2025-08-23 Worton Creek anchorage and marina - haulout did not happen

 

Sunday we walked up to JoJo's Diner in Chesapeake City for a nice lunch out.  Then back to the boat, relaxing and started prepping the boat to be hauled on Thursday.  Just general organizing, and going through our lists of things to do.

Monday we had a brisk sail from Chesapeake City to an anchorage just outside of Worton Creek.  Weather was brisker than planned, so made really good time with a single reef, and then just a jib for a while.  It was chilly out though, temperatures lower than normal it seems, which is OK with us, as usually the Chesapeake is hot and humid.

Tuesday we took the dinghy in to Worton Creek Marina, where we were getting hauled on Thursday. To make sure everything was on schedule, and see if they needed anything from us.  All was good.   We did stop to see and talk to the shop guys, and they have a large motorboat – maybe 100’ hauled out in the travel lift, but also blocked underneath.   It had a bent strut and shaft, and was out for emergency repairs.   Huge boat.    No one could get the exact story of what actually happened to do the damage, but the owner was at the helm, not the hired captain.    

A very large boat hauled out for work, taking up the travel lift and most of the roadway

We spent the rest of Tuesday and Wednesday on the boat, relaxing and doing some miscellaneous prep for haul out.  Cloudy and rain off and on.  Kris under a blanket most of the day, keeping warm.

Thursday, Kris got up early, and found an email from the yard saying they could not haul us, as the big powerboat still was not fixed.   Bummer.  The yard was nice, and has provided us a free dock space so we can collect the packages that we had shipped in, and Kris could start working on the engine.  If needed, they have a boat that can move us from the dock to the travel lift, so we don’t need working engines to do it.  So we moved into the dock.

Thursday afternoon, Kris started working on the starboard engine.  There has been a small oil leak that is about a cup per oil change – more of an irritant, but it is getting worse.  Kris decided to tackle the leak, which we knew ahead of time was more work than it is worth, as the entire timing gear cover comes off, the fuel return line and injection pump to injector fuel lines must come off, cables disconnected as well.  Once all off, it is just a small little O-ring.  But the old gasket has to come off as well.   Taking off the old gasket took most of Friday with razor blades, and numerous Dremel tools, and dental picks, and anything else she could use.   She decided to replace the crankcase seal while she had the cover off, which won’t come in until Monday, so the project will have to be finished when we get back to the boat from visiting in Boise.

Kris cleaning up old gasket material off engine

Hurricane Erin is offshore, but we did not see any wind this far up the Chesapeake, but the tides were sure high, with water right up to the dock.

Tides were quite high from hurricane Erin

Usually the water is a couple of feet below the dock.  Made getting on and off the boat difficult for those people with short legs

Dean did a few miscellaneous projects, but since most of his hard work will come once the boat is out of the water.  He did install new outdoor speakers, as the old ones had stopped working, and cleaned out a locker where we need fiberglass work done.    He also worked on a change to how our boom vang is attached, as sometimes it develops an irritating clunking noise we hope to stop.

Not much more we can do until we get hauled, so today and Monday might be pretty relaxing until we fly out on Tuesday afternoon.    Internet access and cell phone coverage here is pretty poor, so we will just have to be entertained by the cormorants and our local blue heron.  Life is hard :)

2025-08-17 Back together again - Lewes to Chesapeake City

Kris’s Mom took a sharp downturn, and passed away on Sunday the 10^th.   Monday, the family moved all the furniture out of Memory Care back home and finalized funeral plans.   Kris flew out Tuesday to head back to the boat – a late overnight flight, arriving in Philadelphia at 5:30 in the morning.  She then had a 3-hour wait, until a shuttle bus that goes from the airport to Lewes, DE left.  That was a two-hour bus ride, then she took a local bus to a bus stop not far from the dinghy dock.  Dean met her at the bus stop to help carry the luggage.  Kris was a bit out of it by then.

Kris was not impressed with the Philadelphia airport.  Spent 3 hours waiting in the baggage claim area, walking around in circles and taking breaks to sit.  It was worn out and dirty, and she watched the police come remove a homeless person, and watched a mentally disturbed lady in the bathroom obsessively tearing paper towels off and wiping the floor.   Oh, and did we mention the pigeon napping on the luggage carousel?

