At home on the Chesapeake

We’ve been back on the Bay for a few weeks and have had all the excitement of a visit “home.”

We spent the first week on a mooring ball in Annapolis. The weekly rate basically gives you a free day, the showers are pretty good, and the boat-watching can’t be beat! A friend delivered our car to us so we were able to hit the local marine chandlers and head off-boat to visit family for a few days. I even got to spend a day hitting the marine stores with a fellow cruising mom—it was fun!

We ended up spending the next week in and around our old marina, Herrington Harbour South. It was great to see old friends and neighbors, and we even tied up to a dock for a few nights—hello, power and water! The kids got to go to a paintball park with Frank, so they were happy! We knocked out a few boat chores/projects while there including installation of a new nav light, a new shower drain pump guard, and a holding tank vent filter; gave the boat a good bath; cleaned the bilge; re-sealed the teak seats; blew out the air conditioning lines with fresh water; deep-cleaned the composting head and refit it for a larger liquids tank; and applied fabric guard to all of the canvas. We almost thought we were going to have a big project on our hands—the charger/inverter wasn’t working when we got back to the boat last night, but after reading up on it the Captain got it reset and working!

Work

Play

I really highly recommend Herrington Harbour South for transiting cruisers. The facilities are immaculate, the staff is wonderful, and the adjacent restaurant and market are really good!

Galley Wrap-up and Moving On

After letting the countertop cure for a day, it was time to start putting it all back together! This wasn’t so simple as we decided to flip the sink around (which required some wood to be cut) and then had to redo the drain pipes when I dropped a piece overboard while trying to clean it. Getting all the screws back in to secure the sink took a LOT of boat yoga and patience. We also installed an in-line water filter under the sink (love it!) and a new faucet with a pull-out sprayer (love that, too!). I really can’t thank the Captain enough for all of his hard work on this project! I still have to put everything in its final place, but I’m calling this project complete!

Installing all the new goodies!

It’s done! Love it!

And not a moment too soon! Today we left Herrington Harbour South after a wonderful, productive visit and headed to Herrington Harbour North to get hauled out sometime this week. It was fun checking out our sister marina, not so fun starting an engine coolant line project only to find that some of the parts need to be special ordered. More to be done on that later!

Kids handled lines while I drove the car, then enjoyed the perks of HHN!

Grrr...that stupid piece of after-market metal needs to go!

“Maintenance Availability” Week 1

We are so happy to be home! But, this isn’t an entirely social visit. As this is our first long marina stay in about six months, we have a lot to get done. In Navy speak, it’s a “maintenance availability.” The kids are super excited to get off the boat and hang out with some friends, too. And we are excited to do some boat work with unlimited power and water!

So, what have we been up to? Frank completed maintenance on our dinghy outboard, did some fiberglass repairs in the cockpit, completed anchor windlass maintenance, replaced the transom shower fixtures (because I broke one), and purged and reorganized the cockpit locker and lazarettes. I stripped the old varnish off our cockpit table, sealed the cockpit teak with a few coats of Semco, ordered parts and school supplies, and cleaned like a mad woman. Oh, and I gave the boy a much-needed dockside haircut.

Excited to pull into the marina!

First Semco coat (top).

Beautiful disaster?

It’s hot here!

We also managed to visit with some of our old neighbors most days. We took the weekend “off” to visit family in the area, but we will be back at it this week with a galley remodel!

Decisions, decisions...Time for a big project?

As we’ve been heading north we noticed that we were losing speed through the water. It’s time for a haul out! We were going to shoot for a short haul where they leave you in the slings for a good power washing and zinc change. But...maybe we want to do more? The hull seriously needs to be waxed which would be easier if we were out of the water. We also would like to touch up the bottom paint where it got gouged by the anchor chain and a few mooring balls. 

The good news? Lots of options for yards on the Chesapeake. We debated Deltaville for a quick haul, but having decided a week on the hard would do us some good, we started looking between Solomon’s Island and Annapolis. Our friends, family, and car are all up there which would make the work easier. And as we are intimately familiar with the services at Herrington Harbour, we made the call. Unfortunately, the earliest they can haul us is the week of June 15th. Not horrible, but not ideal. We could stay at the Navy base in Pax River to wait for our haul and still be close to friends. But alas, Herrington Harbour South is able to give us a competitively-priced slip for two weeks while we wait! YES! We will be “home!” They can put us only one dock away from where we used to live starting on June 1st!!!

