When are you guys leaving?

When are you guys leaving?  That, my friends, is the question of the day.  Every day.

We were preparing to set to sail yesterday, but during our departure checklist on Wednesday, David found a leak in the fuel injector pump for the Volvo diesel engine.  Aric, our trusty mechanic at (and owner of) Chesapeake Marine Engineering, removed the pump and made some calls.  We trotted the piece across the Bay Bridge yesterday morning and delivered it for repair/rebuild.  Alas, our departure was foiled.  

But the day was not lost, we walked around historic Annapolis and toured the Naval Academy.  The museum in Preble Hall was fascinating.  I’d like to get back to see the chapel (it was closed for a service) and the tomb of John Paul Jones.  Speaking of chapels, at the recommendation of the docent at the Annapolis visitor’s center, we toured St. Anne’s Church to see the Louis Comfort Tiffany windows.  Imagine my dismay when I read the sign “No photography.  God is watching and so are we.” (with a drawing of a surveillance camera).  What?!?!  I’ve been in dozens of chapels, churches, and cathedrals in Europe and not one of them prohibited photographs (flash, yes, but not photos).  Why??  The light was perfect.  The windows were richly colored and beautiful.  You'll just have to take my word for it, or take the online "tour" (a PDF).

Back to the tasks at hand…..since purchasing Virginia Dare in late September, we’ve had several repairs and upgrades made before beginning our adventure.  Some of these items were discovered during the survey, others were found after that inspection -- listed as known and unknown, below.

• Freshwater pump replacement – unknown
• Latch on stern locker – known
• Bad solenoid to stove – unknown
• New rudder bearings and lip seal replacement – surveyor assumed it was a bad lip seal, turned out to be excessively bad rudder bearings that had to be replaced
• Installation of AIS, a computer program that shows ships on the water in our vicinity.  It gives details of ship size, name, destination, heading, etc.  It also shows our boat to other vessels and gives them the same information. – our choice
• Installation of single side band (SSB) radio – our choice
• Installation of a freezer – our choice
• Broken manual (foot pedal) freshwater pump – known
• Leak from bolts extending through toe rail to aft locker – unknown
• New turnbuckle to roller furler to prevent binding (original was too short) – known
• Replace windscreen struts and latches – known
• Tear in bimini at zipper – unknown
• Broken snap and malfunctioning zipper on mainsail cover – unknown
• Winch on port side of mast is nonfunctional – unknown
• Drip in porthole above nav station – unknown
• Fuel injection pump leak on Volvo diesel engine – unknown 

David says it’s a good thing we didn’t change the name of the boat as we had originally planned.  With all the superstitious voodoo associated with changing the name, surely we would have thought Virginia Dare was rankled and fighting back.  However, we kept the name because both sets of previous owners had great experiences with her, and we figured we’d keep the good juju going.  Hmmm...

I have to say, when David found the leak on Wednesday he let rip some choice expletives (this man rarely swears).  The discovery tipped our level of frustration a wee bit over the edge.  That being said, we’re glad it happened at this marina where great service abounds.  So, we wait for the phone call to say the injector pump is ready.  When it’s reinstalled, we’ll watch the weather again and look for our next window. 

In the meantime, we might get David to Washington, DC, this weekend.  He's been to the Kremlin, but not our nation's capitol.  

Stay tuned, friends, we WILL get out of here!

When AIS and SSB were being installed, the contents of many lockers ended up on the port settee.  The clutter made us crazy!

SSB going in the nav station

Escaping the clutter below and knitting in the cockpit

David checking out the new multi-function display

I've made bread -- had to halve the recipe so it would fit in our oven

Voila!

I borrowed Mildred's sewing machine at Thanksgiving and made new pillow covers (wrinkled from travel)

Aric explaining what has to be done to the fuel injection pump

Sunrise yesterday morning - pretty day for a drive

Crossing the Bay Bridge

Naval Academy chapel

Star on a flag sewn in 1879

Star on a flag sewn in 1919

Incredible detail on model ships made of bone by French prisoners of war at the Naval Academy museum 

And--cue the drumroll--we have power to the freezer!

In early October, we bought a marine-grade freezer at the Annapolis Boat Show.  It's a sizable beast, but we're happy to have it for freezing all the fish that David's going to pull in when we finally set sail ;)  The freezer, combined with the vacuum-sealer, should be a great addition to our new lifestyle.  David spent the better part of today in the cockpit lazarette getting power to The Beast.  It also serves as an extra refrigerator which comes in handy while we're sitting at the marina waiting for the finishing touches to the AIS and SSB (think cold beer....).

