A Summer of Problem Solving!!!

On the 18th of July, we finally got the problems solved regarding the engine. We had it rebuilt, but, a couple of things still needed to get adjusted.
We took a couple of days to get the boat ready and plan for a great 2 weeks of sailing around the bay.
This is a picture of one of our favorite places. (One of many). Tripp Creek up on the Tred Avon River from the Choptank River. This is a big basin and we have never found many boats up here. Too many jellyfish to swim. We spent the evening with Chautauqua. FUN!

The next morning, Monday, we motored out of the Choptank River and headed north toward the Bay Bridge. Our next destination was the Magothy River and an anchorage behind Dobbins Island. We cannot believe someone purchased this island. It doesn't appear to be habitable. We've walked on it and it's a nice place. It gets crowed every weekend. The power boats love it here and you can get close to the beach. We have seen the Annapolis midshipmen kids zoom up here. It's fun! Sometimes they sing. Beer?
On Tuesday, we headed farther north to Whorten Creek. Only spent one night. But, we did get far enough north to swim (no jellyfish).

We wanted to go places that we have not seen in the bay. We motored again today, Wednesday, since we were dead in the wind. Our destination was North East all of the way up the North East River. This is power boat country. bass boat country. There are sailboats up here along the North East River farther down closer to the beginning of the river.
It is lovely. It was a week day and not many folks around. We took a dinghy ride to check out our
surroundings and found this place quite nice. There are alot of water foul. Several different kinds of duck. We even saw a white duck that had paired up with a black duck.

We were not familiar with our surroundings and did not have a current guide book. We read that it was possible to anchor near a screw pike house. And this is where we ended up. It was nice to stay put for a day or two.
It wasn't the best of days with the clouds overcast. We took the chance and went to the small town of North East. It has several antique stores and restaurants. It didn't take long to go from one end of town to the other. Yet, it was really quaint. If not by boat, a car would bring one to a lovely place to have lunch!
We ended up having lunch instead of dinner out. The Nauty Goose was a great choice. And it was on the water. As we were having lunch we watched it pour down rain. Needless to say, we took our good old time eating our lunch and even had dessert to take advantage of the dry environment. It eventually stopped and we headed back to the dinghy. Bill bailed it out and we zipped back to the Deborah Lee. It poured again after we got on board. And we surrendered to the rain coming down for the rest of the day. Come evening, the clouds parted and we caught a glimpse of a nice sun down. A nice day.
Unfortunately, Bill began to notice that one of our batteries was loosing its charge too quickly. The next morning, Friday, we left very early and headed back to Cambridge. We cut our two weeks shorts about 8 days. We had to go home. The battery situation had to be dealt with and we were more comfortable being in our own marina and having the truck to be able to get anything we may need to get. As it turns out, the battery charger is not working and the generator is malfunctioning. All of it is getting taken care of and we'll be back out there soon!

Back in the water

We are back in the water and ready to get some sailing in. After having to solve a few problems with the engine and the boom, we managed to get the sails on, put all of the necessary or unnecessary stuff back on. We're planning to take a couple of weeks to cruise around the bay during the latter part of June. No definite plans, just where the wind is going to take us.
An evening with the Campbells and the Morrisons aboard Chautauqua, the Morrison's Allied, marked the beginning of another great sailing season. Doug Campbell will participate in the Newport/Bermuda race this month. You can read his blog (blog.soundingspub.com/life_aboard) and read of his experiences. His wife, Monica, will participate in the 2nd half (the return trip back to Newport). We wish them all of the best. Here's some pics of all of us.

Let's Get Going!

We finished working on the bottom of the boat. Now, we're waiting for it to get painted and in the water. The weather is beginning to feel seasonal and we're itchin' to get going! We still have loads of work to do when she's in the water. But, we'll be IN the water and finally aboard.
Hope to see ya out there!

A LONG WINTER

It's finally Spring and the itch to get back to sailing needs to be scratched. The engine on the Deborah Lee, a Yanmar 3GM30, has had some major work done to it. We're looking forward to trying it out as soon as we can get her back in the water. The bottom is getting painted and zincs replaced. We have interior painting to do along with some bright work. Some of our friends we met on our "southern" trip (First Edition and Celebrian) have made it down to the Dominican Republic and we have been following their blog. What an adventure they are on!. We're glad they are having a grand time and we truly wish we were along. We'll be able to reconnect with them in Solomons this summer. We're anxious to here all of their tales of adventure. One of the wonderful experiences of taking longs trips as we did in 2007 and 2008 is meeting and keeping great friends. They are a wonderful community of folks. We're grateful.
We're hoping to get up to Maine this summer. And, of course, enjoy the bounty of the Chesapeake Bay. Fair winds and good health to all!