Solomons Island, MD - Antennas and Tentacles

Well we have network TV again (kind of). Kevin tried to re-mount the glomex TV antenna on the bimini (instead of at the top of the mast, where it used to be). That didn't work so well, all we got was snow. Then Kevin got the idea that we could cobble together our own TV antenna. After looking on the internet on how to build your own, we were pretty discouraged. Look it up sometime. Almost every website started with "so you are crazy enough to try to build your own antenna..." It appears to be a highly involved technical feat. So we ended up just buying a $20 pair of rabbit ears. We get most major channels, but only between the hours of 8pm-9pm. At all other times, we can get maybe one channel with picture and sound, and the rest of them come in either sound only or picture only. But hey - now we can watch some of the reruns from the past TV season! By the way, is anyone else sick of the "Head On. Apply directly to the forehead...Head On. Apply directly to the forehead." commercials? One day of TV and already we hate that commercial with a passion.

We've been enjoying the air conditioning, but today we ran into a minor snag. For some reason the compressor shut off and wouldn't click back on again. Kevin checked the through-hull for the heat transfer system (the a/c sucks in raw water from the bay to keep the unit from overheating). What he found was shocking -- literally. Sea nettles (jellyfish) had gotten sucked up into the strainer and were clogging up the system. So he put on the rubber gloves and cleaned out the tentacles from the inside, then scrubbed the outside of the through-hull with a scrub brush. Problem solved, at least until we suck up some more. It's inevitable, since they are everywhere, floating like silent stinging ghosts all around the boat. Well, we are off to try out the "Naughty Gull" restaurant's shrimp & crab cake dinner. Don't you just love boating puns?

Solomons Island, MD - Outboard Fixed

We had a productive weekend. Well, one out of three days was productive anyway. On Friday, with the new parts obtained from the shack down the street, we were able to fix the overheating problem with the outboard engine. Unfortunately it required taking the outboard off the dinghy and hoisting it (150 lbs) into the cockpit. We have a 4:1 block and tackle that made it easy to lift the thing (even I was able to do it). Once it was in the cockpit, Kevin had to work at taking the thing apart since some of the bolts had corroded and were stuck. But eventually he got to the actual problem -- the impeller. It's a kind of flimsy rubber gear that is round and has six arms sticking out of it. The arms are what keep the cooling water flowing through the engine. Two of the arms were shorn clean off while the remaining four were cracked. So we were pretty sure we had found the problem. We put in the new impeller and put everything back together, then lowered the outboard back onto the dinghy. We went for a test drive around the creek and, yay, no steam! So we've crossed one item off the maintenance list.

Meanwhile, it was rainy most of Saturday and Sunday so we were able to catch up on a bunch of movies from the video store. Some were good (16 Blocks) and others were lame (Firewall) but at least it was something to pass the time. We are trying to figure out the public transportation here. So far everything we need is within walking distance, but "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" opens in a couple weeks so we want to figure out how to get to the movie theater. Will Ferrell in a racecar movie? That is a must-see.

Solomons Island, MD - Service With A Smile

Well we are getting the most out of our time here at the marina. First things first, we went and got some free breakfast from the hotel. Then Kevin started working on the genset while I walked to the grocery store before it got too hot. When I got back, I saw two unfamiliar pairs of shoes outside the boat and discovered that a couple passing by had struck up a conversation with Kevin, peppering him with questions about the boat. So he invited them in for a tour. When I got there they were just explaining how they hope to buy their own boat someday and go cruising. We chatted for a bit and they thanked us for inviting them aboard and were on their way.

Kevin's got two projects going at the moment, both of which require us to order some parts: fixing the overheating generator, and fixing the overheating outboard. We decided to start with the generator. We went over to another marina which claims to be a "Beta Marine Dealer" (beta marine sells marinized Kubota generators which is what we have). This was a huge complex, with a machine shop and a service department proclaiming in huge lettering on the wall "Beta Marine". However, once Kevin asked to take a look at the parts manual so he could tell them which part to order, they told us that they didn't have one and that if we wanted to order our own copy it would be $40. Forty dollars, just to be able to tell them what we really wanted to order! Crazy. So we postponed that chore, since Kevin has found a company on the internet who can get us a manual for $15.

