Summer in Baltimore

June 29 thru July 3

—Blogpost written by Bob

Saturday, June 29

Today was projected to be one of the hottest days of the year so far, with a forecasted high temperature of 94 degrees F.  So, I had to tackle the caulking project early in the morning.

The finished caulking between the rub rail and
the aluminum casting on the port bow.

I used a small tube of silicone and a plastic epoxy mixing stick to fill the two gaps in the rub rail.  I worked from the dinghy for this process.  I also sprayed the filled gaps with denatured alcohol prior to smoothing them out.  The use of denatured alcohol worked extremely well.


I filled the gaps between the rub rail and the bow casting using a large tube of silicone and a caulk gun and performed this job from the dinghy as well.  I, again, used a blast of denatured alcohol spray to assist it smoothing out the caulk after it was applied.

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Maggie finished making the insulated hatch covers yesterday.  They look great and the make a noticeable difference in keeping the cabin cooler.  (The cabin is also much darker when they are in use.)

The new insulated hatch cover in place
on the forward hatch.

The insulation used in the hatch cover is the 1/4-inch thick silvery foil-backed insulation you sometimes see in car windshields to protect the dash board from the hot sun and keep the car cooler.  The insulation is encapsulated between the outer cover (toast-colored Sunbrella) that matches our boat's canvas and an inner layer of white plastic mesh fabric (Textilene) and are kept in place by a draw string that goes under each corner of the hatch.  The new hatch covers will tend to keep the cabin cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter (if we ever find ourselves in cold weather again).  Like all our other exterior canvas, we used Tenara-brand PTFE thread for maximum possible UV resistance.  (Sailrite's YouTube video on making hatch covers was extremely helpful on this project!)

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I noticed that our 16k Btu A/C was running more than 80% of the time during the hottest part of today--it was more than I ever remember.  Of course, it was trying to maintain 73 degrees inside the boat on one of the hottest days of the year so far.

Sunday, June 30

I had to get up a couple times during the night to refasten our forepeak tent--the high wind kept blowing it loose.  Today was a beautiful day with lots of sunshine and 14 to 21 knot winds out of the WNW.

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We cleaned both raw water strainer baskets this morning--neither one had any significant growth or blockage inside.  I re-primed the pump for the supplemental fridge cooling when I had everything apart.  It seemed to run fine after it was re-primed.  (At one point a few weeks ago, the pump started squealing like it had lost cooling water and I shut the pump off until I could investigate it further.  I wonder if the pump loses its prime over time.)

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One of the projects remaining on our agenda is a redesign of our forepeak tent.  The goal was to make it less prone to being whipped around by the the high winds.  To accomplish this we had to reduce the height of the inverted v-shape.  We lowered the aft attachment point and brought the existing tent all the way out to the upper lifelines but fastened the lines to the lower lifeline--these adjustments accomplished what we wanted.

The forepeak tent redesign
on the port side.

The forepeak tent redesign
on the starboard side.

So, now we have to cut the aft corners off the forepeak tent and re-hem them plus attach four more shock cords (two on each side).  We also have to move the chafe patch for the jib sheet inboard by a few inches and remove the aft battens.  (We will maintain the battens at the forward edges of the forepeak tent.)  However, these relatively minor modifications certainly beat making a new forepeak tent.

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I unpacked the water maker yesterday and read the owner's manual to get familiar with the installation.  I believe that I will have to reduce the length and volume of the water tank on under the starboard settee so that I can mount the water maker there.  (All the valves and filters will be located in a cabinet beneath the head sink.)  Since the through hull for the water maker will be installed during our upcoming haulout, I will store the water maker in our car until after the haulout.

Maggie using our newly made fold
down table for sewing.

Monday, July 1

Today we did some wiring, pulling the ethernet cable through the pedestal to connect our two chart plotters.  Since I couldn't get the plug through the pedestal, I had to cut the cable and install a CAT-6 junction box to connect the ends back together--I located the junction box in the navigation station.  It took us about 3 hours to get the cable down one leg of the pedestal.  After many failed attempts, we tried the opposite leg of the pedestal and we were successful.  However, when we were running the cable back to the navigation station and using cable ties to tie it to the underside of the cockpit floor, Maggie snipped the cable to the wind instrument by mistake.  So, now I have another tough splicing project while laying on my back at the bottom of the starboard cockpit locker.

Wiring the CAT-6 junction box on top
of a colorful magazine cover.
The special tool made
the wiring easy.

