Vessel Name: | Always $umthing |
Vessel Make/Model: | Tartan 37 |
Hailing Port: | Worton Creek, Maryland |
Crew: | Al and Diane Dashevsky |
About: | |
Extra: | When clicking on the "Where are we now?" link, PLEASE DO NOT call rescue authorities if the boat hasn't moved in a while. |
We spent Thursday night at Calvert Marina in Solomons Island. Was nice to have a courtesy car again to get food for Daisy and a couple of needed groceries since I will be on the boat for a few days while Al goes home to get one of our cars.
We hauled anchor at Little Bay this morning at 6:15 and headed north. Was able to get sails up for a while, but of course the wind died, then picked up again - right on the nose. Ah, the sailing life! LOL! Today's pic is a scene I never get tired of...sunrise on the Chesapeake :)
As the sun is beginning to set on our adventure, we are learning how to be patient. It is a bit frustrating to be so close to home and not be able to get there.
Early Tuesday morning we left Elizabeth City in light fog. After a fuel stop, we headed for the Dismal Swamp South Mills Lock. Traffic on the canal is light and there were only 4 boats, all sail, in the lock.
Oh my! What a crazy (and chilly) eight days!
Spent last night at the free dock at the Provision Company and had a good dinner there. Left the dock this morning and headed out to the Cape Fear River...and promptly turned back. It was BRUTAL! Winds have been in the upper 20's gusting into the 30's ALL DAY! Forecast is for more of the same through [...]
As much as we like the Low Country, we DO NOT like the bugs. We have had our fill of gnats, no-see-ums, and mosquitos...and now flies!
The painting of the hull and bottom is complete! It looks like a new boat! Can't believe how shiny it is...you can see your reflection!
We have been in Beaufort, SC now for a week. The original plan was to be here for 2 weeks for the boat to be painted. However, we've had a bit of bad weather (quite a bit of rain) during the beginning of the week. So now it looks like we might be here a bit longer than 2 weeks. But as of yesterday, [...]
I'm still shaking! On the way over to Marsh Harbor Marina where the boat is going to be painted, Al walked up on deck to pull up a fender we forgot to pull in...and he FELL OVERBOARD!!!! Good thing we've practiced Man Overboard drills! He's OK...shaken and cold, but OK :)
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Oh my! Where does the time go??? Before leaving Marathon we were so busy with last minute social activities as well as getting "ready" to leave...not to mention also nursing a cold...and the blog suffered. Apologies to all.
. . . has found us. The past few days have been quite chilly, windy, and a bit of rain (as evidenced by the pic above of our friends bundled up and wearing long pants in Key West). Temps are in the 50's during the day with the nights requiring the heat on for a while in the boat. But we aren't complaining! [...]
(Apologies to Jim Morris for the blog title today...)
So the question seems to be, "What have we been doing with ourselves for the past couple of weeks?" The short answer is, of course, immensely enjoying being in Paradise!
Today we joined Flint & Leslie Firestone and their friends George and Jan and hopped on the bus to Key West. Since the bus only cost $1.50 each way (Sr. Rate), it didn't make sense to drive down with the gas rate approaching $4/gal!
Decided to share some pics of our "home away from home" with y'all. While it's true that "home is where the boat is", the boat is here at Blackfin. Enjoy the "tour".
We are enjoying being on "island time" :) Fairly lazy days, warm weather, and on the water...what more could you ask for??
We left Jewfish Creek on Tuesday morning around 7:45 and headed south, assuming we would stop in Islamorada or Tavernier on the way. We had the wind at our stern and even had tide with us (dumb luck!) and we were making such good time that when we got to Islamorada it was way too early to stop so we [...]
We stayed in Fort Lauderdale a few extra days waiting for the winds and clouds to blow out. The pic above is the resident iguana at Las Olas Municipal Marina. When he kept coming by our boat, I decided he needed a name and started calling him Iggy. Saturday afternoon he even climbed on the foredeck! Saturday [...]
Well this will be another "catch-up" post since, again, our wifi connections have been poor or non-existent :(
...And that we did! Had a wonderful Thanksgiving Dinner with approx. 200 other cruisers here in Vero Beach. Had turkey, ham, all the traditional go-withs and lots of other unique dishes. The desserts were incredible! And everything but the turkeys and hams came from boat galleys! After dinner there [...]
Whew! Lot of "catching up" to do! Our internet access has been sketchy at best. So what's been happening with us?? Since I last posted, we stopped in St. Augustine. Hung out on a mooring ball there for 3 nights since the weather was so lousy...blowing stink and rainy. While it was lousy for sailing/traveling, [...]
Anyone who sails will understand the "title" today that refers to the attached picture - whether you've traveled The Ditch or not. It is especially frustrating in The Ditch when the PBs blow by you, rock the snot out of you and sometimes force you over into the low water! Hence, today's caption.
Yes the weather the past 2 days HAS been peachy! Upper 70's - low 80's in the afternoons, but still need the fleece in the mornings and at night - brrr!
Al found a Quest Diag. to have his labwork done. Since it wasn't within walking distance, a taxi was hired to get him there and back. While he was gone, Daisy and I strolled along the Savannah waterfront, enjoying the park and window shopping. Al came along and joined us for the second half of our [...]
As anticipated, we hung out in Marsh Harbor Creek on Tuesday to wait out the rain. Between showers, we managed to get some boatkeeping chores accomplished. Daisy wasn't too thrilled to have to take her "shore breaks" in the rain as you can see from the picture. She actually likes wearing the raincoat, [...]
Left Mosquito Creek on the ebb tide and FLEW down to Beaufort, SC (that's "bewfort" in SC rather than "bowfort" as in NC) in 3 hrs. Original plan was to go all the way to Hilton Head, but decided to stop here and see a gentleman (Peter Gamble, at Marsh Harbor Marina) about getting the boat painted. [...]
