Breeze On

Our Porta-Bote dinghy came with foam for flotation. We were grateful to have it that time our dinghy became stuck under a dock. It kept the dinghy from sinking all the way to the bottom.  Porta-Bote when new two years ago I vaguely remember reading that the foam should be covered to avoid UV degradation. After two winters in the Bahamas the foam has started to degrade. The last time we used the dinghy we noticed powdery black stuff in the bottom of the dinghy. We didn’t find a lot online about how to best cover it. One post on the Porta-Bote users group recommended gluing fabric onto the foam. I have a good vinyl glue (HH-66) that would work for the Stamoid vinyl fabric but I wasn’t sure it was compatible with the foam. I didn’t want to put glue on the foam and have it disintegrate even more. Our best guess is that the foam is made of polyvinyl ethylene and the HH-66 can said it is not to be used on polyvinyl ethylene.  We decided to try to use the 3m Dual Lock (which I call s...

One of the best things about spending the night on the boat at anchor is feeling connected to nature. We see eagles flying and hear their unique, high-pitched call. We see juvenile ospreys practicing how to fly. We see and hear the fish jumping. Butterflies and dragonflies join us for a ride on the boat. We see gorgeous sunsets and sunrises. Yesterday morning George was up early to check on the nearby thunderstorms. He took several photos of a beautiful sunrise. This is one of the best.  This butterfly stayed with us for at least a 1/2 hour as we moved anchorages. 

It seems as if there is always something that needs to be repaired. Very often it is something that we have never encountered. We have learned to go online and look for instructions. Yesterday’s problem was a frayed outboard motor starter cord.  We had a week with no commitments so we decided to head out for a few days at anchor. Our original goal was the Sassafras River but we decided to not go quite that far since there was no wind in the forecast and we would have to motor all the way there and back. We chose instead to go back to the Corsica River. We spent our first night at Dun Cove, near the mouth of the Choptank. The next morning we took the shortcut through the Knapp’s Narrows drawbridge. It was our second time through there and this time we were able to avoid going aground (like we did last year) as we entered the Chesapeake. The channel markers switch sides-green on the right instead of red-and they don’t correspond to the chart so I still found it confusing. Nevertheles...