First Three Days of Autumn

—Blogpost written by Bob 

Wednesday, September 22

Today was the first day of Autumn in 2021 and eight to ten knots of wind out of the southeast and 72 degrees F was perfect Autumn weather.  Early for me, I was supervising the cat’s outside time at 7:15 AM while the sun was coming up.  Clouds were starting to roll in from the west as showers were expected later in the day and tomorrow.  The wind velocity was expected to increase to fifteen knots as the day progressed.  The tide was unusually high again this morning, still influenced by the harvest moon of a couple days ago.

Kali looks like a perfect little angel in this pic
but she pushed the envelope several
times this morning, including trying
to catch a spider on the lifeline
 (outside her boundary).  

I was trying to photograph the little fender
between the dinghy and our boat
using my iPad but I got an
accidental selfie.

On my agenda for the day was packing up maintenance supplies (Cetol, varnish, etc.) from the shelf in our quarter berth for indoor winter storage, cleaning up the navigation station desk (again), as well as replacing the last light fixture in our salon.  These were all small indoor tasks, in light of the expected rain later in the day.  (Maggie was off running errands and having lunch with the boat ladies from our previous marina in Baltimore, Anchorage Marina.)

Some of the many items I packed
for indoor winter storage.

Sure enough the wind velocity picked up in the afternoon--our forepeak tent whipped relentlessly as our boat's motion increased.

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As the day went on I added a few items to our list of things to take with us to Mexico and thought more about how we will pack things.  Most of our clothing and household items must be packed in the rooftop carrier.  The only items packed in the trunk will be clothing that we wear daily on the trip, our cooler, and our shower bags, etc.  The cats (and their paraphernalia, including a travel litter box) will occupy the entire back seat of our car.

Thursday, September 23

We woke up to torrential rains that seemed to come in bands.  The tide was still unusually high--there was about a 2 foot step down to the dock from the boat's deck.  (During a normal high tide, our boat's deck is even with the dock. More often than not, we are stepping up onto the dock, rather than down.)

We had a 10 AM appointment for car service this morning which required that we leave about 9:30 AM.  I have never seen the tide as high at Castle Marina as I saw it this morning when we were leaving for Annapolis.  The water level on the docks was just above the lower level of the joists that support the dock boards.  We walked through 2-inch deep water in the flooded marina parking lot to get to our car.  Later, we found out that the nearby Fisherman’s Crab Deck (where we have gone for lunch several times) was closed due to the high tide.

We drove to Annapolis in the torrential rain only find out that the Toyota dealer couldn’t duplicate the issue I recently experienced with our car (when braking to a stop the idle speed increased) and it cost $145 for the dealer to look for it.  (Was I simultaneously depressing the brake and the gas pedal without realizing it?)

For the entire morning I was wet and cold—it was 65 degrees outside but having wet feet made it feel much colder.  After the Toyota dealer, we went out for lunch at Italian Market and then to PetsMart for cat supplies.  We also stopped at our storage unit to pick up a folding step stool (that I will need to mount the rooftop cargo carrier tomorrow) before driving home to Kent Island.

We got back to the island shortly after 2:30 PM, stopping at the Chester post office to check for packages on the way—we picked up our new roof rack (and another small package containing an LED light bulb).  (Now, some of our Amazon shipments are making it to the marina and others are being dropped off at the post office—I’m not sure why.)

Since the weather was clearing, I decided to assemble the roof rack in the afternoon.  (The rooftop cargo carrier is scheduled to arrive at the marina tomorrow morning.)  The roof rack didn’t seem to fit properly, at least I couldn’t get it tight without it slipping off the outer edge of the door frame despite numerous tries.  I contacted customer support by email and two different people responded after business hours, even though I didn't get an adequate answer.  (I hope they get back to me early tomorrow morning!)

Friday, September 24

After receiving a set of instructions from the manufacturer by email first thing in the AM, I started to install the roof rack.  It was a lot easier with a set of instructions! 

 

The roof rack was completely installed
on our Prius by 9:30 AM.

By the time I finished installing the roof rack, the cargo carrier had arrived.  An extra two holes were required in the cargo carrier.  Otherwise the installation was simple and uneventful.

We had the cargo carrier completely
installed on the roof rack
by 11:30 AM

After we finished installing the rooftop cargo carrier, we went out for lunch at Fisherman’s Crab Deck (the restaurant that was flooded yesterday). 

 

Fisherman's Crab Deck made the
best fish taco I have ever had!

We stopped by the Queenstown outlets for a few clothing items for our trip to Mexico but we didn’t buy much (only two pairs of jeans for Maggie).  In the afternoon, I worked on paperwork (boat documentation, insurance, etc.) that was due over the next six months while we will be in Mexico.

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Friday was an absolutely beautiful Autumn day, sunny and in the low 70’s with a perfectly clear sky and a very light breeze.  It doesn’t get much better…

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