Summertime on Kent Island: 9/13 - 9/16

—Blogpost written by Bob 

Monday, September 13

The sun shining into the boat woke me up this morning for the second time--the first time was due to our cats running through the boat creating a ruckus (even before the sun came up).  The weather is expected to be sunny and warm today, reaching 87 degrees in the afternoon. It was still quite comfortable at 8 AM (75 degrees F) when I supervised our cats' outside time.

Kali on our helm seat during this morning's
supervised outside time.  She turned
 20 weeks old today.  She is really
growing quickly!

After several emails back and forth, I initiated a telephone discussion with the boatyard manager today and we revised the list of projects to be done while the boat is out of the water this winter.  We also revised the schedule slightly--I will be dropping off the boat on Monday, October 4, a week later than originally planned.  This caused a revision to our general travel schedule:

    Sail/motor to Galesville - Saturday (10/2) or Sunday (10/3) (dates corrected on 9/18)

     Boatyard Maintenance Starts - Monday (10/4)

     Start Driving to Mexico - Wednesday (10/6) or Thursday (10/7)

     Arrive in San Miguel de Allende - Tuesday (10/12) or Wednesday (10/13)

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We decided to change the lettering on our boat's name after 35 years!   We are not changing the boat's name, just the style of the lettering.  So, later this week (probably on Wednesday) I will be removing the old lettering.  We don't expect to apply the new lettering until we return next Spring. 

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Shortly after lunch today we had another "HPF" alarm issue, but this time it was the real thing.    We had to shut down the A/C (and the fridge which uses raw water for supplemental cooling) and look for the problem.  We tried to simply remove the inlet hose from the raw water strainer and force dockside water into the hose but it didn't accomplish anything.  We had to remove the inlet hose, take it out onto the dock and beat the hell out of it until its contents came out.  What came out looked like a mixture of jellyfish tentacles and Chesapeake Bay mud formed to look like the convoluted shape of the hose.  (We believe that the extremely low tide we are experiencing right now contributed to the problem.  The convoluted shape of the hose probably contributed as well but we are using it because it is easy to bend around corners.)

At 5 PM, only four hours later and just before Happy Hour, we had another line blockage--this time we were able to force dockside fresh water back into the inlet hose and clear the blockage (it was probably a single big jellyfish).  This was the first time I have experienced these kind of  blockages twice in the same day!

We had an extremely low
tide this evening.

Tuesday, September 14

The day was still and hazy as we drove across the Bay Bridge toward Annapolis for Maggie’s early morning blood test.  We planned several other activities while we were in Annapolis.

An "everything" bagel with sausage and
cheese from Naval Bagels in Arnold
made for a hearty breakfast
this morning.

The sun gradually burned off the haze and the temperature rose into the low 80’s.  It was still somewhat humid but a pleasant early Fall day.

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We stopped at Fawcetts so that I could pick up two short 3/8” diameter stainless steel cap screws to replace the thumb screws that fasten the base of the companionway stairs, one of which we lost yesterday while addressing the raw water line blockages.  (I like to address these types of things right away or they begin to snowball into much larger issues.  This purchase will probably insure that we will promptly find the thumb screws!)

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Lunch at Market & Main (previously the Main Ingredient) was a real treat as usual.  During lunch we looked up the current weather in San Miguel de Allende and found out that the five-day forecast lists rain for every one of the five days.  (We may have to rethink our need for rain gear in Mexico.)

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Before Maggie’s 1 PM hair appointment, we dropped off a few things at our storage unit, our bagged headsail being the largest item.  On the way back to the boat, I picked up another (thinner) piece of ebony for use as a knife scale for one of my future projects.

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We arrived back at the boat at 2:30 PM.  Changing to a higher power (LED) light bulb above the stove was my only remaining task for the day.

Changing to a higher power LED bulb
above the stove made a very big 
difference! (By the way, it took
two of us to change the
light bulb!)

An interesting story was revealed today about a fellow C&C boat owner whose boat was stolen from a marina in Halifax, Nova Scotia by a drug smuggler.   The boat was motored/sailed directly into an oncoming hurricane, resulting in a distress signal being sent but it was not yet found. 

