Satisfaction

I grew up in Rockville, Maryland just outside Washington, DC, one of five children. My parents just sold our old house earlier this year. It was in a nice suburban neighborhood. We moved in when the house was new. One of the things my parents liked about the neighborhood was that when it was built, rather than leveling everything in site, they carved out lots and roads leaving most of the wooden area it was built on.

Of course, that meant that every fall there were tons of leaves; I mean an endless, mountainous supply. And, as it should be, it fell to the children to rake them up. In response to our complaints my mom would say, "Just think of the satisfaction you'll feel when it's done." I guess some lessons take time.

Many years later, I have grown to love the feeling of completing tasks, looking at something that was a mess and is now, due to my labor, beautiful.

Much of the past two days have been spent cleaning the dinghy. When you live on a boat your dinghy becomes your car. It takes you from the anchorage or mooring field into shore. It takes you from your rented slip up the river to a restaurant or grocery store. Sometimes it takes you on the cruising equivalent of a Sunday drive. Over the past 9 months, our dinghy has delivered groceries, taken us to dinner dates, and, the best outings, brought the kids to their swimming spots. But all these activities had taken their toll and she was in need of a thorough cleaning.

After rinsing her off I got out one of my favorite products, GoJo Orange, which we list in our Products and Tips We Love section of our website. It's not just that it does a fantastic job of getting off the dirt and scum, it's also not a "boating product" so it's reasonably priced. I'm convinced that somewhere there's a Federal statute levying any product with "marine" or "boat" in its name with a 200% tax.

So I started in and as I finished the starboard side and moved to the port I had to step back and admire the difference between the two. And, yes, I felt a great sense of satisfaction. Mom, you were right.

Love,
Karen

Downtime

We're still waiting for Bill to make his way up the east coast. The predictions here in Maine are for rains and winds to start tonight through Sunday. He's moved further east and slowed down so we're hoping the seas will settle down Monday allowing us to leave first thing Tuesday morning.

In the meantime, we're taking the final preparations a bit slower and taking some downtime with our friends. We've had some parties, big and small, and went to see the new Meryl Streep movie, Julie & Julia - Karen loved it (Jeff says "chick flick"). This afternoon we found time to give the dogs a final bath. Can anyone explain why dogs who absolutely love being in the water hate being bathed? But they smell awful sweet right now.

We were left a comment asking advice about the "poop deck" for the dogs. We have an article describing all about the technique we used. Check out Canine Crew on the web site. If you'd like a reply to your comment, please make sure you leave us your email address!

Curses to Bill!

Hurricane Bill is churning up the waters off the east coast so we have postponed our Friday departure. There's even a possibility it could hit here in Castine. We're considering putting aCappella on our storm mooring tomorrow or Friday. Our next possible departure date looks like Tuesday the 25th. So we wait, visit some more with friends, and hope he hurries his way north.

Cruising With Our Friends

We're in what we thought would be our final week - Friday, August 21st being our take off day. So we planned some day cruises with friends to say good-bye. While we're looking forward to the trip, we're also going to miss those back home. We had two beautiful days cruising around the Penobscot Bay. Our friend, Marion, took this picture after we pulled into the dock one day. I think it's a pretty good looking crew!

While we're almost ready to go, it seems that Mother Nature has some other plans for us. The weather is deteriorating as the week goes on so Friday is looking like a "no go." We're actively watching the building disturbances in the Caribbean with Hurricane Bill too. We're still moving ahead as planned. That way if the weather clears we can go and if it doesn't, we'll have some down time before we leave. No more projects are left - we're simply loading clothes, books, last minute supplies, readying the house, etc.

Anchor Testing

On Tuesday we left for Carver Cove to do some testing with our new anchor. We wanted to really understand how it worked and how working with it might differ from our other anchors. Carver Cove is a good spot for this as it's a large cove with good water. Tuesday night we were the only boat anchored there - even better. We pulled in around 5:00 PM and set the anchor at a variety of scopes, at first trying to make it not set and skip along the bottom so Jeff could know what that felt like. Whenever we anchor Jeff does the bow work while I handle the helm. When we finally let her set, she really did set. Putting the engines in reverse didn't cause us to move an inch.

The night was calm but we still wondered how hard it would be to haul anchor in the morning. Rocna's have a reputation for being a bear to free - the reason we got it actually. We were up early Wednesday morning and found the process went very smoothly. Using the engines, we were able to free the anchor fairly quickly. It also gave the prefect chance to use our new saltwater wash down. Jeff says he's in love. It's a good thing I'm not the jealous type. There is still an issue with positioning the anchor and chain as she moves in and out to ensure the chain stays on the winch. Jeff and Larry are working on that one so I'm sure a solution is coming.

