Catching Up On Work And Boat Projects

Time flies when your having Rum. At least I wish that was the case, but in  fact it is work that has made time fly and I have come to understand more and more that work really screws up my boat time. Susan and I have done both the Annapolis Sailboat Show and Annapolis Power Boat Show for Waterway Guide. Susan has sent the final two Editions, the 2011 Northern and Great Lakes Editions, of  Waterway Guide to the printer and we have been working on a variety of other projects at the office. I will be attending the 11th annual Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway Association Conference  in Norfolk, VA for two days to speak on the advancement and evolution of electronic navigation. The weather is very fall like, the leaves have gone through their annual color changes, and most have fallen to the ground after our last rain and wind storm, and it is getting progressively cooler every week. A reminder that winter is coming upon us quickly. We have already made plans to haul the boat in early December and move into our house sitting routine until spring. All of these thoughts don't fill my mind with warm and fuzzies. Especially when many of our cruising friends are sending us reports from out on the water, in much warmer places.

We have finished a couple of small projects. The aft windows in the main salon developed a new leak during a very heavy rain storm not too long ago. Those have been replaced and we have had a new windshield made for the flybridge. The windsheild was installed this weekend. The work on the ports continues but at a snails pace. We did find some great shades for the new ports called Peek-A-Boo Shutters. They are not inexpensive, but they are very innovative and look much better than anything we might have come up with. They offer us privacy when we need it and light when we want it. Most of the other projects are going to get  postponed until the boat is hauled. They can be done in the winter while we are off the boat and it is not so disruptive. The main electrical panel is in need of replacement so i won't have to worry about doing without some service on the boat while I am sorting out and replacing old wiring. Now I will be able to take as long as needed rather than trying to finish in one day. Yeah, right.

Since this year will be my second winterization of the boat since we returned to the Chesapeake, it should go a little faster. We plan to move ashore in the house that we will be "sitting" until spring, on December 1st and the boat will not be hauled until the 6th. I will be able to winterize all of the systems, the fresh water, heads, engine, shower sump, etc. as soon as we move off. We are only a few slips away from the travel lift so we don't even need to start the engine to get hauled. I usually try to start the winterization  process with the engine, about a week in advance of being hauled. It is much easier to do everything while the boat is still in the water than to try and do it on dry land. I will do a detailed post on our winterization procedures here as soon as it is finished.

We have a lot on our todo list for this winter. Then again, we did last year too, The eight feet of snow we had last year until spring made shortening that list a bit difficult. Plans for this year include refinishing the floors, lots of electrical work, moving the battery banks to make room for the generator, glassing and painting the flybridge and installing new seats. And this is just the first few items. It feels ambitious but we are hoping that weather will cooperate this year. If not, we will concentrate on some writing projects we have been putting off and of course work at the office will begin to pick up again. If we don't post projects, from time to time we will add an article or two on some of our favorite cruising spots. It always makes us feel a little better on those cold winter days and nights dreaming about fun times in warmer climates. We will try and make it interesting so stick around. Spring is just around the corner.