 

Did not seem to be bothered by Kris walking around - carousel was not running.

Kris was one worn out, tired person after the overnight travel, and only had to lay down briefly to fall sound asleep in the cockpit.

21 hours of travel - only a 2-hour nap while flying.

While Kris was in Bend and travelling, Dean checked out the local bus system and dinghy dock option in Lewes ahead of Kris’s return.  Found the best place to take the dinghy, which was a 30-minute ride from the boat.  10 minutes going fast to the channel entrance, and then a 20 minute no wake slow ride down the channel to the dinghy dock.    He scoped out and rode the bus to the local grocery store as well.

He did have entertainment, watching the numerous large jellies around the boat, and even got in some polishing of the stainless.

There were many many of these jellies, about 1 foot in diameter in the waters around the boat

Pre polish

After - Dean does great work

Wednesday together again we took the long dinghy trip in, and rode the bus to get groceries before leaving Lewes.  This was the last grocery trip until we haul the boat on the 20^th, and spent 4 days working on it, so had to plan for normal meals, and haul out meals.

We did walk through Lewes a bit, as Kris wanted to see the town.

Lightship Overfalls - now a museum

Lots to look at while on the 20-minute slow ride to the dinghy dock

Pretty church and graveyard in downtown area

Nice park area next to dinghy dock

Cute little downtown area in Lewes

Although Lewes has a nice little downtown, when you take the bus out to the busy area where the stores are, the traffic in incredible - very busy.   Three lanes each way, plus a dedicated bus lane - good thing or riding the bus would be impossible to maintain a schedule.

Traffic never stopped, no breaks at all

Thursday we relaxed on the boat doing nothing much, Friday we left Lewes and sailed / motored / and motor sailed up to an anchorage in the northern Delaware bay, where we spent the night.  Early the next morning, to time the currents right, we headed down the C&D canal to Chesapeake City.   Spent the rest of Saturday just relaxing, and Kris working on getting our new tablet for navigation ready to go.

We will move south tomorrow or Tuesday and anchor near Worton Creek, as haul out is scheduled for the 21st.  The weather looks to only be in the mid 80s, so hopefully not too bad while we are on the land.

2025-08-10 A week apart, Dean single handing and Kris helping parents.

It's been a busy week for both us.  Kris flew out on Sunday to Bend, Oregon, where here parents live.  Her Mom is ailing, and was in hospital, but moving into Memory Care.   Kris's Dad is 93 and needed some moral support during the transition.  Kris's sister still works, so Kris flew out to help. 

That means Dean was on the boat alone - OH NO - what trouble could he get into?

Dean became Mr. Busy with projects, deciding to tackle a few items that were easier when living alone and Kris could not spend hours planning and directing, and fussing over the project.

Dean sanded our salon floor and applied new Varathane to it.   The first coat was great, but the second coat ended up with lots of little bubbles.  So sand and try again, after walking into town for a new roller.

We had purchased supplies to add more epoxy to our table-top, so he got busy and did that project as well. 

 

Floor and table looking great

Dean found other jobs to occupy him while the floor Varathane dried, like scrubbing the outside of the boat.

You can see the port hull is clean, while starboard still has some yellow stain.

While Dean was busy on the boat, Kris was sitting in the hospital room, and cleaning her parent's house.  Her Mom hasn't been physically able to clean for a while, and let's just say her Dad is less than enthusiastic.   Kris started a top to bottom scrub of every room when not in Hospital, or moving her Mom to the Memory Care facility.

On Wednesday, Dean single-handed sailed the boat 21 miles from Port Jefferson to Port Washington.

Gray sailing day

 

Only other boat on the water

Meanwhile, Kris kept scrubbing.   One job was to empty out her parent's camper and truck to get it ready to sell.   Let's just say that her folks have a lot of stuff everywhere.  A lot.  A LOT.  The water line on the truck/camper went up a few inches.

All this stuff plus more in the camper not used for last 10 years or so.   

When not cleaning at the house, Kris went in with her Dad daily to visit Mom in Memory care.  And spent some time watching the wildlife.

Mother deer and fawn in backyard of parent's house.

These deer were eating the grass right outside the Memory Care facility.

The deer were doing more than eating.

When you have to go - you have to go

 

Different from the wildlife Dean was seeing.

