One of the reasons we changed to a bigger boat was to be able to accommodate guests more comfortably. And this was the week of guests. After Donna and Jim, Dan’s sister and brother-in-law, Judy and Rob, joined us for a few days. We spent an evening in Annapolis, then sailed out for an overnighter at St. MIchael’s on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake.
The wind really kicked up for the return sail to Annapolis so we enjoyed a nice ride. Rob took the helm the whole time and turns out to be a natural.
The temperatures have been in the 90ºs F with high humidity, causing it to feel like 105º F (41º C). At this temperature, it’s hard to find the energy to do much, but we did our best to make their visit enjoyable and we had fun catching up, mostly in air-conditioned places.
Speaking of air conditioning, Fregata thankfully has as very good system, without which it would be hard to function or sleep during this extreme heat. Nighttime has offered little relief in this region. We decided to stay at docks rather than anchorages in order to plug the boat into shore power and run the air conditioner. It can also run at anchor with the diesel generator, but we don’t feel it’s safe to run the generator unattended all night. Fregata, being a French boat, is based on 220V / 50Hz power, which is the norm in Europe. For American customers, Amel adds a 110V shore power inlet, that runs through a transformer to step it up to 220V. Transformers generate a fair amount of heat. When added to the ambient temperature, our transformer overheated and shut itself off. This meant no air conditioning during the better part of the first night of Judy and Rob’s visit, one of the hottest of the year! This transformer is encased in a protective plastic cover. Dan temporarily removed the cover and put a fan next to it to ventilate the heat. Since then, it’s been working fine. Whew!
Judy and Rob gave us a countertop ice maker as a boat warming (we should call it a boat “cooling”) gift. What a great add! With the heat, it’s so refreshing to fill our water bottles with icy H2O.
Thursday offered some temporary relief from the heat. With no more visitors, Dan & Sandy caught up on practical chores. Sandy did laundry and enjoyed some spa services in town. Dan changed Fregata’s engine oil and did some other routine maintenance.
Unfortunately, a power boat that was docking next to us lost one engine and its stern thruster. It swiped Fregata and put some nice scratches and a gouge in her hull. Dan filled the gouge to keep it watertight, pending a proper repair when we haul out in the Fall.
To top off the week, we celebrated Sandy’s birthday at the Chart House, a very nice restaurant on Annapolis Harbor.
Tonight, we’ll meet up with Julie and Brum, the Canadian couple with whom we sailed around the Outer Banks. Tomorrow, after an extended stay in Annapolis. we finally push on toward the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal, which will take us from the Chesapeake Bay to the Delaware Bay. From there, we’ll turn southeast to round Cape May, New Jersey, from where we’ll head up the coast of New Jersey to New York City! Stay tuned.
16 Responses
We had a wonderful time sailing and Dan and Sandys’ hospitality was above and beyond. The boat is beautiful and Annapolis is such a quaint town. I’m not gonna lie, one of my favorite parts of the trip was going out for ice cream after dinner each night….
Thanks, Judy. Come any time! There are still ice cream flavors you haven’t tried yet. D&S
So sorry to hear that your boat was hit/damaged! You know it’s bound to happen that there will be a scratch on it but geeze, that looks intense. I had bought Larry and ice maker for the boat because he can drink ice tea all day long. We actually use it a fair amount of time. Mostly, when it’s not available for sale at a marina.
Please tell Sandy “Happy Belated Birthday” for us. Love reading about your adventures aboard “Fregata” and we are still referencing sailing True North for our trip this year.
Thanks, Elizabeth. Yes, we’ve repaired many a scratch and ding over the years. However, they were mostly caused by ourselves. This is a first. No biggie. I sealed up the deep gouge and the boat is perfectly seaworthy to continue on. We’ll have it properly repaired back in Maine. Enjoying the icemaker indeed. Glad our blog is useful. We’re kind of reliving it via your adventure! Hope to see you along the way. D&S
Ouch! Sorry to hear about that ding from the powerboat. Did the powerboat at least apologize? Luckily, fiberglass is easy to fix.
Re: Ice Cream. Yep, we have often made our coastal hop route plans based on where we can find the best ice cream!
Hi J&S, He was very apologetic and promised to cover costs. Poor folks had been waylaid in Annapolis for four weeks waiting for some engine parts. Their throttle wasn’t responding on one engine. Finally they got the parts and had the repair done. The first day out after the repair, the engine failed again. Not a good testimonial for the yard that provided the service. They were docking in 25-30 knot gusts on one engine, and their bowthruster failed as well. He confided in me that his wife had had it with boats forever. They flew home to New Jersey and have a technician / captain fly down to repair the boat (for real this time) and drive it back to Connecticut where they keep it, I susepct to put up for sale. I felt more bad for that couple than I did for the gouge in our hull. And I’ve fixed many a scratch and ding in my boating years. Hope all well with you. D&S
Happy Birthday again Sandy! Hi everyone! Looking good. Glad you had such a wonderful time.
Thanks, Maria. Hope you and Tom join us along the way! D&S
First of all, a belated Happy Birthday Sandy!!! We’re so sorry to read about the gouge in your new boat. The good news is that these things can be fixed. Glad you were able to make a quick water tight repair. Love the ice maker. Elizabeth bought one for me for Christmas and we use it regularly. A great addition. You bought a bigger boat to accommodate guests. No one apparently wants to visit us so it looks like we’ll just keep the one we got.
Have a great trip to NYC. Hope to see you along the way.
Hi Larry, Thanks for your message and wishes. The gouges will be fixed. The powerboat owner was mortified and very apologetic and promised to pay for the repair. Ice makers should be obligatory USCG equipment in this heat! Guests? Well, we had to coerce a few to come, but they’re glad they did. Hopefully some of your readers will join you next season. We hope to meet up with you again in New England soon. Hope the weather clears for your journey southward in Nova Scotia. D&S
I tried to leave a message but for some reason it didn’t post. Basically was saying the same thing Larry said. Thought I would try again to see if I can figure out what I am doing wrong, lol. Happy Belated Birthday Sandy!
Hi Elizabeth, Thanks for your message and wishes. Hope the weather clears for your next leg. D&S
I am always dreaming reading your posts. Great!
Grazie Milena. Benvenuta a bordo!
Annapolis sunset photo — beautiful and atmospheric!
Happy Birthday, Sandy.
Thanks, Larry! See you soon in Boston.