Off To Frog Mortar Creek

Carina will spend the winter in Havre de Grace at Tidewater Marina.  After she is launched in the spring of 2011, her new home will be at Maryland Marina on Frog Mortar Creek (just off the Middle River).  My hope is to be able to do day sailing trips out and back to areas such as Annapolis, Baltimore Inner Harbor and such without having to spend the night and return the next day.  It's a beautiful area and am looking forward to an enjoyable 2011 season of sailing.

The Big One of 2010

It started late afternoon on Friday and its still going strong. We probably have close to 20" with a possibility of up to 30" or so they say. If it breaks 28", it will set a new record for this area of Maryland. One of the nice things is I don't have to be out in it.

Advanced Nav Course

I'm in the process of taking an advanced navigation course and came across this text from the British Admiralty laws from several centuries ago. If this was not an incentive to learn, I don't know what would be.

The Rules of Oleron

"It is established for a custom of the sea that if a ship is lost by default of the lodesman, the mariners may, if they please, bring the lodesman to the windlass and cut off his head without the mariners being bound to answer before any judge, because the lodesman had committed high treason against the undertaking of the pilotage and this is the judgement."

-The Laws of Oleron, 1190 as quoted in Schofield

Moving Day (again)

Today was another nice day on the upper Chesapeake, but it was not a day to enjoy Carina on a day's outing. It was time to move her from her summer home to her winter home @ Tidewater Marina in Havre de Grace, MD (just a short motor trip away).

We went in, got a pump out (not a nice job, but a necessary one). They then directed me to a slip where I had to back in from the starboard side. A port side back is easier as it allows the prop-walk to assist as it will push the aft of the boat to port. Oh well, it didn't go too bad and I got in without hitting anything (actually pretty smooth). I did have one slight mishap when I put her in forward instead of reverse, but I was able to recover quickly without any issue.

The last thing I will need to do before they (Tidewater) pull her out of the water is to winterize the raw water side of the cooling system. Then once she is out, put her winter cover on.



I also have decided to slip Carina @ Tidewater for the 2010 season.

I Got Bats In The Bimini (not the belfry)

What a gorgeous day on the Chesapeake. The sun was shining and the temperature kissed the 70 degree mark. Would have been a perfect day to be out on the water. Unfortunately my plans were quite the opposite; it's time to start the winterizing process and get Carina ready to come out of the water for the winter.

I managed to empty the fresh water systems and run non-toxic antifreeze through the tanks/lines, flushed the AC system with the same and even got her washed (sun was warm and winds were light). In addition, I also removed both sails (main & genoa).

I started to take the canvas down until I noticed something in the top underside of the bimini; it was a bat that I guess took refuge from the sun. Needless to say I decided to leave the canvas alone for the present. I guess I will have to go over after dusk one evening to remove after the bat has flown away for it's nighttime meals. Hopefully it finds a new home.

Annapolis Sailboat Show

Now in its 40th year, the United States Sailboat Show, October 8 - 12, 2009, attracts more than 50,000 boating enthusiasts from around the world to the waterfront of historic Annapolis, Maryland, I was one of them. The Chesapeake Bay town is also home of U.S. Naval Academy.

I went, I saw, I spent (but not on a new boat, just accessories & such).

• PSS Dripless Shaft Seal
• PORTA-DOLLY (wheels)
  

Ragin On The River

It was a picture perfect Labor Day weekend on the Susquehanna River . Port Deposit played host to the Ragin’ on the River APBA Powerboat Races and on Friday the racers began arriving and preparing their boats.

The racers put on a spectacular two days of racing. Spectator boats also lined the course watching the races.

A Day On The Water

A nice day on the water with almost perfect weather (light winds). Took David and several of his friends out for the afternoon.

Mother Nature At Her Finest

Never let it be said, I don't respect nature and our environment. But evidently she (Mother Nature) does not always reciprocate. It seems Carina had an electrical surge over the winter most likely from a lightning hit, either direct or indirect. As a result I have had to replace the following:

• Receiver - RayStar 120 with new RayStar 125
• Wind - ST 60 Wind System with ST60+ Wind System
• VHF - ICOM M402 with a new ICOM M422
• Batteries - 2 4D

Spring is Here & It's Moving Day

A gorgeous day on the Chesapeake, mid to high 70's. It was a good day to move Carina from Georgetown to Havre de Grace (Penn's Beach Marina). Left about 10:20 and arrived about 3 hours later. No issues in getting there, though for some reason none of my electronics worked; Chartplotter did not read any satelites, had to do it the old fashion way and navigate by chart and line of sight.

Winter's Parting Shot

Guess it's not quite over, we got about 8" today. While it made things a little inconvenient, it was very picturesque, the town looked like a post card in some ways.

