Cape Dory Raftup 2009

Clements Creek, 8/29/2009
39° 01.03’ N
076° 32.11’ W
Hours logged: 5.5

We had planned to stay at the dock, nursing our damaged deck and loose stanchions, but an impromptu Cape Dory 28 raftup (led by Brandywine, of course) convinced us to break out the duct tape and do what we could to get underway. Attending were Dulcinea, Cascadas, Brandywine, Diversion, Whiteout, and Mariner II. (And let's not forget the official event photography boat, m/v Cosmo.) After a fun afternoon, Cascadas, Diversion, and Whiteout set out for home, and the rest of us stayed overnight.

A nice surprise: No jellyfish! We were able to spend some time in the water on both Saturday and Sunday. And... drumroll please... we launched and sailed our new Eastport Pram for the first time! (Thanks for the pictures, Mark!)

Back Creek

Back Creek (Annapolis)
8/14 - 8/15/2009
38° 57.39' N
76° 29.13' W
Hours logged: 4.0

Just back from Annapolis yesterday. I took Friday off from work to get busy installing our new dinghy davits, with Mark's help. Michele had to work, so I packed up the car and left for the marina early Friday morning, and made my way up to Mark's dock to raft with Brandywine while we did the install. It was more convenient to do it there, because his house is close by, giving us access to more tools, including his table saw for cutting backing boards, etc.

I had never been that far into Back Creek before. Pretty amazing! You can't count the boats (yachts!), and the creek narrows to a serene, picturesque, waterfront escape. The great blue heron above seems to have made it's home nearby Mark's dock.

Michele joined us at his place on Friday afternoon when she got out of work. We stayed with Mark at his dock until Sunday morning. Michele and I went back to Shipwright aboard the boat, where we relaxed by the pool for the rest of the day. We hung out with Carlos and Ali, had dinner, and then finally retrieved the car from Mark's marina at about 10 pm!

I'll post pictures soon of the davit install and canvas making over on the maintenance blog!

Happy Birthday Michele

Tilghman-on-Chesapeake, 8/8/2009
38° 42.60' N
76° 19.75 W
Hours logged: 4.5

The girls en route to their Tilghman Island destination for Michele's birthday.

(Thanks, Mark, for getting the photo!)

Wet

Wye River, 8/1/2009
38° 52.98' N
76° 10.72' W
Hours logged: 5.5

We've just returned from a fun, and wet, trip to the Wye River for a BCYC raft-up. The club organized the raft up, planning to meet in the cove just east of Drum Point in the Wye River. The forecast was calling for calm weather all weekend, though a bit warm for a raft-up. The middle bay is thick with sea nettles already, so swimming to escape the heat is not an option either. Unless...

Michele has really been eyeing a "Nettle Net". They're expensive -- very expensive. But we've given it a lot of thought, and decided to take the plunge, so to speak. We really enjoy anchoring in quiet coves as a way to "get away" for the weekend, but during the summer, we can't escape the heat. So we end up staying in marinas where we can run the air conditioner and swim in a pool. If the nettle net works out, perhaps we can save the marina fees occasionally, which can run $50-75/night. That would pay for the net pretty quickly...


Um, yeah, not working out very well, so far! We couldn't get the net to retain its shape. To be fair, the instructions warn about the very condition we were encountering: opposing wind and current. The wind keeps the anchored boat facing one direction (into the wind), while the current pushes the net under the boat. Only remedy is to wait for more favorable current. Eh, we'll try again another day, I guess.

We cleaned up and then joined the rest of the boats at the raft-up. It was a lot of fun -- plenty of food and drink of course, and as a bonus, we got a tour of "Compass Rose", a Kadey-Krogen (our "dream boat"). Caught this lovely sunset during the course of the evening. This red sky at night bodes well for tomorrow, right?

Hey, wait a minute...

I woke briefly at 6:30 am to this fog. I went back to bed, hoping it would clear in a few hours. By the time I got up again, the fog had mostly cleared, but the forecast had deteriorated sharply. People were packing up and heading out quickly, and we did the same. As we left Eastern Bay, we ran into a severe thunderstorm. The wind had picked up, waves were building, and lightning was just about all we could see in the pounding rain and minimal visibility. We chatted on the radio briefly with Brandywine and Compass Rose, both of whom said the weather radar looked a little clearer following the storm... The trip was a bit of a nail-biter for a little while, but the weather did indeed clear, and we were home by 2pm-ish.

Annapolis Landing

Annapolis Landing, 7/25/2009
38° 57.96' N
76° 28.73' W
Hours logged: 5.0

We were out Friday evening for Michele's friend Martina's birthday, so we got a late start on Saturday again this week... which is just fine with us. I had been thinking about going to Annapolis, mainly because Nicole Atkins was opening for Aimee Mann at the Rams Head, and I thought it might be fun to see them. The show was sold out, and tickets were more than we cared to spend. We ended up in Annapolis anyway, and got together for dinner with Mark, his sister Leslie, and their friend Katherine.