The kids did great. They're settling in and finding the spots they like - the bow is a favorite for sniffing those good sea smells. We tried feeding them while underway (something our last crew mate, Tucker, never liked doing) and they finished in their usual rush. They both seem to understand the "poop deck," although Dylan still waits for Dyna to go first. He seems a bit unsure whether or not it's OK. We stuff our pockets with treats so I'm sure he'll feel more confident soon.

When we returned home, the dogs were loaded into the car for a ride to Bangor. We had a promise to fulfill for JoDee -- a four generation picture of Dyan, daughter Katie, granddaughter Daisy, and great-grandson Sarge. Of course, we also took the opportunity to get Dylan with his grandma Dyna, and mom Katie. Dyna has certainly created quite a "Dynasty"!

Washdown Complete!

The saltwater washdown is now installed and fully functioning. We're amazed that it went in without a single real hitch. Of course, we're not tempting fate, so we keep checking the staterooms where the hose runs through for leaks. This is not to say it was easy. It was the most complex addition we've undertaken on the boat so far. But for several days of effort we now have a way to save about 25 gallons or more of fresh water each time we anchor. Our plan is to anchor most nights on this cruise, so that's significant.


In light of our anchoring plans, Jeff decided to upgrade our anchor. Currently, we have four anchors: a Bruce, a CQR, a Fortress, and a Danforth. The Bruce is the anchor we use from Maine to Charleston. It works well in the soft, muddy bottoms from the Penobscot Bay to the Chesapeake. Unfortunately, the first time we anchored in the Bahamas we discovered (at 3 AM) that it is poor in hard sand bottoms. So we started switching to the Fortress and then back again to the Bruce - kind of a pain. The CQR was our backup anchor which we've never used and the Danforth is our stern anchor.

While we've only dragged anchor twice in 15,000 miles of cruising, Jeff has always worried that our Bruce, at 66 pounds, and our Fortress FX55 were a bit undersized. For the sake of many good night's sleep, we decided to get a heavier anchor that would also eliminate the need to switch mid-cruise. After much research, Jeff settled on the Rocna 55 (55 kg or 121 lbs). Unfortunately, the manufacturer had no experience with mounting a large Rocna on a newer model DeFever, so we were a bit concerned it would be too big for our bow roller. After some testing with cardboard templates, we decided to give it a try.

So off we went late last week to West Marine in Southwest Harbor (an hour and a half drive) on my 50th birthday - Jeff was smart enough not to put a ribbon on it and say, "Happy Birthday, honey!" - to meet the delivery truck. The next day we left to drive to Mystic, CT to talk at the MTOA NE Rendevous (great people, great fun) so we will have to wait until later this week for our first anchor fit test. Our hope is that eventually we can get rid of the CQR and maybe the Bruce to gain some needed space in the lazarette. Any one need a gently used anchor?

Progress At Last...

The weather finally broke on Thursday. It was a bright, sunny, perfect Maine summer day. Unfortunately, we had to stay home to wait for a shipment of batteries. Long story, short, we finagled a deal where all new batteries for the boat would be delivered to our house if we guaranteed we would meet the truck and off load them ourselves - over 1,000 lbs. of batteries according to the delivery guy. They were supposed to be here by noon leaving us the afternoon to work on the boat. They arrived at 5:45pm. Our months of weight training paid off as we moved them onto wood planks in the basement.

Fortunately, two more days of perfect weather followed with more rain Saturday night into Sunday morning. That left us all day Friday and Saturday, and Sunday afternoon to get things done - and we sure did.

We brought one each of the monster batteries (8D's at 169 lbs) for the bow thruster to the boat on Friday and Saturday. Our boat is still on our storm mooring about 2 miles from the town dock. Getting it down the ramp, into the dinghy, and then onto the boat was hard enough, but we then had to get it down in to the lazarette. Jeff rigged some line so we could lower them down in what we hoped would be a controlled way.

We used a technique we learned from Larry to surround the terminals before covering them with anti-corrosion spray. They're now installed and working fine. We still have 12 more Trojan T-105 batteries for our house and the starter banks but we've decided to bring the boat up to the dock to load those.

