August 27-Sept 12, 2014 Solomons

Solomons.  Patuxent river on left, Mill creek in center and right

The Solomons is somewhat of a boating mecca along the shores of the Patuxent River almost directly opposite of the large and active Naval Air Station on the southern shore.  Mill Creek which has two branches, runs through the community.  The eastern most branch has several miles of winding water way while the western branch is where most of the marinas, bars and shops are located.  The creek itself is deep and very protected.  There are several anchorages on both branches.

Marina Office

Calverts Marina is located on the land between the branches.  It consists of a couple of condo developments facing the eastern branch of Mill Creek while the marina runs along the majority of the western branch which is better known as Back Creek.

This spit of land was once an Army amphibious training facility for WWI.  Nothing much left of it except the commanders house.  There is an effort underway to make it viable historical site.

Washburns Yard Office

And Washburns Boat Yard occupies a portion of the property adjacent to the marina transient docks.

Main (gravel) road leading down to the fuel dock

Entrance.  Condo's on the left which run along the other branch of Mill Creek

Calvert's is kind of a resort too with charter boats, and a pool.   The  roads are gravel and exhibit a wide variety of potholes.  Not an advantage when walking at night.

The kindly described, "rustic" pool

In the Marina office foyer

And they have a sense of humor.

Today I worked on the forward head clogged hose.  It finally erupted in several spurts of sand and stone as we pumped water through it.??  The hose seemed to be clear, and measuring how far we could get the snake into the hose from both ends leads to me to think we cleared out the clog  but there still must be a kink somewhere since water doesn't freely run out.,  So tomorrow I’ll stick the little mini waterproof camera probe down the access holes and see what I can see.

Justin the welder stopped over later in the morning and after 20 seconds declared he couldn't weld a cast aluminum piece because it would be too brittle.  We discussed a few options and I decided to see if Washburns could be of any help. So I walked over there, there being not quite a 100 yards away, and talked with Eric who sent  a technician over to to the boat for an assessment of the situation.  He went back thinking we could just find a replacement drum and bushing, or maybe a whole new hoist.   We’ll see if they can do better than I have.

Meanwhile we did a load of laundry and experienced the rather rustic restrooms and showers.

I rode over to the local Food Lion about a mile away and brought back soda for Mary and seltzer water for me.  Bob and Martha called and wanted to go to the farmers market but Mary declined so we just had them over for cocktails.  Later in the evening. They rented a car.  The trek over to their marina across the creek is  mile by bike.  By dinghy it would be 5 minutes since we can clearly see it from where we are tied up.

I spoke with the guy next to us on that Delta 86 trawler, Oasis.  He draws 10 feet!  It's a huge boat!  He has a female golden retriever on board and they've taken her on the boat from Alaska through the Panama Canal to the Bahama’s and up here to the Bay.  Sweet dog and he's only 17 months!

He had a number of good sea stories!

So now, with freshly laundered sheets we pretty much went to bed at 9:30!  Outrageous!

This morning discovered the obstruction has to be downstream of the anti-siphon connector!  Yeah.  Progress.

Meanwhile I found out from Washburns they cant find a suitable replacement hoist.  Earlier, Eric had come over and took pictures and thought he found a possible replacement.  I took measurements and found the length of the hoist too long to fit up inside the crane body.  Oh well

Eric is part owner of Washburns and lives with his wife on his boat Silver Belles a 42 Bertram.  It's tied up right at yard.  Knowledgeable guy with short commute!

So while he went back to check out some other alternatives I tried calling the machine shop recommended to me by JT, the friend of Bob's who knows all the repair places here in Solomons.  Fran, the machine shop guy wasn't in so I’ll have call him Tuesday.  Meanwhile Eric said he’d talk with UMT in Florida which is the place that originally installed the davit and see if he couldn't get some additional information from them.  So things are crawling along.

Soon after I was treated to insightful moment, realizing we wont be leaving here any time soon.  So I ran over and asked if they had the capability of hoisting our dinghy down and in the water.  And sure enough they do.    

Rob getting the old crane ready

We had to move the boat over about 100 feet to the next pier where they had an old Bucyrus-Erie truck crane parked and blocked up on the shore right next to the water.  It was old.  And I mean old, with a 6 cylinder gas engine hooked up to an ancient hydraulic pump.  Rob, the crane operator had to feed cable as he raised the main section of the crane.  Then he extended the boom until I could grab the hook and attach it to the lifting harness on the dinghy.  He lifted the boom and up went the dinghy.

Ready for the lifting to commence 

We left it swinging in the air as we backed off the pier and did a 180 to head back to our pier.  Luckily there was a guy working on Oasis, the green Delta 70’ yacht next to us.  He ran over and took our lines. We had a few lines out so I dashed back to the crane and our swinging dinghy leaving Mary to get the rest of the lines secured.  I climbed in and he lowered the dinghy with me in it.  Took a few tries but it started up and I let it run awhile before heading back to the boat and tying it up to the swim platform.  

Hanging in the air just waiting for me to climb in

Later I took it out to the Patuxant river for a a nice run to blow it out since we hadn't run it for about 30 days.  Came back into the creek and put in 3.2 gallons of gas before heading back to the boat. 

Later we dinghied over to Bob and Martha;s where we decided to postpone our planned shopping venture until the next day.  Instead we went out to eat.  This could be fun for the next few days.  Bob and Martha have a car for a week and we have a dinghy!

After, we dropped Mary off at the boat and the three of us went to a concert which was not quite what we were interested in seeing.  So we went back to there boat and talked awhile before I drove back to our boat in the dark.  Beautiful, clear night.