Next up was finding a water pump service kit for the outboard. After our strikeout with Beta Marine we weren't hopeful, but we walked down the street to Solomon's Boat Rentals which turned out to be a tiny shack on a dock full of runabouts. A sign with tiny font said, among other things, "Tohatsu" (that's our outboard brand name). We looked at each other and shook our heads, we were sure we wouldn't be able to get the outboard parts we needed. But we decided to knock on the door anyway. We entered the building (a 10 x 10 room) and explained to the guy what we needed and asked if he could order it for us. He smiled and said, "You know what, I actually have a service kit right here. Got it in a shipment today." And he literally reached out from where he sat and produced exactly what we needed! This NEVER happens. It is ALWAYS a rigamarole to obtain the part you need. I gaped in astonishment as Kevin paid the man and then the guy actually printed out a diagram and explained what needed to be done. We walked home with huge stupid grins on our faces. It doesn't take much to make our day.

Solomon's Island, MD - Cooling Off

So we have bit (bitten? bited?) the bullet and after much soul-searching decided to just break down and pay for a marina slip for the hottest part of the summer. This way, we will have shore power all the time and can run both air conditioners at once, we'll also get a lot of boat projects done, and we won't feel bad leaving the cat alone on the boat (since we can leave the a/c on). We found a great rate at Beacon Marina in Solomon's Island, plus we are within walking distance of everything - grocery store, marine store, post office, liquor store, video rental, etc. Plus the marina is part of the Comfort Inn, so they've got a pool and continental breakfast. We are actually both kind of excited to have a temporary "home" -- Kevin is already mentally working his way through a list of boat projects, and I am thinking we can maybe do some sightseeing and rent bikes and stuff. Boris is ecstatic -- after only a few hours he already looks and acts about 5 years younger (I was getting worried about him there with the heat).

The dockmaster, Jerry, was really great about checking us in and getting us settled. They have a few other cruisers staying here who are on their boats during the week, but the majority of the boats are just weekender-type boats. We met one of our neighbors, a guy with an accent (German? Austrian? South African? We couldn't tell for sure) who was unabashedly curious when he found out we were on a boat, and a catamaran no less. "So you are on a catamaran? Those are expensive boats. How are two people so young living on such a boat -- are you rock stars or something?" To which Kevin replied, "Kind of; we're computer programmers." Rock on.


Where we are:
Location=Solomons Island, MD
Lat=38 19.991
Lon=76 27.651

Whitehall Bay, MD

[Kevin's Post] It's 5pm here and 100 degrees in the cockpit of the boat according to our indoor/outdoor thermometer. We've been trying to hold off running the genset/air conditioning until we can't stand it anymore. Today we made it until 3 pm when it was 93 inside the boat and about 96 outside. We still don't really trust the genset, so we are very careful about running it. We try to keep the load and runtime to a minimum. But, we've still been running it 6-8 hours a day for about the past week just to keep conditions on the boat tolerable. If we didn't have a cat onboard, it wouldn't really be a problem, we could just leave the boat and forget about it. But with the cat, we need to keep the boat reasonably cool at all times. The genset seems to be fairly stable as long as we keep the load under 20 amps, or about half the rated capacity. Higher than that one of three things will happen: A) the diesel engine part of the genset will overheat and shut down the genset, B) the generator will overheat and shut down the genset, C) the vacuum of the fuel pump will suck enough air in through a leak in the fuel filter assembly to shut the genset down. We've run about 50 hours without B or C happening, but A has happened a couple of times because we pushed the load up to 25 amps. The 20 amp limit means we can run either one of our two air conditioning units, but not both. Fortunately, the boat is pretty comfortable with just one running. Boris sleeps right on top of the AC vent.

Today I spent most of the day looking through all the marinas in the northern Chesapeake trying to find one where we might be able to escape the heat for a few days without breaking the bank. Surprisingly, there are some pretty good deals to be had once you get outside of the major tourist spots. We've been waffling back and forth about whether to continue north to get out of the heat or just wait it out here. The Chesapeake is a bit hotter than we expected it be. The boat is pretty comfortable until the outside temp gets above around 85, above that you either have to run the AC or sweat. New England last summer was great, so we hadn't really figured out what our temperature limits were. We thought about going up to New England for the rest of the summer, but it is about 600 miles round trip from here. Going there would mean about a week of travel time each way, plus waiting for a weather window each way, and we are thinking that it is too late in the year to justify it. Plus, 600 miles on the boat means fuel expenses, maintenance expenses (something breaks every day, but less often when you are laying in the bunk reading), and various other wear and tear expenses.