We secured the saltwater wash-down hose with tie-wraps for its entire length and cut the final hole in the bow deck. It turns out the deck is wood sandwiched between two layers of fiberglass. Jeff was fortunate to learn basic fiberglass skills a few years ago from a friend in the business. He over-drilled the hole, routed out some of the wood inner section, and coated it all with West System epoxy to keep water out. We also over-drilled the three screw holes and filled them to be drilled again when the epoxy is hardened. The deck fitting will go in this week covering the patch work.

Our horn has been slowly fading to the point where it's embarrassing - kind of like a Chihuahua bark on a Doberman. So replacing it was on our list. Of course, there was no way that the mounting from the old horn would match up with the new one. So not only did the old one need to be removed and holes drilled for the new one, but we had to repair the old holes. Out came the gelcoat and epoxy boxes again. We patched the bottom with 4 layers of fiberglass and filled the holes with epoxy. When we get a chance to breathe, Jeff will apply gelcoat over the repair and we'll never know where the old horn was!

On Saturday Jeff was finally able to coat the cap-rail on the bow and portuguese bridge with Semco. We removed the varnish several years ago (yes, I know it's beautiful to look at, but now I can just admire the labor of others). After, trying different things, Jeff settled on Semco - a teak seaker - and we've been very happy with it. We still have the stern left to do.

While he worked on that, I worked on the bow railings. I recently read a novel that described how in marriages of certain durations, tasks become the responsibility of one or the other spouse, for example, making sure there's toilet paper or monitoring the room temperature. One of my tasks is polishing the stainless steel. I actually don't mind it. I've tried several different products and really like StarBrite's Marine Polish with Teflon. I've even added it to Products and Tips We Love listing. It's easy to use and looks great. I've found that putting on a second coat soon after the first makes it last much longer and makes subsequent coats easier. It generally removes most of the discoloration but when it's been a long time since cleaning - like the first time of the season - I also use Nevr-Dull (another Product We Love) to remove the tough stains. Another trick I discovered is to leave the marine polish on for a bit before buffing it off. Unlike fiberglass polish which I find works best if you buff almost immediately, the marine polish actually works better if left to harden for 10-15 minutes.

Dyna and Dylan have enjoyed their dinghy rides to the boat and are learning to sit nicely while underway (well, sometimes anyway). Visiting the boat is a nice little adventure and each finds a comfy spot to sleep or to supervise our activities. How could we do it without them? Dyna has quickly remembered where to do her business. Dylan needs some remedial training. We're not sure what they're going to think in about 6 weeks when that dinghy ride turns into a 9 month adventure. They'll keep you posted.

We're getting some of the major projects done and it's beginning to feel like we'll be ready on time. If the weather holds we'll keep checking things off the list!

Here Comes The Sunshine?

As I write this it is pouring down rain - again - even though Yahoo Weather says "Light Rain." The rain and fog just refuses to let up. According to AccuWeather, we had over 8 inches of rain in June, our normal is 3. We have been going to the boat when it's merely been raining, as opposed to pouring with blowing wind. There have been trips back in pea soup fog. Most trips we've taken one or both of the dogs. They're settling back in and finding the places they like to sleep. But we've mostly been confined to doing indoor tasks.

The biggest job we've worked on was running hose for the saltwater wash-down. On the first trip we decided to cut two of the five holes we'd need. Somehow it always feels ominous when cutting a hole in the boat. The first hole went from the chain locker, which has an access door in the guest stateroom, to behind the curtained area. That took pretty much all afternoon and we returned home well after dinner time, much to Dyna and Dylan's dismay. The next time we decided to cut just two more holes and all four went in quickly without a hitch! Jeff spent one more trip pulling the hose from the master stateroom through an access hatch to the engine room which required one more hole. Dylan was there to help with that one. So now the hose runs from the chain locker at the bow, aft to the engine room where we will mount the pump. One last hole in the deck to connect the deck fitting and she's ready for a trial. Hopefully we'll get that done this week.

On July 4th we had an amazing break of afternoon sun so Jeff took Dyna out to help him install new site-glass material on the fuel tanks. They've become so discolored that we can no longer see the fuel level. Jeff heard about this special tubing called Tygon from another trawler owner who has had it for several years. He says it's still crystal clear. We'll see. He said it was about the smoothest project he's done to date, and was back earlier than predicted. He stepped in the door just before the sky opened up. Went to the annual July 4th party to watch the fireworks. Fortunately, the rain slowed to a drizzle just about 9PM so we had a beautiful fireworks display before the rain started again.

The job we are most anxious to get done is touching up the cap-rail. For that we need several dry days in a row. Fat chance. 7 weeks from today is our targeted take off date.....

