Stay at Solomons Islands Area

Thursday, Oct 14
At Zahnisher's Yachting Center

Phil in front of Main Office at Zahniser's Yachting Center

It was a rainy, windy day so Phil and I stayed on the boat and had lazy day. Phil lit the kerosene lantern in the saloon and over the day, it warmed up the cabin.  Phil went back to sleep in the morning while I read.  Then we had lunch, did some more reading and talking on the phone with my sister, Cheryl.   I'm glad to hear that most of life is going well for her family.  I fixed steak and a mushroom rice mix with a can of corn thrown in a for supper and apple and plum crisp for dessert.  I called Gary and Patty Root on S/V Last Tango, whom we had met on the water taxi in Annapolis over for to share this dessert, which they accepted.  Gary is an Electrical Engineer on leave from his job for a year, so he and Phil spoke the same language.  Patty has a X-ray tech, CT-tech, marketing background and we had a lot in common.  We enjoyed the evening thoroughly.  It was good to have part of the day of alone and part with people. 

Friday, Oct 15

It was cool when the sun came up to a party cloudy sky.  It was predicted that the temps would get in the mid 60's and a chance of rain.   First thing in the morning (930am), we gathered together the dirty clothes and brought our shower items and went to the laundry/bath house at Yachting Center where we are moored. We were lucky to be the first one in the laundry room, so was able to get our 4 loads of clothes washed and dried.  We also got showers there, which are even nicer than the ones we saw the first day, like a bathroom at home.  Of course they felt good, even though it had been 2 days since the last sun shower.  I met an older gentleman who has lived on his sailboat at this marina for 7 years.  He said this is the best marina in the area with all the facilities and boat repair that they offer and are reasonably priced.  Last year they had 2 feet of snow and so he looked to see if there was somewhere south for him to move, but the prices are much more expensive so he decided to stay here.  It is nice here and it's close to a lot of stores.  They have a bus that will pick you up about 1/2 mile away to take you across the bridge to a mall.   After lunch, we took the dinghy exploring up the "creek" and found that S/V Sail Away was anchored close to the Holiday Inn dinghy dock.  We past them in our dinghys, came together for a chat and was invited to their boat for cocktails at 5-530pm.  Sounded great to us.  Ken has started a blog on Blogger and wanted some of my assistance to see what else he could do to improve it.  But first we wanted to stop at West Marine to get the rearm kit for my new lift jacket, which I was lucky enough to get one (they called the Hampton, Va store and are holding a kit there for me and something for Phil).  I've been quite worried that I wouldn't be able to find something that worked and then our deal on the price of the life jacket wouldn't be such a deal.  Then we wanted to go to the Calvert Marine Museum and Drum Point Lighthouse which had been at the entrance to the Patuxent River off Chesapeake Bay.   The Calvert Museum was very interesting and I would recommend a visit if you are in this area.  There is a lot more to it than just boat information, though there is some of that also.  As we left the museum for home, there was a brief rain shower and we saw a double rainbow.  This style lighthouse is typical for this area as we have passed a couple in this style.  Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Drum Point Lighthouse and Calvert Marine Museum from Dinghy

Inside Outhouse

Outhouse so waste goes in the water

Stairs to Lantern

Kitchen in Lighthouse

Rainbow on way back to Changes

Changes mooring ball at Zahniser's Yachting Center

 Lucky for us the shower didn't last long.  We had a snack on Changes and then took the dinghy to S/V Sail Away for our visit with Ken and Jeanne.  Both Phil and I thought that down below on Sail Away was much improved in appearance since Ken's wife, Jeanne has arrived, but I'm not surprised as Ken was baching it at Sylvan Beach with Graham.

Sail Away docked at Sylvan Beach

Graham and Ken visiting on Changes at Sylvan Beach

We had a great time, and since I had brought my laptop, Ken and I reviewed what I've been able to do on Blogspot.  Please see my list of blogs if you're interesting in seeing what they are doing.  We had lots to chat about which also included the weather and when we were thinking of leaving for our next location.  The wind started to rise, the power boat's anchor next to Sail Away was dragging, so we thought that we better get back before we had a hard time getting home.  We made it just fine and I warmed up some left over rice/corn and added a can of beef to it for a quick meal.  Phil went to bed early, I finished a book on my nook and by the time I went to bed it was 62F on the boat.  Burrr.  Time to snuggle next to Phil to get warmed up as he took advantage of the situation. 

Saturday, October 16

We woke to wind, sun and cool temperatures.  It was 60F on Changes!  So on went the many layers minus the long underwear bottoms.  I'm so glad that I made the other V-berth quilt, because we have been using 2 quilts at night and I'm just right and Phil is a little warm.  Phil wanted to get some things done on Changes, so we took the dinghy to the Holiday Inn dinghy dock to go to our favorite place - West Marine.  You pay $2 per day to use their dock and you can also drop off trash in their dumpster. First we went to Roy Rogers for breakfast.  It was nice to have a good breakfast and be in a warm place.  Then we went to West Marine (this is our 3rd trip so far), saw Gary Root from S/V Last Tango there again (also his 3rd trip), and bought an Accumulator Tank and other necessities.  Phil wants to install the accumulator tank into our pressure water system to repair the problem we have of turning on the faucet having a long waiting period until water comes out, STRONGLY.  It's had to control the amount of water we are using, quite the water waster.  After this is installed, the water will come on immediate and in a much thinner stream.  Just so you know, the West Marine staff didn't say goodbye - they said see you later.  Do they know something we don't????

The wind seemed to pick up on our way back from the store.  I turned on the wind instruments and it's in the mid teens with gusts up to 28knots.  I started working on the downloading photos from my camera, the blog, and email while Phil rebuilt the Head and also installed the Accumulator Tank.  I guess he was just kidding when he said I was going to rebuild it.  Also have to say that there wasn't any smell, so that was good too.  Thanks Phil!

We received an email from Victoria notifying us that she has passed her Oral Exams and is now a Licensed Architect in the State of California.  We are very proud of her and this is quite an achievement as California has the most rigorous testing to be a licensed architect!!  Most people do not pass their Oral exams the first time and this was the very last time that they will give the Oral exams.  Congratulations Victoria!!

It's 130pm and Phil just got a call from West Marine.  Turns out the 10# propane tank we ordered was there when we were there earlier today, so he has left to make another trip to get it.  We are very glad as we are planning on leaving early (4am) tomorrow morning to go as far as we can during daylight hours.  We hope to get to Jackson Creek close to Deltaville, VA tomorrow and to Hampton, VA by Monday before the winds turn SW on the nose.  We stopped by Sail Away this morning as Phil forgot his hat there last night and turns out they are going to be leaving tomorrow also, but not as early as us.  I'm sure that we'll see them again along the way.

Good news!  I was able to get in contact with my Social Worker friend, Liz Lemieux, from HWR yesterday and she's still glad to have Katie come to her new house in St. Augustine, FL around Thanksgiving so that we can pick her up to join us on Changes during December. If she arrives on the weekend, then Liz will be able to drive to pick her up at the airport and bring her to her house. Isn't she wonderful?!  Liz recently moved to St. Augustine, FL and will be starting soon with Community Hospice.  Now time to make the airplane reservations to get Katie there.  I want to say thanks to my parents, Dan and Kathy Smith, for agreeing to be backup if it didn't work out with Liz as our first plan for Katie to visit her Dad in West Palm Beach at Thanksgiving didn't work out.

This afternoon we received an invitation for cocktails at S/V Last Tango which we have accepted.  I think that I'll make a 6 or 7 layer dip to take along. Better finish so I have time for cooking.