What to do while waiting for an engine

It's now Nov. 12th....almost 2 weeks since the hurricane passed through the east coast. We are pretty much all back to normal and then some. Guy has finished re-rigging our vessel, the sails are all back on, we are learning more and handling the condensation issue down below better ( cool temperatures outside mixed with warm temperature inside  cause moisture and mildew). 

 Guy is practising his photography skills while at the top of the mast...

 These old and we assume original (1979) turnbuckles and rod were removed and replaced  with the new, one shroud and stay at a time starting with the back stay.

 The rod was replaced with 3/8'' 1 x 19 ss T316 strands. Guy measured the existing rod while still attached to the mast and marked the length with tape before removing it. He then rolled it up, took it to Madden Yacht services to duplicate the length, cut the new shroud/stay and attach the new turnbuckles..

 Inside Madden Yacht Services which is a 5 minute walk from where we are,  Steve Madden,  the owner offered Guy the option of doing the job himself using his shop equipped with everything a rigger needs since they were too busy to do the job on our time line. It took Guy 4 days to complete the rigging process. 
 

 With Guy firmly seated in the bosun's chair, I winched him up and down the mast at least two dozen times....

 Here is the little rigger ready to remove one of the lower shrouds.

 Adjusting the spreaders and taping up the booties holding out the "outer shrouds".

Wow...That's a long way up....for the outer shrouds and the jib stay.

 

He replaced the old turnbuckles with 10 new Hi-Mod ones.

Sails went back on yesterday morning Sunday Nov 11th

Cooking is one of my fun activities onboard Miss Ellie..Here I made a pesto based spinach, roasted tomatoes and garlic pizza on a pita ,topped with roasted pine nuts and a little grated parmesan...enjoyed with a cold beer!

               An entertainer on Main St. Sunday afternoon.

These are random pics I took with my Iphone as we walked around. It was a beautiful sunny day reaching 70 degrees...something we had not seen since the hurricane.

 We took this trolley..just for fun to see how far it went......(not far LOL)

Some U.S Naval Academy boys enjoying this warm sunny Sunday afternoon!

This is the beginning of the frostbite series in Annapolis

 

Oops!!!! As I walked through the boatyard last week I heard and saw something no boat owner ever wants to see!

Had this "vegetable lasagna" roasted veggies between polenta at The Metropolitan restaurant Saturday night with Ed and Cindy Shumaker now living in Annapolis....they still have a boat in Lake Huron Yachts. We had a fun evening........

We have been spending time with Brad and Holly, a fun couple that have a Beneteau 47 on our dock. They are here on the weekend and work during the week. They took us to Vin 909, a restaurant with  great ambiance, delicious food and a fantastic wine list a few weekends ago and we shared a meal at Davis's pub with them last night. It is easy to be over served when deep in a great conversation.
I am not sure about anyone else, but I was a little sluggish today!!!  All worth it as it was fun!

When we first arrived here, in early October, the trees were filled with green foliage...The leaves have changed since and will soon be gone.........and hopefully we will too! 
We are frustrated that the delivery date of our engine has been delayed yet again to sometime during the week of the 26th of November. We had been told it would take  3 to 4 week from the time we ordered it. It was ordered on the 9th of October. We assumed that the installation would have begun this week....but just like so many projects, schedules etc of boating....it is not unusual to have delays....We are practicing patience and are hoping it will not snow before we leave here or even while underway. As of today we are hoping to leave Annapolis before Dec 1st. 
We are fortunate to have a heater on board as well as a full enclosure....We will need to go shopping for some long underwear!!!  Brrrrrrrrr!
We have some boat and  non boat activities planned for the next 10 days...I will post again in a week!

We weathered a superstorm!