We went to Walmart with Bob and Martha the next day on a shopping expedition.  I bought 2 new fan so I can dump the cumbersome and inefficient metal ones we have now.  And, we also bought a vacuum cleaner identical to the battery powered one we already own, but 110AC.  Powerful little beast or so states the advertising.  We stopped and ate lunch at a nearby McDonalds because it was, well, there and we didn't feel like driving around.  I mean isn't there a McDonalds near you right  now?   We blew the rest of our MacCard funds plus $15 because we took Bob and Martha out since they have the car and drove us.

Biked to the store later in the afternoon to get more seltzer water (we've developed a fondness for the the stuff) and some other grocery things.  The route passes by a a little park where a weekend concert was being set up.   Some of the band names sounded familiar, as vague recollections from many decades ago.  Unfortunately they were to vague for me to recall.  And I never did get over there to see them the next day.

Wait!  Molly Hatchet was one of the bands!  Sound familiar?

Bob and Martha invited us over for dinner so we took the dinghy over and had yummy spaghetti before heading back to the boat to shower and a few more Boston Legal episodes.  And then we ended our exciting day by going to bed.

Mary got up for 10:45am church today and I took her over in the dinghy. The church is named Our Lady Star of the Sea.    I returned to the boat and ran through some hose tests and located the obstruction.  I had to take the hose out of the boat which wasn't easy since it runs under the deck along the stingers in the bilge.  Had to take it out on the pier but its only about 12 feet long.

Much to the bewilderment of a family cruising by in a little ski boat, I began whacking the hose on the cement pier.  That loosened the plug(s) and they came flying out in a spray of, well gravel.  The family watched for several minutes as I banged the hose repeatedly with occasional sprays of material until finally nothing else came out.  I smiled and gave the family a thumbs up.  They just stared at me.  No applause.  No nothing.  I don’t think I’ll ever let them use our head!

Ran clear water through it to be sure it was obstructions free.  All good so I started re-assembling everything.  

Mary called by then so I ran over to pick her up at Bob and Martha’s boat which was very near the church.  We lingered a short time and then returned to our boat.  I helped Oasis's owner stow his hefty aluminum dinghy's bimini supports.   They are leaving tomorrow at 6:30am.  Wonder if we’ll hear them?

With all the tools and paraphernalia stowed away from our forward head repairs, all that's left now is getting the hose attached to a fitting on the holding tank.  Simple in theory.  Far more difficult in practice.

 I tried unsuccessfully multiple times before turning to soap, silicon lubricant and finally a heat gun.  Even using those usually reliable methods proved useless.  I'm reluctant to really mash the thing on  the fitting for fear of breaking it off like I did the original one.  So tomorrow morning it’s the old boiling water trick to soften the hose making it pliable enough to shove on the fitting. 

I was out on the dock talking with a boat in front us as they were trying to leave.  Nice older guy had a single stern line he asked to me handle.  So he gets on his boat, engines running, bow swinging out with the wind and the single stern line holding the boat.  But before he can get to the fly bridge and the controls, 5 kids, I’m assuming grand kids, all stepped in front of him and started climbing the ladder making him wait.  It was pretty funny and he seemed amused.

Woody's 1976 Hatteras LRC

Also talked to another older guy from Charleston, Woody.  He owns a 1976 Hatteras.  It's an old boat that he fusses over.  Nice fellow.  He's been trying to leave early enough in the spring to start The Loop but never quite gets passed the Chesapeake.  This year was his third attempt.  Fourth year's the charm!  

I wonder if these "older" guys I meet write about me ....  "And I met this older guy and ...",

Male cats about to me de-genderized the next day

Mary and I walked to the garbage dumpster near the marina office (how do you have fun?) and stopped in briefly to see how the two, now fixed male kittens were doing (fine).   And Mary needed to exchange another book from their lending library. It’s a whole wall of books.  You borrow one and leave one.  Almost every marina we've been to has something similar. 

We got back to the boat and took the dinghy out for about an hour to explore the back of  Mill creek.  Nice homes and numerous places to anchor back in there.

We returned to the boat and Mary took a nap while I got the boat ready for the rain which is forecast for tonight.  Ran over to Bob and Martha's for a cocktail and planning session with Bob for his water leak repair tomorrow morning.  I offered to help him.

Came back, ate some dinner went for a walk and showered on board again.  The humidity tonight is  in the high 90’s and the temps are in the high 80’s.  Just plain soupy out  there.

This morning I went over to Field Trip (Bob and Martha's boat) this morning where we replaced a segment of a leaking fresh water line.  Used Pex and Shark fittings.  Easy stuff to work with!  Not so easy to get at it though.  Another dozen contortions used up.

Came back to our boat and immediately tackled our repair job.   I boiled some water and then we soaked the end of the sanitary hose in boiling water for about two minutes.  Probably could have done it for only a minute.  It slid on the barbed fitting with nary a fuss or whimper.  We cleaned up everything and tested the head several times.  And  it all works.  Yeah!  So no more mention of head repairs. 

Bob and Martha at Anglers

Later in the afternoon we returned to Field Trip for a few drinks at their marina bar and then went to dinner at Anglers Restaurant almost directly across the creek from us.  I had a gyro rockfish sandwich.  Very good.

We returned to the boat and had a brief talk with the couple on a catamaran occupying the spot where the big Oasis was situated.  They're on there way back to the Carolina's and home.  And the guy wasn't an older guy either!

But with the Big Boat gone now we have no more shade.  Oh well

Tomorrow we dig into the hoist issue full bore.  We only have 27 days before going to WI again.  

Early this morning I called Fran again at the weld shop that was recommended to us by Jerry (JT) the  friend of Bob and Martha.   No response.   So sensing nothing was going to happen, I just took the hoist over to Eric at Washburns and asked him to take it to their machinist/fabricator so we can at least get something done. 

