SV Orion - Annapolis, MD - David & Cathy's Journey

Late May - Sails Up!

5/31/2006

Cathy heads up the mast

We’re only a week away from leaving the security of our slip at Hospitality Harbor and sailing off to parts unknown. We have been rapidly completing projects on board, but it’s becoming apparent that we will not finish all that we have on our list before we loosen the dock lines on our slip for the last time next week. (Of course, most people say that you never complete everything on your list.)

Engine troubles

Without a doubt, the most important repair was fixing the engine so that it started reliably on the starting battery.   After the experience in the haulout slip, David took the starting battery back to the store and was given another (this is the 3rd) new battery. With the new starting battery installed and fully charged, we headed out for a short sail, only to discover the brand new battery wouldn’t re-start the engine as we prepared to return. Receiving advice from a number of other mariners, David examined all the connections, but found no issues. We asked John Olivier, our “captain” from our first voyage and an electrician, to review the electrical system. He determined that the starter was getting 390 amps and still not starting. (It needs about 200 amps.) That meant a new starter needed to be installed. We arranged with the marina next door to install a rebuilt one the next day, and the engine has started without fail ever since. (Hurray!)

It’s Electric!

Even before the starter problems, David had planned to make several enhancements to the electrical systems. First, he upgraded the batteries by adding 2 new Trojan T105 6-Volt golf cart batteries to the house bank. This increased the available power by 225 amps, doubling the existing house bank capacity. Another related project was to install a 55 amp Iota Battery charger, which should now allow the generator to recharge the expanded battery banks in about 2 hours. We haven’t been able to test that yet, because we haven’t yet fired up the generator, but more about that later. The last, significant upgrade was to install a Xantrex Link 20 battery monitor.   We benefited from John Olivier’s expertise and tools during his visit for this project, when he assisted Dave in installing the battery monitor wiring connections. (This required some thick wires, e.g. 1-0 gauge, which requires bolt cutters to cut.) With the monitor in place, we can see when each battery is charging, and, more importantly, when we’re not plugged in, how much current is being drawn and how many projected amp hours are remaining. Christmas came early when David saw the display light up and he was checking each device to see the current draw.   (However, Cathy is thinking this may turn out to be “too much information”, envisioning arguments about whether we could “afford” to turn on the fan in the oppressive Chesapeake summer heat.)

Black water

One of the dirty little (or not so little) secrets about our boat was the abysmal state of the water tanks. We discovered this late last year, when we were cleaning out the starboard tank in preparation for winterization. “Disgusting” is too kind a word. It’s a good thing we had decided early on not to drink it. However, not drinking the water this year is not an option. While we could easily clean out the starboard tank through a large clean-out hole, the V-berth tank had no such access, but we were pretty sure we knew how bad it was. We solved this problem by cutting a new 6” clean-out hole, and then Cathy carefully cleaned the top and sides as we had done for the other tank last year. That was only the first step. We then needed to purify the whole system. According to research David had done on the web, this required putting a strong bleach solution in the tanks and letting it sit for several hours. Ideally, we could have gone for a sail to “stir” the tanks. Given the state of our engine this wasn’t an option, so David did his part by rocking the boat periodically. We flushed this water out and then refilled the tanks.   In theory, it should be OK to drink. However, neither of us has been brave enough to try it yet. We did give some to a visiting dog however. She seemed to fare well . . .

Up, up, up . . .

Another mountaintop experience awaiting one of us was a trip up the mast to install a new LED light bulb in the anchor light and to fix the wind speed anemometer. We had purchased an ATN Top Climber for this purpose, which allows a person to climb the mast without someone else winching them up. Using a 2 clutch system, similar to that which mountain climbers might use, the person stands up in stirrups, slides the top clutch up, sits down on a seat to raise your legs and moves the bottom clutch up. (The guy at the boat show did this with amazing agility.) The weather was calm, but overcast as we readied the Top Climber for use. We carefully read the instructions, ran the rope through the clutches and hooked it into the spare spinnaker halyard. Then, it became apparent that each of us had been assuming the other was the going to be the first one up the mast.

Ooops.