New Home

As I can't do any long term cruising for the moment, decided living near the water was the next best thing at least for the present. We bought a condo in Port Deposit along the Susquehanna River. Carina will also be getting a new home as well. She will be staying at Penn's Beach Marina in Havre de Grace. Due to mast height, she will not fit under the Amtrak bridge at the mouth of the river. The good thing, within 15 to 20 minutes I can be there.




The Town of Port Deposit is about 1,380 acres with an estimated population of 794 people in 2006. It has been coined the "Original Mayberry" and that description is still true today. It is a small town in western Cecil County, Maryland. "Main Street" runs parallel to the northeastern bank of the Susquehanna River it is about 9/10's of a mile long and is the original section of U.S. Route 222.

Winter on The River

Brrr it's cold, Can't wait until Spring and launch day only 50 Days, 16 Hours, 24 Minutes until the Spring of '09 as of this posting, yea.

Obama Express

Pictures of the Obama Express as it crosses the Susquehanna River (Perryville to Havre de Grace) while enroute from Philadelphia to Washington, DC.

Boom Tent (Winter Cover)

Finally got the cover on Carina this weekend. I tried doing it two (2) weeks ago, only to find out the cover I ordered from Fairclough didn't fit (10" too short mast to topping lift). I called Fairclough and they sent me the necessary paperwork to ship it back to them via UPS (no cost to me). It seems the boom length on Carina is not standard on the Catalina 36 MKII according to Fairclough. They made the necessary modifications, sent it back to me and voila, it fits.

Now she (Carina) is set to rest the winter with an occasional checkup by me. While I much would have preferred the cover fit right the first time, I must say Fairclough was very helpful in getting the situation resolved to my satisfaction with only minimal delay to me.

Winterization Complete

I finished winterizing the engine and AC/Heat system. While doing the freshwater system, I couldn't get the water pump to pick up the prime to run the antifreeze through the system. I opened all faucets and left run for for a while, but was concerned about burning the pump up.

So I now have to troubleshoot and find out what the problem is.

• Took the inlet line off manifold to determine if fluid was getting there, found it to be air locked, for lack of a better way to put it, I "sucked" on the line until I was getting a steady stream of antifreeze through it. Re-installed, but still no luck.
• Next step was to take the line loose from the pump and check to make sure the antifreeze was getting to there (it was).
• What next to check, the pump of course. Took the cover off where the screen filter is and discovered it was packed with a crystal like substance. Once I took out, hosed off and reinstalled, it worked just fine. Lesson learned, check & celan periodically.

All is well, the only thing left to do is put the cover on for her long winter rest.

That Time Of The Year

Well, the cool weather is here and soon to get colder. I started the process of getting Carina ready for her winter rest. We're leaving her in the water this year at Georgetown Yacht Basin.

I went down today (Saturday 11/1) and

• changed the oil,
• added fuel stabilizer and biocide to the fuel,
• drained and bypassed the hot water heater,
• added non toxic antifreeze (pink stuff) to the water tanks

Will be going back down on Sunday to winterize the engine and A/C.

AC/Heat Repair

Went down to the boat on Sept. 13 with plans to spend the night. It was an unseasonably warm weekend with temperatures into the mid 90's. While there we discovered the AC breaker was popped. Reset but to no avail, as soon as the unit would go on, it would lock up. After checking, discovered there was no water going through the unit.

I started with the easy stuff first, took raw water strainer apart, cleaned and replaced the strainer cartridge (it needed). Still no water moving through the system. I then took the water pump off and bench tested, it worked just fine. I then re-installed and checked power to the pump, there was none. It appeared the relay was not energizing the posts for the pump.

As the relay is part of the circuit board, it is not replaceable, had to buy a new circuit panel (contacted mfg. to see if I was on the right track). Found a new panel at Ocean Options in Annapolis, picked up on the 18th.

When down to the boat on the 20th to install the circuit panel, was able to put on without too much difficulty. Now the moment of truth, is water going to flow through the system once I turn on? YES, success the AC is once again working.

Good thing it was working, we spent the night and had to use the heat side of the system in the morning as the temperature got down int the high 40's over night.

While I wasn't happy that it broke and I had to repair, I did feel good in the fact that I was able to troubleshoot and repair myself, saved a bunch of money by not having to pay labor for someone else to fix (I'm free).

Post TS Hanna

Went down to the boat on Friday to ensure Carina was prepared to ride out Hanna with no issues. Took down all canvas, ran some extra lines and added some additional wraps to the furling head sail. Checked today and all was fine with absolutely no problems.

The storm brought less problems than anticipated, but in situations like this, better safe than sorry.