Early Fall in Baltimore
September 23 thru September 26
—Blogpost written by Bob
Monday, September 23
Today is the first day of Autumn in the northern hemisphere. We are expecting an afternoon high temperature of 93 degrees--this will probably be the last hot day of the year.
I spent most of the afternoon in the boater's lounge completing paperwork to be able to get our two cats into the Bahamas. They each need pet permits, costing $57 each. Certificate of vaccinations and their microchip information are required to get the permits. (They will also need an examination by a vet 24 hours before arriving in the Bahamas--this will have to be done in Florida.)
Today was another beautiful Fall day with warm temperatures (the afternoon temperature reached 80 degrees!) and clear skies. I had every intention of changing the seals in the water maker today but I never got around to it. There's still a lot of time remaining before we leave!
We are still trying to get an acceptable resolution from Allstate on the accident that Maggie had over a year ago now. (If you recall she was rear ended and the driver at fault had Allstate insurance.) Even though we have an attorney, Allstate proposed a settlement after litigation was threatened. They later backtracked on it, apparently thinking that our threat of litigation was insincere.
I cleaned the raw water strainer this morning and used the new strainer basket for the first time. I have two strainer baskets that alternate in usage. While not in use, the second strainer basket is kept in a tall jar containing bleach. Household bleach does a very good job of loosening the accumulated marine growth.
In the early summer we need to clean the raw water strainer every two weeks. As the water temperature warms up later in the summer the frequency of cleaning must increase to weekly. (The marine growth in Baltimore is slightly less than we previously experienced in Annapolis and Galesville probably because the water is a bit less salty.)
I got a very slow start to the morning. I wanted to change the seals in the water maker but I got too late of a start to tackle the estimated 3-hour long job.
In preparation for our trip south, I consolidated our supply of (ethanol-free) gasoline fuel for our dinghy's outboard into the two portable tanks. We have about 7 gallons remaining (from our total supply of 15 gallons last year) and that should last us until we reach St. Augustine where we know we can refuel with ethanol-free gasoline. We didn't use the dinghy much last season because we were in a slip in Charleston City Marina for 4 months.
The sky clouded up in the middle afternoon with some scattered rain showers expected. I closed up shop early (since I got a late start) and relaxed the remainder of the day.
Stay tuned for my changing of the seals in the water maker, finally...
Thanks for following our blog!
I spent most of the afternoon in the boater's lounge completing paperwork to be able to get our two cats into the Bahamas. They each need pet permits, costing $57 each. Certificate of vaccinations and their microchip information are required to get the permits. (They will also need an examination by a vet 24 hours before arriving in the Bahamas--this will have to be done in Florida.)
Tuesday, September 24
We drove to Annapolis in the morning. It was a nice cool Fall day with full sunshine and a moderate breeze. A few days ago I ordered a new strainer basket at Fawcetts and I was advised that it came in to the store yesterday—so, picking up the new strainer basket was one of our primary goals for the day. We organized several other objectives around our trip to Annapolis.
While at Fawcetts, we test drove a very cool folding bike, the Dahon Mariner D8 which is completely constructed from aluminum, plastic, and stainless steel. Even the chain and the wheel spokes are stainless steel!
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The new 2019 Dahon Mariner D8 folding bicycle. |
Since they fold in half and then collapse further into a very small space, we could easily store them on deck inside a Sunbrella enclosure (or in our quarter berth). The bikes have 20-inch wheels and an 8-speed gear shifter. They are surprisingly easy to ride.
At $600 each, they are certainly not inexpensive. We are seriously contemplating this purchase and will sleep on it a couple days before buying.
Wednesday, September 25
Today was another beautiful Fall day with warm temperatures (the afternoon temperature reached 80 degrees!) and clear skies. I had every intention of changing the seals in the water maker today but I never got around to it. There's still a lot of time remaining before we leave!
----------
We are still trying to get an acceptable resolution from Allstate on the accident that Maggie had over a year ago now. (If you recall she was rear ended and the driver at fault had Allstate insurance.) Even though we have an attorney, Allstate proposed a settlement after litigation was threatened. They later backtracked on it, apparently thinking that our threat of litigation was insincere.
----------
I cleaned the raw water strainer this morning and used the new strainer basket for the first time. I have two strainer baskets that alternate in usage. While not in use, the second strainer basket is kept in a tall jar containing bleach. Household bleach does a very good job of loosening the accumulated marine growth.
 |
| We keep the second strainer basket in a jar of household bleach when not in use. |
In the early summer we need to clean the raw water strainer every two weeks. As the water temperature warms up later in the summer the frequency of cleaning must increase to weekly. (The marine growth in Baltimore is slightly less than we previously experienced in Annapolis and Galesville probably because the water is a bit less salty.)
Thursday, September 26
I got a very slow start to the morning. I wanted to change the seals in the water maker but I got too late of a start to tackle the estimated 3-hour long job.
In preparation for our trip south, I consolidated our supply of (ethanol-free) gasoline fuel for our dinghy's outboard into the two portable tanks. We have about 7 gallons remaining (from our total supply of 15 gallons last year) and that should last us until we reach St. Augustine where we know we can refuel with ethanol-free gasoline. We didn't use the dinghy much last season because we were in a slip in Charleston City Marina for 4 months.
 |
| Consolidating ethanol-free gasoline into portable dinghy tanks. |
The sky clouded up in the middle afternoon with some scattered rain showers expected. I closed up shop early (since I got a late start) and relaxed the remainder of the day.
Stay tuned for my changing of the seals in the water maker, finally...
Thanks for following our blog!
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