Cathy lost the coin toss and began a much less agile climb up the mast than the salesperson demonstrated last year. Also, although this was done on a quiet day at the marina, it’s amazing how many people were there to witness and comment on the trip. After 20 minutes of effort and a lot of swearing, Cathy was at the top of the mast.

The first job of replacing the LED light bulb ended in failure when she discovered the bulb was twice as tall as the existing anchor light bulb, not allowing the lens to be screwed back on. There were also differences in the base (2-contacts for the LED light vs. 1 for the original). Something was seriously wrong. Later, at ground level, we determined that we had based our specifications for the new light bulb on an existing spare bulb that went into a different fixture. The good news was that the mast head light required only 10 watts of power, which meant a significantly less load on the batteries, using the existing incandescent bulb. First Star agreed to replace the base with a single contact version if we could find a lens tall enough to accommodate it. We are still working on this.

Turning from this frustrating failed project as the winds started to rise, Cathy turned her attention to the non-working anemometer. “All” we had to do was tighten a screw with an allen wrench. Fumbling through the bag for the correct size allen wrench and praying the predicted storms wouldn’t arrive early, she found the right size and even the right screw to tighten. It was loose, as predicted. Cathy tightened it, while David stood at the helm, hoping to see the wind speed magically appear.

Nothing.

Apparently, the screw tightening maneuver wasn’t the problem. As the rain clouds gathered, we tried to determine what might be the problem. Cathy unscrewed the transducer to get a glimpse of the wires underneath, but it didn’t’ reveal much. This would also require more work. Argh!

The last task was to measure the height of the mast to ensure we knew our clearance for sailing under bridges. Cathy dropped the tape measure to the deck to get a measurement. Since she couldn’t quite reach the top of the antenna, we had to make a guess based on what could be measured.

Although the trip back down was much easier than that up, it was still much slower than advertised, and the rain drops were starting to fall as Cathy reached the safety of the deck. Whew! But now she had a great story to tell.

You can never be too safe

While our boat was waiting for engine repairs, we did a little sailing on Don’s (David’s cousin) sailboat. Don noted the presence of the Coast Guard in the area, and the increased likelihood of being stopped for a safety check in the busy Patuxent River corridor. He explained that this could be avoided by having an inspection done and a sticker placed on the boat indicating such. David contacted the Power Squadron about having this done. The inspector spent over an hour with us one weekend morning, checking over both the sailboat’s and the dinghy’s safety equipment. (This was motivation to get the dinghy inflated as well.) He was impressed with our overall preparedness and we were able to earn our stickers for both vessels. This is a wonderful service provided by a completely volunteer organization.

Into the water

If our plan of anchoring out a lot of the time was going to be possible, we needed a functioning dinghy. This meant we had to put it in the water and power up the motor that had been taking up space in a box down below. With Don’s help, David launched the dinghy and prepped and mounted the 4HP Mercury outboard motor on the transom. With a couple of pulls, the engine started up with a surge, sending David overboard into the water. Having not attached the safety lanyard to himself, the engine kept running sending the dinghy in circles while David and Don struggled to regain control of it. Now, David religiously puts the safety lanyard on. We probably should have lost our safety sticker for that one.

Can you hear me now?

The VHF radio that came with the boat could only be used by someone at or close to the nav station down below. This meant that we tended not to monitor channel 16 or the weather as religiously as we probably should. To correct this, David purchased a Standard Horizon Intrepid VHF Radio plus RAM Microphone, which would allow us to have access to the radio via a mike at the helm. In addition, it is DSC capable, meaning we can place a distress call with a digital signature that includes a unique identifier for the boat and (due to an interface with the GPS) our position. The trickiest part about this upgrade was fishing the wires through from the engine to the nav station. Adding the cable for the remote mike (in addition to the battery monitor wires), has pretty much max’ed out the available space. However, the mike works great!

Friendly Folks

We’re getting to know a few of the permanent slipholders on our dock, as well as meeting some interesting cruisers who have spent a number of days here. Our immediate neighbors, Chris and Margaret, are a young couple about a year away from moving on board and cruising full time. Having just sold their home, their 35’ Beneteau is their home for the summer. Chris commutes to his job in Bethesda, while Margaret spends her days working on various boat projects. They plan to take an apartment for the winter and then move aboard full time next spring. We’ve been learning a lot from each other.

