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Good News

Last week George received word that Dick Vosbury had finished replacing the saildrive gasket (again!) A few days later our friend, Ray, drove us to Annapolis so that we could bring Breeze On home. My brother, Dave, was due to visit from Florida and was willing to help us with the delivery. I was a bit nervous as Breeze On was lowered into the water but everything went smoothly and there were no leaks. After tying up to the dock at Jabin’s Yacht Yard, George called Annapolis Inflatables to tell them we were ready to receive our new dinghy. 

Last winter we decided that we wanted a RIB (rigid inflatable boat) for faster travel from Breeze On to shore while in the Bahamas. With a more substantial transom, a RIB allows for a larger, faster outboard. Since we spend so much time in the Bahamas we thought it would be worth the complications we would encounter in storing the dinghy while at home and transporting it while offshore. We tried calculating just how much room we had on the foredeck to transport the dinghy while offshore. In the end we decided to just order the dinghy and figure it out after it arrived. So, a few weeks after we returned home last spring we drove to Annapolis and ordered the new RIB. Dinghies have been hard to come by during the last few years so we were fortunate that it arrived and Annapolis Inflatables was willing to deliver it to us while we were at Jabin’s. After George spent a few hours figuring out how to tie it up to our davits he put the outboard on the dinghy and we motored into town. We walked around town then had dinner outdoors at Iron Rooster. By the time we motored back to Jabin’s the J Boats were starting to congregate for their Thursday night races. We spent the night on the dock then motored back to Cambridge after breakfast the next morning. We briefly had enough wind for a little bit of sailing once we entered the Choptank. 

Breeze On has to be backed into the short slip at home to enable us to get on and off the boat We wouldn’t be able to back Breeze On into the slip if a dinghy is hanging on the back so we dropped the dinghy and towed it after we furled the sails. We moved  the tow line to the bow once we entered the creek. After we were tied up in the slip we used the spinnaker halyard to raise the dinghy to the foredeck and Dave helped flip it over. We have discussed various storage options and may end up taking it to the back yard of some friends where it will stay until we are ready to go to the Bahamas. 




George rowing the new dinghy around the end of the dock. 



Tying lines on the dinghy that will attach to the arm of the arch. 



George, Dave and me in Annapolis.



Breeze on, floating nicely, with the new dinghy behind. 



New dinghy on the foredeck.  

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