Left Charleston approx. 7:30 this morning and traveled 46.5 miles. FLEW through Elliot Cut and down the Stono River until the current changed. Saw beautiful scenery the whole day as well as lots of aquatic birds and a few dolphins. I kept thinking that I should have taken a Native American linquistics [...]
Left McClellanville around 7:45 on Thursday, Nov. 1 and got into Charleston at 1:45 - better than we thought. Rather than go to the City Marina (megadock) which was very expensive, we opted to try the Maritime Center Marina on the Cooper River side of Charleston. The Marina staff were exceptionally [...]
Sunday afternoon (10/28) we were so pleased to be able to get together with two of Al's friends from his days in the Jaycees - Sue and Mike. They live not far from Myrtle Beach and drove up to spend some time visiting. We hope to connect with them again on the way back.
Spent yesterday (Friday) doing laundry (long walk), boatkeeping chores, dog bathing/grooming and then I borrowed a neighbor's bike and rode to the grocery store for a few things for us and others on the dock. Last evening we had a "Storm Watch Dock Party" on a neighboring trawler. Hmmmm....our next [...]
We got an early start on Thursday, leaving Southport at 7 am. Even had to use our nav lights. The 45 mile trip to Myrtle Beach was a fairly slow ride as the tide and current changed on us along the way, shoaling to watch out for, bridge openings to wait for, no wind to speak of (what we had was right [...]
Spent Monday night in Wrightsville Beach watching the anchor...sleepless night (just didn't seem to have a good set - turns out we were set, just had more rode out than neighboring boats). Moved the boat in the morning to a better location - farther into the basin where there was less current. Then [...]
Arrived in Oriental Thursday afternoon and pulled into Sailcraft Services on Whittaker Creek. We had noticed an unusual amount of white smoke coming from the exhaust. Since it could be a sign of a serious problem, Al contacted Beta Marine to find out who to contact in Oriental - thus the stop [...]
We said farewell to Elizabeth City around 8:45 am. Sailing down the Pasquotank, we passed the blimp hangar pictured above. All blimps (except Goodyear blimps) are manufactured here. Elizabeth City is also home to the largest Coast Guard base in the country.
Short day on the water Monday. We left the Dismal Swamp Visitor's Center approx. 7:45 and made the first locking at South Mills.
We said "goodbye" to Joanne and her brother Friday afternoon and left Carter's Creek at 7:30 Saturday morning. We had tide, current, and WIND against us all the way down the Rappahannock and out on the bay. About a mile past Stingray Point (Deltaville), Al decided that he wasn't having much fun - to [...]
Talk about a "stinky" day! :P Al removed the old head and some of the hoses today, then capped off the tank and the rest of the hoses - which we will remove later. It's a dirty job, but somebody has to do it. We probably should have contacted Mike Rowe from "Dirty Jobs" to do it for us! So while we [...]
Internet access has not been great so haven't been able to update for a couple of days.
Headed over to the Boat Show after installing our reprogrammed AIS transceiver (another item off the checklist - Yay!). Naturally we spent more than we had planned on, but our purchases will make our life aboard MUCH more comfortable. We pick up our new Spade anchor tomorrow afternoon since we made [...]
Left Green Point Marina around 10 am and arrived in Annapolis at 2 pm. Had both sails up briefly, but motorsailed most of the way. Wind was extremely light and when it did pick up enough to sail, it was right on the nose.
This is Move In weekend! We stuffed the car to the roof and headed for Green Point. Got down Friday later than we originally had hoped, so we put the refrigerator on to chill down and started moving "the stuff" onto the boat. Got our clothes for the first part of the trip put away then loaded the refrigerator. [...]
WOW! We are soooo overwhelmed! Our wonderful friends at Green Point gave us a wonderful surprise Bon Voyage Party last night! Great friends, great food, clever and useful gifts! One of our "newer dockmates" even wrote and performed a song for us :) "Thank You" just doesn't seem adequate. An extra big [...]
Left Green Point this morning at 9:45 for a short cruise to Annapolis. Of course something had to happen. This time it was our chartplotter. Turns out we have 1 broken pin and a bent pin where the power cord attaches. At least we were going to Annapolis! If there is anywhere it can be fixed [...]
Finally got the Wind Generator installed and wired!! Hooray!! Wasn't the easiest task we needed to accomplish, but we did it :) That's the good news. Bad news is we need to replace the 20 yr old refrigerator before we leave. While it is still working - most of the time, it is on it's last legs. If [...]
Yes, it's "Always $umthing"!! Two weeks ago we had not one, but TWO washdown pumps go belly-up as well as the refrigeration motor. Neither of these repairs/replacements are a particularly difficult job. But for our non-boating friends, I've attached these pics to demonstrate how even a "simple" job is [...]
Just back from spending Memorial Day Weekend at the Marina. Great Dock Party to kick-off the season Sat. evening...great food, great friends, great fun! Sat. morning we took the boat out and got to fly the spinnaker! Whoo Hoo!! First time it's been out of the bag...she's a pretty one. A friend sailing along took the attached pic of Al & I in front of the sail. Very hot, humid weekend - but very relaxing and enjoyable.
Always $umthing was put in the water last week and I got the majority of the "spring cleaning" done by Thursday. Friday morning we left Greenwich Boat Works at 9 am and had an uneventful motorsail to Worton Creek ("uneventful" is a good thing! LOL). Pulled into our slip at 5 pm.
This is the year! As we are working through the Spring Commissioning tasks, thoughts of moving aboard in October for our journey south for the winter are never far away. Our general plans are to finish preparing the boat for the winter trip throughout the summer as well as doing a couple of "shakedown [...]