On Memorial Day weekend, David was pleasantly surprised to greet Mike, a former co-worker from the Corporation for National & Community Service, who had docked almost immediately across from us along with 5 other couples. The group had traveled from Occoquan in Virginia to spend the holiday weekend in Solomons. We enjoyed talking to them over the weekend and comparing notes on power boats vs. sailboats. (They were all power boaters.) We couldn’t get over the coincidence of meeting that way. Odds are if they had been one dock over, we would never have realized they were even there.

Another interesting cruising foursome arrived by trawler, docking at the end of the pier for about a week. They were traveling from Georgia north, making the “Great Loop”, which would take them up through the Hudson to the St. Lawrence, through the Great Lakes and down the Mississippi. They described some interesting towns visited so far, and gave us pointers about cruising guides and docking vs. anchoring.   Based on discussions with them, we finally decided that we needed to get some folding bikes for the boat.

Sails up!

With the engine fixed, we are ready to sail. We’ve been out a number of times with varying amounts of wind and an assortment of guests. The Patuxent river is wide at the entrance to Solomons, so it’s possible to start sailing shortly after leaving our slip. Each trip has been a welcome break from all of the work to get ready and allowed us to dust the cobwebs off our sailing skills. Then, of course, there’s the practice of getting the boat back in the slip.   It will still be a challenge to be ready to leave in a week, but we’re working our way down the list.

Early May - Back in the Water

5/15/2006

With the boat in the water now, surely this log entry will talk about sailing in the Patuxent near our slip. Wrong. We’re once again updating the log while driving (not sailing) as we make our way back from NC to the boat, but we knew this would be the plan, since our niece graduated yesterday from NC State in Raleigh. (As a graduate of arch-rival Duke, Cathy took this in stride.) Also, since we are driving, it would be logical to assume the repair in Kutztown was completed, which it was. The problem was a fuel pump, and now that we have a new one, we can make this a selling point when we put the car up for sale at the end of the month.

Orion -- bottom freshly painted, deck and hull washed and partially re-waxed -- was put in the water late Wednesday. She’ll probably never look that good again. The bottom had been painted while we were away with 2 coats of Trident SR (“hard”) anti-fouling paint. Shortly after we arrived from Rochester Tuesday afternoon, the marina workers moved the jack stands to paint the area they had blocked. While watching them paint, our attention was drawn to ugly streaks on the hull above the waterline. Our beautiful wax job looked pretty sad now. The boatyard manager, Alan, said it was the residue of jet fuel from the nearby Patuxent Naval Air Station jets as they flew over daily. That meant an early morning on Wednesday, washing the decks and hull to remove the dirt before the boat was launched and the hull became less accessible. When washing alone wasn’t doing the trick, we decided we needed to quickly re-wax as much as we could to remove the rest. This was exhausting work, especially without the power buffer we had used before.

We also met our neighbor, Chuck, who had been called up from NC a day earlier than he preferred (sorry!), so we could launch Wednesday. (Since Thursday turned out to be a really nasty day weatherwise, this was actually a good thing.) He was also scrambling to wax his boat before launch, so we were sharing hoses and ladders to try to get both boats done in time. As we watched other boats being put in the water all day in quick succession, we began to wonder how quickly we would be able to get underway and out of the haul-out slip to make room for the next boat. Chuck informed us that we would be last, but that didn’t mean we were off the hook. They needed to move another boat into the haul out slip after we moved out. That meant the workers couldn’t go home until we got out of there. That’s some pressure. The main concern was whether the engine would start. Since our last trip in the fall down from Edgewater had highlighted some problems with the starting battery, Dave ensured the batteries were plugged in and charging as much as possible Tuesday afternoon and all day Wednesday. Surely this would do it. Also, Alan assured us that Yanmar’s always start. What could possibly go wrong?

