Month: June 2020

With just a little while left before I take a flight home, we set our sIghts on a sail into Annapolis to get some warranty work done. Up early, it was a beautiful morning. Unfortunately, the winds only allowed us the sail part way. We had to motor for the first leg.

We sailed into get a new windvane put on since the old one had been acting strangely. It was the second one in 18 months since the lightening strike. For that reason Ian and I replaced all of the wires leading up to the windvane. We had to have the marine electrician install the actual windvane to certify our work for insurance. Yantina has lithium ion batteries which needed a new heat sensor, we were able to get this done as well while we were in Annapolis. Curiously, the batteries were from Holland, a replacement was installed in Antigua under warranty, but Ian still had to return the original battery to Holland. It had been sitting on the boat for 4 months. It is very difficult to get shipping for a 80KG battery back to Holland because lithium ion is considered hazardous. After much conversation we were able to get the American distributor to take the battery for us. That was a big relief. That was quite the international transaction!!

The sail back to the South River was great! 16-22kts winds most of the way. We had to tack against the wind, but even by going out of our way it took us a half hour less time to sail back than it did to mother there in the morning! Given the strong wind there were sailboats, sailboard and all manner of sailing craft out on the bay in the afternoon.

The picture above is the culmination of 3 days straight of work laying wires up the mast and installing LED lights on the spreaders. They sure turned out nice!

We have settled into a rhythm here of getting projects accomplished, making list of new projects and what supplies we need. We do find time to get the boat out on the bay to sail. I do hear that the boating season is starting to open up in Chicago and I have booked my flight to head back. In the meantime, I still get to enjoy this for the rest of the week!

While we have been in Maryland, we used the Ocean Cruising Clubs Port Officer Westbrook Murphy for an address to deliver packages and general help in locating groceries and supplies. He has been invaluable. We aren’t the only cruisers Westbrook is looking after, boats from around the east coast and Caribbean have stopped in to get some help and share a story or two. The cruising community really is a tight knit community of interesting people.

Our little inlet is cozy, probably less than a hundred acres in size. It provides us good shelter from the wind action and wind. We now are getting better at setting the anchor first time in the Chesapeake mud. We have gone out on the South River and the bay a few times when the winds are right to go for a sail.

Summer is definitely in full swing here. The power boat crowd is everywhere. Social distancing is become less noticeable on weekends, boats are rafted up as people get back to socializing. They still wear masks at the store and out shopping, but not so much when out at the beach or on the water.

We continue to get a least a couple of packages per day and continue maintenance and our casual refit. So far the wind instruments and wires leading from the cockpit to mask have all been replaced. Connections for depth, boat speed sensors have been redone. We fed three new leads up the mast bring new cables up the mast in the future (this was obviously easier said then done!). It has a great opportunity to be a part of all of the refit maintenance to expand my knowledge of how the boat works.

Since we have gotten to Annapolis, we done a walking tour of the downtown and did some general sight seeing. Ian intends to put the boat ‘on the hard’(take it out of the water) and return to the UK. He is concerned that if he leaves the boat here regulations around travel for the virus may prevent him from returning when he wants to. We are hoping he can fly to the UK at the end of June so we are preparing Yantina for a summer at a boatyard on Solomon Island, Maryland.

Our major activity has been to put together a list of things that need to get done on the boat before Ian leaves. The biggest concern is that the boat suffered a lightening strike about 18 months age and after replacing some of the electronic components things still don’t work properly. We have decided to replace everything including the wires inside the mast that go to the midpoint and the top. Ian convinced me that going up the mast was important for my education and I was assigned to go up to the midpoint to fix/replace the foredeck light. It was pretty exhilarating to be hoisted up way above the boat. The view was awesome. I wasn’t scared so much unnerved by being that far off the ground. You may be belted in, but it is hard work with two hands when you instinctively want to hold on with one!

After a day of outlining the projects that need to be done and figuring out what components and supplies need to ordered, we decided to change locations. We sailed down to South River off the west side of Chesapeake Bay and found a quiet inlet to put the boat. There is a Ocean Cruising Club member in this inlet and he has agreed to be our address for shipping components and supplies for our various projects. The sail down was great, winds started out at 12kts and built to 22kts over the course of our 5 hour sail. It was great to get back out on the water. As for right now now it is back to work. We just fixed one of the loos (bathroom) and next is replacing electronic instruments!

We are now safely at anchor just outside the harbor in Annapolis. I have to admit it is a truly special boating destination. Sailboat are everywhere as well as power boat or anything that floats for that matter. We had some provisioning to do so we took the dinghy up one of the inlets as far we could go and came up through someone’s backyard and walked to the grocery store. It is a great town to get around by boat. The sights from the water were great. Boats, houses, scenic shores, you name it.

Today we took the dinghy into the city dock in the center of town just to sight see on foot. There were quite a few people around. Unlike the Carolinas, masks were worn in all shops. It nice to get in a walk and stretch your legs and I have to admit the town has an east coast sailing vibe which I obviously enjoy!

I should digress at this point about Americans verses English in the Ian’s eyes. He is having a bit of an issue with everyone saying hello to him, they say hello on the street, wave from boats. He was asking, “What is wrong with you Americans, everyone is waving and saying hello?” At one point he was floored when a woman said hi to us on the street, “She is alone and just said hi to two blokes walking down the street, that would never happen in the UK.” I think he has come full circle now because moments ago, he exclaimed, “Hey that couple didn’t wave back?” To which I retorted, “They may know your English and don’t want to.”