Summer in Baltimore
June 20 thru June 23
—Blogpost written by Bob
Late Wednesday evening, the rain drops pelted the cabin top as I was laying in the v-berth at the end of the day. I love the sound of the rain on the fiberglass coachroof.
Thursday, June 20
I was up, sanding and varnishing this morning before 7 AM. (I was hoping to get another coat of varnish on the table's teak frame very late tonight.) I had breakfast (bran flakes with freshly cut strawberries on top) afterward. The sky was completely overcast and it looked like it would be raining all day. Then, suddenly the sun peeked through some of the cloud cover. (It was sunny most of the day even though some big dark clouds rolled through the harbor.)
About 10 AM the sun came out a little stronger and I thought I could take advantage of the temporarily good weather and make the fold-down table's leg attachment pieces.
In the above photo, a thin coat of epoxy has been applied between the clamped pieces with a brush. Before safely handling the glued pieces, I had to wait about 4 hours for the epoxy to cure.
In the meantime, I tackled the changeout some light fixtures in the main salon. Somehow we ended up with two excess LED lights with purple shades--we call them our "purple lights." On my project list was to changeout the old fixtures in the forward corners of the main salon with the newer purple lights.
The wiring feeding these two lights is still the old un-tinned wire. Even though I didn't like to do it, I reused the old un-tinned wire.
After the epoxy cured (about 4 hours later) on the table leg attachments, I further shaped the pieces and marked where holes need to be drilled for screws. (I'll be completing work on these tomorrow and beginning the staining/varnishing process.)
I woke to an absolutely beautiful morning--the sky was clear, the sun was shining brightly, the outside temperature was in the low 70's, and a cool 10-knot breeze was coming out of the west. I set up my varnishing project outside this morning as the drying conditions were perfect. I applied the sixth coat of varnish to the table trim in the morning.
I went out for a light breakfast in the boater's lounge since it is Saturday morning and then returned to the boat to start a meal in the crockpot (pieces of steak with lots of carrots, one potato, a cup of white wine, 1/2-cup of hot salsa, a dash or two of pepper, and a little water to raise the level of liquid in the crock pot). It will be my (late) dinner tonight.
A power boat was in the slip next to us until this morning. It continued on its Great Loop adventure. It will be stopping in Chesapeake City tonight and then Cape May, NJ tomorrow night. Loopers (as they are called) have been delayed because of delays in the Erie Canal caused by unusually high amounts of rainfall.
I have been reading about the state legislatures in Georgia that have tried to implement anchoring restrictions in their state (very similar to the attempts in certain areas of Florida). We have already reduced our time in Georgia (on our way up and down the ICW) to only three nights--this gives us a good reason to simply go offshore and skip the state entirely, even though the new laws are not expected to pass as they are now proposed.
My project for the day was to build a new (slightly longer) scratching post for our cats. It must be slightly longer (actually, higher) because Lola is so big. The scratching post has been bolted to a bracket just in front of an arm on the starboard settee--one that the cats (previous cats, particularly Bunky) used to scratch a long time ago. (I have learned over the years that you just can't place a scratching post just anywhere and expect cats to use it--they have to pick the location. Also, it seems like all cats follow the first generation cat's opinion of a suitable location.)
I made the top of the new scratching post higher, about up to the door knob on the door to the head. After cutting the properly-sized board to length, I clamped the new board in place and drilled 1/4-inch holes from the aluminum bracket side of the board. Then, using 5-minute epoxy, I epoxied the carriage bolt heads in place. (I used the 5-minute epoxy so that I could quickly continue on with the project.)
After the epoxy on the carriage bolt heads dried, I epoxied the end of the rope to the board with 5-minute epoxy as well. I allowed time for this to cure before proceeding any further. My intention was to make the new scratching post more indestructible--so, I epoxied the rope to the backing board as I wrapped it around the board. For fastening the bulk of the rope to the backing board, I used normal West System epoxy (105 epoxy resin and 206 slow hardener). I did this part of the project out on the pier while wearing disposable plastic gloves since it was a little messy.
When I had filled the board with 3/8-inch diameter hemp rope (epoxied on the front only) I clamped the rope fast (using another board as a clamping board. I allowed it to cure overnight outside on the dock with a sheet of plastic underneath.
While the final epoxy of the rope to the scratching post was curing, I roughened the previous coat of varnish (on the table trim) with medium bronze wool and then applied the seventh coat (maybe only one more needed!) of Epifanes gloss varnish. It is really starting to look great!
