Sailboat leaving Mill Creek
The list of projects for Orion for the summer is lengthy, so we know only some of them will actually happen. To get the ball rolling on the list, we took a trip up to Deltaville Boatyard to have them look her over and give us estimates on the bigger items on the list -- such as repairing the damage to the bow pulpit and fixing the recently discovered leak by the rudder post. The good news about the rudder leak was that it was not likely to become a flood all of a sudden, so we were good to continue traveling for the time being. The bad news was that it was going to require the boat to be hauled to repair. We had been hoping to defer that until next year. So, it looks like we’ll be back on the hard this August as we tend to this and other projects that could benefit from access to Orion’s bottom.
In the meantime, we’ve addressed some smaller items on Orion.
All Fired Up
While in the Bahamas, Cathy had started having problems with our usually reliable stove. Any use of the oven for more than about 30 minutes and the stove would simply “give up” -- the flame weakening to the point where it simply died out. While it could be restarted after about 30 minutes of “rest”, the oven was not getting to temperatures much above 300 degrees (F), and it was virtually impossible to use both a stovetop burner along with the oven. Dave had traced the likely cause of this problem to a faulty solenoid in the propane locker. Once we were in Hampton, Dave replaced the solenoid with one ordered from Beneteau, which immediately solved the problems with the oven. The stove behaved as if it had just received a new lease on life. It easily baked some chicken for 45 minutes at a whopping 450 degrees, while cooking potatoes on the stove top. Cathy wishes she could have this much renewed energy. Maybe a few more laps in the pool will do it. . .
In the meantime, we’ve addressed some smaller items on Orion.
All Fired Up
While in the Bahamas, Cathy had started having problems with our usually reliable stove. Any use of the oven for more than about 30 minutes and the stove would simply “give up” -- the flame weakening to the point where it simply died out. While it could be restarted after about 30 minutes of “rest”, the oven was not getting to temperatures much above 300 degrees (F), and it was virtually impossible to use both a stovetop burner along with the oven. Dave had traced the likely cause of this problem to a faulty solenoid in the propane locker. Once we were in Hampton, Dave replaced the solenoid with one ordered from Beneteau, which immediately solved the problems with the oven. The stove behaved as if it had just received a new lease on life. It easily baked some chicken for 45 minutes at a whopping 450 degrees, while cooking potatoes on the stove top. Cathy wishes she could have this much renewed energy. Maybe a few more laps in the pool will do it. . .
New toilet in place
Oh, Pooh!
Wandering the aisles of West Marine, you never know what will catch your eye. For Dave, it was a shiny new toilet on sale. We had started having some small leaks in the pump on our Jabsco toilet, and an exact model replacement was on sale for the same cost as the repair kit for the pump. This seemed to be a no-brainer. The only problem was going to be transporting the sizeable box back on top of a bike back to our dinghy at Zahniser’s marina in Solomons. The good folks at West Marine took pity on Dave, however, and gave him and the new toilet a ride back to the dinghy dock. Now, that's service.
Wandering the aisles of West Marine, you never know what will catch your eye. For Dave, it was a shiny new toilet on sale. We had started having some small leaks in the pump on our Jabsco toilet, and an exact model replacement was on sale for the same cost as the repair kit for the pump. This seemed to be a no-brainer. The only problem was going to be transporting the sizeable box back on top of a bike back to our dinghy at Zahniser’s marina in Solomons. The good folks at West Marine took pity on Dave, however, and gave him and the new toilet a ride back to the dinghy dock. Now, that's service.
We waited until we were securely tied to a dock and had not only just pumped out, but pumped gallons of water through the system before risking the removal of the old toilet. Despite our efforts, there was still a reasonable amount of “liquid” in the hose once Dave undid the fitting from the holding tank to the old toilet. But we were glad it was very clear in color, if not altogether odor free. To save some work, Dave decided to try to leave a piece of the old toilet (that connected to the hose to holding tank) in place. We would just replace the joker valve in this section and then attach the new toilet to this fixture. After Cathy cleaned the space beneath and behind the toilet, Dave applied some caulk to the base of the new toilet and into the screw holes in the floor before installing it in the same location as the old one.
