Bob has been busy getting the boat prepared. some things we added this past summer to the boat, were 6 solar panels, a wind generator, and a watermaker.
The wind and solar panels were added to the boat by Cameron of Transmarine, Inc. We had met Cameron and his wife Leia, and two children Maya and Finn in George Town, Exuma. Their business of installing wind and solar on boats travels with them. So we arranged for them to do the installation this summer when we got back home and they were "summering" up North in the Chesapeake. The draft on their boat (a 50 ft. metal hulled sailboat with 7 and half foot draft, could not get into the Little Wicomico River to get to us due to silt in the jetty (we sometimes have a rough time getting through at low time with a 3 and half foot draft boat). So they anchored in Cockrell's Creek off Reedville near us and we took our boat to them. There it stayed tied up to their boat for what was to be two weeks of work. Two weeks turned into 3 as the wind generator was defective and we all had to wait for a new one to arrive. The two boats were quite the talk of the town for three weeks.
If you are interested in knowing more about Cameron and his traveling company, check out their website at http://www.transmarinepro.com.
Pretty Penny and Tranquility tied up together in Cockrell's Creek
After the installation, we moved the boat around the creek to Jayne's Boatyard for it's annual bottom check and new bottom paint. In previous years we had taken the boat to St. Mary's to have the boat hauled where they have a travel lift large enough to haul our boat. I had read on one of the boater's lists about Jayne's Boatyard and their "trailer" they use to haul catamarans. So we went to check them out and determined, first, it was a much better way to haul out the boat, and second, it couldn't be closer to us, so using them was a "no brainer."
We discovered a crack in a side rub rail that had to be repaired, along with several other small tasks that Bob had them do for us.
Photo of the crack.
Trailer under the boat
That's me in front of the Pretty Penny - daunting out of the water
One dirty prop!
We did make one road trip this summer to Rochester, NY to visit with my brother-in-law and nephew, David and his wife Nathalie. David and Nathalie took us out for a nice boat ride on their sailboat in Sodas Bay. It was a lovely day to do it. We then had dinner at the yacht club.
We had David's dog Sailor along for the ride
After visiting in Rochester, we traveled to Burlington, Canada to visit Ed and Dee, our friends on Sea Fox X. They had just recently gotten married. They showed us a terrific time in Canada and we thoroughly enjoyed the visit. On our way back South, they went with us to make a couple of stops at wineries in the Niagara Valley. All the wineries in that area are just spectacular. We fell in love with a Vineland Estates Merlot, which if I could have brought back multiple cases of I would have. Instead I had to settle for 4 bottles. It is probably a good thing because if I could get all I want of the wine, I would be an alcoholic for sure! We hope to see Dee and Ed in the Bahamas again this year.
It was Bob's turn for surgery this summer and he got his long-standing problem of a torn rotator cuff finally fixed. He will finish his therapy this week, just in time to leave next week.
I spent the early part of the summer working on repairing the upstairs guest bedroom and bath that were damaged last year by a broken shut off valve under the sink. We will be shutting off the water to the house this year!
The other interesting thing we did this summer was become part of the "angry mob" that marched on DC on September 13th this year. It was amazing to be with so many like-minded people all at one place. The crowd stretched from the Capitol almost to the Washington Monument! It was impossible to get a photo that really shows the magnitude of the crowd, but these do it the best.
Facing the Capitol
We are now waiting for our watermaker to return from the company as it was defective. Bob should install that over the weekend and our plan is to leave Monday or Tuesday, depending on the weather. Last two years we had to sit at the dock waiting through storms for almost a week before we could leave. We are praying that doesn't happen this year.
See our fellow boaters on the ICW soon!
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