Weekends, worries and what-knots

Our last BLOG talked of Engines, phones, friends and painkillers, so go read that and you'll know that we are stranded in paradise (AKA BMC-Lighthouse point). As far as the engine repair goes, we have started the process and are waiting for a final quote on the factory re-manufactured Perkins 107-4 from Fowley's marine engines.

I'll post something about the absurd number of boat units that will cost and our decision to go ahead and replace all of our sails later. This BLOG post will be about how two, land locked, lonely, marooned, and (not so) sober sailors survive in the big city.

Well Monday night after the big tow from Back Creek, we showered, shaved, eat a great meal and went to bed.

Tuesday was a free concert in Paterson Park by Big Daddy Stallings, One of our favorite blues bands. Dancing and drinking in the park was a lot of fun.

Wednesday was our normal late night at the pool and pavilion with our pool friends until ten.

Thursday, Roy and Krista arrived on Sola Fida, A nice dinner (with wine) and visit with them.

Friday was the Kelly Bell Band and food trucks in Inner Harbor with Monique and Maurice. Good friends, great band, strong drinks, Moon Shine shots at the Moon Shine Bar and a night cap on Sola Fida to end the night (or should I say morning). A great night and a lot of fun dancing in the grass to a great band.

Saturday was a trip to the Eastern Shore to retrieve a car and get some farm fresh food, a trip back to the Moon Shine bar for dinner with Monique and Maurice (use up the living social coupons), stuck our heads in the Cat's Eye to see what was going on then down to Ledbetter's for drinks and a game of pool or two. Back to Aletheia for a night cap with M and M and Sola Fida, then to bed.

Sunday we tried to hang at the boat, do laundry and a few boat chores. We did all that that plus we had a nice visit with Mike, Amy and Kodge. Dinner and wine and getting to know Mike and Amy better. Life is so very good.

Good Friends, good food, good music, a little wine, a little whiskey and a great attitude can overcome a lot that life has to throw at us all. We really are fortunate to have the family, friends and life that we do. There is no little piece of failed equipment that can change that.

So in summary; Don't worry so much, life is full of times to cry or be down. We all need to learn to dance when there is music, laugh when you can and enjoy a nice meal with your friends. Broken Engines will get fixed.

Until next time
Tim

Engines, phones, friends and painkillers

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity...

So the short post would be blew up the boat engine Saturday in Annapolis, Broke my cell phone Sunday, got new cell phone Monday, towed to BMC Monday broke Tina's phone during tow Monday, got new phone Tuesday.

Epitaph...The difference between adventure and adversity is attitude.

So those of you that want the longer version. We were planning on meeting some sailing friends in Spa creek on Saturday evening for dinner and drinks then returning to BMC on Sunday. We left our slip around 11 or so Saturday and went for a pump out and added about 45 gal of fuel (first diesel added since 2011) then with a great wind from the south southwest we had sails up and engine off within 100 yards of the fuel dock and Tina sailed us out of the Patapsco. I sailed us close hauled to the bay bridge and around 4 pm with the wind on the Rhumb line from Spa creek to us and (more importantly) happy hour approaching, we packed the sails away and motored toward happy hour. Around 5pm just north of the mouth of the Severn River the engine seized. We dropped the hook, evaluated our options and thought that a mooring ball in back creek would be the best plan for the night. So we called tow US, poured a drink and waited. Around 630 we were safely moored. We considered all of the options and after consulting with family via text messages, we thought the best approach would be more drinks and a swim, a nice dinner then to bed and deal with the problems in the morning.

Sunday morning we took the dinghy for fuel and found our friends from SV Five and Dime at Port Annapolis having lightning damage repaired. The offer was made and accepted to drive us up to BMC have a nice lunch then get Tina's car and check in at West marine for Dinghy lights. This would be when I dropped my cell and broke it.

We were very pleasantly surprised to see the number of friends that were willing to change their plans in order to help us. We are truly thankful.

Returned to the boat to eat, swim, float in the cool inflatable lounges we bought last year and wait until Monday to tackle the engine repair.

Monday morning we visited a number of repair yards and all of them were so busy with work that we did not get the idea that we would be completed soon. We made the decision to have Deckelman's tow us back to BMC so we could be in our home slip and have more time to make better choices.

Tina drove the Audi back with my broke phone to get fixed and to arrange line handlers to get us into the slip. I got the boat ready for towing and had Tina's phone for communication.

During the tow I needed to reset the dinghy on the davits and knelt on Tina's phone and crushed it. Two phone and an engine in one week end.

But the tow went well, Tina had plenty of help ready, we docked up, showered up, had a great Italian meal and a nice Melbak then to bed.

We will be getting the engine changed out in mid-august and then we are back in business.

So...
The best of times?-Spending a great week end in back creek with my bride and finding out how many friends are will to help...Thanks

The worst of times?-Breaking my brides phone.

The age of wisdom?-Not making a $12-$15 boat unit decision to quickly

Age of Foolishness?- too many Pusser's pain killers

The epoch of belief?- That a blown engine in a sail boat is really no big deal.

The epoch of incredulity? A blown engine in any boat IS a big deal.

Epitaph...The difference between adventure and adversity is attitude.

Until next time
Tim

Plans; What are they good for? Absolutely Nothing!
Or..just Boat mode always wins

Boy we had great plans…Plans to enjoy a quite Friday night in the slip together with a couple bottles of Renu 22 Malbak and a movie. Plans to spend the long weekend sailing and anchoring out. Plans to sail with some new friends to Gibson Island. Plans to wear shorts and be warm. No Plan to run the heater at night. Plans….

Well Friday went according to plan, except for having to run the heater all night tom stay warm.

