Visitors From New York

September 10, 2004
By Tom

Friday - September 3, 2004

Kris showed up this morning. She has come down from New York to spend the long weekend visiting with us. She rode the train down from New York City and then picked up a rental car to get down here to us.

While Amy and Kris hung out and talked, I once again stalked the elusive blue crab. It was an easy hunt and I landed 14 keeper sized males in about 90 minutes. Needless to say, it was fresh steamed crab for lunch.

During the crab whacking, we were visited by this large swan who was looking for hand outs. I am weak and consequently fed him half of my left over wheat loaf.

Afterward, we piled into the dinghy and made the short ride over to Catamaran's for happy hour. Dinner was bourbon chicken and rice, which some of my older friends will recognize as "Free Sample".

Saturday - September 4, 2004

Another day in the metropolis of Solomons Island. We had intended to take Kris out sailing for a couple of days, but the weather is conspiring against us. Today it is raining and there isn't a breath of wind.

Since we are held in by weather, I borrowed Kris's car and made a trip by West Marine to drop another $1000 on one more solar panel. It has become increasingly obvious that unless we experience optimal conditions, our current two solar panels and one wind generator are fighting a losing battle.

It's not too bad, but we are definitely trending down on the E-meter about 15% a day. That's a net loss of 20 - 25 amps per 24 hours. If the damn sun would come out or the wind would blow, I think we'd be ok, but we have decided to add a larger more powerful solar panel to the collection.

I suspect in the brighter, windier conditions of the Caribbean, we would be able to get by quite well with our current setup, but there is no such thing as too much power. As it stands now, I have had to run the generator about every fifth or sixth day for 3 or 4 hours to recover the energy consumed on board. This is much better than every other cruising boat currently in the harbour, but we are trying to get to a zero generator environment. FYI - most other cruising boats here are running their engine for two hours a day!

Anyway, I was gone most of the day and by the time I got home I found Kris and Amy at the local marina pool bar drinking Mia Tai's. I think I got the short end of the stick.

Sunday - September 5, 2004

The rain is still coming down although the wind is now blowing. Amy made waffles for the three of us for breakfast and afterward I spent the entire day assembling the assorted components of my rear arch modifications as well as installing the third panel.

Everything is now installed, but there is not enough sunlight to test what difference this new panel will make. Maybe the sun will be out tomorrow.

Anyway, Amy and Kris drank coffee and read books most of the day. Dinner was home made pizza and afterwards the girls watched the movie Chocolat on DVD while I sat outside in the cockpit and listened to the Nascar race on the short wave and enjoyed my 7 and 7.

Monday - September 6, 2004

We bid farewell to Kris early this morning as she started her return trek back to the concrete jungle. We both miss her and look forward to her coming back soon.

In the early afternoon Amy and I dinghyed over to the Calvert County Maritime Museum and took in the sites. Our favorite display by far was the Water Wickies (Otters). As you can see in the pictures, these furry guys closely resemble our ferret Maggie, except they are bigger and definitely swim better than she does.

The highlight of the museum is suppose to be this screw pile light house which we duly toured and photographed, but it wasn't as cool as the Water Wickies. There were also some interesting displays about the history of the area especially during the war of 1812 when the British invaded the Patuxent and ultimately went over land to burn Washington D.C.

We were both pleasantly surprised in the quality of the presentations.

We made a quick trip out to the grocery store for fresh veggies and paper towels, then we deployed the crab whacking devices in time to have 8 crustaceans join us for dinner.

We are hoping to leave tomorrow, but the weather bastards at NOAA are predicting doom and gloom for the next 24 hours.

Tuesday - September 7, 2004

Still stuck in Solomons. We could have dealt with the weather in spite of what NOAA was predicting, but the wind was right from where we wanted to go and we are trying hard not to leave when we can't sail.

More crabbing in the afternoon as well as trying to repair the dinghy engine for the eighth time. We did better with the crabs then the outboard. I am going to try one more time and then the dinghy engine may become an anchor.

We had enough crabs that we decided to invite our neighbors, George and Mary on Windmere, over to share.

I think we may leave tomorrow regardless of the weather.

Wednesday - September 8, 2004

We finally got moving again. Sort of. We left the anchorage at Solomons and raised the sails as we set out into the bay. The wind still wasn't suitable for heading where we wanted to go, so we turned up the Patuxent river and worked our way up to a secluded spot on Mill creek.

There is one other boat in the anchorage with us, but other than that, it's pretty quiet.

I have finally beat down the outboard! It has seen my power and now lives in fear of me. After the 9th try, I have finally gotten the carburettor completely clean and as a result the engine now runs perfectly.

We dinghyed into a waterfront bar/grill called Clarke's Landing for happy hour and then came back to the boat for popcorn and a rerun of Finding Nemo.

The wind is howling and we are currently making between 8 and 12 amps per hour from the wind generator alone. NOAA is calling for severe thunderstorms tonight, so I will be standing anchor watch through out the night. Yay.

More to follow, end of line.