Getting Orion to the haul-out slip was efficient and uneventful. As she hung in the water, still in the bands of the crane, we quickly checked our through hulls to ensure none were leaking. Then, came the moment of truth. We tried to start the engine. Dave decided to keep both the starting and house battery on, based on our troubles in the fall. Cathy nervously turned the key, and the engine struggled to turn over, but wouldn’t. After several more unsuccessful tries, the voltmeter indicated that the batteries were way down from full charge and no longer had the power to start the engine. We tried plugging into shore power, and still it wouldn’t turn over. (You guys didn’t want to get home on time today, did you?) They called Carl the mechanic over, who checked out the engine. We discussed air in the fuel line and the state of the batteries. After a few more adjustments, the engine finally started. Carl attributed the problem to the weak batteries and the lack of compression in the engine (which happens when it sits over winter). The combination caused it not to start. He cautioned us not to turn the engine off until we knew we didn’t need it any more. (Good thing we had ensured the anchor was ready to deploy, if we needed it.) As we headed out of the slip, we still couldn’t relax. It was going to be critical that the engine didn’t stall. Also, Cathy was used to approaching and backing into a slip on the port side. Our new slip would require a starboard approach, with a stiff breeze blowing the boat into the slip. Backing under these conditions would be tricky. As we made the short trip to Hospitality Harbor slip, Dave readied the lines for docking and Cathy tried to remember how the boat responded to the helm. After a few missed attempts at lining up for the slip, Cathy managed to get Dave close enough to cast lines on the pilings and then we essentially used them to pull Orion around into position to back into the slip. We didn’t embarrass ourselves too much, but there was a little friction in front of our new neighbors and Dave’s cousin Don on the dock, as tried to get the lines right. Since we had been spoiled by floating docks at our Edgewater slip last year, the challenge of a fixed dock meant we spent quite a while adjusting lines to allow slack for the tidal range, while still ensuring the wind didn’t push us up against the pilings. As the winds picked up over the next 24 hours and the lines stretched, this continued to require more adjustments. Our problems with the engine are not over, as we suspected. When we tried the engine with just the starting battery on the next morning, it wouldn’t start. Looks like it’s time for a new starting battery.

The next day began the project of organizing and stowing the winter’s accumulation of stuff, and Cathy began replacing the wheel cover with one purchased at the boat show. The weather wasn’t great, so we were glad we had taken time Wednesday evening to get the bimini back up for shelter.

The work of transitioning from apartment to boat required us to spend much of these past 2 weeks trying to get things done on land that will be more difficult once we give up the car at the end of the month. We both had physicals, met with our lawyer to update our wills, met with our financial advisor to review our status, and stopped by our daughter’s to get the latest mail. While getting physicals, we also decided to get a Hepatitis A immunization, and David updated his tetanus immunization, which was over 5 years old. The doctor also agreed to prescribe a 5-day supply of 7 different medications for the boat’s medicine cabinet. These will be kept in a locked container and can be dispensed by the captain in the event of their being needed. Now, the challenge is to find a pharmacist who will fill a prescription made out to S/V Orion.

We also took advantage of the time of transition to visit with family and friends. Amazingly we were able to spend time with much of our immediate family on both sides. Of course, it required 2000 miles of driving to accomplish it. We started the trip by visiting Dave’s sister, Diane, in Bethlehem, whom you may remember is the one who rescued us from the side of the road. We re-paid the favor with some plumbing repairs and took advantage of the delay in car repairs to spend time with her and her roommate, Pam. With another week until the boat launch, we enjoyed several days in Rochester with Dave’s parents and our son Adam and our grandson Droz, visiting multiple playgrounds in 2 counties. We were also able to spend some rare time with Wendy (Dave’s sister), her husband Dave and our niece and nephew, Janelle and Jeff. We enjoyed Janelle’s jazz band concert and celebrated her upcoming graduation from the Finger Lakes Community College. Later in the week, we enjoyed a dinner with her family, Adam and Droz at Dave’s parents’ house. Leaving Rochester to go to the boat, we stopped long enough to find 2 grape pies in Naples for Dave’s cousin Don. Don and his wife Cindy live in Lexington Park with their 3 children and graciously put us up Tuesday night before our boat launched on Wednesday. On Friday, we turned south toward Raleigh, NC, as our niece, Christine, graduated from NC State with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. As one of the co-valedictorians in her department, she graduated with honors (you go girl!) and has already started her job at Glaxo-Smith-Kline in Raleigh. We spent time with Cathy’s very tired family between the ceremony and a very late dinner reservation, socializing and napping in their hotel room. It was an unconventional setting (3 on the floor, 2 in chairs, 4 on the beds), but a welcome opportunity to be together, as we gathered from as far away as Russia to celebrate Christine’s accomplishment and be together. Christine’s Uncle Clint, who is glad that he is no longer the sole member of the Wolf Pack in the family, was unable to attend, but called from Russia to congratulate her. Unfortunately, the day of celebration ended with sadness for us all as we learned of the death of Clint’s mother late that evening. Our prayers go out to him and all of his family as they cope with this loss.

