Kaimusailing

s/v Kaimu Wharram Catamaran

Vessel Name: Kaimu
Vessel Make/Model: Wharram Custom
Hailing Port: Norwalk, CT
Crew: Andy and the Kaimu Crew
About: Sailors in the Baltimore, Annapolis, DC area.
21 March 2024 | St. Marys, GA
01 March 2024 | St. Marys, GA
23 February 2024 | St. Marys, GA
15 February 2024 | St. Marys, GA
11 February 2024 | St. Marys, GA
06 February 2024 | St. Marys, GA
26 January 2024 | St. Marys, GA
14 January 2024 | St. Marys, GA
09 January 2024 | St Marys, GA
23 December 2023 | St Marys, GA
10 December 2023 | St Marys, GA
25 November 2023 | St. Marys, GA
17 November 2023 | St. Marys, GA
17 November 2023 | Somers Cove Marina, Crisfield, MD
03 November 2023 | Somers Cove Marina, Crisfield, MD
26 October 2023 | Somers Cove Marina, Crisfield, MD
17 October 2023 | Somers Cove Marina, Crisfield, MD
11 October 2023 | Somers Cove Marina, Crisfield, MD
04 October 2023 | Alice B. Tawes, McReady Pavilion, Crisfield, Maryland Eastern Shore
03 October 2023 | Alice B. Tawes, McReady Pavilion, Crisfield, Maryland Eastern Shore
Recent Blog Posts
21 March 2024 | St. Marys, GA

Just Add Water

The rainy weekend started off with overcast and fog but no rain. It looked like I might be able to get something done on the D4 dinghy. I wanted to change the bow seat which is really the bow deck. The sailing option uses the deck to hold the freestanding mast. I didn’t like how the deck looked, [...]

01 March 2024 | St. Marys, GA

D4 Dinghy Alternative Seats

The rain event was more wind than rain, strong winds with gusts up to 44 mph. We drove into town to see what the harbor was like. There was a small sailboat that had dragged anchor and was sitting close to shore. The tide was out. We left and played with Bleu at Notter’s Pond.

23 February 2024 | St. Marys, GA

D4 Inside Seams

Day two of the dinghy build started out with me finishing wiring the hull bottoms together on the centerline of the bottom panels. This was much easier than the wiring of the chine edges of the bottom panels and the side panels.

15 February 2024 | St. Marys, GA

D4 Dinghy Day One

A Wharram Pahi 26 had been anchored in the river nearby the boatyard and was hauled out with the travel lift. I went around to look at it and talked to the owner couple. I was surprised that it had been built in Martinique in 1988. The boat is more than 30 years old.

11 February 2024 | St. Marys, GA

D4 Redux

The inflatable (deflatable) dinghy I had bought was deteriorating. It had bottom seams separating. It is a West Marine branded dinghy made out of PVC. HH66 is the adhesive to reattach the seams. A friend had a similar problem and bought the same adhesive. I was waiting to hear from him how it worked [...]

06 February 2024 | St. Marys, GA

The Clincher

We decided to go to Amelia Island for the day, probably to the beach. Our plan to cycle around on the Raleigh 20’s seemed like a bad idea, Bleu can’t keep up with a bicycle for very long and when he quits he quits. So we would walk, where?, Fort Clinch State Park. She has a forever pass for Florida [...]