After wiring the CAT-6 junction box and checking the continuity, I had no results.  The secondary chart plotter did not recognize the primary chart plotter PLUS somehow I lost my AIS signals to the primary chart plotter.  (The AIS output still shows up on my MarineTraffic app. on my iPad--so I know it's working.)  So, at this point I will wait until tomorrow morning and pull apart the instrument pod since it is possible that I disconnected something while fitting all the cables back into the pod.  Today was very, very frustrating!

Tuesday, July 2

I got up early and pulled apart the instrument pod to check if I erroneously disconnected one of the cables as I reassembled it yesterday but everything looked fine.  (Later, I thought about my continuity test of the junction box connections and realized that all I was checking was the circuitry of the junction box which only proved that the junction box was made correctly.  I have more work to do on this!)

Today was our day in Annapolis, at least in the morning.  We picked up our new bimini at Annapolis Custom Yacht Canvas, arranged for a slip at Annapolis Landing Marina for next Monday and Tuesday, and picked up some engine parts at Bayshore Marine.  We stopped at Fawcetts (as usual) and picked up some things to make tie downs for our modified forepeak tent.

When we got back to the boat, we tried to attach the new bimini but somehow there was a slip up between the pattern and the bimini--it was 3 to 6 inches too short.  We took measurements of the discrepancy and will return it to Annapolis Custom Yacht Canvas tomorrow morning.  I'm sure we'll get it resolved.

We proceded to work on the modifications to the forepeak tent.  Maggie hemmed the sides and I punched new holes and put grommets in the sides. 

The new tie downs for the forepeak tent involve short
lengths of shock cord that reach over the top
lifelines and fasten to the lower lifelines.  
There is also chafe protection in the 
form of clear vinyl tubing to 
prevent chafe against 
the upper lifelines. 

A view of the newly modified
forepeak tent from the helm.

We measured the discrepancy in the bimini as a late afternoon thunderstorm approached the marina.

A late afternoon thunderstorm approaches
the marina as we complete our day.

Our day ended at about 8 PM when the thunderstorm arrived.  Tomorrow, we head back to Annapolis.

Wednesday, July 3

We left the boat early this morning since Maggie had a doctor’s appointment in Glen Burnie. From the doctor’s appointment we drove to Annapolis with our new bimini that didn’t seem to fit.  At Annapolis Custom Yacht Canvas we placed our bimini against the plastic sheet pattern that was used to make it and we made overall measurements. We concluded that (despite the fact that 3 zippers had to be reworked) the new bimini should fit.  We suppose that the reason it didn’t fit (besides the zipper problems on the aft end) is that the braces I most recently added to stiffen up the structure) were actually pushing the middle bow upward, increasing the length that has to be covered.  Annapolis Custom Yacht Canvas reworked the 3 zippers while we were in Annapolis doing other errands. (We even got ice cream at Storm Brothers!)  Consequently, we were able to take our new bimini back to the boat and try again.

This time I removed the two most recently added struts plus the single strut on the boat’s centerline between the first and second bow of the bimini frame. We zipped it up in place and then attempted to reinstall the three temporarily-removed struts.  We could get the two most-recently added struts into position with a bit of a struggle but the third (overhead on the boat's centerline) would not go back in without significantly reducing its length. 

The new bimini in place less solar panels.

Another view of the new bimini.

At this point the center strut was still not in place--it was too long.  I decided to wait to cut it until tomorrow morning.

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At our favorite pizza restaurant in Annapolis, Italian Market, we usually get iced tea. The iced tea dispenser is located at the condiment bar along with an ice and soda dispenser, silverware, napkins, and sliced lemons.  In fact there is an abundance (like a bucket full) of generously sliced lemons at the condiment bar.

Going a little crazy with
the lemon slices.

For some reason, I can’t resist the sliced lemons. I always use two lemon slices in my iced tea at Italian Market and ONLY at Italian Market. I don’t know if it is simply the abundant supply of lemon slices or the attractive nature of the fresh lemon slices that affects me.  I realize that using two lemon slices is a small and insignificant indulgence to most people but I’ve questioned myself as to why I do this and why only at Italian Market. I’m sure there is some type of deeply seated reason—maybe I will never understand why. (Sometimes I think it is one of the by-products of my growing up poor--we never had sliced lemons growing up.) Today, we had lunch at Italian Market and I sat at a table writing this as I was waiting for Maggie (getting lab work done nearby) drinking iced tea with two generous lemon slices.

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Tomorrow, in the cooler morning hours, hopefully, we will be re-installing the solar panels...


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