Week 1: Oct. 3-9, 2012 (Day 1-7)

Week 1:
Wed. Oct. 3, 2012-- Day 1:
We left Ottawa to drive to Deltaville at 0330 hrs. through some light rain & cloudy conditions in some areas till late afternoon.  There were lovely Fall colours up to the Pennsylvania border.  We arrived at 1700 hrs. to sun & very hot (90F) & humid conditions.  And there she was, launched & now fitted with two new solar panels!  We did some unloading of the car & cleaning & stowing on the boat.  But most of all we were tired & hungry--small  pizza at Stanstring Family Restaurant.

Thurs. Oct. 4, 2012-- Day 2:
Another sunny, hot but not quite so humid day.  We had an unexpected visit by Peter & Sylvie Kitching with the boat in a disaster mode.  Our cruising buddies, Lynn & Larry Morrow, travelled 3 hours from Edenton, N.C. for a short visit to see us, bearing gifts & to discuss our plans to travel together over a lovely lunch at 'Southwinds' in Matthews. Carla & Rick (Euphoria-Cape Dory) joined us.  After the Morrows departed for home, we paid a visit to say hello to Jeannie at Nauti Nells, then of course West Marine & Hurd's Hardware Store.  We continued the cleaning & unpacking & stowing process until it was dark & also packing what we would need for our time in Annapolis & the boatshow.  Graeme did notice that the solar charging system was not right & left a note for Ian, the service manager.

Fri. Oct. 5, 2012-- Day 3:

On the road for Annapolis at 0545 hrs.  It was a sunny & quite a warm day (mid 80's) with a light breeze.  We first checked into our hotel, La Quinta in Jessup then headed to the boatshow.  We parked at the stadium for $10.00 & took the free shuttle to the show, arriving at 1045 hrs. We ran into several NSC members shortly after arriving, had lunch with several Bahamas cruising friends & NSC friends at the Fleet Reserve (scrumptious beef on a bun). We scurried around for "things" on our list all afternoon till 1700 hrs.  At Pusser's we had a large Canadian gathering & consumed many painkillers while conversing until we had to leave to catch the last shuttle bus at 1930 hrs.  Later Graeme happened to mention that he attended the Jeanneau Party for Canadian Jeanneau owners for a short time; what am I?  chopped liver?  We drove to Jessup to our hotel, catching a quick bite to eat along the way.  A fabulous evening weather-wise.

Sat. Oct. 6, 2012-- Day 4:
A sunny & lovely morning to start the day with an early start from the hotel to attend a Canadian Breakfast at the Catalina Boat Display of all places (0800-0945 hrs.).  Graeme & I split up to do our own thing afterwards.  While Graeme did tents & information gathering, I went on a number of sailboats until the waiting lines became too time consuming.  We met up with Jack Verheyden & Donna Sarazin at noon for lunch at the Fleet Reserve & made some tentative plans to meet up in Norfolk & travel together for a while.  In the afternoon we took some time away from the show & walked up main street Annapolis.  By this time rain threatening clouds & increasing cool winds moved in.  We returned to the show to attend the Jeanneau Owners Party by invitation only at 1830 hrs.-- free wine in a real glass with Jeanneau enscribed on it that we got to keep, free beer & scrumptious food.  By 2030 hrs. the party was quickly winding down as it was very windy & cold.  That night we stayed with our very kind & gracious friends, the Buckley's.  A wonderful sleep in such a comfy bed!

Sun. Oct. 7, 2012-- Day 5:
Unlike past days, today was cloudy & a light persistent rain started to fall by mid am.  We had a relaxing & good conversation over breakfast with our hostess & host before departing for home-- 'Sweet Chariot Too' in Deltaville for the next 71/2 months.  It was quite windy & cool when we completed our 3 hour drive & we had to face a disastrous,  uninviting boat upon our arrival.  I phoned my family in Ottawa as they were celebrating Thanksgiving with the usual, huge & delicious meal of turkey, ham & all the usual variety of trimmings.  In contrast we had doggie bag gourmet sandwiches from lunch at Paniera  that we could not finish + soup.  This was our  first exposure to select food items that I had left on board that tasted old & rancid & had just gone through a very hot summer--? store packaging.  Also now that we were moved to dockside where water & electricity was possible, we added some water to the boat tanks which needed to be purged well with chlorox & plugged into shorepower to run our little 800W AC heater as temperatures were dipping down in the 40'sF.  Some attention had been given to the solar charging system but it still was not solved.

Mon. Oct. 8, 2012--Day 6:
Happy Thanksgiving Canada!  Happy Columbus Day USA!
A cool (H mid 50'sF, L low 40's) cloudy, grey, on & off rain all day long & gusting NW winds.
Graeme attended to the solar charging issues & who knows whatelse.  I reorganized our large storage area on port which we call the garage, storage below the floor boards, my clothes & spent several hours catching up with emails when internet service was restored to many areas of Deltaville in the afternoon as a car accident on Sat. had taken a telephone pole down + it was a way to keep warm.  I made a batch of chili for supper tonight + a few other evenings.  Howling cold winds & water slapping against the transom but solar charging system working well, thank you Bill!  He simply removed the wire from Blue Sky to the other side of the shunt as the instructions indicated.  But we have a number of days remaining here to test the fix.  I just hope the weather improves very soon so I can begin the exterior boat cleaning.

