Hello Again:
It is a quiet, rather nice Sunday afternoon, the last day of September, here at the DC Wharf/Capital Yacht Club. The sea cats are resting from their labors (early naps and eating), the Admiral is working on her laptop doing the work necessary to keep us in cash flow and me? Well suffice to say I am beginning this new blog entry for the Misty Lady. Seriously though I am also doing a couple of loads of laundry using our on board washer and dryer units. This requires us to fill the water tank prior to starting and also after finishing three to four loads. Live Aboard, living the dream!!
So, What’s been happening?
Yesterday (Saturday 9/29) was my Daughter In Law, Becky’s birthday and the family celebrated by, at her wish, going to the IFly facility to let those brave enough to participate in free form flying in a wind tunnel. Several members including the two younger grand daughters, the Birthday Girl Becky and Charlotte (the Admiral) along with four other friends, participated, first attending a flight school, donning flight suits and helmets and lining up for their turn in the wind tunnel to experience the flying time. The photo below is of Charlotte flying, she was doing a high flight going up into the upper portion of the tunnel. We now have a problem because she and Becky loved it so much, they want to do it again and again…. So you now know what the primary focus will be in January when it is Charlotte’s birthday?
How’s the Lady?
Maintenance, and more maintenance, such is the life of a boater. Recently we replaced the old and probably original ship-wide battery charger. This device gets power either from the shore/dock based AC power or if underway, from the on-board generator system. It then sends AC converted to DC voltage to all of our on-board battery packs. This functions like a trickle charger. However, the original system was not “smart” so it kept sending voltage to batteries even though they might already have been at peak. Eventually this system wore out (there were actually two chargers) and were not really keeping these DC systems up to par. So, break out the check book, hire a marine electronic dude and get a new, modern and SMART charger. Bear in mind with our boat, like most of our size and type boats, there are two types of battery systems, one for the engines and the other for “house power” systems. Those are for our lights and other life style things including the water pump that provides water to our sinks, showers, and the washing machine, from the large water tank, as well as to the toilet waste system. With the old charger system we were constantly watching the available DC voltage indicator on the main power panel, dropping to less than 10 volts DC when loads were applied. This meant that our batteries were getting kicked in the gut constantly. The new system has never had a single drop of available DC voltage readings. So our batteries, our lights, our water pump system and our toilet waste system are humming right along.
Another enhancement/maintenance task completed was the replacement of our overhead lights changing from the old technology fluorescent lights to the new LED lights. Better lighting and significantly lower operating costs. We replaced two non working lights on the bridge (overhead) that had the old lighting technology with two LED fixtures that can be switched from white light to red light for night piloting. The red lights protect your eyesight (keeping your night vision intact). The marine technician installing these lights worked his fanny off, in a rather hot humid day. But the job got done and we now have a bright home and ship’s bridge.
Latest on the Sea Cats:
Our older sea cat, The Duchess, has been diagnosed as diabetic and the old captain is attempting to gain the courage to stick her with an insulin pen. Not a fun thing, cause first of all, I am very tenderhearted when it comes to my fur babies and second, The Duchess has a tendency to retaliate by trying to bite. Well, I have to stick myself with an insulin pen daily so why is she so resistant? oh right, i forgot, that crap hurts.
We have also been trying different solutions for calming the sea cats when the engines are running. They go into a huge anxiety state from the moment the three engines fire up until several minutes after they are shut down. One Face Book friend bought a Thunder Shirt for her big dog so we though we would try that. Bought two,,, only to discover that these two girls HATE anything around their bodies…. Go figure. Then we learned about some calming medicine (sort of a Valium for kitties) and will now try that, we got one type that required several drops into their mouths prior to the anxiety creation stuff, and the second one is a spray that you spray into their mouths. Not looking forward to that, because of the aforementioned retaliation process. But, we gotta do something, we bought this boat to take it out on the water and go places, not to have a floating condominium! One neighbor in the marina said we should just let them get used to the noise and vibration…. hmm, but the Admiral says she doesn’t want them to have a heart attack from the stress. Consider a voyage from the DC area of the Potomac, down to the Chesapeake and south to Hampton Roads (Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Newport News and Hampton) would be at least a two day voyage down and two days back. Lots of stresses, so when we do get prepped and ready for that long voyage, we are gonna hit them with the tranqs and hope for the best?
