Bird Sanctuary

     Our first cool night in weeks so we slept in this morning only to find our boat had turned into a bird sanctuary.

First Time

     There is always a first time for everything in your life.  We are experiencing one right now with this posting.  We are on the hook at one of our favorite anchorages and we have internet access, but not by our new air card.  Our WIFI antenna has picked an open WIFI on land and we are about 1/2 mile from shore.  This post was written and posted from the luxury of our boat.  Previous to this entry all entries were made upon our return to our home in Pennsylvania.  Now, most posting will be done from the boat, and, as of September 1st we will be dropping our internet provider at the house.  So at that point in time we will posting from the boat as our travels lead us to more of the same - first time experiences!  Ain't technology great!

Better Than Reality Television

     Adjacent to our marina is "county landing" which has always been a source of my amusement.  After working on the boat all day I would reward myself  in the evening by sitting in the pilothouse and watching the antics of the locals.  I have seen trailered boats launched and retrieved in every manner possible.  On that subject alone you would expect to see a ambulance there weekly.  Just the other day a fight broke out between a waterman and a driver for the local crab processing house.  I guess the extreme heat that the area has been experiencing is getting the best of everybody
     Tonight the entertainment spilled over into our marina.  Apparently, a makeshift crabbing boat capsized out on Langford Creek.  One of the crabbers from the capsized vessel was still able to use his cell phone and call for help.  He must have called the two local young men that I witnessed rushing down to county landing on their scooters.  They jumped onto a crab boat and raced off to rescue the two crabbers.  They returned to county landing but not before their rescue boat lost power and drifted  back to the docks of county landing.  Later, another waterman came to the docks, loaded up his wife/girlfriend, the two survivors, the two young rescuers and headed out onto the creek in his crab boat.  About an hour later they returned with the capsized vessel in tow.  They were also accompanied by the local waterway Police, the Natural Resources Police and the Coast Guard.  And to keep it very interesting for us, the flotilla of boats came right up to our backporch (cockpit) and onto the haul-out slips of our marina.  They managed to position the capsized boat in one of the haul-out slips and secured it for the night. - at least that's what I thought.  But that wasn't good enough.  The two young rescuers decided they were going to rescue the capsized vessel here and now as seen in the picture.  You know, if I aimed an video camera at county landing, I would have the next hit reality television show!

Getting Wired and Going Wireless

     This week brought many changes to the boat - electronically speaking.  This task had been put on the back burner until after the bimini was done.  We had toys from our Christmas in April that have been waiting to be installed.  What looks like hurricane damage in the photo is nothing more than the mast lowered onto a deflated dinghy so that I could make the changes and upgrades.  We added another VHF antenna to the mast which required us to relocate a GPS antenna.  In addition to the VHF antenna there was also a XM antenna and 2 additional GPS antennas added to a new antenna fixture at the top of the mast.  While we had the mast down we also upgraded the anchor light to LED, which at night looks like a shining star.  And the final antenna to be added was a WIFI antenna.  Last week we ordered an air card for the lap top for when WIFI is not available.  With the air card and the WIFI antenna we have hopefully made the transition to the world of wireless.

M/V Salty Lady

     This is M/V Salty Lady of Annapolis, MD.  A 1986 Kadey Krogen 42.  Shown here anchored on the west branch of Langford Creek.

And Sharon's Reply Is........

T-Minus 3 and Counting

      We had a 12 day "cruise" in late June early July that was very productive.  It wasn't much a cruise as it was a work detail.  Big Run's new prep man was busy stripping window and door frames and the doors too.  Sharon keep the painter very busy with sanding and painting of those items, but we can't complain .  The boat is looking so much better.

     We did have a setback on the boat during our work cruise, but it was better that it happened when it did instead of later when we are full time cruisers.  We were in the process of lowering the mast to take measurements for an additional antenna mount when we heard a crack.  Upon investigation we noticed the mast's boom cracked at the base.  When we returned to the marina, I discovered the boom was wooden with a fiberglass wrap.  Evidently water had penetrated the fiberglass wrap and was trapped at the base and slowly the base rotted out.  Now, we have a new 3" schedule 40 aluminum boom.

     Upgrades to the boat continue with retractable screens.  The old screens with their zippers are history.  What was a pain in the butt to use is now a pleasure to use and should protect us from the insects much better than the old screens.

