Orion at anchor at St. Michaels
We’re back in the water and several miles up the Bay from Deltaville, as we’ve put Orion through her paces after her lengthy maintenance layover on the hard. We re-joined Pat and Fred and have traveled several places in the bay with them that we haven’t seen in a few years. It’s been a good 2 weeks.
Orion is launched at Deltaville
As September ended, we were still on the hard, anxiously awaiting the arrival of a Shaft Shark line cutter to install on Orion’s drive shaft – the final task before splashing her. This arrived late on Thursday the 2nd of October. We were told the cutter would be installed first thing Friday morning and then we would be launched early afternoon. On Friday morning, Cathy headed to Gloucester to pick up a rental car (so we could return our car over the weekend), while Dave stayed to wait for the line cutter to be installed. Cathy was about 8 miles out on the return trip with the rental car when she got a call from Dave: the boat is being put in the lift. Are you close? She hustled back and literally ran down the aisle only to see Orion heading toward her in the travel lift. That was a little close.
Apparently, the lift had arrived early (around 11am), long before the “early afternoon” scheduled launch, ready to haul Orion back to the water. It was also before the line cutter had been installed. When Mike, the lift operator, learned we were still waiting for the line cutter to be installed, he got the mechanics there within minutes to complete the simple installation. Then he loaded her in the bands and headed down the long fairway to the water. Once at the water’s edge, the final paint was applied under the keel. While they did this, Dave ran up to find out where we would be spending the weekend (since we had to have an engine mechanic look at the engine one last time on Monday). Cathy grabbed the camera and got a closer look at the line cutter, since it would be the last opportunity for a long time.
Apparently, the lift had arrived early (around 11am), long before the “early afternoon” scheduled launch, ready to haul Orion back to the water. It was also before the line cutter had been installed. When Mike, the lift operator, learned we were still waiting for the line cutter to be installed, he got the mechanics there within minutes to complete the simple installation. Then he loaded her in the bands and headed down the long fairway to the water. Once at the water’s edge, the final paint was applied under the keel. While they did this, Dave ran up to find out where we would be spending the weekend (since we had to have an engine mechanic look at the engine one last time on Monday). Cathy grabbed the camera and got a closer look at the line cutter, since it would be the last opportunity for a long time.
As Dave got back to the boat, they positioned Orion over the water and lowered her down. We didn’t have much time in the haul-out slip, because they had several more boats to haul/launch today, including one that was sinking at the dock. We scrambled aboard to get the engine ready to start.
But, when we pressed the button, it wouldn’t turn over. After trying a couple more times, Cathy suggested we bleed the engine. That did the trick, but we were puzzled why we needed to do it at all. We had no trouble moving out the slip, stopping first for a pump-out, where the engine started without incident, and then into our slip for the weekend. Maybe air had entered the line during some maintenance on the hard? Only time would tell.
The boatyard’s final in-water task on Orion was to align the engine. This had to wait until Monday morning, since the engine had to sit for 24 hours before-hand. On Monday, the mechanic was on board by 7:30 and done within a half-hour. By that time, Cathy was on her way back from dropping off the rental car and Dave was negotiating the final billing. By 9:30, we were on our way out of the harbor toward (eventually) Annapolis. It took longer than we expected when we arrived back to the boat a couple weeks earlier, but we were happy with the work we’d gotten done while in Deltaville.
To Annapolis for the Boat Show
But, when we pressed the button, it wouldn’t turn over. After trying a couple more times, Cathy suggested we bleed the engine. That did the trick, but we were puzzled why we needed to do it at all. We had no trouble moving out the slip, stopping first for a pump-out, where the engine started without incident, and then into our slip for the weekend. Maybe air had entered the line during some maintenance on the hard? Only time would tell.
The boatyard’s final in-water task on Orion was to align the engine. This had to wait until Monday morning, since the engine had to sit for 24 hours before-hand. On Monday, the mechanic was on board by 7:30 and done within a half-hour. By that time, Cathy was on her way back from dropping off the rental car and Dave was negotiating the final billing. By 9:30, we were on our way out of the harbor toward (eventually) Annapolis. It took longer than we expected when we arrived back to the boat a couple weeks earlier, but we were happy with the work we’d gotten done while in Deltaville.
To Annapolis for the Boat Show
In good conditions, you can make Annapolis in 2 long days travel from Deltaville. Unfortunately, our later start on Monday meant we could only make the Great Wicomico (south of Reedville VA) on the first day. Tuesday took us to Solomons against higher northwest winds and waves than we would normally have chosen to travel in. (During the early part of this drenching ride, Dave had to go forward to secure a loose anchor bag and got soaked in the process.) On Wednesday, we managed to get a little help from the sails on the final leg to Annapolis as the winds were now building from the southwest. We arrived about 1:30, but were just out of luck. The last mooring balls had been taken only hours earlier.