And, in a flash of brilliance, I inquired about staying on their dock since they were sorta fixing our boat.  Eric the sweet man that he is said sure.  So we'll be on fixed docks with  no charge except for electric.  So we moved the boat over to Washburns, but not until  after we took a little ride up the Patxutant river to make water.

Bob and Martha joined us for the ride.  The river scenic, pretty wide and deep.  There are a multitude of  anchorages in the several deep creeks that spill out into the river.   It was nice to have Bob drive the boat while I was fooling with the water maker and Mary was doing a few loads of laundry.   We only went up river about 5 miles before turning back.  But it gave us enough time to fill the water tanks and get two loads of laundry done.  And we occasionally did pop back up on the fly bridge to enjoy the cool breeze and scenery.

Heading up river past Solomons

Tied up at Washburns behind a Selene 53

We returned to Mill creek and went directly to Washburns this time and docked behind a nice 53’ Selene.  We’ll be here awhile as the hoist is slowly repaired.









Boring Hoist details below:

Boring most of you I'm sure but I should provide a few details about the hoist.  It has a forged aluminum drum which has the lifting cable wound around it.  The drum sits in a bracket which is mounted to the crane body.  In our case the drum stem had worn down and popped out of the bracket.  The solution is to fabricate a tapered plug, pinned to the drum and weld a new bushing to the bracket.   

I also asked Eric if he could see about getting a mechanic here to come to look at this vexing oil leak on the port side engine.  Hopefully we’ll hear more about that tomorrow morning.

Meanwhile Bob and Martha went back to their boat and I dinghied over later for a drink so Mary could rest up.  She’s going to the doctor tomorrow, the coughing fits and weariness finally getting to the point where a doctor visit is necessary.

Early to bed tonight with all three A/C units running.  It was 91 out at 9:30 and our A/C units could only keep the temps on the boat down to around 78.  Better than trying to sleep in 90 degree heat though.  We’re also supposed to get some rain tonight so I closed everything up.   Nice and toasty up on the fly bridge!

Eric let me know a mechanic was on the way down to see the port engine this morning around 8:30.  So I scrambled around and got the belt shroud off and cleared out a space.  Katie, the mechanic, came on board and after looking at the engine decided we would need to take the boat out and see how the oil leaked since its not apparent from looking without it running.   I’ll have to use the last can of my brake cleaner to clean up the engine front of oil and belt dust so the oil leak location will be more apparent.  She left with a promise to get back to me about scheduling a day.

I was given Washburn's WiFi code and we began enjoying a moderately useful internet connection.  Think I’ll save any big downloads for after the yard guys all leave.  But I did note the connection speed is much better in the office area than out at the docks where we are and it seemed to deteriorate during the day.

I paid bills, and did other paperwork today.  Fiddled with my new laptop some more and Mary washed the boat.  I did scrub out the rust stains though.

Biked to the store and then we were picked up by Bob and Martha to take Mary to the Urgent Care clinic.  They dropped us off, and Mary went in while I went to West Marine for some oil absorbent pads.

Mary has bronchitis. Bob and Martha took us to CVS and while the prescription was being filled we took them to dinner at a place called Boomerangs.  Then we picked up the prescription on the way back to the boat.  

No call from Katie today so that means they cant squeeze us in.  But after considering what Katie was thinking I thought about just changing the valve cover gaskets.  Its very likely the cause and its cheap.   So I’m going to get 12 new ones and replace them

Eric and I discussed the hoist repair this morning and ultimately decided to talk with Gerald, the guy who’s doing the actual fabrication.   We agreed to use an aluminum taper inserted into the drum with a stainless bushing, holding a collar with a roller bearing welded to it.  Pretty cool.  I’ll see a diagram tomorrow and we should have the part installed by late next week.  Yeah!

Otherwise I just hung around the boat and did a few minor repairs.  Mary, being sick, slept until 11.  Bronchitis can be nasty. 

Bob and Martha called me.  They were at Walmart and found engine oil at $12.77 a gallon so I asked them to pick up 4 gallons for me.  Much cheaper than the $26  they want for a gallon at West Marine.

Kathy called when I was at Bob and Martha’s boat for cocktails.  I of course launched into a holding tank discussion right away knowing how much she enjoys boat sanitation tales.  Fond memories Kath? :-)

Lot of air traffic today from the Naval air station across the river..  Guess they are training new pilots since the planes seem to be taking off and circling the area before landing right away.  Every day there are jets flying around here and it can get noisy especially when they hit the afterburners and go rocketing out towards the Bay.

Took a walk again tonight.  On the dark roads around here I was stopped by a snorting buck and 3 other deer.  The 3 others ran on by me across the road and into the woods followed by the still snorting buck.   Snorting deer?  Never heard that before.  I admit I needed a shower but snorting?   Sheez …

Thinking of changing all 3 engines oil and filters.  And the Cummins fuel filters.   They have a used oil tank here that I can use for free and we’re about 50 hours away from needing the oil changed.  So what the hell!

Went over to the office this morning and the parts guy showed me the fabricator diagram of the hoist re-build.  Looked good to me so I told them to go ahead.  Maybe next Tuesday we’ll have it installed??

I also got the mail which I had sent here a few days ago.

The marina also asked me if we could let this other boat, a Defever 44 use the 50 amp power outlet on the dock.  I said sure knowing we could run the forward A/C on a thirty amp circuit.

Came back aboard and woke up Mary to let her know we might be loosing 2 of the 3 A/C units when we switched power over to a 30 amp circuit.

Meanwhile I got everything together for a trip to West Marine and Drum Point Marine.  I need to buy valve cover gaskets from them.   In anticipation I pumped air in the bike tires!

And I also needed to visit West Marine for some pads used on the dinghy cradle.  We lost two of them wrangling the dinghy aboard when the hoist failed and the dinghy needs softness to rest its weary soul when we bring it aboard.  It sits in an aluminum cradle and the cradle arms usually have soft rubber pads where the dinghy bottom rests.

