As we came from Summit Marina, to Inner Harbor Baltimore, we passed a tow, pulling a barge. On the rivers, you see tow boats "pushing" barges. Here they "pull" them.
I talk about how the tides (and currents) affect our travel. Here is an example: In this picture, on the right side, you can see one of the engine computers, that shows the engine rpm to be 1190, and on the left side of the picture, the chart plotter shows we are traveling at 8.2 mph (against the tide)
Later...looking at the same shot, you can see the rpm is still 1190...but the speed is 10.4 mph. A 20% increase in speed at the same rpm. You can imagine how that affects both time and fuel economy.
When we were heading down the Chesapeake (on Labor Day) there were lots of boats...and they were all going fast, and creating lots of waves.
Another shot of the Fransis Scott Bridge...looking west...with downtown Baltimore in the backround
In my log I talk about our "smart Y"...here is what it looks like. This allows us to plug the two ends into 125 volt - 30 amp power; and creat 250 volt power, which our boat needs.
Also in my log, I talk about fixing our aft shower pump. This is a picture of our bed (looking aft) and the mess I had while I was fixing it
Just aft of the bed is the hole I had to climb in (actually lean over) in order to get access to the shower sump.
This shot is looking down through the access hole. All these hoses are commected to the shower sump, and you can see the shower sump container at the bottom of the picture
This is looking down on top of the shower sump...and the new sump pump I installed. It took all of those hose clamps becasue I had to install a reducer in line to go from an 1 1/8 inch hose to a 1 1/2 inch hose.
And finally...this is the "check valve" I took out of the system. It is called a "duck bill" check valve. The water comes from the bottom, and forces open the "slit" you can see on the top. When the pump stops, the dock bill closes, and does not allow water to flow back into the bilge. One of the problems we were having (and the reason I took out the valve) is that sometimes the pump would not pump, because there was an air pocket in the line. I think it was caused because the duck bill would close too tight, and create a vapor lock. Removing it, does allow some backwash to flow back into the bilge, after the pump shuts off, but not that much, and now the pump works great.
When we got back to Baltimore, we went back to a favorite spot of ours...Nacho Mama's
This is a cool Mexican restaurant...with friendly people and great food. We first me Sean (the bartender) on our way through Baltimore. When we went back yesterday (6 weeks later) he remembered us, and ask us how our trip to Long Island was.
Log 171
Day 477
Thursday, September 10, 2009
7:30 AM EDT
Location: Anchorage Marina, Baltimore, MD.
Weather: 66 degrees and cloudy...rain and 70 forecasted for the next couple of days
We’ve been here at Anchorage Marina (at the Inner Harbor of Baltimore) for 3 days now. The weather has been overcast and misty, but it’s good to be here. Deb and I both said, it’s a little like coming home. Which is kind of interesting, because we have not been here that many times, but we do like this location.
Weather...there are actually gale warnings posted for this area, associated with a strong Northeasterly system that is coming through. Winds of 15 to 25 mph are forecasted for where we are, and up to 40 knot winds are forecasted on the Atlantic coast. Where we came from (Cape May, NJ) they predict up to 15 foot seas, with 8 to 10 foot seas on near shore. The good news is none of this will affect us in any way. We are tucked in a nice marina, with floating docks, that we are tightly secured to. I’m just glad we do not need to move for a few days. A good side affect of all of this is, we can open up the boat, and for the last few nights we have slept with the A/C off, and the windows open.
Getting here...from Summit Marina, on the C&D Canal, to Anchorage Marina, in downtown Baltimore, is a 59 mile run. We had stronger than forecast winds out of the NE, which made the Bay a little choppy. We also had a strong current against us (and against the wind) so that made for some slow going, and a strong chop. To add to that, it was Labor Day Monday, and lots of boat traffic going in all directions (all of which seemed to be in a hurry) which meant lots of boat waves. Put it all together, and it caused very “confused” seas for a good part of our trip. We like going slow, but a fair amount of the time we had to go fast in order to get “on top” of the waves, and make the ride smoother. We left Summit Marina at about 9 am...and got to Anchorage at about 3 pm. Our current plan is to stay here for about a month, and, if we do, the monthly rate will be less than $25 a night. A far cry from what we were paying on Long Island, and a good change to “catch up” on our cruising costs. Between the high cost of fuel; docking; and EVERYTHING, it will be good to head back south.
Maintenance...I have several things on my maintenance list, that I plan to get accomplished while we are here in Anchorage for a month. Early on Tuesday morning, I started to work on that list list. One of the first things I needed to tackle was the aft shower sump. The issue is...it just can’t be counted on. The way this one works is, the shower water drains into a fairly large plastic container, and as it get high, there is a pump in there that pumps the water overboard. What has happened is, that there have been times when the pump did not drain the tank. The pump runs...but it does not pump water. The short version of the fix is, I took everything out of the shower sump, and started over. This may sound a little drastic, but I hate something that can not be counted on, and I wanted to stop worrying about it, and wanted to be sure this will work for a long time to come. So...(I could explain exactly what I did, and the issues I had, but...who cares) after a few bike rides to West Marine (one to return a new pump that did not work) and a few hours of work...the aft shower sump is all new...and works great. On to the next project on the list.
A new “Smart Y”...you may remember, that, when we docked at Great Kills Yacht Club, we needed to use our “smart Y” converter (it converts two 30 amp power hook-ups to a single 50 amp hook-up) and it did not work. We now have a new one. I thought that the one we had came with a lifetime warranty, so I took it back to West Marine, and ask for a new one (I did this a few years ago, and they just gave me a new one). As it turns out, it only has a 5 year warranty, which has expired. But...after talking to a few folks at customer service at West Marine (while I was standing at the counter with the old one in my hand) they agreed, because I was such a valuable customer, to replace the one I had with a new one. The bad news was they did not have an exact replacement. The good news is, they had one better...which they gave me...at no charge. Now that, my friends, IS customer service. So, not sure when we will ever use the smart y again...but we have a new one when we do.
