Foreign Affair Sailing

A new microwave was installed as the old one worked some of the time but not all of the time. The electronic keypad must have been corroded due to many years in a salt water environment. A new "Magic Chef" microwave for Carla, the magic chef who can doctor up any meal.  (Disregard the man in the oven.  He's all smoke and mirrors - Magic!).



The bilge pump float switch was not activating the bilge pump.  Dwayne replaced the old switch and its wiring.  Works fine now.  Just in time too, as the boat will be unattended while we return to Kansas/Missouri for family birthdays, a first communion and dance recitals.  We also will be interviewing a house sitter and doing house maintenance.  We return to Maryland on May 5^th.

Carla continued to clean and find a place for everything.

The faucet in the main head leaked constantly when under pressure.  All the faucets were pitted and needed to be replaced.  So, it was off to Home Depot and/or Lowes to purchase new faucets and other repair items. 

Working in tight spaces required some awkward reaches.  Sometimes 2 hands weren't enough for the task and both of us would have to stretch and reach at the same time to get the job done.  If only it were as easy as it appears in the photo below.

Dwayne went to the Annapolis Spring Boat Show to check out the sale prices on some of the items we still needed to purchase and make contact with some of the vendors.  

Carla stayed on the boat for a little “downtime, rest and relaxation”.

Our major purchase was an Achilles HB-280LX, Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) and a Tohatsu 9.8 HP outboard. 

The Annapolis Spring Boat Show is America’s largest, in-water spring boat show.  http://www.annapolisboatshows.com/annapolis-spring-sailboat-show/

We weighed anchor at 0900 with overcast sky, cold temperatures 40’s and chilling wind up to 10 knots. Waters were relatively calm.  

When we approached the Bay Bridge the waves grew to a foot and further down the Bay to two feet high.  We followed the shoreline south catching distant views of the numerous sailboat races along the way.  

We arrived off Herrington Harbour shortly after 1500 and joined a small fleet of boats fishing for striped bass.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Striped_bass

After fishing for a little over an hour without luck, we headed into Herrington Harbour South to refuel, pump out and move the boat to her slip.

Cast off at 9:45.  Hoorah!!! 

However, our excitement was short-lived. The harbor had not yet been dredged for the season and it was past low tide.  We stayed close to the end of the docks on our starboard where the channel is supposed to be close to 7 feet deep but upon passing the third dock, we ran aground in the mud.   We informed the marina staff of our being stuck and shortly after, the dredge operator arrived in a barge and helped us plow through the mud until we reached the deep water of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.  

Underway again at 10:30.  Hoorah!!!  

We were free at last and on our way.

The sun shone bright but it was a cold and windy day.  Temperature at departure was 44 and the winds were in the high teens and low 20’s with gusts in the low 30’s.



Waves were up to 2 feet in the Elk River and grew to 4 feet as we moved down the Bay.  Our destination was the Tolchester Marina where we intended to spend the night.  http://tolchestermarina.com/

We arrived at Tolchester just after 17:00 with high winds and 3 to 4 foot waves.  The harbor entrance was narrow and difficult to enter under the existing conditions.  We made one approach to the harbor entrance and abandoned the notion of entering due to the high waves and shoaling. 

We crossed to the leeward side of the Bay to seek shelter at another marina.  It was getting late so we decided to head for the Magothy River since there were several marinas near its mouth and a good cove with ample depth to anchor out, if necessary.  We arrived at dusk and made one attempt to head up Deep Creek but found it too shallow.  We headed into Sillery Bay just north of Deep Creek and anchored for the night.

The winds calmed during the night and we had a good night’s sleep. 

We finished painting the boat’s hull, propeller shaft and propeller.  

The travel lift crew showed up at noon and we launched at 1300.  

George and Mike, boat mechanics, came aboard to flush and test the freshwater systems which they winterized last October.  In addition, Mike installed a new starter motor.  George re-charged the air conditioning system.  We also had some challenges getting the toilet to flush due to a stopped up line leading to the holding tank.  The toilet worked fine once the line was unplugged.  Our crew including the skipper really appreciated not having to use a “p_ _ _” bucket.

Dwayne's brother, Brian and family arrived shortly before dark to deliver Dwayne's sister-in-law, Janet and Tony, a friend of the family, to serve as crew.  Our car was also repositioned to Brian’s house that night.

We painted the bottom of the boat with two coats of Interlux Micron CSC bottom paint. We painted until nearly midnight and started again early the next morning to finish.  