The Florence Hurricane
Thank Goodness we dodged a bullet from Hurricane Florence. We did get some wind blows, and tons of rain but nothing even approaching the hit taken by the folks in the Carolina’s. The rain was not unexpected, because it had been raining for at least two weeks previously. The winds were relatively mild, reaching sufficient wind speeds (30 to 50 knots) to give the Misty Lady a bit of shaking, rocking and rolling. I feel terrible for the folks south of us in the Carolina’s and the horrible damages they experienced, and continue to experience as a continual water destructive flooding, high river crests, etc. Our family members, all living in a shore based existence were very concerned for us, but the rising waters on the Potomac and related waterways bothered us not a bit. Our berthing marina of the CYC is composed of “floating docks” which means that our boats are snugged up to the slip piers and as the waters rise, both our boats and their dock links rise right along. So other than having to hold on to something when crossing the floor of our salon (living room), and extra care going down the ladders (stairways), we simply rode out the residual from Florence which frankly was about the type of conditions we encounter often here on the DC waterfront. (Remember we are close to the Congressional chambers and the White House and we all know how all that hot air affects wind and rain currents.) Speaking of the White House, I think the current occupant just flew over probably after a multi million dollar visit to one of his resorts. The CYC club house and marina are on the flyway for all the helicopters of the White House, any VIP, and of course the Pentagon. Oh Joy! What a thrill huh? Important Dialogue on TV, then some General flies from Andrews AFB to the Pentagon or the other way and the noise totally drowns out your tv and that important dialogue… oh well, another day in Paradise.
The Happenings Around the Wharf
In a few days we will “close the season” and host another Founder’s Day celebration which will acknowledge the 126th year of the Club’s existence. Lots of happenings with that, formal procession, cocktail hour (don’t drink so ho hum), and then dinner. Now we are not sure that we will attend but will see as the day draws near.
The DC Wharf itself is soon celebrating its first year of operation and I strongly suspect another fireworks show which will require us testing out the kitty Valium on the Fur Babies. Fireworks scare the bejeebus out of them. There is a 6000 seat theater here on the Waterfront and it host top name entertainers, (none that I recognize usually and not worth paying real money to sit with 5998 other people. But it is supposed to be really cool. The DC Wharf is not exactly an inexpensive place to visit either. A fellow asked me the other day where he might find an inexpensive place to grab a lunch. I suggested the BBQ stand in the next block. Nothing on the Wharf’s locale’s menus could be considered cheap. Once made the mistake of having breakfast (the Admiral was out of town) in a place called Kith/Kin across the street from our club. Plain breakfast folks, cost me 56 bucks. Yeppers, half a hundred dollars for bacon (too well done), a couple eggs, some hashbrowns and some toast. Yikes. We usually drive across the Potomac River to Virginia to have breakfast out, otherwise breakfast on the boat.
What’s on Tap:
Next weekend, my son Cliff and his family (at least two of our grand daughters) will come down to the Club and we will cast off the Misty Lady’s lines, shut down the shore power, power up the on-board generator, fire up the two turbo diesels and slowly back this big girl out of our slip, into the fairway and then head down river. (yes will blow the boat’s horn as we exit the fairway) We will probably take a four hour run downriver to Belmont Bay, take on a couple hundred gallons of diesel fuel, then on down river to see the sights from the water. We will then head back up river. During this time, I will turn the helm over to any and all who wish the opportunity of piloting this big girl on the river, observing and staying within the navigational equipment’s directives, observing water depth (we do require a good amount of water beneath us), and then take lots of photos hopefully. We will then pass by the National Harbor Resort, then under the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and the City of Alexandria. The passage under the bridge and the upper Potomac will require that the Lady be held to a 6 knot speed and no wake (wave water behind the stern from the movement of the boat). We will arrive at the juncture of the Potomac, the Washington Channel and the Anacostia River, this is our path home. Up Whiskey Charley (marine call sign for Washington Channel), to the fairway between our yacht club’s A and B docks and home to slip B3. She is currently berthed “bow in” to the slip, but when we return we will place her “stern in” with the swim platform abutting the docks. I will write the detail of this process next week when we take the voyage and return.
We hope to get in at least one more voyage for putting up the Shrink Wrap and bundling the Lady up for the winter chills.
Be safe and watch for More Later.
Misty Lady Thought and Comment 