
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.
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.
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.