She's In The Water!

All week "they" predicted rain with clearing Friday and through the weekend - perfect! We spent all day on a drizzly Thursday completing projects that had to be done before we could put aCappella in the water - tightening every hose clamp, spraying the shafts with anti-fouling paint, cleaning strainers, loading supplies, bleeding fuel tanks - lots of stuff. By the time we left she was in the slings waiting to be launched on Friday morning at 6:30 am. Nothing would stop us now.

Well, on Friday morning we woke to pouring rain and headed out with dogs in tow for our early launching - it's a 90 minute drive. We ended up soaked but it all went pretty smoothly. The rain never let up so we just started in on our to-do list - de-winterizing the water system, cleaning and organizing inside, checking the heat, frig, stove, heads, and on and on. Of course, we forgot to bring the "magic mat" (see our article on training dogs for the "poop deck", Canine Crew) - it wasn't on "the list" - so the dogs were not cooperating with their bathroom chores.

Once the boat was secure at the dock, I headed out to bring back breakfast along with the dogs - it was really pouring by then. Seeing the very steep (low tide with our 10 foot tides) ramp I decided that holding on to two Labs while carrying coffee and breakfast sandwiches was not a good idea, so I let them off leash at the top to run down by themselves - what could go wrong? Spry Dylan went down like a bullet - mainly a slightly controlled free-fall. Dyna followed behind. Half way down her back foot caught in a drain hole and she ended up splayed on her belly stuck. My cry for help instantly brought three guys from Journey's End Marina who helped free her. My heroes! Another reason I love this marina! Dyna was unhurt but I did lose one of the coffees (Jeff's)...

We all fell into bed exhausted on Friday night and awoke to the most glorious day on Saturday. The dogs were cooperative with their morning bathroom activities and we decided to reward them with a dinghy ride - we wanted to test her out anyway.

Our first real problem - it was dead. A check of the battery showed it was fine, so we assumed it was a reincarnation of the electrical problem we thought we had fixed last summer. No dinghy ride but now we couldn't put her back because the engine wouldn't tilt. Several calls to Larry with several attempted fixes didn't change the situation. We finally decided to put her back up onto the boat on blocks. Jeff was pretty frustrated but then our problem wasn't as bad as the boat across the way...

Next, a thorough boat cleaning (she was filthy), bilge cleaning, sorting through the engine room and lazarette, new bronze fittings for the salt water wash-down, and I can't even remember what else. Somehow we got to the end of our list in time to go out for dinner and back to watch a movie. We were ready to head home on Sunday. Of course, we awoke Sunday to rain. Well, at least it wasn't pouring rain. The three hour trip back to Castine was great with flat, calm water. Everything worked fine.

Dyna, otherwise known as "The Queen," claimed the settee in the salon on which she slept the entire way back.

Dylan stayed close in the pilothouse but he soon succumbed to sleep also.

Larry met us with our Whaler and helped put the bridle back on our mooring. He then chauffeured us back to shore. Tomorrow we head back to Rockland to pick up the car and start down our list for our August departure - gel-coat fixes, cap rail touch-up, install hosing for the wash-down, engine room painting, new exhaust blankets, new batteries, plus a lot more. We're down to (only) 58 things on our Project list.

The Time Grows Short

We are scheduled to put the boat in one week from today. Actually, we're in pretty good shape. Barring no unforeseen event we'll be ready. Hey, what could possibly happen? But just to be sure I have been making plenty of overtures to the God Dylan. No, not our lovely puppy who turns two today by the way, but the Celtic God of the waves, for whom our Dylan is named. As you can tell, we are absolutely not above shamelessly sucking up to any available deity in the hopes of calm seas. I find it just as effective as swearing when you're in a blow.

This week was mainly attending to lots of small tasks. Adding the final connectors to the new VHF antenna and testing the fly-bridge radio, putting the snaps on the two new window screens, replacing the windshield wipers, etc. Jeff finished gel coat repairs on the Whaler and plans to bottom paint this weekend so she can go in early next week. Each trip we make down to the boat we load the car with items we removed last fall. Excitement is growing.

Our final tasks include preparing our four-legged crew for duty. We fear they have reverted into quite the landlubbers over the winter. I put the "training mat" back out several months ago which they are completely ignoring (see our article on training your crew to use the poop deck, Canine Crew, for an explanation). A week from today they will begin 3-days onboard as we whip them back into salty dawgs. We'll keep you posted.

Eight week old Dylan reports for duty. Where does the time go???????