Early Fall in Baltimore
October 1 thru October 4
—Blogpost written by Bob
Tuesday, October 1
Last night we slept without air conditioning (by choice) because it was so cool outside. However, we are not through with hot weather yet as the predicted high for today was a comfortable 84 degrees and tomorrow, 95 degrees! (We will still need our onboard air conditioner later in the day and tomorrow.) Today was the first day of October. We plan to leave Baltimore, heading south, on October 17.
Most of our long-term provisioning has been completed but our short-term provisioning has not been started yet. Short-term provisioning will be done at all our major stops along the ICW, as well as just before we leave Baltimore. Short-term provisioning includes things like bread, milk, eggs, fresh vegetables, and meats.
The big event for the day was picking up our new folding bikes at Fawcetts.
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| Each bike came in a cardboard box. We were able to fit both cardboard boxes in the trunk of our Prius to bring them back to Baltimore. |
It took about an hour to get both bikes out of the boxes and perform the little bit of assembly that was required, as well as inflating the tires.
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| We've grown accustomed to these beautiful sunsets. |
In the evening, we ordered bike locks and bells to mount on our new bikes. Getting new bikes made us feel like kids again.
Wednesday, October 2
This morning we rode our new bikes to Pitango Bakery and Cafe in Fells Point--it was about a 1/2-mile ride. Pitango Bakery and Cafe is in a wedge-shaped single-story building right on the water. It has indoor and outdoor seating. We sat outside to watch our bikes since we don't have locks yet. I had a delicious almond croissant for breakfast.
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| Our new folding bikes in front of Pitango Bakery & Cafe in Fells Point. |
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| Bike butts. |
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| A tiny sparrow waits on the pavement beneath our table for crumbs. (Of course, I gave him a crumb.) |
Since my secondary chart plotter arrived from being serviced (actually just checked out) yesterday, I re-installed it in the late morning and tried to use the new chart card again--it still didn't work. Then, I tried the new chart card in my primary chart plotter at the helm--it didn't;t work there either! Then I called C-Map support and found out that the version of the new chart card (M-NA-M022.43) is not compatible with my RayMarine chart plotters. So, I have to exchange the chart card to get a satisfactory resolution. I started on this process this afternoon.
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On my schedule for the day was cleaning the raw water strainer. Since it was hot outside (in the low 90's) I waited until evening to clean the strainer basket. When I pulled out the strainer basket is was very clean. Apparently the marine growth has subsided for the season--this is normal for this time of year.
Thursday, October 3
Today was overcast and cool. It looked like it might rain at any time but it never did. Walking around was like walking through a low-lying cloud with its associated moisture.
After my blood test we stopped for breakfast at the nearby McDonalds and then stopped at Naval Bagels to pick up bagels to take home. Then, a stop at Fawcetts was required to get some shock cord and hooks to rebuild the tie downs for our forepeak tent. (A very strong wind came through the harbor about a month ago and tore many of the tie downs off the forepeak tent.)
After several more little stops we had lunch at Lemongrass Too, one of our favorite Thai restaurants in Annapolis. We ate outside under the patio.
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| This flying frog was hanging from the ceiling of the outdoor patio at Lemongrass Too. |
After lunch we did some much-needed grocery shopping, as well as getting some more long-term provisions, at Walmart.
Friday, October 4
This morning, I added a conservation nozzle onto our galley sink faucet so that we use less fresh water. (This was a helpful hint from Denis on the C&C forum.) I purchased the conservation nozzle from Amazon a couple days ago.
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| The spray pattern from the faucet with the conservation nozzle set at its lowest (0.5 GPM) setting. (Our pump's rating is 3 GPM.) |
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| A close up view of the conservation spray nozzle. |
Hopefully, this will allow us to conserve fresh water and stay within our 12 gallons per day water budget!
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In the late morning I cleaned up our dinghy and added some stainless steel hooks to attach the dinghy boarding ladder more appropriately than it had been previously. I feel like I made a lot of progress today...
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