Month: November 2016

Well, today is Sunday, November 20, and the Bride and I are riding out a bit of interesting weather.  The winds started last evening around 6, but were only about 8.5 knots and over the night time grew in strength.

Ye Old Captain was a bit tuckered yesterday and fell asleep in the master cabin around 7 so I missed the majority of the growth in the winds.  We had a bit of rain last evening, starting about 4:30 or there about.  We had been over in Alexandria, VA at Home Depot and the temperature dropped from about 73 to around 48 during the 40 minutes we were inside the store.  WOW.

This morning we awoke to winds averaging 14 to 20 knots and gusting to over 45 knots.  Enough to make standing in the shower an exercise in agility and balance!  Dressing, then grabbing the first coffee of the morning, the adage about “sea legs” came to the fore as we balanced ourselves in the galley to attend to morning chores, coffee, breakfast for us and of course breakfast for the Sea Cats. (Funny how two little brats who hate when the boat is underway, had no problem moving about in the roughest time).  Pouring coffee was an exercise in skillful handling of a coffee pot and cup.  We had a microwave breakfast of a Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwich (still no darn stove, thanks to a incompetent merchant organization), and then spent the morning in the salon, watching the waves grow, the boat rock to and fro and side to side.  Since the Misty Lady is secured to a dock rather than in a slip, we are tied up only on the Port Side while the Starboard side is exposed to the winds, waves and has no restrictive lash up.  As a result, we get pushed against the dock (thank God for great “bumpers or fenders”) that keep the boat’s side from hitting or rubbing against the dock edges.  In a bit of fore knowledge, we bought several brand new fenders in Edgewater before casting off for home.  They have truly come in very helpful with this wind storm.  funny to see sun and clear skies, coupled with dark clouds but above all, strong wind with even stronger gusts.

A couple of pictures of the waters outside our starboard salon door.  Bear in mind that under normal circumstances the waters surfaces are very smooth, almost glass like.  But when the breezes come up, we see some chop.  Not like this however.  Guess the Wind Gods decided to give us a harsh, windy, cold day to make up for the snows further west and north.

Thanks to the rapid drop in temperature we now know that we have got to get a couple of winter coats soonest, we gave ours away last April, expecting to be sailing through the summer and then shop in October for winter foul weather gear.  Things got a bit busy September through the first week of November so now we are facing a hurry up trip to a clothing store for coats.  Go figure….

We bought some wall panel heaters for the Misty Lady to keep us warm this winter.  These are supposed to be very efficient electricity cost wise so we will see.  But now we have to find spaces on the boat where there is enough space to mount the heaters, AND an AC plug nearby to provide the electricity.  Oh Joy!

Anyway, if we don’t write before, wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday.  We will spend our with my children and grand children at my daughter Kurby’s new home.  May your holiday be wonderful and full of family, love and good food!!

 

 

Been a while since I sat long enough to bring the blog up to date.  As I said in the last entry, we finally made the voyage from the Gingerville Yacht Center at Edgewater Maryland to our cruiser home at the Capital Yacht Club in Washington, DC.  But here we are and here we will be rest for the cold season from now until March or April.

Presently we are berthed on the “T” head of the CYC A dock and from a time it looked like we would be here for months.  To get into a permanent slip one must bid using seniority for any slips that come open AND that your boat or yacht will fit within.  For instance, the Misty Lady is 54 feet long and therefore we much have a slip with a length of at least 55 feet, so 60, 65, and 70 foot slips are the only ones we can bid on.  We thought we had our slip a couple of weeks ago but someone with a lower member number (more seniority), placed a bid on the very last day.  Today the Club Manager informed me that a slip holder was going to move his yacht into winter storage and his slip would be available from now until the end of March.  We are seriously considering taking this slip for the winter months since it will shield us from the vagaries of winter storms and associated rough water at the T.

One of the advantages of being berthed where we are is the ability to see all sorts of visitors and large yachts that come into the CYC marina area.  For instance,  the yacht below belongs to Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia.  Of course his yacht is named: “Almost Heaven”.  It is 75 feet long and Joe has a problem because our longest slips are only 70 feet.

Joe spent much0 dollars to install hydraulic lifts for his swim platform to fold up against the stern, to reduce the Length Over All (LOA) of the Almost Heaven but when the Rear Commodore and the Dock Master measured, even after all the expense, the yacht was still too long for our slips.  At CYC even Senators have to abide by the Club rules.

The Sea Cats, Penny and The Duchess (Penny is the Tortie in the front and The Duchess is the grey tabby to the rear) have adapted to their new home and have explored from bow cabin to the salon and all the points in between.  The still do NOT like the sound of the engines and the vibration that they cause.  We are hopeful that at some point next summer they will have adapted to that noise as they have with the noise from the plethora of helicopters that fly down our waterway from the Pentagon and the White House.  At first they were jumpy when one passed overhead, now it is just another noise and they ignore them for the most part.  Now if I can just get them to ignore the sound of the Lady’s diesel engines.  Perhaps on the first voyage of next year we should bring them up on the bridge and then see how they do with both of us within sight.

Our boating neighbors do love to decorate their boats, the docks and anything else that stands still.  This was one of the docks decorated for the Halloween season.  The sign reads Creepy Dock and it was a very neat display.  Lots of “spider webs” hanging across the dock from boat to boat.

Today, a new vessel docked at our B dock T.  She is a beauty and will be here for a couple of days and then off for parts unknown but she can sail anywhere!

Isn’t she a beauty?  The crew are young people and their visit here was sponsored by the primary developer of the Washington, DC waterfront.   Some of us were hoping to be invited on board to tour this gorgeous yacht!

We have ordered and will be installing some new technology heating units to keeps us warm this winter, as well as provide warmth to the boat’s external shell.  I ordered three wall heaters from a company (made in the USA by the way) and these heaters are just a few inches think, mount without making holes in our fiberglass walls and will keep each room very nice and comfortable.  In addition, we will be putting an “ice eater” unit underwater next to the Lady’s hull to protect her from ice incursion.  This device is also referred to as a “bubbler” because it uses a prop to circulate water from the lower depths (where it is warmer) to the surface.  Both the warmer water and the agitation of the water will prevent the accumulation of ice.  Of course we are hopeful that the weather will cooperate for our first winter aboard and not generate much if any ice on our section of the Potomac.

We are also planning the “shrink wrap” of the Misty Lady in a couple of weeks.  This process involves the wrapping of the entire boat from the top of the radar arch to just above the water line of the hull and from the bow to the stern.  The material is a heavy duty vinyl type product and this wrap will save us tons in the coming winter months by not only insulating the boat with a secondary layer, but will also cause any snow that might fall to slough off and we will not be covered with snow should this year bring snow fall similar to the previous years.  The alignment of the wrap eliminates a lot of the flat surfaces of most boats of our size.  The wrap will have an access portal or two to provide us with entry and exit.  The installation will also include a clear panel to provide a “window” to prevent the claustrophobic type of total enclosure.  When this process is started, I will take some pictures of the process and the final look.

Well enough for tonight.  I will try to be more attentive to the blog in the coming days.  Not sure if many people read it at this point, not a lot of excitement in being on a boat in the winter time.  But it is a brand new experience for Charlotte and I so I will continue to relay our activities and the circumstances we encounter.

More later, stay tuned.