So Drum Point Marine didn't have any valve cover gaskets in stock.  West Marine didn't have any soft rubber pads.  Two strikes!  But I did buy some epoxy filler to stiffen up the swim platform where its begun to get soft and squishy from water intrusion.  They did have that.  And some replacement LED lights for our shower stall.  The light in there is flickering unsteadily and is surely failing.

The Solomons Food Lion

I did successfully secure some necessary food items at the Food Lion too.  Even Prosciutto.  Success!

When I got back I tackled the top most step on the ladder leading down to the swim platform.  It has gotten to the point where its very loose so I re-bolted it to the braces using new screws and bolts.  Maintenance project for the day is completed!

I had just started fighting with the internet when the Travel Lift started lowering this  Defever 44 that was up in the yard being painted.  It was going in right next to us in the lift bay.  As I walked by the lift strap began crushing the cap rail on the Defever and the whole boat began to lean to the right.  The yard guys quickly lowered the boat into the water and began to access the damage.  Not pretty, but repairable.  The owners, who arrived a few hours later, were less than amused.  They even had their normal boat detailing crew drive down from Annapolis to shine everything up the day before. 

On a positive note the yard guys did manage to find a way to keep us on a 50 amp circuit along with every one else so we at least had all the A/C units running and keeping the boat cool in the 90+ temps.

Mary and I took a dinghy ride around all of Mill Creek.  Both branches.  Took us over an hour and we were able to actually get the dinghy up on plane for a good share of the time.  Nice! 

Stopped by Bob and Martha before taking Mary back to the boat to rest.  I returned to their boat to pay them for the 4 gallons of oil he purchased for me.  We shared a cocktail and discussed future plans.  They are leaving tomorrow for Cambridge and the MTOA Rendezvous.  We’ll most likely be here until next Tuesday or Wednesday so wont be able to  join them.    

We’re heading to Annapolis when we finish up here.  And then Maybe Baltimore before heading back down the bay on the eastern side.

So I returned to the boat where we grilled a steak and then showered.  Another one of those exciting evenings!

Tomorrow, is oil changing day! 

I went over early to help Bob and Martha get out of their slip and fuel up before taking the dinghy out in the river for a little speed run.  Got a bit rough out there so came back early.  I did some computer work and then changed the oil in the generator.  It was not a real productive day, but the temps were in the mid 90’s so who’d want to be productive in this kind of heat.

We took another dinghy ride out into the main river and around the large shoal area that is adjacent to the harbor entrance.  It was quite fun and cooling!

After dinner I did start out on an evening walk and got ½ mile before it started to downpour so ended up coming back on the boat and showering there.  It was an early night to bed.  Slacker that I am,  I didn't change the Cummins engine oil today.

It really stormed last night.  We had some good rain but we are rocking a bit here at the dock.   But not enough to delay an oil change.

I leaped right into the engine room.  But only after reading the NY Times and eating a few oranges.  And then I had to bring out all the oil I’ll needed, plus filters, towels, oil absorbent pads and filter wrenches.   Changed into my oily engine shorts but couldn't find my oily t-shirt so oil changes got done topless.  I should move to California maybe.

 Fired up the starboard engine first and let in run about 5 minutes until the water temps started climbing up beyond 100 degrees.

First up was the fuel filter.  Got a wrench on it and cranked, heaved, swore and finally came to realize it wasn't going to budge.  And I don’t have any other tools to get it off.  The filter body was a bit dented but intact.  Ok, so we are at a boat yard.  No problem.  I’ll just change the oil.

Situated my empty containers and hooked up the 12vdc oil pump and drained the engine of oil in a few minutes filling 4, gallon sized, jugs. 

 

I have to squirm around the front of the engine and then make a 90 degree bend to get at the oil engine filter.  I fondly remember watching a friend of mine show his contortionist grandson how to change an oil filter in one of those inaccessible places for which boats are notorious.  I have three grandsons.  All quite flexible.  Hmmm …

 I loosened the filter, took my trusty awl and hammered in a hole so the filter would drain into my keenly crafted oil receptacle, a plastic gallon milk jug with the top half cut away.  Once it was drained I filled the new filter with oil, re-contorted myself and screwed it on. 

Refilled the crankcase with 3.5 gallons of oil and started it up.  No leaks. 

Decided to tackle the fuel filter again after realizing I was actually tightening the damn thing, not loosening it.  So after a directional adjustment, it spun off and I got the new one filled with diesel before I lost too much out of the return line.

The big fear here is introducing too much air into the fuel system.  If that happens the lines have to be bled of air.  There are 9 bleed points, most of which are buried in hard to reach places.  I have only a limited number of contortions remaining in me and must be judicious dolling them out thus I try and avoid any situation requiring bleeding fuel lines.  But everything was fine.

Next, the port engine.  Same procedure, same contortions, same result.  All good to go.  Only took 4 hours.

Last item I have to do is replace the sea strainer top.  The current one is Lexan and is cracking.  I have three new 1 inch Plexiglas plates as replacements and spares.  Cant find any of them.  So tomorrow I’ll be spending more contortions looking in nooks and crannies.

Mary decided to do a marathon laundry thing so after I had everything put back together I took the laundry over and obtained $20 worth of quarters.  While she did laundry, I rode to to Food Lion and picked up a few things.   Most importantly was seltzer water, a pseudo replacement of soda for those who still drink it and a mix for rum for those who drink that.  

Ron's Fathom 40 just painted a pretty blue.

I met Ron, off of Sea Venture,a Fathom 40, here at Washburns.  He just had his boat painted.  And he’s not happy.  Seems there are dirt speckles marring the finish although I cant see them from a few yards away.  However looking at the hull within a few feet and its apparent.  Too bad.  It looks really nice.  For $360 a foot I guess I’d be a little picky too.  

