Summer in Baltimore
September 10 thru September 13
—Blogpost written by Bob
Tuesday, September 10
Today was a beautiful day, bright and sunny all day. I chose to get our car serviced today--I get it serviced once a year since it spends most of its life (6 or 7 months of the year) in storage while we are away.
We have some boat neighbors who are going through a challenging time with issues of aging and health. I can't help but think about when we will face such issues and what we will do about them. Every year heavy lifting tasks get a little harder for me to handle. This summer I noticed that it was much more difficult for me to carry our dinghy's 6 HP outboard engine to/from the dock cart when we got it serviced. I believe that the only thing that we can do is enjoy the moment--thinking about it (aging) and planning is probably counter productive.
It is a strange day when the first photo of the day is one from Happy Hour but that is the case today.
One of my tasks for the day was to start the paperwork for the cats to enter the Bahamas. (The last season we were in the Bahamas, we did not bother with the pet permits and we wee not asked about them but this year we will be going through Nassau and the chances of being boarded are higher.)
I found out today that one of the requirements for entry into the Bahamas is that the cats must have microchips which they do not currently have. So, before I can fill out the applications, I need to get them both microchipped. From my online research, Banfield Animal Hospital located within PetsMart is the most economical place to have this done ($30 each). So, that project is on hold until we get them microchipped (hopefully later this week).
My other tasks for the day were rather simple and even as simple as they were they weren't completed. My daily agenda's have been rather lax lately. (My mind must be on heading south!)
I have been debating whether to go all the way south to Miami and then crossing the gulf stream to Bimini OR crossing from Fort Lauderdale. From Fort Lauderdale, we will be fighting the northward current from the gulf stream a bit more but we will save the slow going on the ICW between Fort Lauderdale and Miami. My current thinking is to cross from Fort Lauderdale and leave before sunrise so that we have the sun pretty much overhead when entering Bimini. We'll see which route we take later in the year...
The actual microchip is about the size of a grain of rice (though 12mm long) and it is usually embedded between the cats shoulder blades. It is inserted under the skin via a syringe and is not supposed to hurt but I have my doubts about this. It is actually an RFID device that requires no power.
In the end we decided to buy the microchip kits on Amazon ($14.95 each) and have them installed in Vero Beach, Florida when the cats are examined there just before crossing the gulf stream. This way, we can proceed with the Bahamas pet permit paperwork and save some money (or at least postpone spending it).
Today was Friday the 13th--its a good thing that I'm not superstitious! The outside temperature was very cool--high 60's to low 70's and the sky was overcast.
I was not sure what I was going to tackle today, but replacing the 52 nuts and washers under the genoa track ended up being the day's project. I could only get access to less than half of them without ripping the entire boat apart (which I did not do!).
Fortunately I was able to make the replacements from below deck. Each genoa track is fastened down with (26) 1/4" cap screws and nuts. The deck is solid fiberglass in the area of the genoa track and below deck is a 1" wide x 1/4" thick aluminum bar that runs the entire length of the genoa track. (I love the way C&C's are constructed!)
One of the provisions that we have recently tried out is a soup mix made by Frontier Soups. We purchased the Bestseller Bundle on Amazon which consists of four different soup mixes: Connecticut Cottage Chicken Noodle, Mississippi Delta Basil Tomato, South of the Border Tortilla, and Illinois Prairie Corn Chowder. We recently tried the South of the Border Tortilla soup and it was delicious!
It should be noted that the instructions call for added ingredients in each soup mix. In the one we tried, the extra ingredients were chicken bullion and cut up cooked chicken. Each bag of soup mix makes about six servings. We will be ordering more for our trip south this winter.
Stay tuned as we prepare to head south for the winter...
Thanks for following our blog!
We have some boat neighbors who are going through a challenging time with issues of aging and health. I can't help but think about when we will face such issues and what we will do about them. Every year heavy lifting tasks get a little harder for me to handle. This summer I noticed that it was much more difficult for me to carry our dinghy's 6 HP outboard engine to/from the dock cart when we got it serviced. I believe that the only thing that we can do is enjoy the moment--thinking about it (aging) and planning is probably counter productive.