It's too hot to go outside and take a picture, so here is one from last summer that we never posted. It was taken by a helicopter. God only knows why we had a reef in the main.

Whitehall Bay, MD - One Year Older

So today I am officially "in my thirties" instead of just "thirty". You know, I would have thought I'd feel panicky at getting a year older but I don't feel any different. I guess that means I get to postpone my midlife crisis at least another year. Today was wonderful though. Kevin made pancakes for breakfast (apple cinnamon, even) and they were fantastic. And he grilled up a fabulous steak birthday dinner. I basically didn't lift a finger today except to eat and read. And open my present, which was completely unexpected.

Earlier this week, while Jess and I were busy shopping, Kevin had secretly bought a necklace. And not just any necklace. It was called a "wish pearl" and it was actually a kind of necklace "kit". In one part of the box it had a necklace with a cage where you would put a pearl. In the other part, there was a small see-through can (like a tuna can, only transparent plastic) that contained an oyster immersed in isopropyl alcohol. So you actually opened up the oyster to find the pearl that had been cultured, then you washed it off and could put it in the cage-type locket. It's a surprise because you have no idea beforehand what shape, size, or color the pearl will be. The pearl inside my oyster turned out to be a very pretty cream/peach color. Surprisingly, the oyster did not smell fishy, instead it smelled like alcohol. Not surprisingly the instructions in the box said very explicitly in several places: "Do not eat the mollusk. If ingested, contact a physician immediately." I can't imagine someone thinking, "Hey -- jewelry plus a little snack!" but I guess they had to cover their bases, right?

Thanks to everyone for the phone calls, letters, gifts, and emails. And of course thanks to Kevin for being the wonderful husband that he is and making my birthday such a special occasion.

Annapolis, MD - Still in Annapolis

[Kevin's Post]
We've had a nice visit with Jessica over the past few days, she left this morning at 4 AM to get to the airport for a 6:50 flight to Chicago. On Tuesday we went on a pub crawl hitting some of the local bars and taverns. Wednesday and Thursday we did as much sightseeing as we could handle between the the intolerable heat and the downpours. Yeah, we know, it's hot in Phoenix too, so no sympathy from you. We are kind of kicking ourselves for not going farther north earlier. Every time we check the weather, we see the temps in Newport are about 10 degrees cooler. But July is supposed to be the hottest month and at least its half over. Anyway, enough complaining about the heat. We still really like Annapolis. While Jess was here we hit some of our favorite eateries (Middleton tavern and Mangia) and tried a few new ones (Chick & Ruth's Deli, Acme, and Ram's Head tavern), and even grilled on the boat one night. We especially liked Chick & Ruth's Deli which has a huge menu, cheap eats, and unbelievably cheap beer. I'm sure we'll be going back there. The weather was not great, so we didn't get any sailing in on this trip. We just stayed on a mooring in Annapolis harbor the whole time. But that's ok, Jess promised to visit us again next spring sometime when we are in the Caribbean. There will be plenty of sailing next time.

After Jess left we did 5 loads of laundry in town, then left Annapolis harbor to anchor out across the Severn river in Whitehall Bay. Annapolis is insane on the weekends with tons of boat traffic and it is much quieter here. We had to order some parts for the outboard which won't come until early next week so we didn't want to go far. The outboard has been overheating recently if we run it for more than a few minutes, so I ordered a water pump service kit which will hopefully solve the problem. Another great thing about Annapolis is that you can get any boat part or boat service you could possibly need from somebody within walking distance. It's a great place to get stuff fixed. After we get the outboard taken care of we plan to head over to the eastern shore of the Chesapeake and then up to Baltimore.

Annapolis, MD - Week in Review

Kept forgetting to take time out to write a post all week while my parents were visiting. So I'll sum up the week:
July 4 - We all went ashore together and had a nice lunch at Middleton Tavern and then showed my parents around town and the Naval Academy. At 3:30, about an hour before the parade was going to get started, the skies started to darken and big thunderheads rolled in. We had just enough time to pick up a frozen pizza and some beer and head back to the boat to get the hatches closed just in time before it started pouring. The rain only lasted an hour and we were actually grateful since it cooled things off a lot. We later found out that Main Street was so flooded they had to reroute the parade. We decided to just hang out on the boat and we had a great view of the fireworks from the bow.

