In It For The Long Haul

     Today was our last chance to provision the boat while we still had a vehicle.  In the photo above, we have taken what is commonly used by Krogenites (owners of Kadey-Krogens) as book shelves and bric-a-brac shelving.  We found it better suited as a pantry for bulk food storage.  The lower units behind the cabinet doors are also used for storing food.

     We also used the shelving unit in the guest stateroom to store more food (see above photo), but we didn't stop there.  We also used the other unit shelving in the guest stateroom to store even more food (see photo below)   Yes, we are in it for the long haul.

In Over His Head

     Yesterday was to have been the day to have the existing watermaker on board Big Run up and running.  We had made arrangements with a local marine service to finalize the installation.  The watermaker on board Big Run was installed by a previous owner.  80% of the components are there - the seacock, raw water strainer, pre-filters, electric motor, pump, and filters.  However, the business end, where the salt water converted to fresh water is discharged, has not been finalized.  So our service tech looked at the unit for about 1/2 hour studying the system.  This was not the first time the tech had seen the system.  The tech then informed us that he has installed many watermakers - all were kits with all the components.  We were then advised by the tech that he believes the system was designed to be a manual type watermaker!  Not a good thing when you are looking for "set it and forget it" technology.  So to make a long story short, the tech leaves the boat promising to do research on how to upgrade our system to a automatic system.   We do have faith in him, but for a few moments we didn't when he told us he was in over his head!

Full Time Cruisers

     Today was house settlement day.  In layman's terms - we signed over the home to the new owners and they, of course, handed over a check.  No, we are not homeless.  Our boat is our new home.  No, we are not liveaboards.  We prefer not to be called liveaboards.  Most liveaboards rarely leave the marina, or they jump from marina to marina.  We, on the other hand, will be avoiding marinas, preferring to be on the hook in some far away gunkhole.  Just call us full time cruisers.

 

Warm Days & Cool Nights

We have been on the boat since last Saturday and on the hook since Tuesday.  As you can see in the above photo we have this anchorage to ourselves.  Thank you very much.  It has been a perfect week with warm days and cool nights.

Home Theatre

     When we purchased the boat the only entertainment system was the small LCD flat screen  with a combination VCR/DVD unit below as pictured in the above photo.  The small flat screen never lasted long as we upgraded to a 32 inch LCD.  The new TV was placed under the dining table.  However the "hole" from the smaller TV was still there.  Actually, we think the cabinet was designed for an older tube-style TV. 

     In the next photo (above) the wrecking crew has already started with the dismantling of the cabinetry.  The old design wasted a lot of space including shelving accessed from the galley side.  In the photo above, the inverter can be seen in the lower cabinet and with the door removed from the galley side, you can see straight through.

      Now we have an updated entertainment system.  Unfortunately when we had our yard sales in the spring, I sold our Devon A/V unit. We didn't think we needed an 5.1 surround sound system. - that was a fatal error on my part.   We did keep the mega DVD changer.  Since Grant didn't have a need for his 5.1 system at college we sort of took it off his hands.  With the new shelving unit we have now gained  a new entertainment center and more storage on the backside in the galley.  We will have to wait until we get back to town to locate some trim to complete the job, but for now we have a home theatre system again.

My Last "Big Run"

     Wednesday was Grant's day.  He headed to college with Mom & Dad in tow.  We left our home in Pennsylvania at 10 AM for a 2:30 check-in at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York.  After a 4 hour 20 minute drive, we arrived at our destination.  By 4:15 PM we had Grant settled in, and he was anxious for Mom & Dad to depart.  On the drive up to Rochester I kept thinking about Hurricane Earl.  Although Earl was projected to graze North Carolina and continue to sweep on a Northeasterly course, a deviation of  50 or 100 miles to the west would have brought high winds, heavy seas and storm surge to the Chesapeake Bay.   After we left Grant, we drove for about 2 hours until we found a restaurant where we could relax and browse the internet with our air card.  As we waited for dinner, I surfed the National Hurricane Center's website for updates.  It probably only took me 5 minutes to decide that we would continue onto the boat to secure everything just in case.  It was 12:30 AM Thursday morning when we arrived at the boat.  We stayed the night and the next morning made our preparations for Earl.  It was a "damn if you do and damned if you don't" situation.  We drove back to Pennsylvania on Thursday which was another 3 1/2 hour drive.  Earl never made his presence on the bay.  I love to drive and will soon be selling our last vehicle, we drove in excess of 12 hours on Wednesday and I estimated it was about 500 miles.  I guess you could say it was my last "big run" behind the wheel of a vehicle.

T-Minus 2 and Counting

     The excitement builds as we finalize a few things in September/October.  As we look forward, settlement on the house is slated for September 17th.  Then on October 2nd we have one final family obligation at which time we will sell our truck to my niece.  Then, after hitching a ride from my sister back to Maryland and the boat, we have no reason not to start our adventure before November 1st, the day our slip contract expires.

     August was a very busy month on the boat and back in Pennsylvania.   As we packed our last possessions that we are keeping we also packed and moved Grant to college.  Our last big project on the boat was to fabricate and install an antenna rack, I hope we are not confused with some Big Brother Agency with all of our antennas.
     We also made a trip to the travel clinic to receive our second of three Hepatitis B shots.  The bill was by far more painful than the shot itself.  So in six months we need to remember to get our second Hepatitis A shot and third Hepatitis B shot.  Boy, will that put a pinch on the pocket book!

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.