Tues. Oct. 9, 2012--Day 7:
The weather did not improve much today-- rain during the night & early morning with a fine misty rain for a good part of the day.  It was still very gloomy & grey but the NNW to NW winds subsided.  And it was noticeably warmer today.  Graeme was very productive today; one project was replacing the old dinghy oars with his new ones, painted with the Canadian flag similar to the Canadian Olympic Rowing Teams.          

We turned shorepower off till evening after toasting bread for breakfast of course, observing the charging system  all day.  Despite the grey day & no sun the solar panels kept the battery system charged quite high (all but 7 AH).  Unable to do exterior cleaning again today, I continued to work away at a variety of computer issues.  A cloudy but calm evening & night; the water was like glass.  The resident heron once again made his presence known at sundown.

Preparations for Trip #3-- June 2011- Sept. 2012

                                                                      Prologue

One definition of a sailboat is a hole in water, surrounded by fiberglass, in which you throw money.  Well, this is true; we still have two to prove it.

Our hiatus time of one year in Ottawa  is over (June 2011 to Oct. 2012) & we will be venturing south once again on 'Sweet Chariot Too' in early October 2012.  That is not to say that we have not been using her & not  having our adventures.  She still resides in Deltaville, Virginia, just off  Chesapeake Bay, which is a great body of water for cruising & exploring innumerable rivers, creeks, anchorages & towns & meeting wonderful people.  We adjusted our usual Fall sailing routine since I was scheduled for a knee replacement on Sept. 13th, 2011 & sailed the North Neck & Middle Peninsula of the Chesapeake from Aug. 15th  to Sept. 8th, 2011.  When in the Solomons we experienced a 5.9 earthquake on Aug.23rd., 2011, quite unusual for this area, followed by Hurricane Irene on Aug. 24th.  While the boat was well secured with numerous lines in a slip at Spring Cove Marina & rocking from side to side during the height of the hurricane (0200-0400 hrs.) we were told & being pelted with rain from the north, we chickened out & were hunkered down at a friend's house.  It wasn't till a few days later we discovered that water had entered our dinghy engine fuel tank through a small crack in the cap.  An almost new Yamaha engine we had just purchased for $700.00 was soon non functional, good for parts only & thus a new engine had to be purchased.  But we did have some good sailing days, visited our good friends the Buckleys, the Frosts & the Hacketts & met up with Cherry & Doug as they were making their way south.  April 9th to 16th, 2012 after rehabing from surgery & skiing almost everyday during the winter including a week in Aspen, we returned to Deltaville only to do some spring cleaning on the boat & preliminary inquiries re adding  two solar panels, which would mean the rearranging of location of the BBQ & wind generator supporting structure on the pushpit.  We were unable to return to the Chesapeake till June 17th.  & experienced a very typical Chesapeake summer, extremely hot, humid & near windless with occasional late afternoon storms.  The sea nettles had moved into the waters, so no swimming.  Very little wind, so next to nil sailing & we experienced an unpredicted derecho.  A derecho is a widespread, long-lived, straight windstorm generally exceeding hurricane force & associated with a fast moving band of severe thunderstorms.  It was 2300 hrs. & we were at anchor when the derecho hit.  Our 40 lbs. CQR held but our wind generator supports did not & the unit was submersed in brackish water all night;  we did grab & save our bimini & connector to the dodger just before it disappeared.  Friends, Don & Sue Goodwin visited early July & were subjected to this same hot, humid weather.  We returned to home port July 8th as hot, humid & unstable weather was predicted for several days, took a couple of days to clean up & pack up before driving back to Ottawa.  Sunny, hot, no precipitation weather & extremely low water levels in Ottawa that continued well into August prevented us from sailing the Viking.  And now she is demasted, hauled, tarped, winterized & set for the winter.  Mid August with no one yet to look after the house I turned to the internet to advertise for a house sitter.  I had an outstanding response & outstanding candidates.  Then there was a mad rush in the final week to finish packing clothes, supplies, sewing winch covers & BBQ cover, cleaning up the garden & most of the flower beds, re-seeding the lawn where grubs had attacked & watering, paying any bills, cleaning the house so presentable for our new house sitters, Mike & Mizuho & their orientation.  The day before our departure  Graeme's vehicle was packed up.  Ready or not it was time to leave!

I must admit that I have mixed emotions about this trip; anxious & excited to see friends, yet reluctant, tense & irritable.  Too much of my dark & negative side seems to have surfaced.  It seems during my working  years I was too busy working fulltime, playing sports & keeping house.  Now in my five years of retired life I have had time to reflect about myself & my life.  I realize how different Graeme & I are,  how independent & separate lives we live & how great a desire I have to travel to new & other places & experience new & other adventures.  They say opposites attract...  I am committed to do this trip, will see it through & make the best of it.