So, now we are dodging tornados on our way back to the boat and another week of repairs, maintenance, and maybe some sailing.

Click here for more pictures.

Late April - Ready to Sail, But . . .

4/30/2006

It’s been a busy few weeks since our last update, but we’ve crossed a number of milestones toward our goal. Now, we’re finally on our way . . . to Rochester, NY. You may think that doesn’t sound like a cruising destination for folks who said they were going to start sailing in the Chesapeake, and you’d be right. We’re headed there by car, while we wait for the boat to go back in the water, but more about that later.

The last weeks for Cathy at work saw her continuing to transition responsibilities to others and document as much as possible for her eventual replacement. It was a daunting task. You start to realize how much you just “know” about what you do, how much is instinct because you know your people and your customers, and how hard it is to communicate it all. Also, it was heartbreaking to say goodbye to so many co-workers who she will no longer see every day, but all the expressions of appreciation made it feel that she had made a difference. Of course, the good-byes weren’t without a sense of humor. Such as the bottle of vitamin C presented to us to prevent “scurvy”. The final event was after work on April 24th, her last day. David joined her co-workers in an after-work get-together on an outdoor patio at Mi Rancho on a beautiful afternoon in Germantown. It was a nice ending.

The same day Cathy stopped working, as part of the Boy Scout Troop 1577 Court of Honor, a surprise recognition was planned to honor David’s service to Troop 1577 and its Venture Crew. Cathy was watching the clock a bit as the day wound down to ensure we could make it from Germantown MD to Herndon VA so that David would be there on time. He knew about a Crew Meeting, but was unaware of the planned presentation. It was a bit of a surprise when both Cathy and David were recognized (the Venture Crew are older scouts and obviously sneakier), and the number of crew members who came was a tribute in itself. (They are busy young adults, especially this time of year.) The surprises didn’t end there. Two nights later, 2 crew members who are now freshmen in college at UVA called to express their appreciation for our (and especially David’s) mentoring them as they led the crew. A particular bond was formed with each of them, when on 2 different outings, we had to have each of them transported to the emergency room. One by Med-Evac helicopter. It could be suggested that maybe our leaving was a good thing for the crew.

David continued to busy himself with a myriad of preparations for leaving our permanent address and preparing the boat for our cruise.

The boat preparations involved more trips to deliver “stuff” that we think we need on board and to search for a wet slip for the month of May. We found what we were looking for at Hospitality Harbor, which is right next door to Spring Cove Marina, where the boat is on the hard now. Although Spring Cove is a beautiful marina, the Memorial Day weekend was going to be problematic for them to accommodate us in a slip (due to previous reservations), and it was pricier than Hospitality Harbor. (We are on a budget, you know.) However, being on a budget didn’t stop David from making additional purchases for the boat. As we mentioned earlier, we had already upgraded the existing Delta anchor and rode, positioning us well for routine anchoring. However, we knew we needed a storm anchor, which David found on-line at Riverside Marine. It is a Fortress FX-37, which is highly rated for holding, is supposed to be 2 sizes bigger than our boat requires, and is easy to stow below decks (specifically under our berth with the accompanying 350 feet of ¾” rode). NOW, maybe we’ll sleep when we’re at anchor, even in high winds. The other purchase for the boat was an LED masthead light, purchased from First Star. Although pricier than an incandescent bulb, the LED’s require much less power and are longer lasting. This, hopefully, will mean fewer trips up the mast to replace the light. Although, we will have to make at least one trip up there to change the bulb . . . We were thrown one curve in our schedule when the marina told us that the boat directly behind us wanted to wait until after May 7th to be put in the water. How flexible were we? We decided that our schedule wasn’t that tight and that this would be a good opportunity to see our son, grandson, and David’s family in Rochester. So, since we had no place to sleep for a week, we will be freeloading visiting with family instead. (Hence, the trip to Rochester.)