Now, what would we do.
Now, what would we do.
The anchorage was very crowded and with the rising southwesterly winds was increasingly uncomfortable. We took a chance and gave a call to George and Gail, whose dock on the Magothy had been Marianna’s first stop on the Chesapeake. Would they mind another transient on their dock? They enthusiastically agreed to take us in. We pointed Orion north toward the Bay Bridge and took off toward Broad Creek on the Magothy. By 3:30, we were secured at the dock. We would rent a car for the weekend, which would get us to the boat show and to (finally) hook up with Pat and Fred. In the meantime, we enjoyed spending time with George and Gail.
Steve and Krista show off their Bay Dreamer attire
On Friday, we finally made the trip to Annapolis for the Boat Show, reuniting with Pat and Fred. We tried to cover as much territory as possible in the 8 hours we had there. We talked to Raymarine about their C80 chartplotter and radar; to Lewmar about our leaking portlights; to Garmin about the chartplotter/PC interface and their radar; and on and on. Our big purchase this year was a Soda Club soda machine that we hope will save the space occupied by all those 2 liter soda bottles. We stayed until closing and then, just this side of being exhausted, we managed to enjoy a burger and fries at Five Guys followed by ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery with Pat and Fred. Now, that’s the way to end a long day.
With access to a car for 2 more days, on Saturday we took advantage of the time to pick up more spare parts (injectors) at Bayshore, shop for new batteries and various other stops before meeting Steve and Krista from Bay Dreamer for dinner who were up from Hampton for the show.
Coming Full Circle
With access to a car for 2 more days, on Saturday we took advantage of the time to pick up more spare parts (injectors) at Bayshore, shop for new batteries and various other stops before meeting Steve and Krista from Bay Dreamer for dinner who were up from Hampton for the show.
Coming Full Circle
Back in 2004, as we were beginning to prepare for this adventure, we took a Cruising class with Annapolis Sailing School that took us to the Eastern shore and St. Michael’s, MD. For a variety of reasons, we hadn’t been back since. However, we were going to get a chance as we were making plans for travel after the boat show. George and Gail on their boat Quicksilver were going to join us, Marianna and Bev and Larry on Chantelle for a short trip across the bay.
On Sunday night, all four boats came together on Broad Creek. We enjoyed a dinner at George and Gail’s house and planned the itinerary. The forecasted light winds meant there would be little to no sailing. However, there were still beautiful areas to see. We decided to spend Monday night on the Wye River, Tuesday at St. Michael’s and then come back to the western shore for a night in the Rhode River. It had been years since we had visited these places, so we were looking forward to it.
On Sunday night, all four boats came together on Broad Creek. We enjoyed a dinner at George and Gail’s house and planned the itinerary. The forecasted light winds meant there would be little to no sailing. However, there were still beautiful areas to see. We decided to spend Monday night on the Wye River, Tuesday at St. Michael’s and then come back to the western shore for a night in the Rhode River. It had been years since we had visited these places, so we were looking forward to it.
The first night’s anchorage was a beautiful cove on the Wye East River. With our conservative approach to anchoring, we opted out of the raft and anchored across the river in Quarter Cover, joining the group by dinghy later. Chantelle had to head home the next day, so it was just 3 of us that headed to St. Michael’s. On our last trip to St. Michael’s, we had docked at a marina in the school’s boat. With the price of dock space, we were planning to anchor out and were pleasantly surprised by the space in the anchorage. We then dinghyed into shore to enjoy the Chesapeake Maritime Museum and the historic district on Talbot St.
After an impromptu dinner aboard Marianna that evening, we bid goodbye to George and Gail who would head home the next morning. It had been a picture perfect trip and we were sorry to see them go.
After an impromptu dinner aboard Marianna that evening, we bid goodbye to George and Gail who would head home the next morning. It had been a picture perfect trip and we were sorry to see them go.
Fred’s outboard resulted in a few tows back to Marianna.
Dinghy Woes
While in Annapolis, Fred had been having recurring problems with his outboard engines, which had caused him to spend a lot of time working on them – to no avail. While in St. Michaels, the engine once again got him into shore, but wouldn’t start on the return. Our dinghy wasn’t problem-free either. When we launched it in the Wye River, we discovered it – once again – wouldn’t stay running once in gear. Although Dave had done some maintenance at Deltaville – fixing the broken cover latch, greasing the moving parts – we weren’t in a position to do anything about the aging gas in the engine. It became obvious that this was the problem. So, once again he had to run the gas out of the engine while in neutral, clean out the gas tank and re-fill it with fresh fuel. This did the trick and it seems to be reliable since. Having had this problem repeatedly with old fuel, it’s becoming more important to use it up rather than have it sit in the engine for any period of time.