Saturday; 25-25 kts (Gusts to mid 30’s) of cold wind out of the north-west pinned us in the slip. So we cleaned the boat, polished up the Plexiglas side lights so we could finally see out. Tina bought me a great dive bag for my gear that works really well. But all of that was not the original plan.

Sunday we could have gotten out in the late morning or afternoon but Tina started feeling poor and we found out she actually had a 24 hour bug. So she was down and out all Sunday afternoon and Monday.

Monday AM Tina was still OOC so I got the Kayak out and paddled around awhile. Had a great visit on Surly Mermaid then Hannah and Dan arrived for a visit. Now that was according to plan. I got to tour a great harbor 37 which is a really nice boat.

We had a great visit with Hannah and Dan and Cathy and Bill and dancing on H dock with the Doc and his crew. Back to the boat for a night cap and then to bed.

So not according to any pre-plan but Boat Mode always rules and we had a great week end anyway

If I were to create any boat mode rules I think the first three or four of those rules would be;
1. Don’t make plans.
2. Plan to have fun
3. Enjoy life don’t wait for the plans to work

I have said this before and I know I will be saying it again and again and again…We have a GREAT LIFE!

Until next time, have fun and enjoy the life you have!

Tim

Mother’s Day Memories..2013

We were able to slip our lines around 6:30am on Saturday for a planned sail to Gibson Island on the Magothy River. No wind and very calm water allowed Tina to practice boat handling skills and she did great. By the time we made it to the mouth of the Patapsco River the low oil pressure alarm went off and we decided to head into White Rock creek to set the hook. The weather forecast was calling for severe T-storms all afternoon and one look at the sky confirmed the forecast. So, 75 feet of chain in 11 feet of water with our trusted 55 pound delta well set in the mud and we were good to go.

Spent the rest of the day in the hammock, going for dinghy rides and catching some sun. Generally speaking it was a great afternoon.

While we were in the hammock we watched three young kids playing at the dock. Two were older maybe 10-12 and the third was a lot younger maybe 5 or 6. The older 2 were messing around with a floating chair and taking it over to a sandy beach about 100 feet away. The younger one was left on the dock, clearly following the parental warning about going into the water. So the younger one runs up and around the little cover to get to the sandy beach with the others. As soon as he left the dock the older two headed back to the dock. Then when the younger one runs back to the dock….yup, the older two go back to the beach. This went on two or three times. It so reminded us of our older three. It is a wonder how every third child is NOT a serial killer.

The promised storm did hit and we stayed below for the night listening to some great old jazz on the radio, reading a little, ate a great meal and played some games and relaxed.

Sunday we tried waiting out the high winds before heading back to the marina, but by 1pm it was clear that the winds were not going to ease. So don the foulies, check the engine oil, Tina on the helm while I pulled up the anchor and cleaned a ton of mud off the rode and away we went.

24-28 kts of steady wind with gusts to the mid 30’s, on the nose of course. Made it back to the marina, parked and washed the boat then washed ourselves then down to Shuckers for a dinner and ousters then ledbetters for a drink and a couple games of pool then to Green Flash to watch the survivor ending then to bed.

Overall a really nice week end.

Until next time. Have a great day all!! (Yup both of you that actually read this.)

1. Who played Captain Aubrey in the great sailing movie MASTER & COMMANDER?

2. How many nautical miles are in 1.5 degrees of latitude?

3. As boat speed increases, does the apparent wind angle move forward or backward?

4. Approaching a harbor entrance in French Polynesia, should you keep the red lateral buoy to port or starboard?

5. Do the northeast trades blow towards the northeast or away from the northeast?

6. What is the device called that keeps the boom from lifting up when sailing downwind?

7. What is the latitude of the north pole?

8. What is the name of the line that raises the main sail?

9. What does the acronym SOG stand for?

10. What classic sailing book did Joshua Slocum write?

11. What is the standard unit of measure for cruising boat battery capacity?

12. What are the three colors or a tri-color masthead light?

13. What does the acronym MOB stand for?

14. When sailing on a starboard tack, which side of the boat is the boom on, port or starboard?

15. What is the name of the classic anchor with a plow-shaped blade and hinge in the shank?

16. What is the standard material used for making dock lines and anchor lines?

17. What knot is normally used to tie the genoa sheets to the clew? For a bonus point, say why.

18. What is the standard VHF radio hailing channel?

19. In the North Pacific, which way does the wind rotate around a low pressure system - clockwise or counterclockwise?

20. Lazy jacks are used to support sailboats when out of the water and in the boatyard. True or False?

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1. Who played Captain Aubrey in the great sailing movie MASTER & COMMANDER?

2. How many nautical miles are in 1.5 degrees of latitude?

3. As boat speed increases, does the apparent wind angle move forward or backward?

4. Approaching a harbor entrance in French Polynesia, should you keep the red lateral buoy to port or starboard?

5. Do the northeast trades blow towards the northeast or away from the northeast?

6. What is the device called that keeps the boom from lifting up when sailing downwind?

7. What is the latitude of the north pole?

8. What is the name of the line that raises the main sail?

9. What does the acronym SOG stand for?

10. What classic sailing book did Joshua Slocum write?

11. What is the standard unit of measure for cruising boat battery capacity?

12. What are the three colors or a tri-color masthead light?

13. What does the acronym MOB stand for?

14. When sailing on a starboard tack, which side of the boat is the boom on, port or starboard?

15. What is the name of the classic anchor with a plow-shaped blade and hinge in the shank?

16. What is the standard material used for making dock lines and anchor lines?

17. What knot is normally used to tie the genoa sheets to the clew? For a bonus point, say why.

18. What is the standard VHF radio hailing channel?

19. In the North Pacific, which way does the wind rotate around a low pressure system - clockwise or counterclockwise?

20. Lazy jacks are used to support sailboats when out of the water and in the boatyard. True or False?

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