Winds of Change

Last Saturday, 10-16-10, we had a fairly strong wind blowing steadily out of the West all day.  It apparently blew all the water in the Chesapeake over to the Eastern shore because the water in our little creek all but disappeared.  People that had been in the area for many years were saying they had never seen it that low.  Our boat draws 4' 7" and it was sitting on the bottom.  The deck was so low below the dock that we had to climb halfway down the piling to get aboard.  We were fortunate that our boat was tied close to the finger pier before the water disappeared.  The folks across from us tied theirs off in the center of the slip and when they came down to board it they found it was too far from the dock to get aboard.  Pete and Sharon were planning to leave the next morning for North Carolina by way of the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) and had brought all their supplies with them for the trip.  Around 8PM Cheri and I were down below having dinner when we heard a commotion on the dock.  When I looked out from our cockpit I saw Pete climbing back onto the dock, soaking wet.  I'm not sure what happened, didn't want to embarrass anyone with probing questions, but apparently he was pretty determined to get aboard.  The water couldn't have been more than 4' deep but I imagine the mud-covered bottom was pretty soft, coulda sucked him down another 4'.  It was pretty cold out, in the 50's, and I offered him some dry clothes but he declined, thinking he had a weeks worth of clothes stashed in somewhere with all his gear.  Could also be that he turned down my generous offer because he's 6'6" and about 140 lbs while I'm 5'10" and 195 pounds.  Woulda made for an interesting lookin' outfit, I'm sure.  So, in the last two weeks we've gone through some pretty good tidal extremes, all or nothing you might say.  Makes you very aware of what a living thing the Chesapeake Bay really is; forever in motion, sometimes mellow, sometimes extreme, always calling for your attention.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the ICW, it's a 3,000 mile long waterway along the East and Gulf coasts of the United States.  It's made up of canals, rivers and other natural waterways that tie together to form a protected inland passageway for commercial shipping (barges and the like) and pleasure boats.  The original design called for a canal across northern Florida to tie the Gulf and East Coast waterways together but this was never completed due to "ecological concerns".  I think they were concerned that if they cut through at the northern end then Florida might float away and connect with Cuba or something.  Congress signed authorization for the ICW in 1919 and the Army Corp of Engineers maintains it.  Or at least they're supposed to.  The project has been underfunded throughout it's history and the stated minimum depth of 12' is  rarely maintained.  Shoaling and inaccurate charts are a constant problem.  In spite of these detractions, the ICW provides a safe, inland passage and is a great alternative to traveling or transporting goods by way of the open ocean.

Herrington Harbour North is apparently a popular spot for folks getting ready to head South for the Winter.  It's a great yard with every service you could need for outfitting and preparing your boat for a long-haul blue water run.  Since September we've seen quite a few boats come in from other places, get hauled out and set up "on the hard" for just a week or two while the hull gets fresh paint and other maintenance needs are tended to.  Then they disappear.  Of course some of them are already being hauled out for the duration of the Winter but a significant number of them are going back in the water for a cruise to warmer zones.  One of these days we're gonna disappear too.

Cheri and I have been working on making our boat feel more like a home by adding some things to "personalize" it.  We got a cool-man shelf from Home Depot for over the head of our bunk.  It has a rail around the open sides that gives it a nice nautical look and the whole thing gives the appearance of a headboard.  With the lights out the wood matches the teak interior perfectly.  Turned out to be a good spot for Cheri's lighthouse collection.

We also added a three tier hanging wire basket in the galley for storing fruit and veggies.  We used a wood bracket that was intended for holding a heavy duty curtain rod and hung it on the post beside the sink.  It looks nice but we need to figure out a way to secure it when we're under way.

We put in wall-to-wall carpet which goes a long way towards making the boat feel warmer, cozier, more like home.  Cheri made a template from heavy brown paper and we took it to a carpet shop in Silver Spring.  We chose a quality carpet that's stain resistant and guaranteed for 20 years.  It's a tight weave and is sculpted with a leafy vine design.  Very cool.  Using her template they cut the carpet to fit and bound the edges all around.  The binding was actually the most expensive part.  This was definitely a really great improvement.  Thank you Sharon Malatich for the suggestion.

We added two small brass table lamps with cut crystal globes at the base.  We disassembled the lamps and added pull string switches to replace the in-line switch on the wire.  While we had them apart we filled the glass globe with sea shells that Cheri's sister had collected when they lived in Puerto Rico.  After we put the lamps back together we ran the cord through a hole underneath the base and hard-wired them in to the boat's 110VAC.  We then ran some bailing wire around the feet of the lamp, down through the hole to some screws inside the cabinet to prevent the lamps from moving around when the boat heels over.  Now they're secure and the cord doesn't show.  They add a really nice look to the main salon and provide some nice lighting for reading.

We also added some background lighting behind the cabinets on both sides of the main salon.  The overhead comes down low over these cabinets and where it would normally join the wall there is a gap about an inch wide so you can reach up there and hide wires or stash your jewelry or contraband or something.  Just inside the lip we ran a string of LED lighting on a strip of tape.  It provides a really nice glow above the cabinets but you can't see the source of the light.  It's a nice effect and provides enough lighting to be able to see the popcorn bowl while you're watching a movie.  That's important!

Speaking of movies.....my cousin Steve Ward has given us a very cool gift.  It's a Western Digital Media Player (link to more info).  This thing connects to a 2TB (terra byte!) USB hard drive which can store something like 800 full feature movies and almost a gazillion CD's.  The media player works with a PC or a Mac, which is good since we have a Mac mini but more importantly, we could set up a stand-alone system in our stateroom once we get that 37" flatscreen.  The real beauty of this thing is having instant access to all our entertainment and having it stored in a 11" x 7" x 5" box.  No need to find storage for hundreds of DVD's and CD's.  More room for beer!