Our time in Baltimore...is something we have been looking forward to. As I mentioned it is a time to catch up on a few things we have been avoiding (while we were cruising up north) as well as a few normal items that just need attention. It is also a time to get things delivered to the boat, while we have an address that we will be at for more than a couple of days. So we can get our mail; I ordered, and received, a new buffer for the boat (to keep up on my waxing); Deb is sending in her camera (for the 3rd time) to see if they can finally fix it; and I just ordered some new LED bulbs for the boat. None of this would be note worthy, if we lived on land, but traveling on a boat, all of this must be planned out. Also, while we are here, we want to explore more of Baltimore. Deb has convinced me, that some of the money we are saving on slip costs, can be applied toward aquarium tickets, and things like that. She’s right.
I’ll keep you posted.
Bob
Day 477
Thursday, September 10, 2009
7:30 AM EDT
Location: Anchorage Marina, Baltimore, MD.
Weather: 66 degrees and cloudy...rain and 70 forecasted for the next couple of days
We’ve been here at Anchorage Marina (at the Inner Harbor of Baltimore) for 3 days now. The weather has been overcast and misty, but it’s good to be here. Deb and I both said, it’s a little like coming home. Which is kind of interesting, because we have not been here that many times, but we do like this location.
Weather...there are actually gale warnings posted for this area, associated with a strong Northeasterly system that is coming through. Winds of 15 to 25 mph are forecasted for where we are, and up to 40 knot winds are forecasted on the Atlantic coast. Where we came from (Cape May, NJ) they predict up to 15 foot seas, with 8 to 10 foot seas on near shore. The good news is none of this will affect us in any way. We are tucked in a nice marina, with floating docks, that we are tightly secured to. I’m just glad we do not need to move for a few days. A good side affect of all of this is, we can open up the boat, and for the last few nights we have slept with the A/C off, and the windows open.
Getting here...from Summit Marina, on the C&D Canal, to Anchorage Marina, in downtown Baltimore, is a 59 mile run. We had stronger than forecast winds out of the NE, which made the Bay a little choppy. We also had a strong current against us (and against the wind) so that made for some slow going, and a strong chop. To add to that, it was Labor Day Monday, and lots of boat traffic going in all directions (all of which seemed to be in a hurry) which meant lots of boat waves. Put it all together, and it caused very “confused” seas for a good part of our trip. We like going slow, but a fair amount of the time we had to go fast in order to get “on top” of the waves, and make the ride smoother. We left Summit Marina at about 9 am...and got to Anchorage at about 3 pm. Our current plan is to stay here for about a month, and, if we do, the monthly rate will be less than $25 a night. A far cry from what we were paying on Long Island, and a good change to “catch up” on our cruising costs. Between the high cost of fuel; docking; and EVERYTHING, it will be good to head back south.
Maintenance...I have several things on my maintenance list, that I plan to get accomplished while we are here in Anchorage for a month. Early on Tuesday morning, I started to work on that list list. One of the first things I needed to tackle was the aft shower sump. The issue is...it just can’t be counted on. The way this one works is, the shower water drains into a fairly large plastic container, and as it get high, there is a pump in there that pumps the water overboard. What has happened is, that there have been times when the pump did not drain the tank. The pump runs...but it does not pump water. The short version of the fix is, I took everything out of the shower sump, and started over. This may sound a little drastic, but I hate something that can not be counted on, and I wanted to stop worrying about it, and wanted to be sure this will work for a long time to come. So...(I could explain exactly what I did, and the issues I had, but...who cares) after a few bike rides to West Marine (one to return a new pump that did not work) and a few hours of work...the aft shower sump is all new...and works great. On to the next project on the list.
A new “Smart Y”...you may remember, that, when we docked at Great Kills Yacht Club, we needed to use our “smart Y” converter (it converts two 30 amp power hook-ups to a single 50 amp hook-up) and it did not work. We now have a new one. I thought that the one we had came with a lifetime warranty, so I took it back to West Marine, and ask for a new one (I did this a few years ago, and they just gave me a new one). As it turns out, it only has a 5 year warranty, which has expired. But...after talking to a few folks at customer service at West Marine (while I was standing at the counter with the old one in my hand) they agreed, because I was such a valuable customer, to replace the one I had with a new one. The bad news was they did not have an exact replacement. The good news is, they had one better...which they gave me...at no charge. Now that, my friends, IS customer service. So, not sure when we will ever use the smart y again...but we have a new one when we do.
Our time in Baltimore...is something we have been looking forward to. As I mentioned it is a time to catch up on a few things we have been avoiding (while we were cruising up north) as well as a few normal items that just need attention. It is also a time to get things delivered to the boat, while we have an address that we will be at for more than a couple of days. So we can get our mail; I ordered, and received, a new buffer for the boat (to keep up on my waxing); Deb is sending in her camera (for the 3rd time) to see if they can finally fix it; and I just ordered some new LED bulbs for the boat. None of this would be note worthy, if we lived on land, but traveling on a boat, all of this must be planned out. Also, while we are here, we want to explore more of Baltimore. Deb has convinced me, that some of the money we are saving on slip costs, can be applied toward aquarium tickets, and things like that. She’s right.
I’ll keep you posted.
Bob
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