Wednesday, December 14 – Well folks wintry weather is finally showing itself in spades. The temps have been in the low forties for a high on the last week and expectations are for 40’s, 30’s, and some 20’s. The temp today will climb to about 45, but will then start dropping steadily as the afternoon, evening and overnight temps go under 30. Expectation is that tomorrow morning (Thursday) the temp will be 28, and for both Thursday and Friday the high will be 28-29 with lows in the mid to upper teens. Lordy! Boats are not designed with cold weather insulation and as a result you use heaters, and with us, we used three to four space heaters where we warm the major areas of the boat to ensure that the we don’t freeze, the Sea Cats are reasonably comfortable and our bilges/engines and external connections are kept above the freezing mark. Hello electric bill!!!
Also a goal was achieved when we were able to get the port engine to cooperate this past Monday and brought the Misty Lady over from the A Dock T berth to the C Dock Slip C11 and are now in a better more sheltered spot, we have a large motor yacht on each side and another couple across the dock from our slip. Yeah!! Our bow is now pointed toward northward so the winds, even if they are able to slip through the other boats with the bow facing north (mostly the winds come down our water way from the north and the northwest so this really helps. The photo below is a shot of the Misty Lady in her winter slip on the C Dock. This slip actually can accommodate a yacht of 70 Feet LOA. Our yacht is 54 Feet LOA so she has plenty of room. The person who is assigned to this slip normally has his yacht in winter storage. I understand that his yacht is 68 feet LOA. He pulls the boat in early October, down river, and has it stored in a environmentally controlled warehouse. Nice to have tons of money, huh?
The picture below is a view of the I-395 bridge over the Washington Channel. The blue LED lighting was installed and is maintained by the Hoffman company which is conducting the redevelopment of the Washington DC waterfront.
The CEO of the Hoffman company is also a member of the CYC and he told us, during a walkthrough of the redevelopment (and our new clubhouse) that the LED lighting on that bridge is of miniscule cost, virtually a few dollars a month.
We discovered the fuel pump problems were increasing when we brought the Lady over from the A dock to the current slip. The smell of fuel was getting pretty strong. One of the club members is a mechanic and he helped in moving the boat, then took a look at the fuel pump. Turned out we had a small crack in the pump which had gotten bigger and instead of problems with leaking air, we had a compounded situation of leaking diesel fuel. Erik, the CYC member began the process of removing the pump. We will be installing a new remanufactured pump as soon as it is delivered, expectation of weeks end or Monday. Finally we hope, the Lady will be able to have both engines start as designed. YEAH!!!
Also this week, or at the latest, the first of next week, the Misty Lady will be shrink wrapped for the winter. This process will cover the boat from bow to stern and from the Electronic Arch to midway down the hull. Openings will be inserted to accommodate the access to the water filler pipe, the waste holding tank pump out ports, a doorway for our entry and exit and a couple “windows” to allow us to see the world. The expectation and the yacht club long time sailors statements are that we would be a lot warmer through the winter AND the electricity bills will be significantly reduced. One can only hope, right?
With Winter coming this strong this soon, I see a need for better warmth and this shrink wrap process is reputed to be the major solution. The kinds of weather we are all experiencing over the past few years tells me that the climate change deniers are as full of crap as a Christmas Turkey and the preponderance of evidences put forth by REAL scientists are spot on with the ideas that our climate change is happening and we humans are responsible, with our refusal to care for our planet.
Okay, am going to have to wind this down, I am expecting the diesel guy shortly to finish removing the fuel pump from the port engine and as soon as he arrives and gets started I will be driving Charlotte to National Airport for her trip to her Nashville office. She has about 6 people working in that office and they are folks who were part of the company that they just merged with. She will be there for a couple of days, assigning projects, meeting with people (problem solving>) and just showing her management chops. Me and the Sea Cats will be holding down the fort aboard the Misty Lady (hopefully not freezing ).
More later> as soon as the shrink wrap process is completed I will generate another issue and include some pictures.
See Y’all later.
Misty Lady Thought and Comment 