Anyway, I digress.  Big accomplishment today: power to the freezer!  This is where David spent most of his day:

Here are all the supporting materials for his caper:

Bits and pieces of wire and plastic

I spent a couple hours doing laundry (ie, knitting while waiting for the laundry) and making a curtain for the hatch in the v berth.  Not very exciting, and definitely not mechanical(!), but useful.  So, when you come visit and sleep in the v berth, the sun won't blind you in the morning :)

Our table becomes a big work space with the protective cover.

Since we can't set sail yet (wires still protruding from the binnacle), it's not bad to sit at the marina on a windless day.  When it's a perfectly windy day, it's a tad frustrating to sit here and see sailboats zipping across the Bay.

The flag was not blowing in the wind today.

Still taking care of business

Well, they say the best advice to a cruiser is "never have a schedule."  In other words, be flexible.  And, flexible we are.  We're still hanging out at Herrington Harbor North on the western side of the Chesapeake Bay.  AIS (sort of like radar -- google it) is getting installed this week which means the place is pulled apart!  Holy smokes.....

David helping Wade pull wires through the boat

Topsy turvy doesn't even begin to explain what it looks like down here!

When the floorboards came up, they unearthed 12 years of dirt.  I, Miss Non-Mechanical, can clean anything!

We found a good luck penny from Trinidad in here :)

Not spotless, but much better!

Also on the non-mechanical to-do list was fixing the button on a cushion.  I have never seen a sewing needle this large, but by golly, it worked well -- and to think it wasn't even the largest one in the package!

Don't have a voodoo doll on board.....  

In the last couple days, David found a home for our new freezer and installed the great Australian grill off the stern.

The cockpit lazarette is HUGE and also serves as the new home for the freezer.

David has cooked one dinner and one breakfast on the grill and has dubbed it The Fire-breathing Dragon :)

We're still waiting for the cold front to move through, but for now, we're just having beautiful autumn weather.  Somehow, some Lake Michigan sand came along for the ride and fell out of my shoe.  Our new vacuum cleaner is quite comical -- looks and feels like a cheap plastic toy -- but it works great!  It was a whopping $19.99.  If the Easy Bake Oven had a mate, it would be this vacuum.

Hilarious, tiny vacuum.

Autumn on the Bay

One week on board and taking care of business

We arrived at Herrington Harbour North on Halloween afternoon just as Virginia Dare was being relaunched.  Since then, we've been hanging out at B dock and ticking things off our to-do list as well as tackling additional and unforeseen tasks........most notably, replacing the freshwater pump.  Nothing like arriving at your new "home," filling the freshwater tank, and turning on the faucet to nary a drip.  Thankfully, David is very knowledgeable and capable and we had running water on Monday.

Saturday and Sunday were spent unloading the car and U-Haul trailer and finding places for everything.  Well, not everything.....a few items are going back to storage in Michigan, a few others went to the FreeCycle bin at the marina, and a few items hit the dumpster.  Someone, and I'm sure you can guess who, brought quite a lot of stuff (much of which was yarn-related).  There is now an "active knitting projects" locker and the rest of my onboard stash is stowed deep in a "dormant yarn" compartment that's not easy to reach.  But I'm happy to report that all the yarn I brought is safely stowed in one of those two locations!

David replacing the fresh water pump in the engine room

So far, I have been assigned two (non-mechanical) tasks: getting our wifi working [check] and having our home port lettering installed on her stern [check].  Mind you, I have been the able-bodied assistant, but David's to-do list is long and technical: registering the boat with various agencies, getting an MMSI number, arranging for AIS installation, installing software, etc.  I'm happy to help, but also happy to take care of domestic things, like laundry :) and replacing all of the non-skid shelf liners.

Using the old shelf liner as a template for the new

Probably my favorite kitchen gadget: the Bodum stainless steel French press

Interior is getting organized

It's very comfy and cozy

Wednesday was a balmy day to wash down the deck

After a month on the hard, there was a lot of bird poo to remove

Peaceful evenings earlier this week

Looking east one evening

And yesterday was spent driving around Annapolis gathering pieces and parts we need before relinquishing our car to Alex on Sunday.  Thank heavens for GPS or we would not have found Vosbury Marine, the local Volvo marine engine dealer.

Happy to buy an air filter for our diesel engine

And always a treat to celebrate our accomplishments and end the day with some bubbles!

