09/11/2009, Deltaville, VA
This past week we have had some fairly unsettled weather. The wind was blowing from a northerly direction at around 25 knots for the better part of 4 days. We had dishevelled boaters tying up at the marina and staying put for the duration of the week. Power or sail, it didn't matter, nobody had any desire to get tossed around in the Chesapeake's waves, as it gets churned up quite well when the wind starts getting up.
Deltaville has a long history, and there are families that can trace their ancestry in this area more than just a couple of generations back. There is a great deal of pride in having a history in these parts. People who have been born and raised here are referred to as "Born Here's". They are at the top of the social strata in Deltaville. Anybody who has moved here from "away" is referred to as a "Come Here". It doesn't matter if they have lived in the area for 30 years, they are still a "Come Here". Native born Deltaville people that have moved away are referred to as "Been There's". This past week a new group was christened - the "Stuck Here's".
Our group of "Stuck Here's" at the marina were a very social group. One S.H. was kind of a "Been There/Stuck Here" as he had been to the marina twice before this summer - John and his dog Jake. Others were almost home but they just wouldn't go that last little bit in the miserable conditions on the Bay (literally the other side of the peninsula!). The weekly Pot Luck was a more festive occasion then usual, with someone playing the piano and even getting a bit of a sing along going (if you count "Alice's Restaurant" as a sing along).
One of the boats was "C-Horse". We had sort of met Howard and Diana in the ditch in South Carolina this past Spring - they passed us and we had a short conversation as they did. However, this time we had a better chance to get to know each other. We got to the point the Howard trusted me to cut his hair! I've been cutting Ken's hair for about 18 months now, but this was the first real hair cut I had given to somebody else. There was the one "mop chop" in the Bahamas, but that really was just a quick overall shortening. Howard's hair cut was actually quite good - I surpassed my expectations! Diana gave it her approval, and Howard was pleased with the results. I guess those clippers were a good investment after all - what an unique way to make friends.
We are sort of "Stuck Here's" right now, too. We have the boat pretty much ready to go, but we are waiting for one more package to arrive from Canada. It was Parcel Posted September 2, then took three days to get to Toronto - a two hour drive by car. It then took four days to get to Jersey, and that was four days ago. I don't know where it is now as the tracking hasn't told me anything else. I thought the Pony Express wasn't being used anymore...
While doing one of my regular trips to the supermarket with the courtesy car, I saw a couple walking along the road. There was no doubt to me that they were cruisers - the locals don't walk, and they were carrying a Loblaws "green" shopping bag! I offered them a ride, then asked where in Canada they were from. They had no idea that I had recognized the bag they were carrying - but they are from Toronto as well. The funny thing that struck me after I dropped them off at their dinghy dock is that I thought that they had an accent... I'm starting to think that I have been down here too long! What am I going to sound like to our friends and family back home in another year?
We had another small success on the boat today. We have had a leak from the water pump on the head for a while now. Water would leak through onto the floor, necessitating sponging the floor a couple of times a day. Ken had been (understandably) procrastinating rebuilding the head this summer, as taking it out and working on it is not even close to the top of his favourite things to do. However, a little reading of the manual led Ken to ascertain that it was just one nut that had to be tightened. Hallelujah! The head is fixed and it didn't require taking it apart!
Now all we need is our package and we can continue our adventure in new places...
| The First Year |
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09/10/2009, Deltaville, VA
We are getting closer to our departure date, so of course we feel a bit of a time crunch to get a few things done on the boat. Never mind the fact that we had the last two months to do things, we need to get things done NOW! I am typing this from the comfort of the lounge in the marina building as the wind is blowing about 25-30 knots, and the boat is getting tossed around pretty well. It is just about nausea inducing, and it really isn't much fun on the boat, so here we sit, doing computer work and reading. There are a number of transient boaters caught here at the marina by the high winds and waves, so it is a more social place than usual.
We have not moved the boat in two months, and we knew that there were things taking up residence on our boat underwater. Today Paul came in to dive under our boat and clean things up. Our zincs (I'll explain at the end of the article for non-boaters) are in great shape, something we were concerned about since Larry and Gail's boat had a major problem with electrolysis. Our prop, on the other hand, was unrecognizable for the critters that had been camped out on it. Paul evicted a 5 cm wide oyster from under our boat, and a plethora of barnacles from our water line. The water intake for our engine was also quite congested, so having that cleaned out was important to the health of the diesel. Having a diver clean the bottom of the boat is a normal procedure in these waters, and it is not uncommon for a diver to do it every 4-6 weeks here. It is far cheaper than a haul-out, and many of these boats don't get hauled more than once every 2-3 years.
There are a few more jobs that it would be nice to finish on the boat, but they aren't crucial to the cruise. Rebuilding the pump on the head would be a good thing to do, but not on a rocking, rolling boat. We haven't used the head in about three months, so this is a great time for it to be done before it is put into regular use again. However, if it doesn't happen... oh well!
We went for a major shopping trip with Gail and Larry on Tuesday to pickup some of the things that are hard to find in Deltaville. It was all great until on the third stop of the trip when our Visa card was declined. Fortunately, it was a place where our cell phone actually worked, so it was an easy phone call to find out why we couldn't use that card. Apparently the card had been "compromised" so we had to get a new card. Kudos to TD Visa - we had our new cards within 28 hours of the cards being declined.
Speaking of cell phones. we have now officially given up on having a phone. Yes, we are cell phone independent. It is not like we used it a whole heck of a lot, and it didn't work in a large part of the ICW, so we decided to let the service go. Our families tend to use email to reach us, and with the HAM email system we have on board, we can be reached anywhere. Most of the incoming calls were wrong numbers, anyway.
Okay, the explanation on zincs for the non-nautical crowd... and this will be very basic. We use chunks of metal made of zinc attached to strategic places on the boat to try to keep corrosion to a minimum. This corrosion is not due to rust, but from stray electrical current that can be caused by a variety of things. If you want a more specific explanation, I recommend Google-ing it!
| The First Year |
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