Winter Onboard in Annapolis
—Blogpost written by Bob
Friday, January 29
The outside temperature was way low last night--25 degrees F! This morning it wasn't much better and the 17-knot wind out of the northwest made it feel colder than it would otherwise feel. (I think the east coast humidity also makes it feel colder but you never see any accounting for that in the weather forecasts.)
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| Lola even felt cold when she went out into the enclosed cockpit this morning. |
The water temperature at the Annapolis weather buoy was holding steady at 40.3 degrees F and our reverse-cycle heat was still working fine. There were still areas of the boat, mainly forward in the v-berth and aft in the quarter berth that felt cold even though the thermostat in the main salon was set at 75 degrees--the extremities were at 64 degrees F, a full 11 degrees cooler than the main salon.
Because of the high wind and its direction, the tide was very low this morning.
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Yesterday at Fresh Market we purchased an Italian stuffed flank steak which looks like a pretty red, white, and green pinwheel.
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| The Italian stuffed flank steak we purchased at Fresh Market in Annapolis. It was all held together with a twine around the perimeter. |
We cooked it for lunch today, cooking it in a frying pan (for 10 minutes or so on each side). Since it was so big (close to one pound) we split the steak in half just prior to serving which turned out to be the perfect serving size for us. (Remember that our big meal of the day has been lunch for the past year or more.) After cooking, the steak didn't look nearly as pretty as before cooking but it tasted great even though flank steak is not usually considered the best cut of meat.
Maggie made a delicious salad (lettuce, diced apples, and candied walnuts) to go with the steak--the recipe for the salad came from the Galley Pirate. It was certainly the best lunch we have ever had onboard!
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Here again, this blog must appear more like a "foodies" blog than a sailing blog. As we transition to spending next winter in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, our blog will again change in nature a little bit.
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| Vaccination status in Maryland. We are in Group 1C. |
We signed up for our vaccinations by email and we are awaiting notification of our appointments which will probably take place at Anne Arundel Medical Center.
Saturday, January 30
Saturday was expected to be our last nice day for awhile since 5 inches of snow was in the weather forecast for Sunday and another 2 inches for Monday! We intended to take full advantage of the nice weather today by filling our fresh water tanks.
We got breakfast sandwiches at the nearby Starbucks and ate them onboard. While eating breakfast, our reverse-cycle heater stopped making heat--it couldn't get the boat's inside temperature above 69 degrees F! So, we turned it off thinking that it was time to change to the oil-filled radiators. I checked the water temperature at the Annapolis weather buoy and the water temperature was still steady at 40.3 degrees. Consequently, I decided to check the raw water filter before changing the heating system--it was about 75% blocked by marine growth. (We hadn't cleaned it in about a month since there was not much marine growth occurring in such cold water.) We cleaned out the strainer and started the reverse-cycle heater again. While it was turned off the cabin temperature had dropped to 66 degrees. It took nearly 45 minutes to get the cabin temperature up to just 70 degrees and it was running continuously! (During this time I did have the companionway open to the enclosed cockpit where an oil-filled radiator was running on the "high" setting.) At 45 minutes after noon, the reverse-cycle heater finally shutoff after hitting its set point of 75 degrees. We dodged a bullet for now (but I don't know for how long since snowfall will certainly drop the water temperature quickly)!
While warming up the cabin we filled all three fresh water tanks. If felt very cold outside while I was filling the water tanks. The outside temperature was slightly below freezing. There was very little wind--a welcome change after the past couple days.
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| The temperature in our enclosed cockpit with one oil-filled radiator on the "high" setting was 79 degrees! (Outside it was only 36.) |
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| An appropriate saying for our newest tea towel. |
After lunch we walked around downtown a little, stopping for a time at Mills Spirits. The following images were taken on our walk downtown:
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| On the sunny side of Main Street. |
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| The bright colors of Dock Street. |
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| Walking north on Dock Street |
When Maggie cleaned the air intake filter for the A/C (which she does monthly) she noticed ice build up on the coils. Because we had experienced the lack of heating earlier in the day, we thought that the reverse-cycle heat was operating on the very edge of its capability. We brought the oil-filled radiator from the enclosed cockpit into the boat's interior and set it up in the aft cabin. With two oil-filled radiators operating inside the boat (one forward and the other aft) and both set on medium, the internal temperature of about 75 degrees was easily maintained with minimal use of the reverse-cycle heater--it would come on for five minutes or so every hour or two.
Sunday, January 31
The snow started falling about 8 AM. The sky was heavily overcast and the outside temperature was 34 degrees F. It was quickly accumulating on the dock. What a change from yesterday! (The snow was expected (as of this morning) to continue through Tuesday with an expected total accumulation of just under 7 inches!)
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| Snow falling outside our enclosed cockpit during the morning hours. |
After a nice lunch onboard, we went for a short walk downtown. We picked up some ice cream on the way back to the boat.
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| In front of the Market House downtown during the snowfall. |
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| Downtown Annapolis, looking toward Ego Alley in the snow. About half the shops were closed due to the snowfall. |
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| Looking up Francis Street toward the State Capitol Building during the snowfall. |
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