Think maybe a young green heron on the rocks next to dinghy dock in Setauket.

Friday Dean left Port Washington, and headed west through New York, and then just kept going for an overnight trip to Lewes, Delaware.  The weather for the upcoming week had only southerly winds, and that is the direction we wanted to go.  Option A was for Dean to go now by himself, or Option B wait for Kris and have a very miserable trip south.  Went with Option A.

 

Kris worried the whole time, and checked his live track, and called him often to make sure he was still on the boat.

Going through New York

Panorama shot - that's why the lifelines look wonky

The Queen Mary, docked in New York

Lady Liberty

The overnight sail got a bit chilly.  Dean actually put on sweatpants and shirt for the overnight journey.  Not many boats out, and winds lighter than forecast, so more motoring than wanted, but not bad seas - so all in all a decent trip.

Nice full moon on the overnight trip

Dean was quite tired, but a successful, singlehanded 30-hour trip.   Good job Dean

Dean made it safely, and anchored in Lewes, DE

Kris spending her days cleaning, helping her Dad, and visiting Mom in Memory Care.  Her Mom is going downhill quickly.  Hospice is doing their best, to keep her comfortable.

View of the mountains that you see when driving from Kris's folks into town.  South Sister and Broken Top

Dean will hang out in Lewes a few days, Kris plans to fly back on Tuesday if all works out.  Plans are flexible.

2025-08-03 Good times in Block island, then brisk sailing, and Kris flies out

 Spent Sunday in Block Island just relaxing on the boat.  A bit of a rainy day.  Kris worked on a small project, putting in LED strip lights in the V-berth and engine room. It made a big change - should have done it a long time ago.   

Kris also did some cooking prep of beans, rice and made her oatmeal-walnut-flax-banana-applesauce-cinnamon bread that she has for breakfast.

Engine room with old light that we upgraded with LED 

Now with old light removed, and strip lighting installed around edges.  Much brighter.

Monday we went to town, got rid of trash, and did a walk around.  Not much has changed since we were here in 2023.   The hotel that burned down shortly we left in August 2023 is still not rebuilt.  

Bridge between dinghy dock and main town

National Hotel-Built in 1903 after the original one burned down - seems to be a trend here.

Not a very busy main street early in the morning.  Later will be packed with people

Busy but nice dinghy dock

We spent a lot of time on Monday measuring our jib.  Kris made up a nice sketch of all the dimensions to send to the sailmaker.   We got quotes from Mack Sails and Doyle sails – who both have built the special Manta jib with the camber spar feature, so we were confident both would do OK, but Mack had a much lower price.   We asked Doyle to lower the price, and they did – so we went with them, as Mack has had some bad reviews, and frankly, their communication just stinks.   We should have a new jib in 6 to 8 weeks.

Tuesday was just a lazy boat day.  Dean read a book, and Kris played a computer game off and on.  Kris’s Mom is in hospital, so lots of texts and call between her and her sister arranging and figuring out plans going forward for their Mom going to Memory Care.

Wednesday, we walked into town and had a nice lunch out.  Ate at "The Lunch Bucket".  Good fries, and burgers were not bad either.   They even had Impossible burger (meatless), so Kris was happy about that. 

Yummy lunch

Thursday we were up and left before 6:00 a.m., and we wanted to move 72 miles west to Port Jefferson.  Kris needed to be to catch a flight on Saturday to Bend, Oregon to help out with her parents' situation.    Day started with more wind than expected, but then we had to motor through fog so thick that we would see what we hit, just before we hit it, but no time to avoid it.  Luckily, that only lasted an hour or so, and then it lifted.  And then it came back.  And then it lifted – and you get the picture.   By 11:00 the fog was gone and by noon the winds built, and we were having a great sail.  Then the winds built, then the winds built.   Jib only, current with us going 10 knots.  Quite the day.  Got in to Port Jefferson by 5:15.  Oh, did we mention the torrential rain.  Dean had to change out of wet clothes twice from going forward on deck, and we were both soaking wet because – yes – torrential rain while anchoring.    So glad we sailed today, as tomorrow is forecast to be even worse.

Kris on shift, wearing her foul weather jacket in the blustery day

Friday another rainy, cloudy day, highs of 75, so stayed on boat and Kris got ready for her trip.  Turns out the weather was better as far as rain, but windy in the morning and no wind in the afternoon.