I brought the new cat scratching post in from the pier where the epoxy cured overnight. I set it up in its usual place (so the cats approve of the location).
The next task at hand was to put the eighth (and last) coat of varnish on the table trim and apply the third coat of varnish to the leg attachments.
It was nice working in the cool morning. The sky was perfectly clear and the only things moving were some marina-dependent ducks.
I heated up some leftover pizza for lunch. Since Maggie will be coming home tomorrow I have to do some major boat cleaning. I have to shovel up some of the cat hair that has accumulated in the past week and throw out a week's worth of empty beer bottles. Until next blogpost...
Thanks for following our blog!
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| Lola resting beside my laptop while I'm updating this blogpost. (She does this almost daily.) |
About 10 AM the sun came out a little stronger and I thought I could take advantage of the temporarily good weather and make the fold-down table's leg attachment pieces.
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| The leg attachment piece at the lower portion of this image is the one that attaches to the underside of the table while the little one in the upper portion of this image is the one that fastens to the bulkhead. |
In the above photo, a thin coat of epoxy has been applied between the clamped pieces with a brush. Before safely handling the glued pieces, I had to wait about 4 hours for the epoxy to cure.
In the meantime, I tackled the changeout some light fixtures in the main salon. Somehow we ended up with two excess LED lights with purple shades--we call them our "purple lights." On my project list was to changeout the old fixtures in the forward corners of the main salon with the newer purple lights.
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| The new purple light on the starboard side. |
The wiring feeding these two lights is still the old un-tinned wire. Even though I didn't like to do it, I reused the old un-tinned wire.
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After the epoxy cured (about 4 hours later) on the table leg attachments, I further shaped the pieces and marked where holes need to be drilled for screws. (I'll be completing work on these tomorrow and beginning the staining/varnishing process.)
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I have had this little project on my agenda for a couple days now--changing out the failed 110-volt AC outlet in the head. I keep postponing it day by day because it is one of those projects I hate because of the tiny area I have to work in while sitting on the head backwards. Well, I'm postponing it again today, but I don't want to let it go past this weekend because I promised Maggie that I would complete it while she is away.
Friday, June 21
I woke to very high westerly winds this morning. The boat was being pushed around in the slip and it was rocking a little even though the wind from coming from our stern. My bath towel, which I had left hanging over the steering pedestal to dry overnight, was laying in a big soggy heap on the cockpit floor. Apparently it rained during the night. It is relatively cool outside, a little more like a late-September morning than one in late-June. (I turned off the air conditioning for the first time in more than a month.)
This morning, I applied the fifth coat of varnish (I think it will need 8 or 9 coats to complete) to the teak trim around the new drop down table. I was hoping to do the varnishing outside but it looked like it would rain without much advance notice. The poor drying conditions have been stretching out the finishing process, twice as long as it would normally take.
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| This morning's view from the navigation station where I usually write this blogpost. (We're still waiting for our bimini to be made, as you can see by the bare frame.) |
This morning, I applied the fifth coat of varnish (I think it will need 8 or 9 coats to complete) to the teak trim around the new drop down table. I was hoping to do the varnishing outside but it looked like it would rain without much advance notice. The poor drying conditions have been stretching out the finishing process, twice as long as it would normally take.
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| It's unusual for me to have eggs for breakfast but this was an unusual morning. On a rolling boat, the eggs whites really tend to spread out. |
Fridays usually don't mean much to me as a retired person but I've worked hard this week and I am planning to reward myself by going out for lunch instead of slapping something together here on the boat. ("Go out for lunch" is actually on my daily agenda for today.)
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Last evening, I watched several older episodes of 'Finding Simon" on YouTube--it has become one of my favorite video blogs (vlogs). I have to admire the dedication involved in video blogging--it takes a lot of filming and editing, not to mention the skill involved in the narration. For myself, I prefer writing to oral narration and still photography to filming. As far as I know, no sailor my age is regularly making a vlog. I don't think too many people would want to watch and listen to an old fart like me talking about my boat projects on a vlog. However, I'm planning on adding a few video snippets in this blog in the future but that's as far as I want to go down that path. Simon's vlogs has certainly influenced me to me more descriptive of my life aboard, even of the mundane (like the photo of the cooking eggs above).
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My day is rarely successful when I go out to lunch because when I return I usually don't feel like working very hard, particularly after transferring groceries from the car to the boat. The outside temperature warmed up considerably in the afternoon (85 degrees) and the breeze calmed (9 knots or so). I did clean both raw water strainers (one for the A/C and the other for supplemental cooling for the fridge) and changed the fresh water filter (since it's nearly the end of the quarter). I washed dishes and cleaned up the boat a little too--it really needed it! The weather forecast is for two nice days in a row. (I 'll need nice weather to make a new cat scratching post tomorrow.)
