Breeze On

The cabin where we sleep is the v-berth, right behind the bow of the boat. Any small noise the anchor chain makes reverberates through the chain locker and sounds very loud in the v-berth. When we anchor, George attaches a line that goes from the anchor chain to a cleat. This line (called a snubber) takes the pressure off the anchor windlass (a motor that pulls the anchor up). You can see the anchor chain on the left in the photo below and the snubber line on the right. The snubber line is attached to the anchor chain below the water line. When it is windy Breeze On swings back and forth around the anchor chain. When that happens we hear a loud clunk, clunk, clunk as the chain rubs on the snubber and/or a loud "Creeeak!" as the snubber line rubs the boat and stretches. Not a recipe for a good night's sleep.   Over the past two seasons George has made several changes in the way he ties the snubber line. He has finally found the answer to a quieter anchor chain. Tie a ...

The surgeon gave me some very good news at my post-op visit. He told me that everything looked good and I had no restrictions. That meant I could get in and out of the dinghy and go up and down the swim ladder. Yippee! So, we packed up some provisions and clothes and took off for a week-long trip. Our first stop was in Ball's Creek near the mouth of Broad Creek. The entrance into the creek is quite tricky. It is rather narrow with several switch-backs and gets pretty shallow. In fact, on our way in we watched the depth drop to 5.6 feet. I am not sure how we didn't go aground. Our depth instrument must not be calibrated as accurately as we thought. In any case, we were grateful to get into the anchorage and drop our anchor. Next on the list, swimming! Later in the evening we kept our eyes on thunder storms in the area. We saw lightning all around us but no storms passed over us. Phew! We were up early the next day and weighed anchor before breakfast. The winds were suppose...

When I was growing up my mom had subscriptions to a few womens magazines. My very favorite article in all of the magazines was a feature in the Ladies Home Journal called "Can This Marriage Be Saved?" The article gave the separate perspectives of each member of the couple (whose marriage was in trouble), then the marriage counselor's perspective and, finally, the outcome. Most times the marriage was indeed saved. I decided to steal the title of that article to write about a communication device we have been using called the Marriage Saver . And, no, our marriage is not in trouble. When we are anchoring the boat I am at the helm and George is at the bow operating the windlass. We initially tried hand signals so that George could signal to me when to go forward, in reverse, turn toward port or starboard. The hand signals worked pretty well but were a little limited. Also, since the throttle and gear shift are on the floor I have to be sitting to operate them. That means t...

There is a tired old saying that is especially appropriate for the Chesapeake. It goes something like this, "There are three kinds of sailors on the Chesapeake, those who have gone aground, those who will go aground and those who lie about it. " Well, I am not going to lie about it, we ran aground. We were in San Domingo creek which is also known as the "back door" to St. Michaels. The channel is very tricky and narrow and it was an especially low tide. (Mental note--check tides before entering a narrow, tricky, shallow creek.) I was driving in the narrowest part of the creek and apparently got too close to one side when, boom, the boat stopped and the bow dipped down. I put the boat in neutral, then reverse, and the boat backed off of the shoal. Fortunately, the bottom throughout most of the Chesapeake is muddy and soft. Went aground near that green square in the middle The dreaded green mark where we went aground   After we were free and I overcame my confusio...

One of the many boat projects we did today was mark the anchor chain. It was probably the simplest project we have done yet. It is useful to mark the chain at intervals to verify that enough chain is let out when the boat is anchored. If too little chain is let out the anchor will not hold. There are various methods for determining how much chain is let out. One is to count how many feet of chain go out per second and then count the seconds. Another is to spray paint the chain at various intervals. Another is to buy colored plastic pieces that are inserted into the pieces of chain. Each of those methods has it's advantages and disadvantages. When I attended Cruiser's University in April, Pam Wall , cruiser extraordinaire, told us about an ingeniously simple and effective way to mark the chain. She suggested asking a sailmaker for scraps of spinnaker cloth in three colors. Cut strips that are about one inch by one foot. Tie the strips on the chain at the intervals of your choi...

Just before we started out on our delivery trip we purchased a Spot tracking device. Since we started our one-night cruises last week we have been turning it on to keep track of our trips. You can see our tracks by clicking here . I have added a page to the blog called "Breeze On's Adventures" that will also take you to this link. It is right under the photo of Breeze On. Our most recent trip was to the Tred Avon River in Oxford, MD. You can find the track of our trip here . The track will remain there for seven days. After that, this link will take you to our most recent trips and the tracks will be there for seven days. It looks as if we traveled over land because the Spot was set to send a signal once an hour. Believe me, we did NOT travel over land! We have reset the Spot to send a signal more frequently so the track will look more accurate. I have also added another blog page to connect you with the link to current trips. It is called "Where is Breeze On?...