Moonraker

This blog chronicles the adventures of the sailing vessel Moonraker. We just finished the second year of our cruising life. We explored the US East Coast from Maine to Florida, the Bahamas, Haiti, PR, and the Virgin Islands.

19 May 2016 | Port Annapolis Marina, Annapolis, MD
06 April 2016 | Port Annapolis Marina, Annapolis, MD
13 February 2016 | Port Annapolis Marina, Annapolis, MD
21 January 2016 | Port Annapolis Marina, Annapolis, MD
09 December 2015 | Port Annapolis Marina, Annapolis, MD
05 November 2015 | Annapolis, Maryland
22 October 2015 | Annapolis, Maryland
01 October 2015 | Annapolis, Maryland
14 August 2015 | Annapolis, Maryland
15 July 2015 | Annapolis, Maryland
08 June 2015 | Hillsmere Shores Marina, Annapolis, Maryland
26 May 2015 | Annapolis, Maryland
14 May 2015 | Annapolis, Maryland
09 March 2015 | Annapolis, Maryland
17 February 2015 | Annapolis, Maryland
08 January 2015 | Annapolis, Maryland
08 December 2014 | Annapolis, Maryland
31 October 2014 | Annapolis, Maryland
20 October 2014 | Annapolis, Maryland
04 October 2014 | Port Annapolis Marina, Annapolis, Maryland

Our Boat is on the Hard

25 August 2014 | Port Annapolis Marina, Annapolis, Maryland
Donna
We got to the boat early this morning and made sure the boatyard knew not to take our boat out of the water until we said it was OK. Bill wanted the mechanic to look at the transmission problem while it was still in the water. The woman in the yard office told Bill it wasn't likely he was going to get a mechanic there today. She doesn't know Bill though. He went over to our mechanics shop, which is thankfully around the corner from the marina, and was lucky enough to find him there. He agreed to come right away and take a look. After checking things out he said there was no trouble with the transmission it was just the cable that was broken and we could have manually put it in forward from below decks. We had had him look at our steering system when he was doing maintenance for us a few weeks ago. I was fairly sure the problem was something that he had messed with to begin with. This pretty much confirmed my theory. No problem, we are replacing the steering anyhow. What a relief that it wasn't something worse.

That out of the way we were good to get the boat hauled out of the water. Since our boat was the closest on the dock to the travel lift they pulled us out first. Our bottom wasn't too bad. They pressure wash it to get as much of the growth off as they can. Bill cleaned the bottom by diving on it while we were in the British Virgin Islands but three months in the Chesapeake can really make the bottom dirty. It looks pretty good right now but there is a lot of sanding and painting ahead in Bill’s future. I used to do a lot of it but I think Bill prefers to do it himself now. Hey, I’m not complaining!

The boat has been moved to its new home for the next month or so. You can see it on it's way in the lift in the picture above. We aren't as close to all the action in the yard as we were when we pulled the boat two years ago but we think we are almost in the exact spot the boat was in after we first bought it and we were getting it ready to go in the water. Unfortunately that process took us two years so we are intimately familiar with the spot it was in. We are really hoping that this goes a lot quicker.
Comments
Vessel Name: Moonraker
Vessel Make/Model: Bayfield 40
Hailing Port: Annapolis, MD
Crew: Bill & Donna Shuman
About:
This blog will record our adventures as we continue our new cruising life. This summer (2013) we plan to head north and explore the coasts of Maine and Nova Scotia. We will return to Annapolis in the fall for the SSCA GAM and then head south on the ICW to Florida. [...]
Extra:
Moonraker was built in 1986 and had two owners before we bought her in 2005. After spending nearly two years on the hard making all the repairs and improvements that I had promised Donna we wouldn’t have to do if we bought her, we were finally ready to go sailing. For the next several years we [...]
Moonraker's Photos - Main
30 Photos
Created 17 February 2015
34 Photos
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45 Photos
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27 Photos
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To Be Added In the Near Future
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Created 29 February 2012

Who: Bill & Donna Shuman
Port: Annapolis, MD

Where in the World is Moonraker

Our Boat

Moonraker is a 1986 Bayfield 40 designed by the famous Ted Gozzard and built in Ontario, Canada. The rig is a cutter/ketch. Here are some of her specs:

LOA: 45 ft. 6 in.
LWL: 30 ft. 6 in.
Beam: 12 ft.
Draft: 4 ft. 11 in.
Displacement: 21,000 lbs.
Ballast: 8,200 lbs.
Sail Area: 1,009 sq. ft.


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