Saturday, June 22
I woke to an absolutely beautiful morning--the sky was clear, the sun was shining brightly, the outside temperature was in the low 70's, and a cool 10-knot breeze was coming out of the west. I set up my varnishing project outside this morning as the drying conditions were perfect. I applied the sixth coat of varnish to the table trim in the morning.
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| I setup my workmate on the pier beside the boat this morning for my varnishing project. (This photo was taken using my new 85mm lens.) |
I went out for a light breakfast in the boater's lounge since it is Saturday morning and then returned to the boat to start a meal in the crockpot (pieces of steak with lots of carrots, one potato, a cup of white wine, 1/2-cup of hot salsa, a dash or two of pepper, and a little water to raise the level of liquid in the crock pot). It will be my (late) dinner tonight.
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A power boat was in the slip next to us until this morning. It continued on its Great Loop adventure. It will be stopping in Chesapeake City tonight and then Cape May, NJ tomorrow night. Loopers (as they are called) have been delayed because of delays in the Erie Canal caused by unusually high amounts of rainfall.
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| This is one of those "glimpses" of marina life. While teak decks are beautiful, they are usually a nightmare for topside leakage. This particular boat is a Bristol 40 (or thereabouts) docked near the end of our dock |
I have been reading about the state legislatures in Georgia that have tried to implement anchoring restrictions in their state (very similar to the attempts in certain areas of Florida). We have already reduced our time in Georgia (on our way up and down the ICW) to only three nights--this gives us a good reason to simply go offshore and skip the state entirely, even though the new laws are not expected to pass as they are now proposed.
----------
My project for the day was to build a new (slightly longer) scratching post for our cats. It must be slightly longer (actually, higher) because Lola is so big. The scratching post has been bolted to a bracket just in front of an arm on the starboard settee--one that the cats (previous cats, particularly Bunky) used to scratch a long time ago. (I have learned over the years that you just can't place a scratching post just anywhere and expect cats to use it--they have to pick the location. Also, it seems like all cats follow the first generation cat's opinion of a suitable location.)
 |
| Lola has pulled the rope off the face of the old scratching post in her frequent attempts to sharpen her claws. |
I made the top of the new scratching post higher, about up to the door knob on the door to the head. After cutting the properly-sized board to length, I clamped the new board in place and drilled 1/4-inch holes from the aluminum bracket side of the board. Then, using 5-minute epoxy, I epoxied the carriage bolt heads in place. (I used the 5-minute epoxy so that I could quickly continue on with the project.)
 |
| I used 5-minute epoxy to fasten the carriage bolts to the backing board for the new scratching post. |
After the epoxy on the carriage bolt heads dried, I epoxied the end of the rope to the board with 5-minute epoxy as well. I allowed time for this to cure before proceeding any further. My intention was to make the new scratching post more indestructible--so, I epoxied the rope to the backing board as I wrapped it around the board. For fastening the bulk of the rope to the backing board, I used normal West System epoxy (105 epoxy resin and 206 slow hardener). I did this part of the project out on the pier while wearing disposable plastic gloves since it was a little messy.
 |
| The rope applied to the backing board with epoxy on one side of the board. It was clamped together for curing overnight, |
When I had filled the board with 3/8-inch diameter hemp rope (epoxied on the front only) I clamped the rope fast (using another board as a clamping board. I allowed it to cure overnight outside on the dock with a sheet of plastic underneath.
----------
While the final epoxy of the rope to the scratching post was curing, I roughened the previous coat of varnish (on the table trim) with medium bronze wool and then applied the seventh coat (maybe only one more needed!) of Epifanes gloss varnish. It is really starting to look great!
Sunday, June 23
I brought the new cat scratching post in from the pier where the epoxy cured overnight. I set it up in its usual place (so the cats approve of the location).
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| The new custom-made scratching post for our cats. |
The next task at hand was to put the eighth (and last) coat of varnish on the table trim and apply the third coat of varnish to the leg attachments.
It was nice working in the cool morning. The sky was perfectly clear and the only things moving were some marina-dependent ducks.
----------
I heated up some leftover pizza for lunch. Since Maggie will be coming home tomorrow I have to do some major boat cleaning. I have to shovel up some of the cat hair that has accumulated in the past week and throw out a week's worth of empty beer bottles. Until next blogpost...
Thanks for following our blog!
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