This will work. We have plenty of projects that we can do while in the water that will be aided by the access to power and water. And we will have our car. And we will be near our friends and family! This means we will be spending at least three weeks, probably closer to four, in Herring Bay. Not a bad place to be “stuck.”

For now, I will celebrate the new plan with a cocktail with our stowaway friend! 🐸 

Home

Home.  Such a simple word, right?  The dictionary defines home as “the place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a family or household.”  The boat has been our home for almost the entire last decade, but as we prepare to begin cruising in our home, I’ve really begun to reassess what that word means.  As a family that’s been on the move constantly, it’s tough to call one geographic place home.  Just last night a couple asked where we were from and it went like, “I’m from here, she’s from there, we met in that place and we’ve lived all over.”  That is partly why I have loved living on the boat—no matter where we geographically move, we have the comfort of our home.

In the long list of zip codes we have held, we’ve been in Washington for a total of four years (split over two jobs/moves), Louisiana for a total of five years (also split over two jobs/moves), and Maryland for a total of six years (split between three jobs, but only two moves).  If you’re keeping up and doing the math, there have been a few more places scattered in there, but those are the three we’ve lived the longest.  And perhaps because we weren’t married and didn’t have kids for one of those passes through Washington, we have more connections in Louisiana and Maryland.  They are the closest geographic areas we have to “home.”  

Home is more than a place or even the walls you live in.  It’s the people, the connections, and the way of life.  We have loved our Maryland home and look forward to returning in our travels.  I took a little walk today around our marina to take a few photos of home, but the people...that’s where it’s really at.

Bring on the heat! 🥵

Today I...installed a check valve, cleaned the a/c strainer, and blew out the a/c lines.  We are ready for the heat wave!! 

Beach Bonfire

Our marina throws parties through the season and tonight was an early season bonfire with beer & wine! It was great catching up with neighbors on a beautiful evening and the kids got a bunch of folks going on volleyball court!

"March comes in like a lion..."

March has brought some "interesting" weather to the marina. While in years past we would have still been sailing through much of the winter, this year the wind/ice/tide have pushed us to the mountains! We have taken advantage of this time to get the sails cleaned and repaired, hit the slopes, and check out local theater events.

March 2nd brought a real first to the D.C. metro area--the federal government shut down due to wind! That's right, sustained high winds with 50kt gusts in the forecast shut us down! It was a "sporty" day at the dock as we tried to preserve canvas on some of our neighbors' boats. The next morning, low tide and continued winds out of the north darn near drained all of the water from the marina!

Fast forward a week, and we almost had water over the docks. I'm amazed the kids managed to climb aboard after school!

We take it all in stride. We will get the sails back on today, the marina held its sock burning party last night, and the osprey have returned. It's time to get back on the water!

Baby, it's been COLD outside

After a cold start to the year, things didn't improve much this past week. On Tuesday I broke down and headed to Bacon Sails to pick up a used 1/2hp Kasco de-icer. I also filled the water tanks ahead of the worst of the cold snap. As winter storm Grayson started chugging up the coast, school was cancelled Thursday and we recorded the lowest tide we've seen, with the fatho showing 3.8 feet.

Just to keep things interesting, Thursday was also the day our new mattresses for the kids' beds arrived from Portland Boat Mattress! We had a little fun getting them from the marina office to the boat, and unpacking cardboard boxes in 15-20 knots of breeze was exciting, but when it was all said and done, the kids were VERY happy about their new, cozy mattresses! And they were a perfect fit!

Riding in the back of the truck with one of the boxes!

Starboard berth

Port berth

The winds got pretty sporty Thursday evening and I took a solid hit to the head from the reefer hatch when a 25-30 knots gust hit us while I was scrounging up dinner. I hadn't thought to secure it in port! Our little guy also got nauseous while trying to read a book before bed. All part of the experience!

