Summertime on Kent Island: 9/17 - 9/19
—Blogpost written by Bob
Friday, September 17
A cool eight to ten knot breeze out of the northeast and an overcast sky made Friday morning very cool (high 60's to low 70’s)--a bit too cool for me to sit outside in the cockpit in my underwear and a t-shirt as I usually do. Rain was in the forecast for today.
As we sat out in the cockpit with our cats, the only noise was the squawking marina ducks. Lots of small birds gathered on the rigging of nearby sailboats for whatever reason (perhaps a sign of an oncoming rain?).
After a short while the sounds of nature were interrupted by landscapers mowing the lawns of the nearby townhouses across the way on our port side. (I think the townhouse development is called Queens Landing.) The day was clearly underway and we had to get moving.
----------
My day started by cleaning out our car's trunk while still at the marina and then loading up some items to take to our storage unit, primarily my epoxy materials.
----------
Because Maggie was gifted a massage in Annapolis (by her daughter), we planned to spend a significant part of today in town, working around her scheduled 12:45 “hot rock” massage. First up was going out for an early lunch at Chevy's, a Tex-Mex restaurant on Route 2 South (as it is called by people who live in Annapolis like I did for many years).
 |
| Our marina neighbor's shore power cable on a rainy day on Kent Island |
It was three in the afternoon until we got home from Annapolis. I had obtained all the materials I needed to mount the rails in the cooler for a metal basket-type tray: (1) a 36-inch long piece of 1/8” x 3/4” aluminum bar (which I will cut in half for two pieces), (2) ten (#10 x 1/2” long) oval head self-tapping mounting screws, and (3) a tube of LifeSeal to bed the rails and seal the screw holes. (I ordered the proper cooler drain from Amazon this morning after finding out the one I previously purchased at the local West Marine wouldn’t work—it was intended for a much thicker cooler than we purchased.)
 |
| The last thing I got done today was to design the hole pattern for the cooler rails. |
The rain appeared off and on during the day, just enough to interfere with my project plans.
Saturday, September 18
We both slept great last night (with the hatches open)! The rain clouds finally moved off to another area and we were left with a great weather forecast for the next several days with lows in the high 60's and highs in the upper 70's.
----------
This morning during my cat supervision, I noticed how acute Kali’s vision and hearing has become—she notices every tiny noise or movement outside. She was not fully coordinated yet as evidenced by her attempt to sit on the coaming and put her front paws on the lifeline—she missed the lifeline and nearly went into the water. Fortunately, I grabbed her quickly and brought her back into the cockpit. We have noticed how much her tail has filled out (possible doubled in diameter) in just the past week—she’s really growing quickly!
----------
There is an older woman (about my age) on a nearby sailboat (a large Irwin center cockpit) that spends a lot of time on her boat (but I don’t think she lives aboard). I think her husband passed away and she comes to the boat to remember him and sailing together. In a way, it’s sad but in another way, joyful.
----------
I have two small projects on my agenda for today: (1) clean the strainer for the fridge sump pump and (2) make and install the rails for the wire basket tray in our cooler.
I cleaned our fridge sump pump strainer first thing in the morning to get that small task out of the way—it was fairly blocked up with deleterious fridge debris, but nothing recognizable.
Next up was making the rails to support a wire basket type tray in our new cooler. I drilled and countersunk the ten screw holes in the aluminum bar on the dock and then fastened it to the cooler while in the cockpit. I used LifeSeal as a caulk/adhesive in addition to five #10 self-tapping oval head screws in each rail.
 |
| The wire basket tray fits nicely on the rails I attached to the sides of the cooler. (This wire basket tray was not made for this cooler.) |
To complete the modifications I planned for the cooler, I still have to add a drain connection. (This will be accomplished early next week when the $10 drain fitting arrives from Amazon.)
----------
We went out for lunch at the local tavern at the entrance to the marina, the Pour House (its name is such an interesting play on words!). Since Penn State plays Auburn tonight at 7:30 we didn't watch any football at lunchtime.
----------
In the afternoon I did some more online research on the requirements for taking pets into Mexico and bringing them back into the U.S. in the Spring. There is contradictory information available on this subject online--care must be taken for dates written. Mexico has recently relaxed the requirements (in 2019) for pets, however, it is recommended that we have with us: (1) an up-to-date rabies certificate, (2) vaccination records, and (3) records of medications for fleas, ticks, mites, lice, and heart worm prevention. (An international health certificate is no longer required as I understand the current regulations.)
----------
Of course, we followed the Penn State-Auburn football game at 7:30 PM, listening on our onboard satellite radio (since a crowd was expected at the Pour House tonight). Penn State won by a score of 28 to 20! The game was certainly a quality win which should allow 10th ranked Penn State to move up a slot or two in the national ranking. (Auburn was previously ranked #22 in the nation.)
Sunday, September 19
The sun was shining from the get go this morning. The temperature was 72 degrees, headed for a high of 79. A steady nine knot wind was blowing out of the north. It couldn't have been a nicer day for being outside!
----------
In exactly two weeks we will be moving our boat to Galesville for maintenance and winter haulout. We will be leaving for Mexico in our car from Galesville. It will be the longest period of time I have ever been away from s/v Rainy Days but she will be taken care of by people we trust--by people who have always taken good car of her--Hartge's Yacht Yard. We will continue with this blog under the same name but our subject matter will change significantly since we will be temporary land dwellers in Mexico's Central Highlands.
----------
The major item on my agenda for the day was compounding the hull where the boat's name and home port were previously adhered. I scrubbed some areas with adhesive remover on an old scouring pad to remove small bits of adhesive that remained. Then, still working from the dinghy, I applied rubbing compound and rubbed the areas vigorously and in a circular pattern using a scouring pad. It worked fairly well but I can still see where the lettering was located. I was finished with the compounding by lunchtime. (The boatyard will be compounding it again before waxing the hull in the late Fall-early Winter. We won't be applying the new lettering until we return from Mexico in the Spring.)
 |
| During my effort to compound the areas where the old lettering was located, I was reminded of a scrape on the port transom that has to be repaired over the winter. |
S/v Rainy Days has never looked so naked. Her original name was Galatea when I purchased her. She had royal blue canvas (which I disliked because it was so common and I quickly changed the dodger color to gray--now, it is toast color) and her home port was somewhere in New Jersey where her previous owner lived. (It is funny that I vividly remember applying her new name ("Rainy Days") and home port ("Annapolis, MD") 35 years ago but I don't remember removing the previous lettering. The previous owner owned her since new but only for 3 years--so, maybe the previous lettering wasn't hard to remove.)
The drain plug for the cooler arrived from Amazon early (it was at the marina office) so I installed it early in the afternoon. I was surprised how thin the plastic was and how little insulation was used where the plug was to be installed. Installation was easy enough—it took about 15 minutes even though there were no instructions (not even the required hole size).
 |
| The new drain plug installed in our cooler. |
Taking apart the pocket knife (the last thing on my day's agenda) was more difficult—I needed two T8 screw drivers and I only had one in my set. So, I ordered another T8 screw driver to add to my set of small screw drivers. Nevertheless, I measured the material thicknesses I needed and made a tracing of the new knife handle I want to make. (I hope I can cut the profile in the pieces of ebony before leaving for Mexico.)
 |
| My sketch of the design of a new handle (to be constructed from ebony) for an old pocket knife I've had for a long time. |
No comments:
Post a Comment