The 2007 cruising season is upon us! Dragonfly was launched yesterday and is now at anchor in Bodkin Creek, MD. The boat is taking shape and our "to do" list is shrinking and it feels good to know we'll soon be on our way to new destinations. Our first 10 days here were spent giving Dragonfly all the love and attention she craved after a summer on her own. We arrived to find her covered with bird poop, dirt and whatever else blows through at a working boat yard. We had estimated 4 days to get her ready for the water but in the way of most boat projects that rely on others it turned into almost 10 days. As our friend Don said “you are back to normal, waiting on boat parts in the heat ”. An abbreviated list of the tasks for those of you that think we lazy around all day every day:
Rebuilt and installed both starters
Rebuilt alternator
Anodized steering arms
Replaced sail-drive seals
Fill propane tanks
Complete fiberglass repair on starboard hull
Sand , prime and paint boat bottom
Paint dingy tubes and dingy bottom, paint registration numbers
Buff, wax both sides of boat and cabintop
Apply new pinstripe to both sides
Mount footstool at steering station
Mount solar panel
Re-bed escape hatch
Provision food
Provision spares
Paint anchor chain
Fill water tanks
Install life raft after inspection
Fix outboard recoil
Stow gear
Power wash chair
Wash sun shades
Wash decks multiple times
And more….
Living on the "hard" in a boatyard was never in my top ten but I tried to keep my sense of humor even when it’s been challenging to keep a positive outlook at times. The boat was in a state of chaos right up through the morning that we launched her, bird deposits, dirt and grit everywhere, constant scrambling around tools, rags, paint cans, and the “stuff” used during our workday. It’s a small living space when it’s organized but it’s really small when in this state of confusion. The sunny weather enabled us to keep working every day, though by 1PM I found it difficult to cope with the raging humidity and by 5PM, the nasty little mosquitoes. After the first few nights of visiting the loo at 2AM I became pretty good at timing the day’s last beverage to avoid the late night inconvenience of climbing down the swim ladder and making the 4 minute walk to the bathroom - I now appreciate our “head” more than ever before. Oddly, none of this aggravates Rick. He calmly works away at his list, appreciating a chilled beer now and again.
I don't want to imply that it's been all work and no play. Every morning we'd wake up to the happy sound of birds, performing from the spreaders (shoo little birdies). We saw turkey vultures in the field behind us and kept watch for foxes and deer who were rumored to be in the area. We kept our rental car knowing we’d need it and it provided many enjoyable air-conditioned runs into town -- we are only a few minutes from commercial Pasadena’s groceries, hardware stores, West Marine, tasty ice cream, movie theaters and some casual neighborhood pubs/restaurants. There is a pretty lively restaurant right next door to the boatyard and their oyster stew was to die for. We were lucky to have neighbors in the yard – we enjoyed passing time with two couples working through their own “to do” lists. Annapolis is only an hour a way and thanks to the generosity of our fiberglass expert, we were given free tickets to the Annapolis boat show where I found my new favorite catamaran, the PDQ 44, afterwhich we rendezvoused with friends made during our first season in the Eastern Caribbean.
Once we finish the last boat projects and leave Bodkin creek, our plan is to spend a few days anchored in Baltimore’s harbor -- send all your recommendations as neither of us have toured Baltimore before. Afterwards we’ll head south to Deltaville, Virginia and on south until we take a left toward the Bahamas.
We’ll start updating our position on winlink soon for those of you that like to monitor our progress south. Let us hear from you at crsailing@gmail.com!
