Winter Onboard in Annapolis

—Blogpost written by Bob 

Monday, November  16

I didn't sleep very well last night--not because of the wind and high tide but because of a situation at our marina in Baltimore.  The current Board is trying to implement restrictions on liveaboards which may impact on our continued stay there in the spring.  More on this later...

The sun was out in full force in the morning and the outside temperature was warm (60's).  A fellow sailor stopped by our boat in the morning and needed charts for the ICW--he was heading south coming from Maine.  He was planning on traveling outside (in the ocean) but changed his mind when confronted with the recent high wind.  After an unsuccessful trip to Fawcetts and West Marine in searching for charts, I loaned him our charts with all the valuable notes we collected from our trips north and south. This was my good deed for the day.  I hope he returns them as he promised!  He was sailing a Pierson 365 Ketch, s/v Adventure.

Exercising just isn't what it used
to be!  How do I get back up? (I hope
readers don't think I actually look like this!)

We had our own little Margarita Monday in the cockpit this evening complete with skinny margaritas, tortilla chips, salsa, and other Mexican dips.

Tuesday, November 17

The sun came up just aft of the port side of our boat.  Our boat actually faces southwest as it sits in this slip at Annapolis City Dock.  Last night, I assembled a new version of baked French toast using croissants as the bread.  The foil-covered dish went into the oven in the morning as Maggie drove to our doctor’s office for a blood test.  The sweet smell of cinnamon filled the cabin’s air as it baked in our oven.  After 30 minutes, I removed the foil cover from the dish and allowed further baking to resume.  The baked French toast was absolutely delicious!

Baked french toast fresh
out of the oven.

As we finished our breakfast Lola came to the companionway after her morning sunbathing, ready to face the cat world.  When you stop and think about it, her world is pretty small and worry-free, at least that's the way it appears to us.  Perhaps. she worries about ducks getting on our boat and making a mess and it's her responsibility to intercede.  Sometimes I think it would be interesting to be able to read her mind--other times, I realize that her thoughts might simply be on minutia (like the taste of a fly that she caught).  I don't believe that cats have a concept of time or planning--it's all about what feels good at the moment.  What a nice life!

Lola in the cockpit after her
morning sunbathing.

The issue I mentioned earlier on this blog (about the Board making restrictions on liveaboards at our Baltimore marina) were still on my mind today.  I sent a scathing email to the President of the Board soon after I heard about the planned restrictions which hasn't been answered yet.  I have considered a petition signed by all the liveaboards and a challenge to the leadership.  I really don't want to get involved in a fight at this point in my life but I don't want my lifestyle trampled on either.  After a lot of thought, I am going to first try to convince the President of the error of his ways, most likely from a business standpoint.  After all, the current market for rental slips consists primarily of liveaboards.

Middleton's Tavern was pretty
empty today at lunch.

I'm still not sure what I am going to do about the situation with our Baltimore slip--sometimes I just get fed up with Baltimore.  Probably the best thing is to proceed with a number of different avenues, including putting our condominium slip up for sale.

Wednesday, November 18

It was noticeably colder last night--the outside temperature dropped to a low of very close to  freezing (33 degrees F).  It was still very cool in the morning (mid to high-30's).

We had a short loss of electrical power this morning and I'm not completely sure what caused it. The main onboard breaker flipped.  It may have been due to the thermostat of the oil-filled radiator in the cockpit calling for heat as the inside reverse-cycle A/C kicked on too.  At the time, we were using only one 30-amp shore power source.  We have two 30-amp sources available (the second source available at an additional cost of $120/month) if we need it but we were trying to get through November and December without using it.  (Depending on the degree of the cold weather in January and February, we may use both 30-amp sources doing the two coldest months.)  

I noticed that after the loss of power was restored the automatic battery charger was on "conditioning" mode and the battery voltage was near 14.5 volts.  A short while later, the battery charger changed to more normal mode and the battery voltage dropped to 13.50 volts or thereabouts.

I pulled the trigger on an order for a Makita inflator tool this morning after noticing that two of our fenders needed air.  Of course, I had to buy an 18-volt battery and a charger too.  The inflator tool will come in handy pumping up our dinghy and for a few other tasks around the boat.

During the day I restarted my electronic list of things to do since I had abandoned it for the last couple weeks.  I completed about half the things on the list for the day and moved the remaining undone things to later in the week.

Thursday, November 19

The outside temperature was slightly below freezing last night but we were nice and cozy and warm.  The sun was out in full force by the time we got up but it was still quite chilly outside.  At mid-morning Maggie was sitting in the heated (and enclosed) cockpit reading while I was compiling a list of ingredients to be used in a Mexican chili crockpot disk I planned on making on Friday.  (The Mexican part of the chili comes from adding a diced jalapeño, black beans, diced green chiles, and corn to the regular ingredients.)

During the pandemic and in the winter, cooking seems to have occupied a big part of our daily plans.  For some reason, my preference was always  for warm and hearty crockpot dishes, be they Mexican, Italian, or American.  I went grocery shopping alone late in the morning and bought lots of good stuff for my Mexican Chili and other things.

S/v Rainy Days in slip #10 at
Annapolis City Dock

Ninety-seven point three degrees was my body temperature as read from a handheld digital thermometer as I was checked in for my follow-up doctor's appointment late the afternoon.  (I really don't understand why a thermometer is so relied upon for COVID-19 checks.)  By the time I got back to the boat, it was dark outside already.

The U.S just passed 250,000 deaths in the pandemic, most of them probably unnecessary.  Trump is still clinging to power and his minions are following his wishes to try and corrupt the election system to hold onto power--this is embarrassing.  We are like a third world country!

Please stay safe and don't travel this holiday if you can avoid it...

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