While in Annapolis, Fred had been having recurring problems with his outboard engines, which had caused him to spend a lot of time working on them – to no avail. While in St. Michaels, the engine once again got him into shore, but wouldn’t start on the return. Our dinghy wasn’t problem-free either. When we launched it in the Wye River, we discovered it – once again – wouldn’t stay running once in gear. Although Dave had done some maintenance at Deltaville – fixing the broken cover latch, greasing the moving parts – we weren’t in a position to do anything about the aging gas in the engine. It became obvious that this was the problem. So, once again he had to run the gas out of the engine while in neutral, clean out the gas tank and re-fill it with fresh fuel. This did the trick and it seems to be reliable since. Having had this problem repeatedly with old fuel, it’s becoming more important to use it up rather than have it sit in the engine for any period of time.
Marianna's dinghy with Orion's outboard running on the South River.
Since Pat and Fred have a much bigger dinghy and our engine is currently more reliable, we offered to put the 2 together until more serious maintenance could be done on Fred’s outboard. We tried this for the first time at the South River, where we anchored after returning on Wednesday from St. Michaels. We needed to meet Bruce from Neil Pryde to pick up our new headsail. This was going to require more space than our dinghy could comfortably accommodate, but Marianna’s dinghy and Orion’s outboard proved a winning combination. We managed to get Bruce, the sail and another package on board without getting anyone or anything wet.
Now, if we could just get that outboard working reliably.
Boat Stuff
Dave had been monitoring the health of the batteries since we were back underway and was not happy with the 2 back-up batteries that we used to supplement our house bank when we were equalizing the main back. The voltage was dropping despite their having been fully charged and not being used. So, he took advantage of the access to the car and a nearby Sam’s Club to replace them with 2 6-volt golf cart batteries, which he installed while we were on the dock in Broad Creek.
The new engine temperature gauge is a big hit, since we can now monitor the engine more closely and have begun to establish a baseline for its normal running temperature at different rpm’s.
We’re finding that we have to bleed the engine with more regularity after a run on any length, so we’re concerned about the cause of this problem. Dave is working through a number of possible causes, but this will likely take us back to Deltaville for another look by John.
Since our travels this winter are likely to take us further into the Bahamas, we are working our way through a list of things we need to have to get ready. At the boat show, we purchased a new guide (Matthew Wilson’s Bahamas Cruising Guide), and shortly after, we bought the Explorer charts for the Far Bahamas and the Exumas, using coupons we acquired at the Boat Show.
But the biggest change of all is Orion’s new headsail, which Bruce delivered as we anchored off Quiet Waters park on the South River. It looks sharp, but we’ve had no winds to use it yet. Soon, though.
Now, if we could just get that outboard working reliably.
Boat Stuff
Dave had been monitoring the health of the batteries since we were back underway and was not happy with the 2 back-up batteries that we used to supplement our house bank when we were equalizing the main back. The voltage was dropping despite their having been fully charged and not being used. So, he took advantage of the access to the car and a nearby Sam’s Club to replace them with 2 6-volt golf cart batteries, which he installed while we were on the dock in Broad Creek.
The new engine temperature gauge is a big hit, since we can now monitor the engine more closely and have begun to establish a baseline for its normal running temperature at different rpm’s.
We’re finding that we have to bleed the engine with more regularity after a run on any length, so we’re concerned about the cause of this problem. Dave is working through a number of possible causes, but this will likely take us back to Deltaville for another look by John.
Since our travels this winter are likely to take us further into the Bahamas, we are working our way through a list of things we need to have to get ready. At the boat show, we purchased a new guide (Matthew Wilson’s Bahamas Cruising Guide), and shortly after, we bought the Explorer charts for the Far Bahamas and the Exumas, using coupons we acquired at the Boat Show.
But the biggest change of all is Orion’s new headsail, which Bruce delivered as we anchored off Quiet Waters park on the South River. It looks sharp, but we’ve had no winds to use it yet. Soon, though.
Family Time
Returning the car to Emporia gave us a chance to see our children and grandchildren one more time before heading out for a while. Although, keeping up with them is still a bit of challenge. If you’re in any doubt, just ask Dave.
Returning the car to Emporia gave us a chance to see our children and grandchildren one more time before heading out for a while. Although, keeping up with them is still a bit of challenge. If you’re in any doubt, just ask Dave.
