So here we are back in Annapolis. Decision is to keep Seahawk here, do some work on her, then put her on the hard for most of August while we visit the kids/friends up in Kingston and miss the oppressive humidity of August on the Bay. Been a busy time here between boat work and socializing. A couple days after arrival Tara and Chris came down for a visit; bring with them our car so we now have wheels! They spent five days with us, great visit with too much eating out and doing tourist things. Partook in the Summer Garden Theater production of “The Wonderettes” which was fun. More exciting is that Chris proposed to Tara and so now our daughter is engaged and Wendy is into wedding planner mode! During the five days we managed to get into DC, did some museums and a visit to the embassy.
A bit of a segway here, but it is interesting to see the reaction of various people on our cruising lifestyle. An old friend at the embassy was quite amazed on our cruising and thought it was exciting, but something he could see doing. One of the many questions we get asked, especially when they learn we sail the islands, is the proverbial “what about pirates and thieves?”. Since our arrival here at Annapolis we regularly watch the morning Baltimore news. The average to date has been one murder per day in Baltimore alone, and something as mundane as the bank robbery we passed two days ago didn’t even make the news. Probably why we feel relatively safe in the islands.
With our boat guests gone we now are into boat fixing, at a slow pace since the heat and humidity has been intense. Biggest challenge is the new refrigeration, not a simple task. Old reefer is a converted icebox with a homemade divider with refrigeration on one side and traditional icebox on the other. In fact it makes a narrow deep fridge and a uncooled narrow/deep storage area on the other. No real freezer capability and the compressor is under the sink subject to moisture. New one will have larger evaporator giving us some decent freezer capacity and with no divider about a 6.5 CF fridge. Compressor/condenser unit is now behind the settee, much dryer place, albeit at the loss of storage. Other projects include new instruments, replace vhf, haul and new bottom paint, and repair the propane sensor.
The month + in Kingston was a nice visit with kids, family and friends. Got out on the lake with John and had many nice walks along the waterfront in substantially less humidity than Maryland. As well we managed to miss Hurricane Irene (boat fared well on the hard). Had many big meals and lots of good ale as a result Burry is feeling like a stuffed pig so definitely time to get back on the water and to a healthier lifestyle! Tara/Chris had their engagement party which was a roaring success, with many guests and way too much good food (Wendy guestimates!) and libations. The simple party became a bit bigger than planned/envisioned but was nice to get the two families together. Lots of friends lots of fun. Many thanks to our son Michael and Chris’ best man Jay.
Back on the boat for Sep we are slowly getting back into cruising mode, provisioning and finishing off various projects. Fridge is running great, new instruments up and running, only down side is wet weather is upon us. Needed to spend some time on tune up for both outboard and generator as they did not appreciate the month+ down time. Have had some great times reconnecting with old friends from when we lived here. Discovered that the McNairs from MRSA days have retired and will be heading south as well joining the cruising gang.
Plan is to head down the bay last week of Sep and then south on the ICW to Oriental first week of Oct. This might be delayed if our son decides to visit us in Norfolk during Canadian Thanksgiving, but essential our hope is to not repeat the chilly run south we experienced last fall.