Another Picture on the Wall

06 July 2021 | Janes Island, Crisfield, MD
Cap'n Chef Andy | Absolutely Perfect
Finally some rain came to the parched vacant lots of Crisfield. A recent tax sale had recovered just under a half million in back taxes. There are a lot of abandoned buildings, but the pandemic hit here hard. It is a tourist town and the economy was gutted during the pandemic. There is evidence of recovery and evidence of behind the scenes efforts to shore things up.
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I mounted the art print from San Antonio rather quickly, cut out a 12X18 blank from a plywood project panel, trimmed the print to fit, then jammed it into the “free pile” frame I had brought up from the boatyard in Georgia. The print has what I want, looks more like a painting than a photo, has some highlights that attract attention and some features that resemble errant brush strokes. One comment was that it looks like vomit. Another said, interesting. But interesting could be a train wreck. Another said Spanish moss is brown, not gray. Nevertheless I am going to print more, other images.
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The thunderstorms that brought some rain sent me below decks, close the hatch, swelter in the humid heat. It still isn’t as bad as some of the weather in Georgia in the summer. The storms persisted with high winds, easily 40 mph, waterspout warning, Sunsplash rocking and rolling in her slip.
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The aftermath of the storms was cool weather, North winds, and the beginning of a perfect weekend. If you came to Crisfield to get away from it all, then at Crisfield you have found it. I bicycle around town and regularly go through intersections with no traffic, I just pedal through. This weekend is a little more busy, more traffic, more events. I was invited to a party for the fireworks and it was a condo near the waterfront. Great views of the harbor and features of the coast.
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The fireworks display was spectacular, especially as our view was at eye level to the bursts. I’ll never forget it.
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Then we decided to launch the skiff. At the Small Boat Harbor, CM backed the boat trailer into the water and eventually we got the skiff free and she took the vehicle and trailer to park them. It took a long time for her to come back, and in the interval I saw her mom drive by with Buster, her boyfriend. CM came around with Nori, the wonder dog, and we attempted to start the engine. Actually it was a long time I was waiting for her to come around. I had pulled the starter cord 2 times with no effect. I didn’t want to flood the engine. I am trained to wait for the Admiral to arrive. Between the two of us, cranking over the engine, we got it started, but it was running on, like, one cylinder. Then someone started backing down the boat ramp with a larger boat than ours, no discussion, just back down on us.
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CM did it all and I didn’t get what she was getting at, but soon she had us free of the dock and away from the redneck on the boat ramp. The motor was still running rough, but in her hands it soon began running smoothly. “What did you do to it?”, she asked.
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She brought us over to the floating dock near her mom’s house. We went inside and come out with picnic supplies, a couple of oars, a boat hook, but no sparklers for the 4th. She took the boat out with all of us in it. I didn’t know where she was taking us. She was very careful with her passengers. I opened the navigation app on my phone and saw we were going to the South of Janes Island. There were a slew of boats there with flags flying, no room for the Carolina Skiff. We kept going. Buster and CM’s mom have been around in these waters and he was familiar with the particular spot we were in. There was empty beach and a power yacht run up on shore. We ran up on shore the next cove over. Set up beach chairs, kill biting flies, relax, kill biting flies. Enjoy the best weekend ever.
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The name of the beached boat was, “Four Bobs”, and it was obvious they had grounded at high tide and by now the outdrive was buried in sand. I reported my findings to Buster. We had some picnic food and more drink. Beautiful day, biting flies not withstanding. Too much sun, never. Back to the house on the water. CM’s mom had caught crabs in her trap right off her dock and Eve had come over and helped her cook them, earlier. They were now in the fridge. Corn on the cob, newspapers spread over the island counter. A pile of crabs, free from the ocean, expensive at the market. Coconut shrimp, which I am not fond of, but expertly air fried by Cornelia Marie, served with a tangy sweet and sour sauce. I ate a couple. Buster seemed to need a rest from the activities. I realized it was time to call my brother and his family in Hawaii, which I do every week. They were celebrating later, the time difference, we broke off the conversation and we returned, I to the marina and Sunsplash, worried that the boat was wide open and boxes of stuff were strewn about the cockpit. They were still there the next morning.
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No rain, just more beautiful weather. A succession of days of wonderful. I wasn’t sure of what was up for the holiday, but CM indicated we would be doing something with the skiff. She was impatient. I picked up a couple of sandwiches and sushi at the local grocers on my bike and showed up at the house. I had had a good night’s sleep and now was whisked along to her mom’s waterfront house. We were quickly off, just the two of us, the skiff does better lightly loaded, as do its occupants. The Admiral was on a mission, we sped off . “If I can get it on a plane, I can drain the water that leaked in by pulling out the stern plugs,” that’s how she justified her lust for speed. I quickly drained a spritzer can and ripped off the top to make a bailing can. “I don’t need that.” she said.
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This time we went North to the end of Janes Island, a remote beach. We had been there before, CM maybe many many times. The biting flies were there too. Widely scattered small groups of beachgoers were swatting flies, but enjoying a rare day when all the boxes are checked.
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There was one gull flying along and I decided to watch it. It flew along gliding and then turned and continued turning in a spiral, going up at the same time. He was soaring. But, at the same time, one of those flies was chewing on my ankle and I swatted it with my official Somers Cove Marina cap, then stomped the wiggling body in the sand. It’s my Cossack blood brewing.
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Conversation was limited, we sat thinking. I said I was thinking about Chris, her deceased partner, and she was too. It was like on a beach in the Bahamas. Maybe 82 and breezy. Yes, some clouds in the sky, but when I see them I wonder how anyone could photograph them or paint them. I took a picture of the Carolina skiff and the vista, the clouds, she said she had already painted that scene. But the scene continued.
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A Hobie cat sailed into the beach. I said, “There’s a young sailor.”. She was off soon with Nori, the wonder dog, to “swim”, over near the Hobie cat beach guy. It turned out he was going to tow his Hobie cat with a skiff, took the sails off, packed stuff away, and Nori and CM returned. She had helped the fellow get his Hobie cat turned out to sea. He reconnected a clip at the bridle.
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The ride back was brisk, CM was not at all concerned about her passengers. Turn it up, Suzuki motor zizzing along. Boat on a big plane. I turn and say,’” this is what I really want”. But that was after experimenting with almost a liter of wine and some fizzy drinks.
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She brought the boat into her mother’s dock. Buster was there and helped direct efforts. I worked along like I was tying up one of my boats. CM seemed to ponder the set up. Buster told her how he tied up his boat. She untied everything I did, but I was glad, I must have done it wrong. Sometimes the truth blossoms out and we have to be humble and wait. We had a Great Day, very great day, We carry stuff back to the house. The boat will wait to be used again.
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The image is a photo of the skiff and the Bahama-like spectacle, which can not be totally encompassed. Glad to be free to experience it and thank our ancestors who fought for it.

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