Wednesday, September 15

On my agenda for the day was removing the old lettering for our boat's name and then cleaning up the remaining residue from the adhesive.  I decided to do this in the morning while it was relatively cool outside (in the mid-70's).  Before I started with the removal I took photographs and measurements from the dinghy.  (Actually, I did all the lettering removal from the dinghy as well.)

The old lettering on the starboard
side showed signs of wear.

The old lettering on the side of each stern quarter was 48 inches long and 5 inches high (not that the new lettering needs match this size but because engineers make measurements).  It took me about 1-1/2 hours to remove the lettering on the starboard side.  I was working on the sunny side of the boat and it started to get really warm about 9 AM which was when I quit for awhile to eat breakfast. 

I developed a technique of pushing toward the boat with the razor knife at an angle to get under the edge of a letter and then rotating the razor knife to open up a gap.  From there I tried to grasp the opened area with my fingers and pull off as much of a letter as possible in one piece--this usually would only work on small areas of each letter because the vinyl lettering was brittle from 35 years of continuous sun exposure.  (The "S" at the end of "DAYS" was the easiest to remove probably because it didn't get as much direct sunlight due to the hull sloping a bit ore on that end.)

I wasn't sure if I would changeout the lettering (ANNAPOLIS, MD) on the stern at this point.  (I seem to remember a yacht documentation requirement that the home port lettering must be 3 inches high and of a plain gothic style.  I need to double check this!)

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We have been trying to train our cats in advance of our trip to Mexico in just a few weeks.  Kali has had a short car ride about a week ago and did quite well--she was able to stand up in her carrier and look around during the ride.  Today was her first attempted walk on a leash--it was also her first jump from the dock to the boat (even though she was still on the leash).

Kali's first little walk on a leash--it was
all of four steps and three treats.
(We called it a success!)

Lola (on board) watches over
Kali's first walk on a leash.
(They have become
inseparable!)

Since working on removing on the port side lettering would mean that I would be working in the hot afternoon sun, I decided to perform this task tomorrow morning since we will have an overcast sky and a cooler temperature.  (Tomorrow, I think I will remove the lettering on the transom too, just so that I can match the navy blue color of the new lettering.)

In the afternoon the boat's transom was in the shade so I removed the lettering for the home port (Annapolis. MD) from the transom.  (The old lettering was 28 inches long and the letters were 2-1/2" high.  I think for the future lettering I will use simply A N N A P O L I S and drop the "MD" for Maryland and use 2-1/2" or 3" high lettering.)  It took almost as long to remove the smaller lettering on the transom (1-1/2 hours) as it did the (much larger) boat's name on one side.

Thursday, September 16

A steady thirteen knots of wind out of the northeast and an overcast sky made for a cool morning in the low 70’s.  Our cats love being outside in this kind of weather!  It was also perfect weather for me to remove the last of the boat lettering—the boat’s name on the port side.  

The knuckles on my right hand were sore from yesterday’s efforts at removing the boat lettering.  Every once in a while the vinyl lettering would disintegrate abruptly under the razor knife and my knuckles would experience the painful abrasion against the brittle lettering remnants on the hull.

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I waited for Maggie to return from her morning walk before starting the last of the lettering removal--I needed her help positioning the dinghy (my work platform).  I felt the urge to get moving since the day's rain was due to start at 11 AM and it would likely take me 1-1/2 hours to complete this task.  It was already 9 AM when I chased the cats inside.

The red arrow shows the approximate
location of our rented apartment
on Canción India in San
Miguel de Allende.

I had plenty of time to catch up on the day's news on my iPad while I waited for Maggie to return from her walk.  (Fortunately, the rain didn't start until much later in the day.)

I finished the lettering removal at noon. spending another 1-1/2 hours on the port side.  The rain started about 2 hours later but it didn't last long.  The sky was overcast for the remainder go the day.  We went to West Marine to look at coolers again and we bought an IGLOO cooler and a basket that I can make to fit.  This will be one of tomorrow's projects...

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