Breeze On

Our new arch is installed and looks beautiful. The main reason for getting an arch was to support new rigid solar panels. Alex, who installed our new lithium batteries, suggested rigid solar panels since they put out so much more power than the semi-flexible panels we currently have. The semi-flexible panels were fine for cruising around the Chesapeake but they were inadequate for the Bahamas. The shorter winter days and longer periods at anchor meant that we had a lot of trouble keeping our batteries charged last winter.  George has been busy since we returned from the Bahamas researching arch manufacturers, taking measurements, ordering the arch and making arrangements for the delivery and installation.  We would have liked to have had the arch installed while we were in Marathon, FL. Alex could have then installed the solar panels.  Unfortunately for us, the person who makes arches in Marathon was backed up 3-4 months and we weren't willing to wait that long.  We ...

A short while ago we had a break in our very busy retirement schedule (hahaha) and made an impromptu decision to take Breeze On out for five days. It is the first time we have spent more than a single night on her since April. We sailed to the western shore of the Chesapeake, heading first to the Rhode River.  We took the Porta-Bote with us. George had used our Hot Knife to cut into the transom a bit more so that the outboard would fit better. He had also tightened up a bolt which was the likely cause of a slow leak we noticed the first time we used the Porta-Bote. We were able to assemble the Porta-Bote on the foredeck, although I wasn't as good a help our friend Doug was last month. The outboard fit better than before but the transom could use a little more tweaking. The boat stayed dry, no more leak. We loved how fast the Porta-Bote went. We were able to explore much more territory than we cover in our inflatable dinghy. The Porta-Bote is roomy, really comfortable and handles ch...

We have been spending time this summer traveling, working on projects and spending time with friends and family. Most of our sailing has been single nights at anchor or day sails, usually about once a week. Three weeks ago we took advantage of a brief respite from hot and humid weather to spend a night at anchor with our friends Doug and Laura. We were expecting an easy sail in 8 knots of breeze but found wind in the teens instead. We chose to sail with just a full main. As we were tacking down the river there was another boat, sailing with just a genoa, on the opposite tack a few hundred yards ahead of us. George said something was going on with their genoa. I looked up to see it flapping like crazy, then falling down into the water. Next, their mast fell down. It was a very upsetting sight. We turned our engine on, dropped the mainsail and motored close enough to ask if they needed help. They declined our help and the help of another small motor boat. We continued on to our anchorage...