Log 171; Day 477; Sept. 10, 2009; Anchorage Marina; Inner Harbor, Baltimore

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

Deb's 2 cents from the C&D Canal; Bear, DE.

Deb says...

"I don't need to give a caption of each picture, but here are a few of my favorite pictures from our time on Long Island Sound"

Monday; September, 7, 2009
Summit North Marina; Bear, DE.

Hey All!
Deb here! Just a note to let you know I’m still on the trip with BK. He does such a great job on his Captain’s log; it’s hard for me to think of anything more to add! I look forward to reading his logs…just to see how much fun I had! And to see those awesome pictures! ;o)
We left Cape May Saturday morning a 6:40 am. The sun was just barely up (kinda like me). There was a heavy dew covering the boat, it was close to 70*, we had a clear sky, the wind was down (I hate the wind), and the water in the harbor was like glass. Coincidently, those are the exact kinds of conditions that I like for boating! We cruised to a marina about midway across the C & D Canal (which connects the Delaware Bay with the Chesapeake Bay). After continuing on through the C & D, we’ll spend some time on Chesapeake Bay before making our way down the ICW, crossing the Okeechobee and finally ending in Cape Coral, FL for the winter.
We spent most of August on Long Island Sound and, along with my sister Jeanie and bro-in-law Terry and also our friends Steve and Claudia, we checked out some great marinas and wonderful towns on Long Island and along the coast of Connecticut.
We picked up Jeanie & Terry at Liberty Landing Marina in Jersey City, and after a quick tour of NYC (including an up close look at the Brooklyn Bridge) we headed into Long Island Sound. We had a great time in Essex, CT discovering an old inn/restaurant/bar that had entertainment every night and we saw a great swing group called “The Shiny Lapel Trio”…check them out on YouTube…way fun!
We went on to Mystic, CT which looked like a movie set of a typical New England town…one of my favorite stops.
Block Island was incredible. Our marina was in The Great Salt Pond that was originally a landlocked fresh water lake on the island. They opened it up to the sea, creating a huge harbor able to support many marinas. Our marina had about 90 slips that they managed to fit about 250 boats into…rafting some off as many as 5 deep! Imagine crawling over 4 other boats to get to shore. (Not a good place to be if you had to walk your dog!)
On Block Island we went to a local bike/scooter/car rental place to see if they had a car available. They said, “Sorry no…er, wait…we do have this Mustang convertible…would you be interested in that?” (Really?) So we were able to do the “Bob Koerner Whirlwind Tour” of the island in style.
We were told that Newport, RI was ‘indescribable’ and found that this was a perfect word! It’s a New England ‘village’ that has for some reason become the place to see and be seen! Huge yachts…one after another…filled the harbor that was lined along the shore with quaint cottages, old warehouses and buildings that were hundreds of years old. Very cool.
We were in Sag Harbor with Steve and Claudia and it was again, a great example of a perfect little New England town. If you looked up ‘quaint’ in the dictionary, you would find a picture of Sag Harbor!
I can’t believe we were able to cruise Long Island Sound and visit all those New England port towns that we’ve read about over the years. Even though we weren’t able to get to Martha’s Vineyard or Nantucket because of weather (hurricanes Bill and Danny were threats at the time), we saw so many other unbelievable places, the disappointment didn’t last long…it was a great month on the Sound!
Now we have turned around and are heading back to the Chesapeake Bay. And maybe it’s because we’re retracing our steps, but it feels like the end of something to me. Or maybe it’s just a habit…all those years of flipping the calendar over to September and starting to think of the end of summer, the start of school, and knowing that the cool days of Autumn are right around the corner.
I keep forgetting where we are! When it gets cold we will just head south and follow the sunshine and the warm weather! We get to cruise down the coast to Florida and skip another Illinois winter! We have so much more boating ahead of us! I could get used to this!

Log 170; Day 473; Sept. 6, 2009; Summit North Marina, Bear, DE.

A few more shots of Cape May, before we leave.

A look at the Cape May beach...looking out at the Atlantic.

A little cloudy on this day, but the beaches were full

This is the black top promanade (that goes a long ways) that seperated the beach from the town.

I may not catch fish...but I look like a fisherman, and I have all the "stuff"

As we leave Cape May, we travel on the Cape May canal, and meet this fishing boat heading out to the Delware Bay to try his luck.

Below is our view out the stern of the boat, early in the morning out in the bay. A view I never take for granted...or never get tired of.

The Delaware has some cool light houses

That come in all shapes and sizes

This is a little had to see in this picture...but you can see the white caps, and then sort of a "line" in the water, and then it's calm

The reason for this is current...and the wind over a faster (verses slower) current. We lost 1.2 mph in speed when we crossed this line, which means the current was that much faster, and much choppier. Amazing...right out in the middle of the bay. And it happened twice.