It didn't rain last night and it was cool, so much so we didn't need the A/C running.  Woke up to cloudy skies and a rather brisk north wind.  Later in the morning it stated to sprinkle.

I took the used oil over to the used oil receptacle and dumped all 9 gallons there.  They don’t recycle plastic containers so I had to chuck them in the dumpster. 

Topped off the oil in the main engines.  Found 2 of the three new Plexiglas sea strainer covers and got the it installed. 

Cleaned up the engine room and now all I have to do is get the valve cover gaskets installed and wait for the hoist to be fixed and then we can leave.

Actually Drum Point Marine called with news they had all 12 gaskets.  And I picked up our mail at Washburns office which I had scheduled to be delivered today.  

It was raining and cold and blustery so I didn't bother riding to the store or anything.  Just stayed here fighting this excruciatingly  slow, slow internet stuff.  And I still cant log on to our boat router.

The Post Office at Calverts Marina

It was cloudy and cool today with intermittent drizzle.  But during a lull I took my bike to Drum Point Marine about a mile away to pick up my valve cover gaskets.  Also stopped at the post office there to mail some letters.  There is a post office right here next to Washburns, but its not open all the time.

I also loaded up at the Food Lion.   So much so, that the bike sort of wobbled down the road.  Luckily I had double wire-tied the plastic milk carton on the back so it didn't fall over.  Nothing says sturdy like double wire tie.  

On the boat I decided to fix the dang router/internet problem and continue with all of our password resets.  We had the same ones for 2-4 years by now so I figured now was a good time. 

Also finally got the boat router to reset successfully and re-configure it back to where it was on the same subnet as our wifi extender.   And Rick, a yard guy gave me a few tips on changing out the valve cover gaskets.  Words of wisdom.

Delayed running the dinghy over to SYC for a package I agreed to take with us for Bob.   Figured I'd do it later.

Mary suddenly energized, hauled out all her stain glass stuff and began designing.

Eric said the hoist re-fabrication would be ready by tomorrow.  Yeah.  Except now we have to decide where to go.  We only have a few weeks left here before we have to park the boat and get a car to head back to Green Bay and Dr. stuff.  And there's also a wedding and someone’s last  birthday(39) in there too

Meanwhile I try to get the blog updated but am foiled at every turn by this our continuing internet dilemma.  Ugh …

 A Nordhavn 76 rolled in here today.  I think I want one of those.  Too bad I misplaced that 7 million last month.  Bad timing I guess. 

Yeah!  Eric stopped by as I was changing valve cover gaskets and announced the hoist had arrived!  Sweet!

I stared on the gasket changing job around 8 and it only took about 30 minutes.  They were leaking and  I’m hoping these leaks were large enough to account for the oil I see on the front of the port engine after running for a day.

Gerald, the machinist did a great job, machining a taper plug to fit inside the drum and then welding a roller baring to the bracket hole.  Should work wonderfully!

All Fixed and I even have a spare bearing

After bringing it back aboard I realized I didn't have any more electrical butt connectors of the required size, nor did I have and shrink tubing.  And I had no clue how to thread the cable onto the drum.  There was no set screw only two holes one which looked to require a plug of sorts.  So I asked Eric if there was someone around to help he said he’d find someone,

Meanwhile I was going to take the dinghy out and see if Bob’s package arrived.  But, the dinghy battery was dead.  And I mean dead, dead.  But luckily I have a spare AGM of the same size so it would be a simple job to swap the batteries out.   You would think I would understand the every time I think a job as “simple” it never is.

In this case I could not get that dead battery out of the dinghy.  It’s a tight squeeze being in the center console way down in the bowels of the boat.  Every trick I tried just didn’t work. My last attempt was to get  rope sling around it but I couldn't lift the battery high enough to get the sling tight on the top lip.  So I was stumped.

I briefly talked with Eric and explained the problem and shortly after Rob ambled up to see what he could do.   Rob was the guy who ran that truck crane, the old Bucyrus Erie truck crane that looks to be 80 years old.

He came aboard and we discussed the two issues, dinghy battery and hoist.  He went off to fetch tools while I got all the wiring ready for the hoist. 

First the dinghy battery.  He took the rope harness I made and with his long arms got it around the battery and out it came.  Put the new one in the same way.  So I had the right idea, just the wrong sized arms.

The hoist was next.  We got the butt connectors on first then started to figure out how to attach the cable to the drum.  It turns out you thread the cable down a hole and then back up the same hole while adding a wedge in that second, larger hole.  The net effect is to jam the cable in there so it wont come out.  But I never saw a wedge in the box holding the hoist so Rob brilliantly used a stainless steel thimble.

Then Rick, another expert came over and figured out how to position the adjustable drum collar when threaded the cable.  So we wired everything up, wound the cable on the drum, secured the hoist up into the crane and then couldn't test it because Rob had to deal with some emergency repair before closing.  So we’ll get the whole mess fixed tomorrow.  Perfect timing too since the weather is turning ugly later tomorrow.  

We're going out to dinner tonight because we haven't for awhile and its one of our last nights here.   We went to the place right next to us on this side of the creek, Back Creek Bistro.  A very good place.

Rob, who's birthday is today I might mention, was here around 8:30 and we worked on the last of the wiring and then ran the hoist.  The winch sounds different but I attribute that to the new roller bearing.

We got the crane set up to haul up the dinghy and it went up although the hoist motor was sounding a little strained.  I probably should have just bit the bullet and had the motor re-built as well.   

We brought the dinghy up on the sundeck overhead but I forget to extend the crane arm extension.  We haven't done this in a while but you'd think we'd remember the previous 100 other times how to setup the crane arm.   So we had to lower it again and extend the arm and then raise it up again.  Hey, it was a good test.  And a successful one!