There was a small craft advisory posted for both Saturday and Sunday, with south winds each day. On Saturday, we had 2- to 3-footers pushing us up the bay with an outgoing tide -- poorly timed on our part. We stayed at Annapolis Landing marina on Back Creek. Nice place (and they have a pool), though a little pricey, especially with the 35' minimum. Pretty irritating to have to pay for an extra 7' of boat length to meet their minimum... probably won't do that very often, though we might try it for the boat show in October -- the water taxi runs right to their dock.

Sunday return trip was relatively calm, despite the small craft advisory. We were back in plenty of time to enjoy the pool again. We stretched the day into evening, having dinner aboard the boat before returning home: seared tuna steaks, salad, and corn-on-the-cob. Mmm!

Dun Cove

Dun Cove, 7/18/2009
38° 44.49' N
76° 19.04' W
Hours logged: 4.0

So much activity during our vacation left us feeling like we needed a little "downtime" (hey, wait a minute... isn't vacation supposed to be downtime?). We slept late Saturday, got to the boat late, and then secluded ourselves as much as possible in nearby Dun Cove. Nothing much to report, which is just what we needed. Returned Sunday afternoon and enjoyed a little pool time before heading home.

Home

Shipwright Harbor, 7/11/2009
Hours logged: 3.75

What would possibly motivate us to end our trip a day early, on Saturday instead of Sunday? Tickets to the Billy Joel / Elton John show at Nationals Stadium in DC!

Weather was a little less appealing for the final leg of our journey, but still reasonable. We timed the current pretty poorly, however. At maximum ebb, our trip up the bay from Solomons was a bit of a struggle. We arrived at our home slip around 1 pm, and eventually made our way back to DC a few hours before the show. Thenm, off to dinner and the concert!

Homeward: Familiar Surroundings

Solomons, 7/10/2009
38° 20.118 N
076° 27.631 W
Hours logged: 4.0

At the tail end of a long journey, Michele and I love to stop at familiar, comfortable place. We persuaded Mark to go to one of our favorites, Spring Cove Marina in Solomons. The slips and the fairway are a little tight, but on the whole, it's a really nice place.

On our arrival, we tended to ship's business (refueled, refilled the water tanks, pumped out, did a load of laundry), and then relaxed by the pool for a while. A tasty meal at DiGiovannis Dock of the Bay capped off a terrific trip, just a few hours from home.

Homeward: Underway Again

Port Kinsale, 7/9/2009
38° 01.889 N
076° 33.455 W
Hours logged: 4.0

Still slogging through the posts from vacation... I think I need to figure out how to blog as I go, so this doesn't happen!

Anyway, a gasket replacement solved the overheating problem, so we got underway again on Thursday morning. Port Kinsale Marina and Resort was next, with the plan to enjoy their pool and restaurant. It didn't seem much like a "resort" to me, but it's a pretty nice facility. From what we heard, there's not much of a town there for activities. We loved "The Mooring" restaurant. It is definitely worth a visit. They have special events each weeknight, including a raw bar & BBQ special on Thursday.

One problem, however, was that our slips were very exposed to the Yeocomico River fetch, and stern-to at that (though, to be fair, the dockmaster had recommended the facing slips, so we'd have been bow-to the fetch had we heeded their advice). Strong winds throughout the night made for a very, very turbulent night. I was out of bed a couple times checking lines and fenders, and hardly slept the whole night. So, although I'd certainly stop in for a meal at The Mooring, I'll think twice before spending the night.

Homeward: Towed In!

Colonial Beach, 7/8-7/9/2009
38° 13.890' N
076° 57.869' W
Hours logged: 5.5

As you can see from the photos, today ended badly.

We left Mattawoman Creek in the morning with plans for a slow cruise back to Colonial Beach for one night before continuing on. Before leaving, I opened up the sea strainer to clean it, since the area was covered in weeds when we arrived. That was a fateful decision.

For a couple hours during our trip south, we overheard a Navy range boat hailing every vessel approaching the Navy's firing range at Indian Head, guiding them around the active range. It wasn't a big surprise when they hailed our little "flotilla" as we approached the 301 bridge, routing us along the north side of the river all the way to Cobb Point before allowing us to cross south -- an extra hour on our journey at least. Mark responded from Brandywine, and he led the way around the north perimeter of the range. It was quite a show: frequent explosions and plumes of water a mile or so off our starboard bow!

Eventually, I decided to shorten the remainder of the voyage, and throttled up to 11 knots. Within minutes, the engine alarm was blaring; we had overheated. I shut down the engine and did a quick visual check, but nothing appeared out-of-the-ordinary. It was getting late, so rather than risk being disabled after business hours, I radioed TowBoatUS. They dispatched immediately, estimating 45 minutes to our position. Mark stood by while I checked the obvious culprits: strainer not clogged, impeller looked fine. Michele warned that we were drifting into shallows (heh, better than drifting into the firing range!), so she took a line from Brandywine, and like a good friend, Mark kept us in safe water. Also like a good friend, he stood by with the camera when the tow boat arrived... ;-)

The tow boat operator was fantastic -- professional and clearly skilled. He towed us the remaining 5 miles or so into Colonial Beach, and we settled in for a drink and dinner, planning to diagnose the problem in the morning.