With Cathy’s job ending, there was no longer a need for 2 cars, so David prepared his beloved convertible for sale. It sold the first day after the ad ran in the Washington Post, but he was glad it went to a good home. However, later events may be a sign that we sold the wrong car.

The rest of the time was spent in move preparations: packing, cleaning out, address changes, and setting up automatic payments to reduce the amount of snail mail requiring any action. We took 2 trips to Bonnie and Troy’s house with a loaded car to reduce the number of boxes being handled by the movers, especially the fragile items. We were convinced we had easily reduced the remaining load to the 30 box estimate we had originally given the movers. When the final tally was taken, there were 67 boxes on moving day. I guess we should cross move estimators off the list of possible second careers. After a marathon packing session on Wednesday till early Thursday morning, move day went relatively uneventfully.

In the middle of moving, Cathy made time for the last transition she had to make, which was to ensure her responsibilities for an ecumenical Works Sunday event were covered. This required her to interrupt the packing activities on Tuesday / Wednesday to complete a website maintenance handbook (for the organization’s website, which she created and maintained) and to train a new committee member to make the updates. After a training session on Wednesday, both Cathy and her replacement were feeling a lot better about the success of the transition. However, Cathy is feeling pretty good in her ability to continue be a backup webmaster. With new cell phone connection software from Verizon, we were genuinely surprised at the speed of the connection, making it appear to be a viable option for getting on-line with regularity.

With all of the packing and moving completed, we returned from Jarratt to enjoy a relaxing lunch with some friends, and then back to our apartment with only an aero bed and a TV (still hooked up to DirecTV for 2 more days). Since we now had nothing but time on our hands, we had agreed to join the United Christian Parish (UCP) Youth Group for a lock-in, which included Cosmic Bowling. Once again, we were pleasantly surprised with a ‘look back” slide presentation that the DCE had prepared, and by the presence of several parents and adult leaders who joined us for the first hour of the lock-in to send us off. The rest of the night was spent playing Ligretto and Sardines, making lunches for a community building event, eating pizza, “flocking” houses to raise money for a Rwandan medical student, enjoying a goodbye cake, leaving our handprints on the wall, and, of course, bowling. (We won’t go into our bowling scores . . .) We even managed to get about 5 hours sleep, although we were dragging the next day.

Instead of crashing the next morning, we decided (?) to make another run to the boat with the final load of “stuff”, and then rush back to ready the apartment for its final inspection. (Cathy slept all the way there; David all the way back.) We happened to discover that Spring Cove was hosting a barbecue lunch for its slipholders. So we enjoyed our only meal of the day there. Back at the apartment, we hurriedly loaded the car (again) for the trip to Rochester and cleaned in preparation for the walkthrough. We completed the inspection tour by 3pm and then finally could relax.

There was one last good-bye when we arrived at church the next morning. During the Joys and Concerns section of the service, our pastor recognized the contributions to the youth group and other church ministries and gave us a small candle (representing the light of Christ) to take with us on our journey.

So, we’re on our way to Rochester, by way of Bethlehem, PA where David’s sister, Diane, and her roommate, Pam live. We thought this would be a simple ending to this April month-end update, but life isn’t that cooperative. After a quick stop for gas and a bite to eat in Frederick, MD, our reliable Malibu that had carried Cathy back and forth to work uneventfully for 3 years, wouldn’t start. We ended up getting a jump start to get it going, and then replaced the battery at Sam’s Club, which was right next door. We were doubtful that this was the root cause of the problem, but felt it was the best we could do on a Sunday afternoon. We started up the road again and made it as far as Kutztown PA on I-78, when all of a sudden, David realized he had no power as we climbed the hill toward the Kutztown exit. He quickly pulled off the road, and we sat in the car swaying as trucks raced by waiting for a tow truck to arrive. His sister, Diane, was on her way, too, to pick us up. Now the car is sitting at a Chevy dealer in Kutztown and we are safe in Bethlehem, PA. It will be interesting to see what tomorrow will bring. Maybe we did sell the wrong car . . .