Smart idea to wear a white shirt when cleaning a dirty hull

We got it in the cradle (I found some pads and board and re-attached them yesterday) and said good bye to Roy after giving him a Diet Dr. Pepper which he seems to love.  I went back up to clean the dinghy bottom which was covered in this gooey slim.  I could only get the bow, stern and most of the port side.  Have to do the other side once we’re up in Annapolis and I can get in the water.

We made arrangements with Eric to stay a few more days here basically to let the nasty weather pass.  Meanwhile I rode to the store, and Mary walked to the post office.  We then both cleaned the boat so it's marginally cleaner although Heloise would probably still give us a solid D.

I should mention that the nearest shower/bathroom is probably a ¼ mile away.  But this is us.  Who else could say that when their water is running low and the holding tank is near full, the closest  shower and bathroom is having their floor painted and is unusable by anyone for a few days.

So now we relish the extra 1/4 mile walk to the next closest bathroom/shower.  At this one though there is tile on the floors and new paint unlike the closer one which was unpainted and had crumbling cement floors.  Keeps us healthy, all this walking.  But we are old now and “spryness” has become a relative term.  

Several sailboats are anchored out in the creek very near us.  The guys at the yard told me its poor holding out there and when there's a storm they usually see one or two boats drag their anchor and end up on a sand bar at the edge of the anchorage.  We’ll see tomorrow the forecast is for strong winds in excess of 25mph sustained.  And of course rain.

We did our leisurely morning thing and then went to pay the yard bill.  Not all that bad considering.  Did some cleaning and I replaced a galley light fixture.  Tightened up a few hose clamps and re-checked all the fluid levels.  Took the bike to the store where they still don't know my name yet.   Even so, they gave me a Food Lion discount card except I forgot to fill out the paperwork.  The card works just fine.

When I returned I laid out some route alternatives for tomorrow since the weather is supposed to be rainy but not overly windy.  But here in the Bay, I'm never sure whats going to happen,  Anyway we're ready to leave tomorrow unless the weather is too nasty then we’ll stay here until Sunday morning.

So tomorrow its off to Annapolis, about  45 mile jaunt.  I hope!

August 19- 26, 2014 DC to Colonial Beach and Solomons

We did leave the Yacht Club at the respectful hour of  6:10am.  Very quite and calm.  

We again passed by Mt. Vernon and took a close look at the anchorage and channel leading to it.  Something to consider when we return again.

About half way down the river (with a following current) we were hailed on the radio by another boat, “rock me baby”  which was also at the yacht club.  They were Loopers as well and we never quite hooked up with them while we were at the yacht club.   I should explain that Loopers, are people in the midst of the Great_Loop journey.  Gold Loopers like us, are people who have completed the journey.  We are the experienced sages and non-gold Loopers, knowing this, will ply us with all manner of drink to here our advice.  Alas, it only lasts for a short time but still one an drink for free at lest for a night.  

The trip was good with the current pushing us along at about 8 mph until the tide switched and we began fighting the incoming flow.  But by then we were only 20 miles away from Colonial Beach

We did encounter a few areas of very large algae blooms.  Not good for the sea strainer which can clog but this time we suffered no ill effects.  It seems strange to me finding such expansive algae blooms in an active flowing river.  But I did find out that its not uncommon in the Potomac, this from locals boaters who have been cruising the river for decades.

We started making water up near Mt. Vernon and had just topped off the tanks (180 gallons) as we entered the algae area.  The primary intake filters would have clogged in short order had we still been running the water going through that soup.

As we rounded the turn leading to the highway 301 bridge across the Potomac, the southeast winds and long fetch of the river started to knock us around.  Luckily we only had about 8 miles to go at that point.

We entered Monroe Bay while Bill was out in his Trumpy waiting for another boat to pull into the shed ahead of where he normally docked his boat.  His distinctive Virginian accent made it easy to identify him on the radio.  We followed along shortly after and met a whole group on the dock to take our lines.

We got all tied up and plugged in and then pretty much stayed on board, watched some modern family before I went to bed around 8:30.  We didn't sleep well our last night at Capital Yacht club probably because we knew we had to be up before 6AM.  So we were tired.  

The next day I took a long hard look at the new winch I had ordered before we left.  It had arrived while we were in DC but I wasn't comfortable with the mechanics.  So I called a few engineering friends and after soliciting their opinions decided it wasn't the right way to go.  It seemed to be better to just re-build the original winch (actually it’s a hoist).

I discussed it with  Bill and he knew of a machinist who might be able to do the job.  So off we went about 6 miles out of town to a guy named  Kirk, who welds aluminum.  He wasn't there but we talked to his assistant and left the hoist and its various pieces there.  Not sure when it’ll be ready though, so I went ahead and found a place in California which has winch/hoist parts.  Called him and he’s looking in his pile of cannibalized winches and hoists for something we might use.   I'm not to excited though because he wasn't sounding too confident on the phone

Boat House Marina from the Street

So here we wait.  We could be here another week!   I don’t want to proceed without use of the dinghy since we anchor out so much and its our only conveyance.  Well, that's not entirely true.  We do have a second dinghy I purchased last year as a means to take the dog into shore.  But we don't have an engine yet and rowing, as romantic as it sounds, is not all that much fun in the rain ocean swells or over long distances.

And the internet at Colonial Beach seems to be down.  The providers are saying they are working on it.  Meanwhile we have to use our cell phones for data but today I discovered our good old hot spot software is non functional on Mary’s phone because of a recent Android system update.

Soda lovers (Mary) dream, $0.50

Now, in order to use her phone we have to go through some convoluted steps.  We each have a 2 GB limit per month.  It was nice before when we could split the usage between us.  But with this latest snafu we have to be careful with my phones limit or embark on this goofy work-around to use Blue Tooth for accessing a hot spot on her phone.  And only one device can be connected.  Oh well.