Carla scraped barnacles from the bottom of the keel. 

The yard crew moved the jacks so we could paint the entire bottom.

Boat launch was scheduled for the next day and we needed to have the paint cure before we put the boat in the water.

Carla spray painted the shaft and propeller with Interlux Primocon and Interlux Trilux 33.  

When finished, the boat’s bottom looked good.  We were somewhat proud.

Dwayne compounded and waxed the starboard side of the boat.  Then, he sanded the boat’s bottom.  What a back-breaking, filthy job!  Dwayne was so covered in blue paint dust that someone said he looked like a Smurf.  Another one of those "once in a life-time experiences" not to be repeated.

Carla water-proofed the dodger, taped the waterline in preparation for painting the boat’s bottom and tried to find places for all our clothes and equipment in the cabin.

Back to Summit North Marina, Bear, DE and work, work, work.  

Dwayne washed, compounded and waxed the port side of boat. 

Carla washed the starboard side of boat in the morning and spent the afternoon waterproofing canvas.

On Sunday, we decided to go the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum in Baltimore. 

Abraham Lincoln was assassinated 150 years ago on April 14, 1865 and the B&O Railroad Museum created a re-enactment of the public visitation and transport of Lincoln's body from Baltimore to Springfield, Illinois with an exact replica of Lincoln's coffin, period music, and military and civilian re-enactors.  A Civil War locomotive decorated as Lincoln's funeral train and special exhibits about Lincoln's funeral train were on display.

The B&O Muesum is unique in having the largest collection of the earliest railroad engines and cars in the country.  It was another fun and educational day.

www.borail.org/Civil-War.aspx

Back to Annapolis, picked up anchor chain, paint and other supplies at Bacon’s.  

Stopped for cocktails at the Carrol’s Creek Cafe.  http://carrolscreek.com/  

Spoke to a few boaters at the marina and watched the activity in the harbor.  A much needed beautiful relaxing day!!

Went to Annapolis in search of a good used Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) and outboard.  We looked at a few serviceable used dinghies but they were greatly overpriced.  We saw many more “dingies” not worth buying as they were in really bad shape.  

Dropped off our mainsail at Ullman’s Sail Loft for repairs and the addition of a reinforcement panel along the sail’s leech.  

Looked at a couple of used sails at Bacon’s but decided they were not much better than the one we already had being repaired at Ullman’s.

Weather was uncooperative for working on the boat – cold and raining.  

We went to Annapolis to order anchor chain, wash-down pump, paint and some parts from Bacon’s.  Stopped at Chick and Ruth’s for lunch (great malts and pies).  http://www.chickandruths.com/

After lunch, we toured U.S. Naval Academy.  Highlights were the Naval Academy Museum http://www.usna.edu/Museum/ which has exhibits about the history of seapower, the development of the US Navy and the life of a midshipman.

The Museum's holdings include: ship models, paintings, prints, flags, uniforms, swords, firearms, medals, sculptures, manuscripts, rare books, photographs, ship instruments and gear, and a wide variety of personal marine memorabilia.

A highlight of the tour was the Naval Academy Chapel which contains the crypt of John Paul Jones.  

http://www.usna.edu/Chaplains/virtualTour/main_chapel.php

We drove to Herrington Harbour to check on the slip we will occupy through the first week of June.  The weather is still unusually cold and rainy.  Our slip is on the back row just ten slips away from the one we occupied last fall.  Significant improvements and expansion projects are underway along the entrance canal and beach.  New walkways, flower gardens and gazebos are being added.  A shuffle board and horse shoe pitch are being installed, as well as, playground equipment.  Truck loads of sand are being spread on the beaches and the Olympic size pool will open the week before Memorial Day.  Many of the perennial plants are in bloom and annuals are being planted.  Overall, Herrington Harbour South is a very pleasant place to live.

http://www.herringtonharbour.com/herrington-marinas/south/

Baby jellyfish are in the harbor shallows.

Arrived Summit North Marina on the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal to begin re-commissioning “Foreign Affair”.  We were concerned with how she weathered one of the most severe winters in Delaware history.  Our greatest fear was the batteries would have to be replaced at great expense.  Fortunately, they came through fine.  The shrink wrap on the boat was intact; however, upon cutting open the stern access, it was discovered the boat was covered with leaves which had fallen prior to the wrap.  It took us the better part of a day to remove the leaves and we are still working on removing stains left by them in the gelcoat.

Day one we were busy removing leaves, inspecting the boat and loading some of our personal items and gear.