Month: August 2018

Ruminations:

As mentioned in the previous post, we are celebrating our second year of actually living aboard the MV (Motor Vessel) Misty Lady.  October of this year will actually begin our third year.  Exciting, sometime, not so exciting, sometime.

Life aboard calls for considerable adjustments in attitude, expectation and adaptation.

The first expectation is to realize that life aboard a boat is NOT like living in a shore based home.  For one thing, you are floating on water, ergo the rooms rock back and forth.  Forgetting that can create a situation of picking yourself off the deck (floor) or against the bulkhead (wall).  Also, expect all sorts of strange things to be found floating around your boat while in the berth/slip.  Logs, limbs, pieces of construction material (such as several instances where we found a board 12″x 4″ x 4 feet floating along between our boat’s hull and the dock.)  The most dangerous and AGGRAVATING, it the plastic items (bags, wrappers, potato chip sacks and smaller sheets), because these things can jam up a “raw water” intake and cause hundreds of dollars to tens of thousands of dollars in damage from the intake for the HVAC units to the diesel generator and god forbid, the main diesel engines.  Having had to replace one of these huge diesel main drive engines, it is both time consuming as well as extremely EXPENSIVE.

Second expectation is that boats are NOT insulated in the majority of cases, therefore, expect to see a variation of heat and cold seeping in.  Investment in maintenance of your onboard HVAC systems (air condition in summer and heat in winter) to ensure that you do not swelter in the summer months and freeze in the winter months.  We also keep a number of electric space heaters on board for the drop in water temps (when the water temp gets down to 40 degrees or below the HVAC heating unit can no longer be used to warm the boat because severe damage to the units can and will occur.

Always remember that winter in the District of Columbia will always be ranging from uncomfortable to downright ice cubes while the summer will bring lots of heat and humidity.  One must remember always that the city of Washington was built on a SWAMP.  Of course the hot air coming from Congress and the White House contributes significantly to the weather anomalies.  This year, thanks to Climate Change, we have been subjected to a lot of weather variances, from heavy storms, excessive and violent rains, to high winds, very cold days in winter and extremely warm days in summer.

The major aspect for living on board a motor yacht is adaptation.  The ability to adapt to the differences in living on a boat and not is key to being happy, content and accepting of the strange happenings.  As an example, we gave away or donated to various charities, all of our furniture, televisions, computer printers, dishes and other kitchen ware.  We also gave away or donated significant amounts of clothing and other similar items.  One focus we maintained in our thoughts was that space was critical on a boat and there were NO WALK IN CLOSETS!!!  Over the two years so far, both Charlotte and I have learned to adapt to our new surroundings, and if we get aggravated about something restrictive about boat life, we remind ourselves that We CHOSE this lifestyle and it was a dream for us.  Then our attitude adapts, we chuckle at the silly aggravation and get on with “Living The Dream”.  So we keep that one word in our minds, ADAPTATION and then get on with our new lives.

Any Travels?

So far this year, the Lady has not been cruising up and down the waterways.  Two major reasons for this are the Sea Cats, Penny and the Duchess.  Seems when we start the diesel engine, they both go into extreme anxiety states.  Both the Bride (the Admiral) and myself were very concerned for their situation and worried that they might have severe health issues (heart attack, etc) as a result.  Penny and Duchess have just this year grown to accept the irritating noise from the helicopters flying over our boat/marina traveling to and from the Pentagon and the White House.  They now just raise their heads from their slumbers and then go back to dream land.  However, when I start the engines, whether the drive engines or the generator even to test them, both kitties would scramble to hidey holes and drool like crazy.  Now, a couple of folks including our boat visiting Vet Doctor recommends a couple of options, one being something called a thunder shirt (wraps around them and comforts), and certain calming liquids in both a spray and drops (sort of a valium for kitties).  We have acquired both the thunder shirt and the “anti-anxiety” medications but have not tried them as yet.   These two feline members of our family are very laid back most of the time and we would really like to help them stay that way.

In the upper left photo a rare situation, both of them are lying together on the sofa.  Normally Penny is being mean to Duchess, but for some reason they decided to nap together on the sofa. In the upper right photo, is Penny watching it rain and wishing for a dry day to let the windows be opened.  Bottom left is a picture of Duchess after the visiting Vet had given her a “lion’s” cut, trimming her thick fur.  And finally, in the lower right is Penny laying out in her silly style, paws up in the air.  She can sleep like this for hours as long as no one moves at all.

Our plan now is to test the anti-anxiety treatments for the two cats and then take the Misty Lady down the Potomac for a day cruise.  IF all goes well, then we will plan on Charlotte taking vacation time and perhaps cruising down to the Hampton Roads (Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk and Virginia Beach area).  The Roads are where the Atlantic, Chesapeake Bay, York River and the James River all come together.  Norfolk Naval Station is the largest US Navy base in the country.

Since this voyage would take us at least two plus days each way, it would require that Charlotte take at least a 10 day vacation time off.  Hopefully the test run (day trip) will enable us to judge the effectiveness of the anti-anxiety medications for the cats and prepare for a longer voyage.  Fingers crossed.