I ran into Charlie, the yard foreman this morning, and asked him to help me with the broken holding tank elbow.  I wasn't able to turn it out and didn't have a suitable wrench to use on the adapter.  And I was a bit  reluctant to torque the fitting very hard since it snapped apart when I was trying to remove the hose.

So he came in with two big wrenches and cranked away breaking the seal and loosening the broken fitting so I could get it out.  However the blockage in the hose is still there and proving resilient to my formidable efforts..   Tomorrow is another day though.

Next morning I did walk to the Ace hardware in town to buy two plumbing fittings and a hose barb.  And also bought  a drain snake and a better vise grip pliers so I don’t have to ask the yard guys to help me remove a threaded PVC elbow.  Sheez …

Mary slept for 16 hours today.  She came down with some cold thing so I was pretty much on my own.   I fiddled with the hose to no avail.   And then fiddled with the internet to no avail.  Finally I just took a walk along the beaches on the Potomac.  Plenty of people still in the water in the late afternon.  And as much as I wanted too, we didn't go to Densons tonight.

Woke up the next morning and noted that I now, have "the" cold.  We didn't do much but hang around the boat.  I finally couldn't stand not doing anything so later in the afternoon I took my bike down and rode to the Food Lion for more seltzer water and a few other staples.  As I was packing up the bike a nice gentleman inquired whether or not I had left a 12 pack behind.  Knowing I didn't buy any beer I said no.  

The food Lion ... where they know my name

 I got back to the boat and we put everything away.  And then realized I didn't have the seltzer water.  It comes in 12 packs.

After I returned from my second trip to the Food Lion with the seltzer water this time, it began to rain so we just lazed around and watched several Boston Legal episodes before going to bed.

The only excitement of the day was when George, next to us on the dock, took his 50 foot steel boat out so the grand kids and great grand kids could have a boat ride. 

We started working on alternative plans to mitigate this infernal waiting for the hoist to be repaired.   But since we’re both sick there wasn't much progress.  And not much progress clearing out that clog in the forward head hose either.  There’s always tomorrow though (I keep saying the dont I?).

I did head off to the Food Lion again and found Ball Park Hot Dogs.  Mary loves them.  But invoking the," I'm sick" excuse, I forgot the buns.

Some colorful homes here

Mary didn't get up for church the next morning so we walked to Densons around 11 for their brunch.   About halfway there we were intercepted by Rocky, the Densons owner who offered us a ride.   But we’re spry young seniors who are active (sorta) and needed the walk.  So we declined.

Waiting for brunch at Densons 

Fixing the forward head

And the brunch was, well WOW!  It was the very best omelet I have ever eaten.  And I mean that very sincerely.  The best.  The young chef, David, has a future I suspect.

Colonial Beach Police Station

We got back to the boat and I worked on clearing this stubborn clog.  No luck.   So like I said before,  there’s always tomorrow.    But in this case it was early afternoon so  I went to the hardware store to buy a more substantial snake and a water pressure gadget that would fit the one inch hosing.  And being the efficient biker that I am, rode over to the Food Lion again (they know my name now)  where I bought hot dog buns to go with the Ball Park hot dogs I bought yesterday.   I did make an attempt to stop for an ice cream cone at McDonalds but the line was too long so I left.  But not before toying with the idea of taking my bike through the drive-through.

Once  back on the boat we tried this water gadget.  It's essentially an expandable rubber ball but very slender so it will fit into 1 inch hose.   After hooking up the dock water to it I let do its thing.  As far as I can tell it moved the clog further down the hose and closer to the end.  At first I wasn't able to keep the body of the gadget all the way in the hose which significantly reduced its pulsing pressure.  But with a little hand soap I got it all the way inside.  Still didn't really help much.

Then I tried the more substantial snake and got it to twirl/push the clog within four feet of the end of the hose.  I was contemplating just cutting the hose and splicing it back together but a splice introduces the almost 100% chance of another clog developing at the joint so I’m resisting that idea.  If I cant clear it out tomorrow I’ll have to yank, wiggle, cut and swear until I get the hose out and then repeat the process trying to thread it back through the small openings.  One might try imagining shoving very stiff hose through two, 90 degree bends located in a blind and inaccessible spot.  

Main Intersection.  Food Lion is left of McDonalds

I went for a walk while Mary made Hot dogs and then we ate them watching a Boston Legal episode before walking to the river before it got too dark.  Nice warm evening.

We also finalized some planning.  If the welder here cant get to the hoist drum by Monday next week, we’ll head up to the Solomons where some friends of ours know someone there who has local knowledge about machinists and  where to get things fixed.

Cyrus, the sweet cocktail loving dog of Beth's

Anticipating that outcome, we made reservations for a week at Calverts Marina in the Solomons.  Its right near the welders shop so we’re hoping we can at least get the dinghy down and take a few joy rides by Labor day.

And we also learned a few things about Monroe Bay and Colonial Beach:

• The State of Virginia passed a law letting municipalities allow golf carts on streets with 25mph speed limits.  And Colonial Beach took advantage of this so there are golf carts mixed in with trucks, cars and bicycles on the narrow streets. 

• Colonial Beach used to be well known as a racially backward place.  In since changed but the history is still fresh in some minds.  

• Monroe Bay used to be named just Monroe Creek because it is, well, a creek.  A wide one to be sure, but a creek.  However someone put forth the idea that adding "Bay" to Monroe would add a bit more sophistication and interest to the area thus possibly attracting more visitors to the town.  "Who wants to visit a creek anyway" was the thinking.