It is a strange day when the first photo of the day is one from Happy Hour but that is the case today.
 |
| My delicious margarita consumed during Happy Hour. |
 |
| The ingredients for my delicious margarita were: 1/2-cup of water, ice in a glass with sea salt on the rim, 1-1/2 ounces of tequila, 1/2 ounce of triple sec, 1 packet of Baja Bob's Sugar-free margarita mix and one-quarter of a lime. |
Wednesday, September 11
One of my tasks for the day was to start the paperwork for the cats to enter the Bahamas. (The last season we were in the Bahamas, we did not bother with the pet permits and we wee not asked about them but this year we will be going through Nassau and the chances of being boarded are higher.)
 |
| Lola spending some outside time on the port deck this morning. |
I found out today that one of the requirements for entry into the Bahamas is that the cats must have microchips which they do not currently have. So, before I can fill out the applications, I need to get them both microchipped. From my online research, Banfield Animal Hospital located within PetsMart is the most economical place to have this done ($30 each). So, that project is on hold until we get them microchipped (hopefully later this week).
My other tasks for the day were rather simple and even as simple as they were they weren't completed. My daily agenda's have been rather lax lately. (My mind must be on heading south!)
 |
| Our current plan for crossing of the gulf stream between Fort Lauderdale and Bimini (47.5 miles) |
I have been debating whether to go all the way south to Miami and then crossing the gulf stream to Bimini OR crossing from Fort Lauderdale. From Fort Lauderdale, we will be fighting the northward current from the gulf stream a bit more but we will save the slow going on the ICW between Fort Lauderdale and Miami. My current thinking is to cross from Fort Lauderdale and leave before sunrise so that we have the sun pretty much overhead when entering Bimini. We'll see which route we take later in the year...
Thursday, September 12
I did some more research on getting our cats microchipped this morning. Banfield Animal Hospital (affiliated with PetsMart) will do it for $30 each but only after a $95 exam (not sure if this is the total for two cats or for each cat). Our normal vet in Annapolis only charges $43 each cat with no additional exam fee required because they were just examined and got vaccinations. We decided to wait until next week to have this done because it has taken Lola some time to get over the last vet appointment fiasco. (Microchips are a relatively new requirement for bringing a pet into the Bahamas—it was NOT required the last time we got pet permits for the 2016/2017 season.)
 |
| A pet microchip kit sold on Amazon.com |
The actual microchip is about the size of a grain of rice (though 12mm long) and it is usually embedded between the cats shoulder blades. It is inserted under the skin via a syringe and is not supposed to hurt but I have my doubts about this. It is actually an RFID device that requires no power.
In the end we decided to buy the microchip kits on Amazon ($14.95 each) and have them installed in Vero Beach, Florida when the cats are examined there just before crossing the gulf stream. This way, we can proceed with the Bahamas pet permit paperwork and save some money (or at least postpone spending it).
Friday, September 13
Today was Friday the 13th--its a good thing that I'm not superstitious! The outside temperature was very cool--high 60's to low 70's and the sky was overcast.
I was not sure what I was going to tackle today, but replacing the 52 nuts and washers under the genoa track ended up being the day's project. I could only get access to less than half of them without ripping the entire boat apart (which I did not do!).
 |
| I replaced the old original nuts with nylon-inserted locknuts and flat washers. |
Fortunately I was able to make the replacements from below deck. Each genoa track is fastened down with (26) 1/4" cap screws and nuts. The deck is solid fiberglass in the area of the genoa track and below deck is a 1" wide x 1/4" thick aluminum bar that runs the entire length of the genoa track. (I love the way C&C's are constructed!)
----------
One of the provisions that we have recently tried out is a soup mix made by Frontier Soups. We purchased the Bestseller Bundle on Amazon which consists of four different soup mixes: Connecticut Cottage Chicken Noodle, Mississippi Delta Basil Tomato, South of the Border Tortilla, and Illinois Prairie Corn Chowder. We recently tried the South of the Border Tortilla soup and it was delicious!
 |
| These are the four soup mixes that make up Frontier Soups' Bestseller Bundle. |
It should be noted that the instructions call for added ingredients in each soup mix. In the one we tried, the extra ingredients were chicken bullion and cut up cooked chicken. Each bag of soup mix makes about six servings. We will be ordering more for our trip south this winter.
Stay tuned as we prepare to head south for the winter...
Thanks for following our blog!
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