     As mentioned in one of earlier blog entries, the new batteries finally arrived at Rock Hall and were installed.   One of the previous owners, who considered themselves "generator cruisers", would get up in the morning, start the generator so they could run the AC units and charge the batteries.  However, instead of charging the batteries in the conventional manner,  he would initialize the battery equalize option everyday, which dramatically reduced the performance of the batteries.  With the price of new batteries, we will tend to these as if they are our children. 

     Our immunization program continued in late July with Typhoid vaccine in the form of capsules.  One tablet very other day for a total of four capsules.  We are scheduled to receive our second  hepatitis B shots  in mid August.

Bimini

All I can say is that the bimini was well worth the wait.  This is not your average bimini, but then nothing I do is ever average.  In the upper photo is Vicki (Canvas By Victoria) on the pilothouse roof and "little" Steve, her son, stands next to the mast.  Vicki  is the designer, fabricator and chief installer. The second photo details the challenge of designing a bimini to fit around the mast and still be able to stow the bimini.  Concealed within the canvas is an aft frame bow that is segmented with a removable center section to allow the bow to pass forward around the radar dome so that the bimini can be stowed in a forward position.   The last photo shows the finished product.  Job well done Vicki.

88 Degrees

     Trying to escape the heat wave is Jesse, Grant, Sharon and Kelsie swimming in the Chester River.  No, the air temp was not 88 degrees.  The air temp was 100 degrees with a heat index of 109 degrees, it was the water temp that was 88 degrees!

New House Batteries

     We waited a long time for this day to arrive - new batteries.  In the above photo are three new 4-volt batteries on the trailer waiting to be installed.  In the background are three old batteries just removed from Big Run.  At 315 pounds each ,we needed a little help from the guys at Long Cove Marina.  With the assistance from the travel lift and a long reach boom, we were able to place the batteries within 2 feet of the house battery location in the engine room.  No hernias or bad backs after this lift!  Although the machinery did all the work, there are 5 guys assisting the travel lift. - 2 dockside and 3 on Big Run. In the photo below, I am in the background supervising the installation of the new house batteries.

A Shot In The Arm or Paying Through The Nose!

      Yesterday and today was the start of our immunization program so that we could be world travelers and not need to worry about contracting some obscure illness.  Thursday was 2 shots - Tdap(Tetanus, Diptheria and Pertussis) and Hepatitis A (Shot #1 of 2).  Today was also 2 shots - Yellow Fever and Hepatitis B (Shot #1 of 3).   Sharon, because of her birth date, received a third shot today for MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella).  We also got prescriptions for a Typhoid immunization in pill form, presuming we can locate a pharmacy that carries the drug which needs refrigerated.  We don't have the bill for yesterday's vaccinations and today's vaccinations required us to sell our first born!

S/V Barbara Batchelder

     We were at Reed's Creek just off the Chester River when this skipjack came in for the night.  There was barely enough wind to fill her sails. We do not know much about her other than she is the sailing vessel Barbara Batchelder out of Delaware.  If you know of this boat, please leave a brief description of the boat in our comment section.

I'll Do This For Free

     Enjoying the event at Cacaway Island, Langford Creek.  Seriously....I'll do this for free.

T-Minus 4 and Counting

     We had our last yard sale in early June.  Because our first two yard sale dates were so successful, we did not have much stuff to sell for our third and final yard sale date.  On the last Saturday, we did manage to sell about half of what we had leftover, and the rest was donated to Goodwill.  Overall, we sold 95% of the items we put out for sale on those three Saturdays.  Considering it was our first attempt at a yard sale, that's  incredible. We still had four high dollar value items that did not move in the yard sale so we advertised them on craigslist.  Two of the items sold immediately for their original asking price!

     We have also had the good fortune of entering into a sales agreement on the house.  The couple will be purchasing our home in September after Grant leaves for collage.   I guess we will be making the final move onto the boat in September instead of October.

    Boat work was very productive in June.  In addition to the wind generator installation, we also did some serious work on the brightwork.  We also installed fans in the suites for those extra warm nights.  Sharon is considering tackling the awlgrip and giving it a good buffing and waxing.

     Two small setbacks in June, both were "scheduled" to be done in June.  However, we learned that wasn't going to happen.  The bimini installation and the batteries are now scheduled for July.  

     The highlight of June was our youngest son's graduation from High School.  Congratulations Grant!