Wow.........The force of mother nature is mind boggling!  Since my last post, Guy  did all he could to secure our boat for our first hurricane experience. I did all the worrying! We had thought we would go to a motel at first (maybe that was me) but after looking around at our surroundings and realizing that the area we were in was quite sheltered from the wind direction of the storm, we decided to ride it out on board. We had been talking to other cruisers who were also going to stay on their boat and they also agreed that this was as good a hurricane hole as any.  I had mixed feelings as I hate the unknown and I knew the next few hours and day would be challenging. We exchanged boat cards with the other cruisers and made it known to each other that we would be there should anyone need help with their lines, and or shelter should the boats not do so well. 
We had anticipated the hurricane to reach us by about 11;00 p:m on Monday and were quite surprised when it reared it's ugly head at 6:00 p:m. The wind and noise started slowly at first then built up to a scary nerve wrenching sound followed by gusts that would tilt the boat to the starboard side all while tugging the lines taut and  jerk the boat back to the port side. The rain pelted the boat sideways.
We had lost the hydro, internet and cell service a few hours prior. Really made us feel all alone in the dark while anticipating an unknown white knuckling experience.
We had a candlelight  dinner, had a glass of wine (to take the edge off)) , I  did the dishes, while Guy went outside with rain gear on to check the lines one last time.  We decided that maybe we should try to get a few hours sleep before it got too bad.  LOL...LOL....Not a chance....our adrenaline was pumping through at record speed.  We laid there listening to the sounds of the wind, rain, and gusts with our eyes wide open in the dark. Finally in the wee hours of the next morning we fell asleep for a few hours. During the night the tide had gone down and we were on the bottom making the movement of the boat different but not uncomfortable. When we got up early Tuesday morning, we poked our heads out of the cockpit hatch in the rain. The wind had died down considerably.
The dock was underwater by a few inches. All looked good. Within an hour we saw people walking on the dock chatting about their experience. We were impressed to see the owner of Jabin's Boat yard assess the docks and touch base with all of us that stayed on our boats to make sure we were ok.
The docks were flooded later with the next hi tide making it difficult to get off the boat!
I am sure you have seen tons of pics on the internet and the tv of the devastation of this east coast. We are shocked when we see them and are feeling so fortunate to have escaped being one of those pics.

 The tragedy that shocked us all.  The majestic ship left New London, Ct., on Oct. 25 to sail to St. Petersburg, Fl. and, as most people know by now, was lost at sea on Oct. 29. Fourteen of the crew have been rescued, one has died, and the captain is missing.
The vessel was about 160 miles west (off of Cape Hatteras) of the eye of hurricane Sandy.

The 180-foot HMS Bounty was a hulk of a black ship with lots of massive sails that required athletic, brave sailors to haul them aloft. Built for the 1962 movie “Mutiny on the Bounty” with Marlon Brando.

The entrance to Back Creek , (where we were) in front of the maritime museum. Boats were moved from here as they were too exposed to the Chesapeake Bay.

Downtown Annapolis the morning after the hurricane. Lots of flooding.

Our favorite  restaurant took precautions to avoid flooding inside!

I posted a pic of this Alex Haley bronze statue in one of my previous posts. The area is now flooded.

This guy spent all night pumping the water out of his ice cream store in downtown Annapolis.

This is Rd # 12 in North Carolina.

Can't imagine being part of this mess!

The docks  were under water at hi tide. This is just as it is going down. Our boat is in the bottom right corner.

This is what we saw when we peeked our heads out of the hatch the morning after! We were elated at the calmness even though the dock was at water level!

 The candlelight dinner we nervously ate a few  hours before the hurricane arrived! Notice my wine is gone...I had a nerve issue!

Guy puts the bimini and dodger back on. Notice the water levels are back to normal. We are so thankful we did not have any damage. Our hearts do however go out to the millions that are suffering with their loses. As of today, our life is back on track . We have our hydro back, as well as internet and cell coverage. Our friends George and Jackie of S/V Heritage weathered the storm well south of us tucked in behind Goat Island in a river north of Elizabeth City N.C.  No damage there either!
We are all very fortunate.....

Loving life in Annapolis and the pre Hurricane preparation

It's been about 10 days since my last post. Guy and I have been keeping busy but not too busy!
We are at Bert Jabin's Boat yard marina in Back Creek just off the northern part of  Chesapeake Bay in where we are meeting lots of cruisers and or regular members of the marina.  While we wait for the engine to arrive (Nov 16th) Guy has decided that this is a good time to re-do the rigging. We have rod now and he will be switching to wire with hi-mod swagless fittings. He has already done the back stay this week. He ordered all the supplies he needed from Madden yacht services. He will be doing one stay at a time as soon  we get over this hurricane.
The owner of the business, is kind enough to let Guy use their equipment to cut the wires etc.
All the rigging should be done by the time the engine arrives and gets installed. We are still planning on continuing with our trip south late November...

Guy checking his email

Having a cold beer at one of our favorite places...McGarvey's

Cheers!

These are the Fish Taco's served with a side of black beans and rice we enjoy on Tuesday's.....sooooo good! (even for vegetarians!)

There he goes...to rigging school!

This is the marina building  that houses the showers and laundry we use.

Our view from the cockpit

Napping after a hard day at rigging school....LOL!

 

Stocking up pre storm.....

What? Where did the food go?

Oh well...this will have to do....

This is Hurricane Sandy's path....We are near the top of that body of water you see below Philadelphia, just left of the 8:00 AM Tue (65mph) line.

 

Our canvas and sails are off and the dinghy is secure on deck.

We've battened down the hatches!

I'll blog again as soon as the storm has passed ........