10/30/2009, Washington NC
While visiting our friends Elizabeth, Morris, Anja and Bill, we took the opportunity to do some boat chores in between all the Farkling, eating and renewing of old friendships. The first three hours were spent changing the engine oil and filters, the transmission fluid and the raw water impeller. All of the above went so smoothly that Carl just had to say "This makes me nervous." So the karma wheel began to turn and show us just how nervous we could become. As we cranked the engine everything seemed fine, it wasn't until we tried to turn it off that our problems began. "The electric kill switch isn't working, where's the manual Kill switch?, I don't know, I though you knew where it was, I don't know where it is, go get the manual, go get Robin, do something." OK, we found the manual kill switch with Robin's help and discovered a badly corroded relay that Carl was able to replace with the help of a local parts store. Everyday brings us closer to fully understanding our engine.
|
Comments [2]
10/30/2009, Elizabeth City NC
Just outside the Dismal Swamp canal, we found one of the most cruiser friendly stops to date. With free docks (48 hours max) a Wine and Cheese Party a great Maritime Museum and townsfolk always willing to give us a ride. We enjoyed a movie in a theater that provided dinner as well. The movie was "Where the Wild Things Are." Left the next day for Washington NC where we have cruiser friends who live in a gated community with dock space. We are now enjoying good company, good food and a few days of boat chores to get ready for the first jump offshore. Hopefully that will be Beaufort NC.
|
10/25/2009, Norfolk VA - Elizabeth City NC
We're behind on blog entries, but we're moving on down the line. Thursday and Friday we visited the Norfolk VA area staying at the Hampton YC to visit our friends Chuck and Tanda Eroh. Saturday morning we joined up with Just Imagine again and entered the ICW. We took the only alternate route in the ICW to visit the Dismal Swamp this time to see some new sites and escape from rough South winds. We stayed overnight Saturday at the visitor's center and squeezed in with 11 other boats, including two catamarans, in the South Mills lock Sunday morning before following Just Imagine out the south end of the canal where we docked at some free public docks in Elizabeth City NC Sunday afternoon. I spent most of this trip in bed weathering the flu while Carrie and Spike navigated the canals. We don't think this is Swine flu (everyone asks) but we've both suffered through it and it's no fun. My fever broke Sunday morning and I'm hopefully out of the woods.
|
10/18/2009, Deltaville Boatyard, VA
There's always work to be done; chores and projects, but there's time for other pursuits as well. Nothing like sitting out cold rainy weather with a good book and Spike snoring on your chest. Yes, Spike the cat snores, although he denies it. We're reading two great books at the moment written by an aspiring author cruising with his wife on their sailboat Mr. Mac. Chris Jackson writes Science Fiction Fantasy and we've just finished his latest book "Scimitar Moon" with some great pirate action and a little magic mixed in. The other book we have is "Weapon of Flesh". We found both very enjoyable. Check him out at http://dragonmoonpress.blogspot.com/2009/08/scimitar-moon-by-chris-jackson.html
|
10/16/2009, Deltaville Boatyard, Jackson Creek VA
Funny how things happen sometimes. While we intended to anchor in Jackson Creek anyway, we hadn't intended to get any work done while visiting Deltaville VA on our way south. While sailing without the engine noise we felt some vibration under our feet that made us uncomfortable, and had the boatyard haul us out to look things over below the waterline. We discovered that our Cutlass Bearing, the bearing that supports the shaft through the hull has been worn down over the years and needs replacing, as does the propeller shaft. We're fortunate to have discovered this here at a yard we know and trust, so we'll be here over the weekend plus a few days to have the bearing shipped in and a new shaft fabricated. Being "on the hard" is one of my least favorite activities on the boat, but we're thankful to get this work done.
|
10/15/2009, Mill Creek, Great Wicomico River MD
It's rainy and cold at anchor but we're enjoying the time with good friends. There are several boats at anchor here validating our decision to sit this weather out, but it's not going away soon so we may get going tomorrow anyway. This is a game of Mexican Train Dominoes with our friends Robin and Cheryl on Just Imagine... It's good fun and sure beats the Boob Tube. We're travelling south together for a ways and will meet up in the Bahamas in the new year.
|
10/14/2009, Mill Creek, Great Wicomico River MD
We celebrated Carrie's birthday underway today heading south. She's such a patriot, isn't she? After another successful sail south with some strong north winds and following seas, we anchoring in a protected cove close to the Bay to sit out some poor weather in relative comfort. It's forecast to be cold and the rain and won't be pleasant, but better here than on the bay. We'll sit out the weather for a couple of days here before heading south again.
|
10/13/2009, Annapolis to Solomons MD
We weighed anchor this morning and sailed south on some brisk north winds down the bay in company with Just Imagine... to Solomons Md where we'll spend the night. We said good bye to Annapolis and the northern Bay on our way south to warmer weather and tropical islands. We're very excited about cruising down the coast once again and reaching our goal of "Christmas in the Bahamas".
|
10/10/2009, Weems Creek, Annapolis MD
Carrie's last dental appt. was Friday so we're staying through the weekend in Annapolis to visit the Sailboat Show and synch up with our friends to head south. By the way...many of you know about Carrie's phobia with dentist. Well, through a referral, She found Dr. Djawdan an Implant, Laser and Cosmetic Dentist here in Annapolis. Dr. Djawdan is one of about 4% of dentists in the United States that has the advanced training, experience, and technology to be able to personally handle all aspects of Dental needs. She highly recommends him!
Departure is slated for Tuesday morning with North winds forecast for the Chesapeake to push us to warmer weather. Woo Hoo!! We'll miss the friends we leave behind but are itching to get south towards the Bahamas and beyond. If someone wants to visit in the Bahamas let us know!! We're buying charts for the entire Caribbean in hopes of spending some time there on this trip. Stay tuned! (Picture: See Carrie Stitch the Headsail)
|
10/01/2009, St. Michaels/Wye River, MD
I finally got loose from the KeyLogic "tar baby" (no offense Jon, we love KeyLogic) and we took off immediately for the Eastern shore to begin crusing and exploring the Bay again. We spent several days in St. Michaels, a funky little town that Bay enthusiasts know well, just relaxing and enjoying the history of the area. We even got to have "Sundowners" (cruiser lingo for evening cocktails) and dinner with Rich and his friend Kristen onboard his sailboat "Chris Lea". Rich is a friend from Harborview marina in Baltimore. The next day we travelled up to the Wye river, another popular cruising destination on the Eastern Shore that we've yet to visit, and anchored in a quiet creek with a majestic Bald Eagle guarding the entrance. There was a younger Eagle in another tree close by. The surroundings were so peaceful that we hated to leave but took advantage the next day of some very favorable winds and had a GREAT sail (reaching and running at 6-7 knots) all the way back to Annapolis to get provisions and visit the dentist before heading south.
|