Early April - Transition Activities in High Gear

4/15/2006

Our move to Orion continues to progress on schedule. David's job has ended, which allows him time to focus on move preparation. Movers have been scheduled for Thursday, April 27. Orion is being readied for the upcoming experience. We continue to transition our volunteer responsibilities.

David's days are consumed with all of the details of preparing to move onto Orion. He is organizing our finances such that most bills will be automatically paid for from our checking account. A lot of his stuff has been packed and actually moved to Bonnie's place. We are already notifying people of our new address. In addition, David obtained Restricted Radio Operator, Ship Radio, and Ham Radio licenses for us. Only the Ham Radio license required a test. David "studied" for this test for a few weeks before taking (and passing) it. (David attributes his success in this to the practice tests he took online, combined with using his Dad's test-taking approach, i.e., no one writes long incorrect answers for a multiple choice test.)

Cathy remains focused on her responsibilities at Hughes, but finds time at night to get some packing done. She is working on making the transition as smooth as possible, while actively involved in finding her replacement. Hopefully, someone will be in place soon after her departure.

One weekend we took more things to Orion and had the opportunity to look at the newly refinished teak. Don did a GREAT job!. We are very pleased with his results. While visiting Orion, we took time to wash and wax the hull. This is a BIG job, especially when the area to be waxed is 5 feet off the ground and extends up to 10 feet high. David likes to say that we finished three sides, but Cathy finds it difficult to count the bow as a side. During the week, David went back to Solomons to finish Orion's port side.

As a weekend cruising boat, Orion was properly outfitted. However the added demands of our live aboard lifestyle, require some upgrades. We purchased a 40 AMP battery charger and Honda 2000 generator to charge our batteries (Note: At some point, we might consider solar or wind, but the generator should meet our immediate needs). Another purchase was a new 2003 Zodiac RIB, and a new 2002 4 HP Mercury 2-stroke engine, which were significantly reduced in price due to their ages. The RIB is small enough to fit on our bow between the windlass and a forestay and light enough to handle, but only time will tell if it's really big enough to meet our needs. If not, we are hopeful that we can recover most of our expenses given their bargain prices. Since Orion's only VHF radio is below decks making it difficult to hear when underway, we found a great buy on Standard Horizon radio with remote microphone. Finally, we upgraded our ground tackle.

New, larger Delta 35 anchor replaced a Delta 22.

David took our 22# Delta anchor off the boat and traded it in on a 35# Delta anchor and 130 feet of 5/16" high test galvanized chain. This equipment along with last year's purchase of 200 feet of 5/8 3-strand nylon rode will serve as our primary anchor. Since the secondary anchor, Danfoth 16H, only had 100 feet of 1/2" 3-strand nylon rode with 20 feet of 5/16 G40 chain, we upgraded it to 200 feet of 1/2" braided rode with the existing chain. Finally, we purchased a Fortress FX-37 with 368 feet of 3/4" 3-strand rode, which will be combined with the original 50 feet of 5/16" G40 chain from our primary anchor, to use as a storm anchor. We trust that this ground tackle will allow us to sleep at night.

Our weekends continue to be consumed with a number of tasks. We made another trip to Bonnie's to take more boxes and assist her with some of the tasks that fall on everyone when they move. Specifically, we spent some time helping her fiance, Troy, with hooking up the big screen television and assembling a shed. Another day was spent teaching Red Cross First Aid to the Scout Troop associated with our Venture Crew. Easter weekend found us supporting our church's youth group with the sunrise service followed by a trip to Bethlehem, PA to spend time with David's sister, Diane. We had a very good time even though David was put to work installing a flagpole even before he got in the front door.

Time is getting short, but we feel that we are on track to make the move.

Late March - The Transition Begins

3/31/2006

Everything remains on track to move onto Orion at the beginning of May. David is nearly done at his job, Cathy has given notice at her job, more things have been moved to Bonnie's house for storage, and Don's work on Orion's teak is coming along well.

David has nearly completed his tasks at work, transitioning the remaining items to a great team of people to keep them going. Oracle asked the Corporation to consider letting it use the Data Warehouse, built under David's guidance, as a reference account due to the way it sets an example in its use of their products. His team is rightfully proud of their accomplishment. Everyone has been very good to him and took him out for lunch every day during his last week. He will really miss them.

