Winter Onboard in Annapolis
—Blogpost written by Bob
Tuesday, December 22
As we ate breakfast on board this morning, the reverse-cycle heater was set at 75 degrees (it would cycle between its low point of 73 and it’s high point of 75 degrees) so that all the extremities of the boat were at a reasonably warm temperature. (We were using the oil-filled radiator too in the main salon.) For example, it was 65 degrees in the navigation station while it was 75 degrees in the main salon. Lola, our 3-year old Maine Coon cat, likes to be near the oil-filled radiator with its dry warmth—I do too for that matter.
At 9 AM the outside temperature was already 44 degrees F but a cold 13-knot breeze blew from a northwesterly direction—it came right down Ego Alley and hit the boat broadside. The sun was shining brightly. The water temperature at a nearby weather buoy was 43.5 degrees, still above that magic number of 40 degrees when we have to shut down our reverse-cycle heater.
Maggie and I talked about our plans for the day (she will be baking Christmas cookies) and we added things to our grocery list for tomorrow’s grocery shopping. We talked about cooking our (spirally sliced) Christmas ham in the crockpot while we will be baking scalloped potatoes in the oven on Christmas Day. We also questioned how we would select a ham that would fit into our crockpot. We thought that, perhaps, we should make measurements of our crockpot, 8-1/2” x 7” x 4-1/2” deep, and take our measuring tape along with us when we select our Christmas ham at the grocery store—we could also cut the ham down a little to fit. (I wondered how many people actually planned cooking as thoroughly.)
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| Measuring our crockpot for our Christmas ham. |
By 2 PM Maggie was making Christmas cookies onboard. Can you imagine the smell of baking cookies while Christmas music played in the background?
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| Making Russian Tea Cake (or Mexican Wedding Cake) cookies on board. |
Wednesday. December 23
The outside temperature was only 31 degrees when we awoke but it had warmed up to 41 degrees by the time we finished our grocery shopping at 10:30 AM. In the early morning, a layer of frost was stubbornly adhered to our car’s windshield. During the past five years, I haven’t needed an ice scraper—I don’t even have one any longer. (Our car has been in indoor storage for the entire winter during the past five years.)
By the way, we bought the smallest Christmas ham we could find and it will NOT fit in our crockpot! So, we will cook the ham in our oven and the scalloped potatoes in the crockpot on Christmas Day (since we don't have enough room in the oven for both).
We’ve been considering two alternatives for next winter: (1) spending the entire winter in a marina on the east coast of Florida, or (2) spending the first couple months in a marina on the east coast of Florida and then three months in the Bahamas (probably Eleuthera). I don’t want to spend next winter in cold weather that’s for sure. We considered a marina in Green Cove Springs but after more thought I would like to stay in a marina that is a bit more luxurious (at least with a pool and a hot tub). (I'm assuming that the pandemic will be over by then.)
We had lunch on board (cooked chicken thighs, mac-n-cheese, and cucumber salad—it was very tasty!) and then Maggie took off for the laundromat to do laundry. Our winter here, so far, has been uneventful and I guess that’s good in a way but it has been bordering on boring (mostly because of the pandemic I guess).
Even though I had intended to practice on my ukulele in the afternoon, I never got around to it.
Thursday, December 24 (Christmas Eve)
Before I crawled out of the v-berth I could tell it was much warmer outside because the reverse-cycle heater came on so few times during the night. Sure enough, the southerly wind had brought in some warmer weather--the outside temperature was already 50 degrees F at 8 AM and bound for 59 degrees as a high for the day. Rain was headed our way.
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Who would have ever dreamed that we (in the U.S.) would be going through a constitutional crises at the same time as a pandemic in 2020? Our fascist-minded President considered martial law this week to reverse the outcome of an election (that he clearly lost) and, at the same time. ignored the needs of a nation during the pandemic. Meanwhile in Atlantic City NJ, the mayor of the city was auctioning off chances to push the button for the upcoming demolition of Trump's failed casino there. It was a crazy week and it's only Thursday.
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in the early afternoon, we received the following notice from the harbormaster: “Tonight, we are expecting tides over 4ft at City Dock. We advise moving your cars out of the City Dock parking lot as it is likely to flood.” This is the first time I ever received this kind of a notice on Christmas Eve. In the late afternoon the rain started and the wind died down. We moved our car to the point where the elevation is the highest while keeping it in the parking lot--it was parked at least 4 feet above the elevation of our boat's deck at normal tide levels.
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One of the small tasks we accomplished was to (again) tighten the nut under the sink that tightens the galley faucet in place--this seemed to come loose every couple months.
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| Maggie baked a pumpkin pie for tomorrow. |
As Maggie baked a pumpkin pie in the oven, we played Christmas music on our satellite radio-- it was a nice low-key Christmas Eve. We could hear the gentle patter of rain drops on the cabin top as the evening wore on.
Friday, December 25 (Christmas Day)
I was up just before midnight, tending the fenders. The water level was nearly to the top of the dock and the fenders were out of position as result of the high water. The excruciating sound of fiberglass gelcoat rubbing against wood on the dock is what caused me to wake up. Fortunately, it was relatively warm outside and not raining at the time. (Bands of heavy rain had been pelting the cabin top intermittently during the night.) At some point later in the night, the wind completely changed direction and dropped in velocity--I didn't have to worry about the fenders any longer because the wind was now blowing us away from the finger pier.
We woke up sometime between 7 AM and 8 AM, not sure when exactly. Maggie started the scalloped potatoes in the crockpot. My responsibility fro Christmas dinner was cooking the ham and it only required two hours of cooking. We planned for a mid-afternoon (2 PM) Christmas dinner. Maggie made a delicious quiche for breakfast--this was always one of my favorite onboard breakfasts.
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| Our Christmas morning quiche. |
Outside the sky was heavily overcast and it still looked like more rain was coming our way, even though the predicted chance of precipitation was only 16%. The outside temperature was 35 degrees, even though it seemed warmer than that. (The water temperature was holding steady at 43.6 degrees, allowing us to continue using our reverse-cycle heater--I'm hoping we can still use it through the end of December!)
The sun came out in late-morning when the rain clouds (thankfully) disappeared. The outside temperature was much cooler (low 30’s) than yesterday. Our Christmas was very low-key and uneventful...
Saturday, December 26
It was bitter cold outside (mid to low-20's) when I changed the propane tank this morning just before breakfast. (The propane runs out in the worst scenarios, like today, the coldest day of the year so far and when we are heating up breakfast!) The predicted high for the day was 34 degrees F. The tide levels were back to normal.
This morning, Lola discovered quiche--she just put her big paw in Maggie's serving and just took some--she loved it! Her discovery was out of interest more than hunger. We recently increased her food servings (Fancy Feast, of course) to 3 small cans per day, after seeing a YouTube video and observing how much other Maine Coons are fed--some of the larger ones eat 5 or 6 small cans per day. (Of course she has unlimited dry food available to her throughout the day.)
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Having lots of free time on our hands (and cold weather all around us) has allowed us to envision where we want to spend next winter. We are currently thinking about a very nice marina in Vero Beach (Florida) with a pool and a hot tub at our disposal.
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We are closing out this blogpost by wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. Be safe and stay healthy!
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