Breeze On

We spent the last two days loading food onto the boat. As we load it I record the location of every item on our inventory, so it is quite an involved process. The first time we went to the Bahamas it took a week to load everything. We are getting to be much more efficient. We take much less food than we did the first year, we already have a sense of where things will fit, and the inventory is already set up.  Cereal is quite expensive in the Bahamas so we take enough for the entire winter. My cereal is a bit of a production. I eat a high fiber, but boring, cereal called Uncle Sam. Because it is boring I add granola, sunflower seeds and chopped dates. I set out 15 one-gallon ziplock bags on the counter and start the production line. That should get me through the winter.  We had a few extra challenges this year when carting the food to the boat. The roof on our building is being replaced and one of the platforms that they raise and lower was in our way. In addition, the workers...

Our town recently was recently visited by a very distinguished guest; the former presidential yacht, Sequoia. The Sequoia was built in 1925 and purchased by the federal government during the Herbert Hoover administration for use as a presidential yacht. It continued to serve in that capacity until Jimmy Carter decided it was a frivolous expense and had it sold. It had fallen into disrepair and its current owner is paying to have it renovated. By the time the renovation is done, in 2025, it will be 100 years old. The Sequoia will then return to Washington DC and serve as a museum. A lot of historical events took place on the Sequoia, including JFK’s last birthday celebration. A few of the other significant events which took place on the Sequoia included:  Nixon’s resignation, planning of D-day, and the drafting of the Marshall Plan.  The Sequoia has been out of the water in Deltaville, VA for the past several years. It was brought to Cambridge by barge a few weeks ago and was t...

George doesn’t like to drill holes in the boat. Go figure. What could go wrong? For that reason our cockpit enclosure was not attached at the bottom. The enclosure did a good job of keeping the cold wind out on our passages to and from the Bahamas but having it attached at the bottom would make it even better. Last Spring George finally agreed to drill holes so we could attach snaps. We waited until we had cooler weather this fall so we wouldn’t bake inside the enclosure. Fall has finally arrived here so this past weekend we attached snaps on the boat and the enclosure panels. It was quite an involved project, going all the way around the enclosure. In some cases I had to make adjustments to the enclosure panels before we could attach the snaps. We are quite pleased with the result and believe it will help keep us even warmer.  We are getting ready to go the Bahamas again.  We normally start our Bahamas visit in Abaco, an area that was devastated by hurricane Dorian. Our first...

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...

We have spent the past two days as tourists in Baltimore. Yesterday’s forecast predicted thunderstorms throughout the day so we were delighted that the rain held off until the afternoon, enabling us to go out and about before the storms arrived. We first walked over to a nearby Safeway for a few groceries. Along the way we passed a really interesting device  (Professor Trash Wheel)  that picks up trash out of the harbor. It seems to work well, the area where it was located was free of trash, but the areas next to it had quite a bit of trash.  Next we took an Uber to the Walters Art Museum in the Mount Vernon section of town. The museum is free with four floors filled with art. After spending a few hours there we walked a block to see the George Washington Monument. After ducking back inside the museum for a few minutes to wait out a small rain storm, we walked south to the Inner Harbor. Along the way we passed a Burger King so we stopped to split an Impossible Burger. I h...