We then filled the toilet with fresh water, and pumped.
Unfortunately, the water poured out of the connection to the older part of the fixture. Apparently, Dave’s shortcut wasn’t working. Good thing we had put only water in the bowl. Now we had to remove the holding tank hose and replace the remaining piece of the old toilet with the new one. However, with the new toilet in place, this was no longer very easy to do. Dave eventually got everything in place, with the hose securely clamped to the fixture. This time when we pumped, all fittings stayed dry. We (reluctantly) pumped some raw water into the bowl and ensured those fittings stayed dry. (Raw water from the Bay, shall we say, ages very poorly.) It was now ready for use. Within a few days, we were confident enough in our installation that we finally tossed the old toilet. Another dirty job behind us.
We then filled the toilet with fresh water, and pumped.
Unfortunately, the water poured out of the connection to the older part of the fixture. Apparently, Dave’s shortcut wasn’t working. Good thing we had put only water in the bowl. Now we had to remove the holding tank hose and replace the remaining piece of the old toilet with the new one. However, with the new toilet in place, this was no longer very easy to do. Dave eventually got everything in place, with the hose securely clamped to the fixture. This time when we pumped, all fittings stayed dry. We (reluctantly) pumped some raw water into the bowl and ensured those fittings stayed dry. (Raw water from the Bay, shall we say, ages very poorly.) It was now ready for use. Within a few days, we were confident enough in our installation that we finally tossed the old toilet. Another dirty job behind us.
This thunderstorm that came through with while we were anchored at Mill Creek reminded us that our portlights needed some work.
Watertight
The saga of our leaking portlights seems never-ending. After re-sealing the seams in 4 of the windows last fall, we watched over the course of the winter to see how well they stayed dry. The only problem was that we had very little rain to prove one way or the other whether the fix was working. However, that eventually changed, and it became apparent that we needed to finish the remaining windows. Cathy was finally able to get the time and dry weather to re-seal them, but we’ve had little rain to prove that her efforts were successful.
Be careful what you ask for.
A couple of days later, as the sun was about to set and we had just finished topping off our water tanks, we saw the sky grow ominously dark. We scurried below and waited for what appeared to be a major storm to hit. And "hit" is the appropriate word. The strong winds heeled us over at the dock first one direction and then the opposite direction. A fellow boater clocked the winds at their peak at 51 knots or about 60 mph, which would make it the strongest storm we have seen on Orion since moving aboard. Trees were uprooted on the shore at the edge of the dock. Another sailor said the wind pulled the fittings of his canvas enclosure right out of the fiberglass. The nearby Hampton Roads tunnel was closed most of the next day as they struggled to get the water out of one of the tubes. And, through it all, the portlights stayed dry. Maybe that fix will hold for a while now.
The saga of our leaking portlights seems never-ending. After re-sealing the seams in 4 of the windows last fall, we watched over the course of the winter to see how well they stayed dry. The only problem was that we had very little rain to prove one way or the other whether the fix was working. However, that eventually changed, and it became apparent that we needed to finish the remaining windows. Cathy was finally able to get the time and dry weather to re-seal them, but we’ve had little rain to prove that her efforts were successful.
Be careful what you ask for.
A couple of days later, as the sun was about to set and we had just finished topping off our water tanks, we saw the sky grow ominously dark. We scurried below and waited for what appeared to be a major storm to hit. And "hit" is the appropriate word. The strong winds heeled us over at the dock first one direction and then the opposite direction. A fellow boater clocked the winds at their peak at 51 knots or about 60 mph, which would make it the strongest storm we have seen on Orion since moving aboard. Trees were uprooted on the shore at the edge of the dock. Another sailor said the wind pulled the fittings of his canvas enclosure right out of the fiberglass. The nearby Hampton Roads tunnel was closed most of the next day as they struggled to get the water out of one of the tubes. And, through it all, the portlights stayed dry. Maybe that fix will hold for a while now.
