and I needed a few beach days, so we stayed in Barnegat while Eddie and Gail continued on to Baltimore. Temps were in the 80s and the water was glorious.  This felt like our first glimpse of summer, with the warmest water and air temperatures we had seen since the Bahamas. We spent two glorious days recharging🌞

From here we hopped to Cape May, then through Delaware Bay to the C&D Canal. 

It’s wonderful to be back in our home waters of the Chesapeake, and spending time in the Sassafras River!