July 5 - We headed into Washington DC to do a little sightseeing. We hit the Museum of American History first, which was almost information overload. There's just so much in there - they had exhibits on the American Presidency, the History of American Wars, History of Transportation...by the time we were done our brains were swimming. Of course just as we were ready to move on to the next museum it started raining, but we figured what the heck and walked down to the Air and Space museum anyway even though we all got soaked. We did check out the Wright Brothers plane, the Spirit of St. Louis, and Chuck Yeager's plane (first plane to break the sound barrier). By this time the rain let up a bit and we hailed a taxi to take us down the mall to the Lincoln Memorial and Vietnam Memorial. Itwas the first time my dad, a Vietnam veteran, had seen the wall and unfortunately because of the rain the names didn't stand out like they would if it were dry so it was a little hard to read, but even still it makes an impact to see the more than 58,000 names. Afterwards we walked down to take a peek at the White House from the south lawn side and then headed back to Annapolis and had a fantastic dinner at Buddy's seafood buffet. When we got back to the boat we played a round of Scrabble which my dad won (only because on the first turn he used all his letters to spell "LOITERS". It was a lucky break.)

July 6 - My parents decided that they'd seen the main things they wanted to see in DC, so instead of going back we went to the movie theater to see Superman Returns, which ended up being very good. My parents did a little souvenir shopping in downtown Annapolis after the movie. Then since it was Donna's birthday we went out to a nice dinner at Mangia's which is a great little Italian restaurant.

July 7 - Turned out to be a perfect day for sailing, so we headed out of Annapolis and south to Galesville which is a small town with three restaurants and several marinas. An unfortunate mishap occurred as we were pulling into the fuel dock -- I was cleating off a line but the boat was still moving and I got a pretty bad rope burn on both hands -- tore through several layers of skin on some of my fingers. It was our first serious injury in the year we have lived aboard. Luckily our well-stocked first aid kit had everything we needed to bandage me up and we were able to pick up a mooring in the harbor and go check out the town. Dinner was at a seafood place called Thursday's where we had a nice view of the water.

July 8 - We met up with my Aunt Judy (Dad's sister) and her husband Jim who live about an hour away in Frederick, MD. They drove down to Galesville in time to join us for lunch and drinks at one of the other restaurants - Pirates Cove. Arrrgh! Afterwards we all piled into the car and drove into Annapolis so that we could do a little more souvenir shopping and check out the town a bit more. Then it was back to Galesville for a few beers on the boat and then we all had a fantastic meal at Thursday's again. It was nice that Judy and Jim could come out and spend the day with us while my parents were here.

July 9 - After breakfast we headed into town to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie. It was a fun film and it was cool to watch for some of the actors and stuntmen that we'd met while we were on Grand Bahama where they were filming. Afterward it was back to the boat and by early afternoon it was time to say goodbye to my parents. We had such a nice visit this week and hopefully they had a fun and relaxing vacation. We know we had a great time: we have never eaten so much or so well since we've lived on the boat -- every day they took us to lunch and/or dinner (thanks, guys!) and we just had a wonderful time with them both. So now we have one day to rest and clean up before we get to do it all over again when my sister Jess gets here on Tuesday...

Annapolis, MD - Couch Potatoes

So last Friday night we decided to finally see some new movies. Well, new to us anyway. So we looked up the nearest Blockbuster which was only a mile and a half away. Well worth the walk. We ended up renting like nine videos and basically spent all weekend hibernating on the boat working our way through them. Some were overrated (King Kong, for example. Okay, we GET it...everything on the island is big...) but others were really good (Walk the Line, A History of Violence). It was nice to take a break and just veg out in front of the TV.

Of course, that's not all we did. Since my parents are coming to visit we had a long to-do list to get ready. So we spent at least a part of each day working through that: finish cleaning up the oil in the bilge, fill up water tanks, clean the boat, and most importantly -- find a place for them to park the rental car. Annapolis is crazy with respect to parking spaces. There are no free parking spaces in the town - everything is metered or decal. So we went over to the Eastport side and hopefully found a nice place for them to meet us after their flight and park the car. They arrive at 2am tonight, so I am looking forward to seeing them and watching the fireworks in Annapolis from the boat. (We originally planned on going to DC for fireworks but decided it would be too crazy). Happy Fourth of July everyone!