This is the first freighter that passed us...he was moving almost 19 mph.

See the orange thing...on the left side of the ship, that looks like a sled on a roll-a-coaster? It's really a life boat. In an emergency...you get in the boat...they release it...and it goes plunging in the water. It's completely contained, and will "right" itself in rough seas

At the northern part of the bay...as you enter the Delaware River there is this power plant, on a man made island.

We got out of the channel, when this second ship over took us...doing almost 25 mph.

Shortly after the ship passed us, we entered the C&D canal

And then 6 miles later, we entered a small cove where Summit North Marina is. This is their bar and restaurant sitting on the hill

The bar looked too good...so we had to check it out.

Hard to pick out HQ in this picture of the marina...but it's there

Back at the boat

A great end...to a great day

Log 170
Day 473
Sunday, September 06, 2009

7:30 AM EDT
Location: Summit North Marina, Bear, DE.
Weather: 65 with calm winds...forecasted to be 78 and sunny today

It’s one of the most beautiful mornings you can imagine. A little cool, but not cold. Warm enough to open the doors and windows, but not hot. No humidity; no wind; not a cloud in the sky. The coffee is hot; country tunes playing on the radio; and we live on a boat. Does it get better than this?

The pictures on the blog tell the story of the last few days. Just a few more shots of Cape May. Deb and I really enjoyed our time there. It has a little bit of everything. Water; lots of boats; good marina’s; fishing; history; upscale homes; boardwalk; beaches; and bars. Something for everyone. We rode into town again, just to stretch our legs, and try a few more places. We ended up going to lunch, at an open air restaurant, just off the beach. It seemed like a great spot, and the bartender told us from about 3 pm to closing it’s 2 to 3 deep in the place. Cape May was a great stop.

Fishing...is a big deal in Cape May. Every morning, the boats would flood out of the marina’s going in all directions. Some heading east...out into the Atlantic; others heading west...into the Delaware Bay; still others heading north...up the ICW to fish the rivers. I went out a couple of times fishing for flounder. I found out you did not need a license, and the marina owner told me how to fish for them, so I tried my luck. You have to catch something over 18 inches, in order to keep them, and I never did that, but had fun none the less. As I have said several times, I love salt water fishing, because you never know what you’ll catch.

We left Cape May on Saturday morning...just after first light...heading a little over 60 miles up the Delaware Bay to the C&D canal (the canal that takes you to the Chesapeake). I had been monitoring the weather for a few days, and based on the information I had, Saturday was the best day...wind wise. (Wind against the tides in the Delaware Bay are notorious for causing a short choppy wave...not fun to be in) It looked like there would be light winds out of the north, and then switching to the NE. When we got out in the bay, it was great, but the further NW we went the rougher it got. It was never really bad, but I had to keep slowing it down, in order for the spray not to come over the windshield, and into the boat. The good news was we had timed the tides just right (no luck involved here) and we were getting a nice 1 to 2 mph push up the bay. This may not seem like much, but trust me, it really makes a difference. In calm water, I have to run almost 1250 rpm in order to get 10 mph...but I was barely over 900 rpm and going 10.1 mph. Besides not fighting the current, we get a lot better fuel mileage. Along the way, we saw two very large freighters, that were moving very fast up the bay, toward Philadelphia. One was moving a little over 18 mph, and the other 24 mph (I can tell exactly how fast they are moving because I can track them on my AIS system). It was fun to see these large ships way behind us, and see them gaining on us, and finally passing us...going about twice as fast as we were. By 1 pm we had made the 55 miles up the bay to the C&D canal, and 6 miles further, we were in our marina. Because of all the salt spray, we completely washed HQ, and completely dried it off. Then, after checking in, walked up to the marina’s bar for a margarita...one of the better ones we’ve had. For dinner, Deb made a great stir-fry, and the movie was the Bourne Ultimatum. Great day.

Maintenance issues...all of a sudden the aft shower sump pump is acting up again. I fixed it, but I’m sure it will happen again. I hate issues that happen, and you fix them, but you know it’s not permanent. Similar to a couple other issues I have had with these sump pumps...the pump runs...but no water pumps out. This shower sump has a check valve in the discharge line, which I think is either creating a vacuum, or is causing too much back pressure for the sump pump to pump water through it. Whatever the case, we are not using the aft shower, because we can not count on it. When we get to Baltimore, I think I’ll get a new pump, and take the check valve out, and re-do the whole system.

From here...we have only 8 miles to go, and we are back on the Chesapeake Bay. As I write this we know we are leaving here tomorrow (Monday...Labor Day) but do not have any plans on where we are heading. We are thinking about heading only 6 miles to Chesapeake City...or a little further to a place called Still Pond...and anchoring for the night. We are still planning on being at Anchorage Marina, in Baltimore, by Wednesday. And then, be there for a month.

I’ll keep you posted.

Bob