Winter Onboard in Annapolis

—Blogpost written by Bob 

Friday, December 18

Today was overcast and dreary for the most part.  It was a very damp type of cold like appears before a snowstorm but there are no snowstorms in the forecast.

The first thing I did when I got up in the morning was to begin preparation for crockpot lasagna by sautéing chopped onions and garlic.  I browned about one pound of ground beef over the sautéed onions and then added tomato sauce and tomato paste along with a pinch of cayenne, 2 packets of Splenda, and some Italian seasonings.  I layered the lasagna in the crockpot using "no boil" noodles. the tomato/meat sauce with mushrooms, grated mozzarella cheese, and, of course, Ricotta cheese.  

After the lasagna started cooking in the crockpot. I had the marina people bring the long lengths of hoses to our boat to fill our water tanks.  I filled an extra 5-gallon water jug and placed it in the cockpit so that it wouldn't freeze so readily and so that we have some spare fresh water.

By 1:30 PM (4 hours on the high setting) the lasagna was completely cooked in the crockpot and it was time for lunch (which has been our main meal of the day).

What remains of our crockpot lasagna
after our late lunch.  We made 
enough for two more meals
 for both of us.

The only downside of making lasagna in a crockpot is that it is very deep (maybe 4") and was difficult to remove the servings without making a complete mess.  We used a large serving spoon to get out each serving.

This morning while I was refilling the water tanks, I noticed that the o-rings on the fill caps were badly worn and one was missing completely--so I ordered replacements on Amazon.

Saturday, December 19

As we prepared for an afternoon of college football games, Maggie received a package from her sister, Becky—it was a cold water lobster tail dinner for two!  It was quite unexpected, especially since they don’t live near the source of cold water lobsters.  The dinner arrived in a thermally insulated package which kept it frozen during shipment.

Our Saturday afternoon of football games began with the Big Ten Championship game featuring Ohio State and Northwestern.  We were rooting for Northwestern (or more precisely, against Ohio State) and Northwestern led in the game until the fourth quarter but eventually lost to Ohio State by a score of 21 to 10.

Our second football game (starting at 5:30 PM) was Penn State vs. Illinois at Beaver Stadium, Penn State’s last regular season game.  Penn State scored a touchdown on the first play of the game and there was a flurry of scoring by both teams early—the score was 21-21 at the end of the first quarter.  

Penn State vs Illinois nearly one
minute into the second quarter.
(Image courtesy of Fox FS1)

Then, Penn State’s defense stiffened and the offense loosened up until the final score reached a season high of 56 to 21.  The game was over by 9 PM which is rather late for us, particularly in the winter.

Sunday, December 20

The water temperature was 42 degrees—we were near the (40-degree) edge of using our reverse-cycle heater but it was still nice and warm inside the boat.  The sky was overcast and it looked dreary outside  It had rained lightly before I ventured outside.  It didn't seem as cold as it had been lately--it was actually 41 degrees at 9 AM.  The high temperature for the day was expected at 43 degrees.

We had absolutely nothing on our agenda for the day at the beginning of the day and accomplished very little during the day but it was Sunday after all.

Monday, December 21 (First Day of Winter)

While the weather seemed warmer than the last couple days, the sky was overcast, and it still looked dreary outside.

Pusser's Restaurant and its reflection
off the surface of Ego Alley.

Why are we selling our condo slip?

I decided to take some time and explain why we are leaving and selling our condo slip in Baltimore.  First of all, I have never really warmed up to Baltimore, having lived most of my life in Annapolis.  We still did our banking in Annapolis, our doctors and dentists are in Annapolis, and we still do our grocery shopping in Annapolis.  Second, and what made our decision more immediate, were the new rules instituted by the condo board about liveaboards.  

To get an idea of the current makeup of the marina, there are 557 slips that range in size from 30 feet to 60 feet--our slip is 45 feet long.  About 13% of the slips are occupied by "liveaboard boats" and about 10 to 15% of the total slips are vacant (owned by individuals but not currently rented or occupied).  Some of the "liveaboard boats" are "snowbirds" like us.  We only occupy our slip between about mid-April and mid-October, 6 months of the year, despite paying condo fees ($2400/year for our slip) for the entire year.

The marina was developed in the late 60's and slips originally sold for nearly $1000/foot of slip length.  So, our 45-foot slip would have originally sold for nearly $45,000.  We bought it 5 years ago for $14,000.  We would be lucky to sell it for $11,000 today despite having all new floating docks installed within the past two years. (Under normal circumstances, such a large capital improvement would increase demand and allow prices to increase but they have continued their decline.)

The new liveaboard rules state that if a boat is occupied as a dwelling (sleeping on board overnight, cooking onboard, etc.) for 16 days (or more) of any given month or 100 days (or more) total for the year the boat must apply for "liveaboard status."  (So, a working individual who wants to spend their 3 weeks of annual vacation on their boat in their slip, must apply for "liveaboard status.")  There is a two-year wait before a new slip owner is allowed "liveaboard status."  (It is unclear, if we would be allowed to return to our slip and live aboard as we have for the past 5 years.)  Furthermore, only two people are allowed to live aboard a boat (regardless of the size of the boat)--I guess this rules out kids living aboard with their parents.  "Liveaboard status" requires an additional payment of $600 per year (regardless of size of boat) which was instituted for the sole purpose of deterring people from buying a cheap boat to live aboard, renting a slip from a slip owner for $250/month, and then ditching the boat in the marina when they left.  (There was one or two actual cases of this happening which could have been avoided by proper daily marina management.)  There is no additional value obtained for the $600/year.  

This is a classic case of mismanagement and really just the latest case.  It seems to me that the individuals who are on the board, particularly the President of the Board, is motivated by his power--not making the marina better.  I have lived through several different boards and they all have had their idiosyncrasies--the previous one was the issue (or as it turns out, the non-issue) of "slip overhang."  A major change in the bylaws (removing some of the power authorized to the board) might allow this marina work better.  

To help someone evaluate the purchase of a condo slip, the past history of the marina's management is the best indicator of the future.  Sure, the management can be changed but management patterns tend to be repeated, in my experience.  There are very few people who have the courage and conviction to break with the past.

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Since it was a nice warm afternoon, we drove to Total Wines in Laurel (about 15 miles away) and stocked our wine cellar (in back of the settees in the main salon).

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