Newly installed LED reading light
Lighten Up
Dave took advantage of some lazy days at anchor in Mill Creek to install some more LED reading lights we had bought at the Boater’s World closing sale. Dave replaced 2 of the remaining 3 lights that hadn’t already been replaced, one of which wasn’t working. The lights work great and consume a tenth of the power of the incandescent lights they replace.
Dave took advantage of some lazy days at anchor in Mill Creek to install some more LED reading lights we had bought at the Boater’s World closing sale. Dave replaced 2 of the remaining 3 lights that hadn’t already been replaced, one of which wasn’t working. The lights work great and consume a tenth of the power of the incandescent lights they replace.
Rust Be Gone
Over the course of the winter, the chain hook Dave uses on the snubber while at anchor was rusting badly, which in turn was staining the fore deck an ugly yellow as we spent night after night at anchor. We needed a solution, and Dave finally found it in a stainless steel replacement he purchased off eBay. For one of the snubbers, the new chain hook fit easily in the shackle where its predecessor had sat. However, this wasn’t the case for the second snubber. Dave finally decided to simply remove the thimble and shackle in the line and simply splice the new hook directly into the line. With the offending rusting hooks now gone, Cathy used some Y10 to good effect to restore the bright white deck, removing all of the winter’s accumulation of rust stains.
It's A Social Whirl
It's A Social Whirl
Fortunate and Slow Dancin' rafted together on Mill Creek;
In our travels up and down the Bay, we’ve managed to get to see a number of friends and family members, more so than we ever expected. As we motored north from Deltaville on a hot, still Tuesday in early June, we were surprised to hear Bonnie Lass calling a friend on the radio. We hailed them as they made their way north toward Olverson’s Marina on the Yeocomico off the Potomac. After considering a stop together at Sandy Point on the Great Wicomico River, the lure of running water, A/C and a dock to tie up to after a long trip north was too much for them to defer for another night.
However, as we stopped for a 2nd time at Sandy Point on the way south, we managed to hook up instead with Joy and Rusty on Slow Dancin’ and Barb and Dave on Fortunate, whom we hadn’t seen for over a year since leaving Marathon, FL last winter. They were out for week’s sail on the Bay, but their grand plans had telescoped into a leisurely circuit of the Great Wicomico. (To illustrate how leisurely their schedule was, we planned to meet in Sandy Point as we returned south from Solomons, about a 7 hour trip with a little help from current and none from the wind. They were just crossing the river from Reedville, about 2 miles distance. We still arrived ahead of them.) With no schedule driving us further south too soon, we decided to crash their party and spend a few more days with our new traveling companions, re-locating to the protection of Mill Creek (another tributary of the Great Wicomico) for a few days when the winds kicked up and the temperatures dropped off.
We managed to see Dave’s cousins for a few days in Solomons, spending time with them over the weekend before school ended and their summer trips began. They let us join them for the St. Mary’s Crab Festival, where the kids enjoyed the farm animals and the adults enjoyed lots of crabs.
We managed to see Dave’s cousins for a few days in Solomons, spending time with them over the weekend before school ended and their summer trips began. They let us join them for the St. Mary’s Crab Festival, where the kids enjoyed the farm animals and the adults enjoyed lots of crabs.
Back in Hampton, we were treated to an evening sail with Tom and Cathie on Interlude, followed by a dinner in downtown Hampton. In a boater’s version of singing for your supper, Dave followed up an evening dinner with Steve and Christa of Bay Dreamer with an afternoon of helping Steve re-wire his GPS to allow it to be powered separately from his other instruments and to sound a remote buzzer, making the set-up more useful for the anchor drag alarm. We got to know some other boaters who live on-board on the docks at Joy’s Marina, including Lisa and John on Sysyphean Holiday, who invited us for dinner aboard one Sunday evening.
We are burrowing in for the next month or so in Hampton. We swim at the Community Center, pick up some fresh produce and local fare at the Farmer’s Market on Saturday mornings and spend a Sunday morning with the good folks at First United Methodist Church. It’s getting hotter -- this is the Chesapeake after all-- but we have A/C to keep cool, and plenty of projects to keep us busy.