Icing my noggin with a cold one

Power outages in the area wreaked havoc on the school routine Friday and tripped our breakers a few times. The kids ventured out for a walk out on the frozen beach, but after a few minutes were ready to get in from the wind. We decided to cancel our weekend ski plans to keep an eye on the boat and reduce our risk of frostbite! Temps are forecast to get above freezing next week so we have hopes of a pump-out in our near future!

Where the f%#* is all the water?

Seriously! Where is the water?!?!?? I finally take some leave from work, the kids are off of school, and we are trapped! Sure, it is freezing outside with single-digit wind chills, but that hasn’t stopped us before. Lack of water beneath the keel, however, is the ultimate party pooper. At today’s high tide, our fatho was showing 7 feet—as we draw 6’3” (and plan for 6’6” as a loaded liveaboard!), that wasn't much wiggle room. We stayed put again, hoping that the wind shift tonight will help bring water back into the bay. Right now we are sitting on the bottom and still have 80 minutes until low tide. I am crushed!

We draw 6.25-6.5 ft... problem!

Tough to see, but that's a boat that's listing to port as the keel sits on the bottom.

A non-traditional Christmas

Oh, how I've longed for a Christmas at anchor for the past 2 years! But alas, it wasn't meant to be. After filling water and warming the engine to get underway on Christmas Eve, we got stuck on a hump of bottom as we tried to leave the dock. Rather than get stuck in the channel, we pulled back in and changed our plan. Just based on the tide charts, we should have been fine, but when winds are out of the north the Chessie tends to empty a bit and tides can be lower than expected. We could have made it happen, getting underway or anchoring in the dark, but our desire to relax and goof off with the kids was strong, too. Winds on Christmas were forecast to be "sporty" so it all just kind of worked out.

We had a LAZY holiday! We played games, watched movies, and of course exchanged presents! I scored a ukulele, the boy loved his new Barcelona Messi jersey, the girl got clothes and books, and the Captain got a new back-up plotter/game platform. ;) And the whole family is going to head to the mountains to try our hand at skiing. It was a very merry day!

Time for a little Star Wars action--we have tickets to go see the new movie later this week!

Progress!

We have been back abooard for six days now. Six glorious days! It is admittedly a challenge to get the boat put back together while working full time and 2-3 hours of commuting daily, but we are making it work! The remnants of hurricane Harvey will slow us down a bit this weekend, but i have high hopes of a little underway time!

We are inReach!

We managed to use a combo of LLBean discounts and a rebate to snag a deal on a DeLorme inReach Explorer satellite communications device for Frank's Father's Day gift.  Today he activated it and we are quite pleased with the accuracy!  Getting closer to offshore adventure!

Merry Christmas!

A frigid, gusty Christmas Eve and a lazy, cold Christmas Day have us still tied to the pier, but it's been lovely!  We did a pre-Christmas hibachi and gift exchange with our local family on the 23rd before coming back to the boat to bake cookies, lower the table, and get ready for Santa!

I love how the boat looks at the holidays, all decorated with cards from friends near and far.

As is our tradition, we left out cookies and milk, and even had a bowl of reindeer food up on deck!  I awoke to the sound of ice dropping from the rigging and a little girl tip-toeing out of her room. Santa came!

The kids scored a ton of Legos, Kindles, Wii games, cards to buy food for the food bank, and books.  The Captain got the coveted infrared thermometer and a ton of zip ties.  And I got a full suite of yoga gear AND a GoPro camera!  Can't wait to take pics of the boat from new angles!

We are so fortunate.  We are healthy, warm, and happy.  And this year we are together.  Merry Christmas!

Party Weekend

This weekend was full of excitement!  We kicked it off Friday night at Honey's Harvest's Biergarten--great food and drinks, good times with our neighbors, and well-behaved kiddos (thanks to Netflix!).

Saturday morning (after a touch too much pumpkin pie liquor, I might add), we were awoken by the bilge pump running continuously.  And salt water in the bilge.  Uh oh.  A quick trace of all through-hulls revealed no major issues and finally a leaky intake to the forward a/c unit.  Frank had been wanting to replace the bleed valve anyway, so it became a project day!  All was fixed in short order and we were able to enjoy the beach bonfire.  I really enjoyed it with my new wine baggy!

After striking out at a used paddle board sale, we shopped Annapolis for a few more Halloween decorations and headed home to deck out the boat.  Love it!  Can't wait to get underway!