Nautical label in these parts!

Empty nest

Well, is certainly wasn't pretty, but we got it done.  Sorting and packing took on a whole new meaning when we considered the following:

• Items to keep and store for 5 years
• Items that our kids wanted
• Items to donate to charity
• Items for the yard sale
• Items to trash
• Items that are coming with us

It's been a crazy two weeks since we got the offer, but on Friday morning at 11:00, we closed on our house......and closed a chapter of our lives.  We spent the rest of the day packing, loading the car and U-Haul, and cleaning the house.  We pulled out of the driveway at 8:30 pm and can officially say the nest is empty.

We had stuff EVERYWHERE!

Elsie stopped by to help us load the trailer :)

Our worldly possessions are getting stored at the Cooper barn for five years

The beer fridge rolled down the street and right into Todd and Julie's garage :)

Empty nest

We knew we could count on our neighbors to empty the keg from our farewell party!  Saying that we had fantastic neighbors on Leeward Court would be an understatement.  We're going to miss them all!

And the sweetest present of all from our darling little neighbor.....I'm going to miss her smiling face and wonderful hugs. 

Thankfully, David had the brainwave for us to visit his mom in Northport and get a little R&R under our eyelids before heading south to Maryland.  It's been a lovely fall weekend with a nice balance of chores, rest, home-cooked meals, and good company.

Everything that's coming on this five-year adventure is packed in here!

Now we're feeling rested and ready to start our trek to the Chesapeake Bay!

Whirlwind trip to Annapolis!

We spent Wednesday afternoon to Saturday morning in Maryland.  Since Virginia Dare is on the hard for a few repairs, staying aboard was like sleeping in a top notch tree house :)

Our "tree house" for three nights

The stilts!

We spent most of Thursday at the Annapolis Boat Show -- excellent advice from Bob and Christine to spend a couple extra bucks on VIP day where admittance is limited.  You get a lot more time with vendors than the following days.  David had a list of vendors and their locations when we arrived.  It made our "recon" very efficient.

We bought an Australian grill and are quite eager to install it and give it a whirl.  Considering that David grills our dinner several times a week (on land), we can't wait to try this!  It even bakes cakes :)

Marine Barbeques Australia -- our new grill :)

We also bought Gill foul weather gear and a SPOT Gen3 which will broadcast our exact latitude and longitude on a daily basis (I will link it to the blog when we're back on board).  We also got a ton of information about AIS systems and radar upgrades, but that's far too technical for me to explain.

Back at the boatyard, we found out that the propeller was fine (yay!), but the rudder bearings were not.  So Eric at Chesapeake Marine Engineering is making sure everything gets fixed properly.  All the new parts came in this past week; she's expected to be back in the water this week.

Rudder bearings

Rusty rudder bearings, detail

Rudder shaft housing

We managed to have dinner all three nights at Skipper's Pier -- two of the three nights we sat outside.  Friday night brought rain and indoor dining.

Sunset from Skipper's Pier

Virginia Dare at night -- and the full moon rising on Wednesday evening.

Nighttime in the boatyard

Full moon rising

Time to get down to business!

Just like the squirrels gathering acorns in our yard and running them up to their nests, we, too, are gathering and storing..........items we're going to keep and save while we sail.  The packing started in earnest this weekend.  It was the perfect weather.....rainy and cool with football providing entertainment on television.

Until now, we've been gathering things in the garage and mentally remembering in which pile they belong: 1) save for post-sailing adventure, 2) take to the boat, 3) yard sale items, and 4) donate to the Father Fred Foundation.  There used to be a fifth pile: donate to our kids, but they've all been through the house and claimed this and that.  And little by little, we're purging and organizing.

I bought all the 27-gallon HDX totes that Home Depot had on display (14).  I'm sure we'll fill each one and need another 14!  I opted not to get the 37-gallon Rubbermaid containers because I feared they'd be insanely heavy when full.  As it is, these are pretty hefty when loaded and I'm glad they aren't 10 gallons larger!

And so the packing begins!

Everything we're saving is going in the black totes in this trailer: 8.5' wide x 16' long x 6.5' tall. Not many square feet, but enough to store our "treasures."

Purge all the non-essentials and store the rest in here!

So, we've been chipping away at packing over the last several days, but we're also packing for a trip to the Chesapeake to see how Virginia Dare is doing at the marina.  She should have a new coat of bottom paint -- and we hope that the few repairs suggested in the survey are finished, too (fingers crossed)!

For now, it's back to packing and organizing.....