6/26/00 | Still working

progress report

The projects are many, but the accomplishments have been few. We installed most of the radar, but haven't been able to put the dome up yet. When we got our arch, we also got a sleeve which will attach to the arch, and is intended to hold the radar pole. We took this fitting to a local metalworker and they assured us they could make a pole to fit -- when we went to pick it up, not only had they not made the pole, but it took them half an hour to find our arch fitting. We took it back and brought it to another metal shop. Maybe they'll actually make us a pole.

Speaking of poles, the whisker pole we ordered is on a truck somewhere between California and here. That's the problem with ordering something too long to ship by air. We're hoping it gets here soon, as the Chesapeake summer heat has set in, and we need to get moving before heat-induced lassitude overcomes us completely. It's rapidly getting too hot to work, or to do much of anything, for that matter. Several afternoons we've gone over to the marina swimming pool and just sat on the steps, neck-deep in nice cool water, sort of like an inverse hot tub.

I removed the air intake valve on the forward head, intending to clean it, and discovered that it was cracked. This explained why the "suck power" of the head was low, and why it was leaking seawater. We'd just bought a head rebuild kit, but in accordance with Murphy's Law, this particular part was not in it. Tracking down the phone number of the manufacturer, Raritan, turned out to be the hardest part of the repair job. I tried the number on the instruction sheet we had, but got the "no-longer-in-service" recording. When I called 800 directory assistance, hoping Raritan had a toll-free number, I was inexplicably given the phone number for Southwest Airlines. I was just about to try the web (which involved a hike out to the marina laundry room, where the net connect phone jack is located) when I noticed that the itsy-bitsy tube of lubricant in the head rebuild kit had an even itsier-bitsier phone number on it. The customer service guy was happy to UPS me a replacement part. I was not so happy to pay nearly $25 for a one-ounce piece of plastic. This works out to about $400 per pound. Forget gold -- invest in air intake valves.

The biggest success we had this past week wasn't on our boat. Britt had arranged to get a new starter for our friends' boat with the recalcitrant engine, and that turned out to be the solution. They took Falmari out of the slip for the first time on Saturday. Of course, as soon as they were out of the marina, they turned the engine off and spent the day sailing. It's funny to think that we had to fix their engine in order for them to go out and not use it.

a convocation of calibers

We took the weekend off and attended a get-together of the Caliber Cruising Club. We'd heard of this Chesapeake Bay-based group through people we know who also have Calibers, but we'd never been in the right place at the right time before. On Saturday morning, Pete Renfree, who keeps his Caliber 40LRC Kankita at the marina across the creek, came aboard Windom with two coolers filled with beer, rum, and ice. We'd met Pete last year at the Annapolis Boat Show through other friends who have a Caliber. He had told us about this rendezvous, and as his wife was in Europe and he didn't want to singlehand, we invited him to come along with us.

We didn't see any other Calibers until we were on the other side of Knapps Narrows; then all of a sudden, it was like a parade. We slipped into the procession of more-or-less identical boats up Harris Creek to Dun Cove, where we all rafted together. There were twelve boats, and the newest two (a 40 and a 35) had just been launched that week. The new 40 belonged to a couple we'd met (on their previous boat) at the cruiser's Thanksgiving in Charleston, so it was nice to see them again. All the other boats belonged to people who lived nearby except for Sand Dollar, a 40 from San Francisco. The couple aboard are live-aboard cruisers and had trucked their boat from Mexico to Florida, then come up the ICW.

The afternoon was spent tromping from boat to boat meeting everyone and looking at all the interesting things that other owners have done. We showed off our arch and our systems installations, and oohed and ahhed over everybody else's nifty ideas. In between we managed to drink most of Pete's beers. The raft broke up for the evening, but almost everyone stayed the night in Dun Cove, and the next morning we had strong southwest winds and a fast broad reach back to the marina.

looking ahead

We're supposed to get hauled out sometime early this week. Why is it that we always manage to get hauled in ridiculously hot weather?  As bad as sitting in a marina is, it's even worse up on stilts, and we won't be able to use our little water-cooled air conditioner, which runs off our fridge compressor, and we'll be back to block ice in our fridge.

After getting our bottom painted (we're splurging and having them do it this time), we'd like to get back in the water and on our way. The only hold-up is the stuff we've ordered that hasn't come in yet.