Location, Location, Location

One nice advantage we enjoy with the Misty Lady home-berthed at the Capital Yacht Club on the DC Wharf waterfront is that on the Fourth of July, we do not have to fight traffic or crowds to see the 4th Fireworks Show from the Washington Mall.  The pictures below are from the July 4 celebration.  The photo of Charlotte sitting on our fore deck was taken about a half hour before the sun went down and the show started.  The other pictures are shots of the fireworks display.  This has been our ring side seat for both the 2017 show and this year 2018 display show.  Grabbing a nice adult beverage, going to the fore deck and taking seats to await the start of the fireworks.  Sadly the sea cats do not find this fireworks show amusing.

Other entertainment opportunities abound at the Capital Yacht Club all year, this includes a significant number of great international cuisine restaurants, live music clubs and the Anthem which is a six thousand seat theater hosting top name musical acts.  There are also nautical entertainment such as the cruise ships that provide dinner cruises on the Potomac, the Yellow Water Taxis that provide great transport between the Wharf area to Georgetown, Alexandria and the National Harbor.

We also have “Whiskey Charlies”, a cocktail lounge on the roof of one of our three hotels, that overlooks the Washington Channel and the Hains Point Park.  Whisky Charley is the call sign that yacht skippers and large cruise ships use to indicate the Washington Channel (“WC”.  There is also an Italian Gelato and Coffee Shop, a Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream, a Shake Shack hamburger store, and the Washington Waterfront Fish Market, an icon of the DC area for over 60 years.  We have a Politics and Prose Book Store, a hardware store, a marine supply store, and a pharmacy.  We have a free shuttle bus that travels in a loop from our Wharf location, to the Lafayette Plaza, the Smithsonian and then the Lafayette Plaza Shops, finally returning in the loop back to the Wharf.

So with all of this, PLUS the waters of the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay within a nice boat run, what’s not to like?  Truly living the dream!!!

Taking the Misty Lady out of the Slip

At the end of June we replaced the boat’s system wide battery charger.  This required that I start the engines, cast off the docking lines and the power cables and move the Lady to another location outside the Yacht Club area, that was appropriate for the electrical engineer to board the boat and do his work.  This battery charger device takes power from our dock/shore connection, converts it to DC voltage and keeps our several batteries charged up.  We replaced the old (30 years) battery charger system with a new SMART charger system which senses the level of charge on each of our batteries (we have several, some weighing over 100 pounds).  These sensors detect when the battery is fully charged and then it will shut off further power feed to that battery.  It monitors the battery level and as needed will restart the charging routine until the battery is topped off.

The purpose of the charger system is to ensure that our batteries are kept up to their required level as we use power from them over the shore time.  While we are actually underway the boat’s diesel powered generator set supplies power both to the AC devices and through the battery charger to the “house batteries” as needed.

I will try mightily to keep this blog up in the coming weeks.  Some will be short, some will be dull, but all will be representative of life aboard.  I will always speak the true state of things involving our lives aboard the Misty Lady and whether good, bad or indifferent, will call it as it comes.

Fair Winds and Following Seas.

 

Look whose back:  I will try to bring everyone up to date with our adventures or lack thereof involving our life as live aboard mariners.  When one stays in port for quite a long period of time, things kind of get away from us and we miss out on the connection of sharing with our friends and relatives.  Within this blog set I will try to begin the effort of catch up for the times of myself, Charlotte, and the two fur babies, The Duchess and Penny.  To keep it from being a long drawn out entry, I will break it into segments of timeline points.

Activities in the harbor:  In October of 2017 we formally opened and dedicated the new CYC clubhouse, and at the same time we celebrated the Founder’s Day with 125th year of our Capital Yacht Club’s existence and had a terrific time, good food and a fabulous cake.  The new Club House dedication was performed in a special ceremony by the Oldest Member and the Youngest Member (in age).  A bottle of fine Champagne was dashed against the corner of the building in the old mariner tradition of dedication.

Local Area:  As most of you may be aware, our berth is at the Capital Yacht Club located in the newly developed DC waterfront, known as the DC Wharf.  The developers invested almost 4 Billion dollars to build this exciting area.  I will try to provide some photographs in this issue.

The photo in the upper left shows a street view of the Wharf Street which runs along side the actual water itself.  The blue building shown here is the Kirwan’s Irish Pub and it a true authentic Irish restaurant and bar.  All of the interior, walls, bar, tables, flooring etc were all built in Ireland and shipped to DC for this restaurant.  Quite a place and has libe music most nights.  The upper right photo is a picture of the yacht club’s flag mast and the building behind it is the Intercontinental Hotel one of three here.  The photo just below shows the Water Taxi pier.  These yellow taxi boats come into the Wharf, the City of Alexandria, Georgetown, and the National Harbor.  Cost is very reasonable.  The final photo in this group, at the bottom is a picture of the Wharf Street in the evening.  Note the shaded light posts.  They keep the entire Wharf waterfront well lighted into the night hours and until daybreak.

