Mike
10/10/2007, Annapolis, Maryland

Tuesday

After a trip to the hardware store, I finished attaching the mounting system to the solar panels. We had some lunch we moved them to the cockpit and attached a halyard to lift the panels into place on the davits.
Once in place I we had to bolt the lower half of the clamp to the upper side. This posed a problem... Kathy's arms weren't long enough to reach the bolts. Luckily Barry was around and he came to the rescue.

Then it was back to town to check for deliveries and to pick up some more parts for the solar panels. We stopped at an oyster bar to take advantage of their air conditioning and ended up having a half dozen on the half shell.

We had invited Steve and Carol for dinner and were having ham and sweet potatoes but it was so hot that I just wrapped them and threw them on the grill. It ended up working fine. Carol brought a loaf of warm bread and we had fine meal. Just as they arrived a thunderstorm rolled in and really washed the boat. It was the fourth time that it has rained on us since July 9th.

Wednesday, October 10

The solar panels are installed, wired, and working because it is another bright sunny day. Mike has worked on them all day-I helped run the wiring and fetched tools. Now he has gone to town to pick up a package at the harbormaster's office-we think it's some engine parts we ordered. I have been cleaning some, putting away all the things that had to be moved to work on the wiring, and polishing the stanchions. Not too exciting a day so far!

Happy birthday Becky!

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Mike
10/10/2007, Annapolis, Maryland

October 5

We got to the boat show shortly after 10am and began wandering through tents filled with vendors of all sorts of boat stuff...There were a few items that we wanted to check out... including a life raft, epirb, ssb radio and a new refrigeration system. We were really not set on purchasing anything but sometimes the deals at the boat show are too good to pass up. It was another 90 degree day with little if any breeze. We had lunch with Dan and then made a second circuit to make sure that we didn't miss anything.

Our purchases for the day included a new three stage regulator, an wi-fi antenna to hopefully give us better internet service, two bottomsider seats, a soda maker, and a new SSB radio system including a pactor 3 radio modem.

We said good bye to Dan, who was flying home on Saturday and hiked over the bridge to our dinghy.

October 6

I had been planning on spending the day today at the Seven Seas Cruisers Gam but when Steve and Carol came to pick me up.... I decided to stick around the boat and get some work accomplished.

The first project was re-wiring the new regulator and getting it installed which took longer than it should have but was an easy job. Then I installed the new wifi antenna which seems to work fine most of the time.
Ken stopped by in the afternoon saying that he was going rent a car this afternoon and would be happy to play taxi if we had any place to go. I took him up on the offer and we went to Home Depot to purchase some vinyl fence corner posts to use to mount my solar panels. (I have a great plan, I just hope it works)

We had planned to attend the Latts and Atts party tonight and actually got in the dinghy to go but we were already tired and were faced with a three mile dinghy ride so we turned around. On our way we ran into Barry and Susan (some of our neighbors) and ended up having snacks on Night Hawk.

October 7, Sunday....boat show

About daylight I climbed out of bed and made coffee. When it was brewed and pressed, I went above to wipe down the cockpit and in the park ashore there were 6 police cars and a body on the grass about 40 yards from our boat. Thinking back, we had heard a gunshot last night about 10 while watching a movie but really hadn't thought much about it... although I did mention to Kathy it was definitely a gunshot as opposed to a fire cracker or back-fire. We watched with morbid fascination as the police surveyed the area and later when the coroners showed up to do their thing.

The story we heard was that during the course of the morning a couple from one of the sailboats moored here had taken their dog to shore before daylight and found the body ... and a gun on the ground. Although the police were professional, they assumed that it was a suicide.

I worked on cutting our mounts for our solar panels but need some star-board to finish the job. Steve is going to town tomorrow and will take me along to pick up what I need.

We decided to go to the boat show again so after showers and clean clothes piled in the dinghy and headed for town. Our major purchase for the day was a drinking water filter that will keep bad things from getting to our digestive tracts and eliminate the need to buy bottled water. I also picked up a hand line for ocean fishing that I've been meaning to make and some Garhauer stand up blocks and seat covers for the cushions in the cockpit.

It was so hot... 90+ with high humidity that we spent most of the afternoon in our swim suits back at the boat.

After supper we went over to visit with Steve and Carol.

October 8

I worked on the solar panel mounts until about 11 when we went to West Marine. I picked up some starboard and a foot pump for the galley sink. After lunch, Kathy and I spent the rest of the day fabricating the clamps which will bold on to our davits supporting the solar panels.

I wanted to finish today but that wasn't to be... I don't have the right length bolts on board and will need to make a trip to the hardware tomorrow morning.

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Mike
10/06/2007, Annapolis, Maryland

Dinner with Jackie and Dan...

At around six, three couples went to shore to be picked up for dinner with strangers having no idea what to expect. (And yes, there was talk of trolling for cruisers, axe murderers, etc. , they just seemed like such nice people!) It was just one those thing... how could we say no? We were collected in two cars and in a few minutes found ourselves at a wonderful waterfront home a little to the south of our current mooring. There were 14 of us for dinner. The host and hostess, their brother and sister in law, two parents, the six of us and another boating couple that Dan and Jackie had befriended who are anchored on Back Creek. We checked our their boats and then had hors d'oeuvres outside while Dan Grilled steaks. Dinner was perfect...

Dan and Jackie had made the same trip that we're planning a few years ago and plan on doing it again as soon as they can ... I think that they are shooting for about three years from now.

We had a great time meeting new people and chatting about the little problems that all boaters face.

Dan and Jackie have recently purchased a lighthouse located at the southern end of the Chesapeake
Bay and are in the process of it restoration. It was interesting to hear them talk about their project.

The evening ended all too soon and Dan ran us back home to Spa Creek.

The picture is compliments of Susan, who remembered to bring her camera!

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