Cathy's notice to leave her job at Hughes Network Systems at the end of April after 5 years of service surprised a lot of her coworkers. After they got over the shock, they wished her well.. She is beginning to identify the things that need to be done before her departure.

We drove to Bonnie's apartment to help her move into her home. While we couldn't take any of her things in our car (as it was full of our things that need to be stored during our trip), we did help her load the other vehicles at her apartment and unload them (along with our car) at her new home. The house looks great, but Bonnie will stay at her apartment until end of the month since the house won't have electricity until them. (Camping indoors didn't appeal to Bonnie, since withouth electricity, she also lacked running water.)

On another weekend, we drove to Solomons, MD to take things to the boat and check on Don's teak refinishing efforts. We discovered that Don had completed stripping the teak and was in the process of putting on the first coat of Cetol. It looked wonderful. We can't wait to see the final results.

It seems as though every weekend is filled with getting ready to travel. If we aren't going to Bonnie's house in Jarratt, VA or to Orion in Solomons, MD, we are busy with our volunteer activities. The most intense event was Boy Scout / Venture Crew 1577 mulch delivery. This single fundraiser supports these units through the year, but it requires the delivery of over 16,000 bags of mulch. This makes for a very long couple of days. David has been Crew Advisor, but is beginning to transition his responsibilities to Pete Stark. Another weekend found us working with a team of Red Cross Wilderness First Aid Basics instructors to teach a group of Boy Scouts and leaders. Also, you will find us most Sunday evenings working with our church youth group at United Christian Parish.

Early March

3/15/2006

There are only two months left before we plan to move onto our boat. Although we need to end our jobs, move out of our apartment and get our boat ready to travel, it's doable. David plans to stop working at the end of March while Cathy will work through most of April. Our apartment lease is up at the end of April and the boat is scheduled for launch mid-late April.

David has given notice of his departure to The Corporation for National & Community Service, but everyone was expecting it given his two-year term. Furthermore, everyone knew that he was a short-term employee, which allowed him to freely talk about his future plans to go sailing. He is working hard to complete as many tasks as possible and transition his on-going responsibilities.

Fortunately, our daughter, Bonnie, decided to purchase a house. Since she is moving from an apartment into her first house, she has room to store our household items. In fact, her spare bedroom and dining room will look a lot like ours. Bonnie and her fiance made arrangements with the builder to do some of the work in order to reduce their cost. We have taken trips to help them build a storage room for us and build back steps (Note: The back steps turned into a much bigger job since we need to build a 10x15 deck for them). On each trip, our car was loaded with tools that never found their way back home.

Cathy is starting to look for movers who will carefully move our stuff from our apartment in McLean, VA to Bonnie's house in Jarratt, VA. She filled out a form on the Internet and had numerous contacts from moving companies the next day.

David is positioning our finances so that we can travel without having to worry about them. We have worked with Sandeep Sharma, our great financial planner for over 15 years. He is entrusted with keeping his eye on our investments during our travels. Careful coordination with our insurance companies is taking place to ensure that we have proper protection. Last year we converted from group heatlh care through Cathy's job to a personal Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield policy. David discovered that for the same premium and benefits we can get two individual policies that reduce the deductible in half. We have applied for this change since it is more likely that one of us will exceed a lower deductible than it is that both of us will exceed the larger deductible. Other accounts are being setup to automatically debit our checking account.

David's cousin, Don Fletcher, lives in Lexington Park, MD thus allowing him to keep his eye on our boat throughout the winter. Now that Spring has arrived, Don has volunteered to refinish Orion's exterior teak. He will strip the old finish before applying three coats of Cetol.

Getting Ready

3/1/2006

Getting Ready
We are routinely asked about our travel plans for 2006. At this time, we only have a very rough outline as to what where we intend to travel. Our current plans are to move onto Orion once it is put back into the water around May 8th or 9th. We will stay in the Solomon's area for about one month as we finalize the boat for our journey. Throughout the Summer and into the Fall we will travel the Chesapeake Bay area. Once it begins to turn cold, we will begin to head South. Our hope is to stay warm while avoiding the hurricanes. We plan to update our web site bi-monthly so that you can follow our journey.