Colonial Beach City Pier

The next day, on his way back from Richmond dear old Bill picked up the hoist drum and bracket that we had left with Kirk the welder.  It wasn't going to get done.  But Bob’s friend, Jerry who I spoke with yesterday, did give me 2 places in the Solomons to call for repair to the hoist.  So we'll give those places a try Wednesday when we plan to arrive there.

One of the few main thoroughfares.  Densons is on the right

We poked and prodded on the forward head hose obstruction again to no avail.  Yes, there's always tomorrow.

The Looper boat squeezed past us and the boat to the right

We welcomed another Looper boat in to the marina… they had to thread the needle between our bulky beast and another boat but made it fine.

I created the routes to the Solomons with a stop over at St. Marys river and the anchorage there, Horseshoe Bend.

Bill's Ferrari Mini

We ran into Bill as we were heading out for dinner so we all hopped in the golf cart since he was going to Densons again too.  Only downside to this was his desire to take out one of his fancy antique cars.  He was going to drive the Ferrari mini but instead suffered our company.

Bill's 70' Burger.  

But Mary did get a tour of his 70 burger, Cherish  Nice!

We went to bed rather early since are departure time is between 8-9.

Leaving Colonial Beach

We departed the dock at 8:30!  It was clear skies, cool breeze and flat water.  Perfect day.  We had 39 miles to go and arrived at the anchorage at 2:30pm.  Only two other boats in here.  The trip down river was unexciting but for a brief interlude from the Naval Weapons Test Range Range Patrol Boat asking our destination.  We were headed south so we didn't have to detour or wait.  But we could hear the explosion even though they were firing things well off north of us.

St. Marys is really a pretty river.  This anchorage is up the St. Marys about 3 miles and lies directly in front of th St. Marys College of Maryland.  They have a free dinghy dock there and on Fridays during the summer, concerts up on the hill.  Alas, we didn't have time to explore it but maybe on the trip back down the bay.

Entering the Anchorage

College docks

Leaving the St. Mary's Anchorage

It was a very calm and cool night which meant we had lots of dew on the boat the next morning.  And I forgot to close up the fly bridge so it was nice and wet up there.  I got everything set and running by 6:55am and then woke up Mary who came up to the bow and hosed off the anchor chain as it came up.  Very muddy with mushy silt like mud.  But we were making water on our way to the Solomons so we just used a large amount hosing off the chain so it would be less messy in the chain locker.

Heading out to the Bay past Point Lookout

We made out way out of the St. Mary’s and into the Potomac, around Point Lookout Light at the  northern end of the Potomac where it joins the Bay.  I had laid out a course to go directly to Cedar Point which marks the entrance to the Patuxent River.  The route brought us close to a military buoy marking a military zone.  We were hailed on the radio by the Naval range boat but I couldn't understand them.  Their radio was breaking up.  So they came roaring up to us in a three outboard go-fast boat and politely tried using their radio twice before I could understand what they were trying to say. 

Navy Range boat speeding away after talking with us

Yellow, Military buoys 

We were asked to move closer to shore outside of the test area delineated by the yellow military buoys because of some test they were conducting.    Following their precise directions, we headed in towards shore and away from the area.  Then we began to notice then several planes traveling over us at low speed, and subsequently more flights of 1-3 planes every few minutes.  So I guess they weren't kidding around.

One of many helicopters and planes flying over us

After about 20 minutes the test must have been concluded because they called me on the radio again and said we could proceed as we had intended.  It was rather interesting!  Polite guys too.  They repeatedly thanked us for making the detour.  

Entering Mill Creek.  One might even see a yellow crane!

We came around Cedar Point and headed into the Patuxent River until we came up to the entrance to Mill Creek and the Solomons.  I called Calvert Marina on the radio and they indicated we should look for a yellow crane which is at the fuel dock.  We went up the whole creek and back down and saw no yellow crane so it was back on the radio to ask directions.  It turned out that we had passed right by it as we entered the harbor area of the creek,  I kept thinking the fuel dock was further up the creek and never even saw it when we entered.  Oh well.  Feeble old folks I guess.

The fuel dock.  And a festively colored crane 

We fueled up with about 200 gallons at only $3.59/gal and then proceeded to where they indicted for  us to tie up for the week.  Of course it was at a dock we had passed twice before looking for the damn yellow crane.

We tied up next to a 86 foot green trawler.  A huge boat.  It looked to be a Northern Marine, but turned out it was built by Delta.  Next to this behemoth, our puny little boat appeared particularly petite.  Their bow was higher than our sundeck with the dinghy loaded.

The owner came from Alaska and actually managed northern Marine before leaving and helping to form Delta Marine.  They're heading back to Alaska this fall.

We walked to the marina office and took care of the paperwork and paid.  I called Justin the welder earlier as we were coming into the creek and he said he'd come down to the boat the next day to look at what we had.  Later on he called back and requested some pictures and any schematic I might have of the hoist because he wasn't sure if he could handle the welding job.  I sent him what I had and so we’ll see what happens tomorrow.

Our misbehaving dinghy hoist

Meanwhile I took care of some banking chores since they have a usable internet connection and then got my bike down and road over to drop off  my jig saw at Bob and Martha’s boat.  He’s currently tracking down a water leak and needed a saw to get into a bulk head. 

They are right across from the fuel dock we just visited but at a different marina.  The ride over there, even though I can see the place, was 2 miles.  Now if we had a functional davit I’d have zipped over in the dinghy in 5 minutes.

We ate on board and I took my standard evening walk around the place.  Its sort of a resort but in not great shape.  They do have a pool of sorts.  Otherwise everything else, restaurants, bars, shops etc.  is on the opposite side of the creek. 

So tomorrow we start the hoist repair process I hope!   And the forward head repair again.  And I’ll probably see if Bob needs some help too.  Busy day!  So we’re going to bed at 9pm.