 

 

Anyway, the District Wharf is now a fully operational area with three hotels, multiple eateries of various venue levels, a marine supply, hardware store, a CVS pharmacy, and a Ben and Jerry’s.  There are also three residence buildings, two rental apartments and one of condominiums.  The condos run from 500 thousand for an efficiency to over 2 million for one of the penthouse three bed units.  What’s not to like?  If any of you are up in this area, be sure to put the Wharf on one of your lists of Things To Do while in the area.  It will certainly be worth while.  Take one of the water taxi boats for a nice ride on the Potomac River, leaving from Alexandria, or National Harbor, or Georgetown to the Wharf, enjoy great food, live music and all sorts of other things to see and do.  Most weekends and also special holiday days, there are multiple live performances on the various locations within the Wharf area, from the Sutton Square, to the DC Pier, and the Entertainment Pier (two of the three new piers built for this development). Plus, you get a chance to view the yachts in the Yacht Club’s dock area, especially the Misty Lady and we will be happy to wave hello.

A taste of New Orleans:  This year at Mardi Gras, (Fat Tuesday, Etc), the Wharf developer decided to host a Mardi Gras event with a float parade.  Since the parade street wasn’t very long, the float vehicles were golf carts, however the imagination and artistic talent of the entities submitting their float for the parade was truly amazing.  The CYC float was the brainchild of the Club’s Entertainment Committee folks and was titled “20,000 Leagues Under DC”.  Which I thought was pretty neat and evidently so did the folks casting ballots, because the CYC float was the first place winner.    The Bride was disappointed because she had to work and would not get off work in time to make it home to the Wharf to observe and participate in the festivities.  The Wharf also hosted a terrific fireworks display.  It was a bit chilly however so the old Captain felt like an ancient ice cream bar by the end of the parade and I was very happy to see the break and to hustle down the ramp to the warmth of the Misty Lady’s salon.

The Winter Weather Trials:  We weathered a pretty harsh winter in the Nation’s Capitol this past winter, with one 8 day period of temperatures in the high teens and low twenties.  Water systems froze and we were unable to add water to the Misty Lady’s water tank, nor were we able to get our waste holding tanks pumped out.  At one point, the showers in the clubhouse baths froze and even those were unusable.  Finally one of our members (who was an expert in water systems, especially very cold situations) was able to prepare a work around and we were able to fill our water tanks, a group of members along with the dock master participated in filling the tanks on the yachts in our marina dock area.   It was a pretty miserable several days, but it was a shared misery by all the live aboard members so we were in good company.

Even in the month of March, we had roller coaster temperatures, one day 50 and the next in the lower 30’s.    One had to hope that old Mother Nature would finally take pity and allow the days and nights to warm up enabling us the pleasures of taking the Misty Lady out and head down the Potomac for a day cruise, an overnight run or even a vacation cruise to the southern areas like Hampton Roads, North Carolina Outer Banks, etc.

Misty Lady Prep Work:  The Last Day of Winter (according to the calendar, not the actual weather), had come and gone so we are now on the road to Spring, Summer, etc.  Of course Mother Nature has to have a last gasp and we were treated to snow, colder temps, and other fine weather problems, before it all finally faded and Spring actually appeared for real.  We have the season prep for the Misty Lady underway and only one or two tasks remain before we are prepped and ready for taking the big girl out of the berth and down the river to visit locales in the Maryland/Virginia area.  Especially the more historical areas in the lower Chesapeake.

The Misty Lady has had her main ship’s electrical generator repaired, (new starter and fuel pump), and is ready to supply power while we are underway.  The main port and starboard engines have been checked by our diesel guy and pronounced ready for a season of cruising.   We also have a second generator system but it is not currently functional and we are possibly going to look at evaluating whether to get it fired up in the next year or so.  It is a 10KV gen set and our big one is a 20KV gen set.  Either would supply power sufficient to run our air conditioners, the refrigerators, the dishwasher, the washer/dryer setup, the AC lights and our cooking appliances.  So the big one is running fine now and we will look at the smaller one later down the line.

As I mentioned in an earlier post we had a power problem with the starboard engine alternator, and finally found a specialist who was willing to crawl into the cramped space between the engine and the bulkhead of the Lady’s hull.  While back there removing the alternator (to either rebuild or replace), he discovered our fresh water line was leaking.  Seems the previous owner patched the leak with some electrician’s tape and when we upgraded the fresh water system pump from a 2.5 GPM unit to a 5.0 GPM, the additional pressure caused the patch to fail and water was spewing/leaking into the engine room bilges.  Tony bought the necessary repair supplies, such as connection piping and sealant to close off the leak.  I wound up buying a rebuilt unit, putting the old device in the spare parts locker to eventually have it rebuilt, and Tony got it installed in quick time.

Still need to have a new LED light fixture installed in the forward companionway.  (we are replacing all of the old light fixtures with the more economical LED units, especially the DC powered ones.)  So, is some nice warm weather and calm kitties and the Misty Lady can once again cast off lines and tour the mid Atlantic waterways.

More in the Next Post.