Saturday Kris took an Uber for her two Uber, three train, three flight trip to Bend, Oregon.  She made it in fine by midnight Saturday, but tired.

Dean will be a bachelor for a bit now.  Kris plans on coming back in a week or so.

 

2025-07-27 Newport, RI - a couple of tourist trips

We were still carrying our old mainsail around on the boat, as we did not want to just throw it into a dumpster somewhere.  On Sunday, we took our old main sail into “Sea Bags”.  It’s a store that accepts used sails, then in their factory in Maine, they cut them up, and sew them into different bags.  Since our old main was so large, we got the choice of any bag in the store for free in exchange for donating the mainsail.   We picked out a nice bag we can use for shopping trips.  Could have got a larger duffel bag, but we have many duffels already, and wanted something we might use more frequently.

Taking in the old mainsail on a chilly morning

Dean was smart and used the cart to haul the sail through town to the store

Lots of selections of bags in the store

Sunday afternoon we went back in, amongst the crowds, and got some ice cream.  Last time we were in Newport, we found a “Triple Berry Pie” ice cream at Kilwins that we both loved.  They don’t have it anymore, but they do have an “All American two berry pie”, that was similar, but not as good.  

Enjoying an ice cream

Monday we took a tour of Fort Adams.   Every time before when we have been in Newport, the fort has been closed because they host the annual Folk Music and Jazz music festivals there.  Since we were earlier than normal, the fort was still open.   It was a good and interesting tour.  More information here: Fort Adams History   The construction and the view were the best part of the tour.

Fort wall construction is interesting.  Unfired bricks so they don't become dangerous shrapnel if hit by cannon

Some very thick walls, so you walk through long tunnels to get inside

Brief tour of underground listening tunnels in case invaders were trying to dig in.  Someone with a sense of humor put a plastic rat in this listening post.

View of Newport harbor from the fort

Tuesday we did some buffing and waxing of the cockpit, and then we went out of lunch at “Wally’s Wieners”, not as good as Super Duper.   They have more than hot dogs, though.  After lunch, we walked up to the UPS store, as we had two Amazon packages that had arrived.  They found one, but think the other one got picked up by mistake by the UPS driver, and will have to be re-delivered.  Whoops.   We got some groceries and headed back to the boat for a chilly night.  It was only a high of 75 during the day, and 58 degrees overnight.

Kris buffing one of the harder to reach spots, or taking a nap, you decide

Wednesday Dean relaxed, Kris did a bit more buffing in the morning, and then went on a tour of one of the Newport Mansions.  Toured “The Elms”.   Was a great tour.  The mansions during the "Gilded Age" were built to show off the owner's wealth and status.   Think they did a pretty good job of that.  The Elms only has bedrooms to house 7 people, but staffed for parties of up to around 400.  French chef on staff for cooking, and 30 to 40 staff for the family of 7.

Back of the house

Servants stairway

Dining room.  Just the amount of work to carve the ceiling panels which is all wood is very impressive

Everyone has a work of art glued to their ceiling - don't they?

Just a small cozy backyard

Indoor fountain

Thursday we went on a 4-mile walk to get some exercise, and then back to town later to meet our financial advisor to sign some papers, and had to get some ice cream while in town of course.

Friday was shopping day, so went in early, took then newly done walking path all the way.  Makes it easy to get to the shopping area, but no shade, so is a warm walk.   Caught the bus back.  Newport has two free buses all summer, which is great.  So when the bus came we got on, and after we sat down the bus driver told us that we were on the not -free bus, so we needed to get out at the next stop.  So next stop we got off, and then he asked where we were going, and we told him the bus depot, so he told us to get back on, no charge.   He was a very nice man – we could have walked, but riding with groceries is so much nicer.

Nice walking / biking path

Waiting at the bus stop with groceries

Early Saturday, we left and set sail to Block Island.  Had a decent sail, winds lighter than forecast, but still in by lunchtime.  Found a decent anchor spot.  Will be here a couple of days - no firm plans yet.    It has been a strange summer, with the boat closed up most the time, it has not gotten over 85 or so for over a couple of weeks.   We are wearing jackets into town and blankets on the bed every night.   We are not going to be prepared for the heat when we head south at this rate.