2025-09-14 Leaving Boise and back to boat life on the hard

 

Sunday we went out to dinner with Deans brother and wife Edie.  Mongolian BBQ, where you select your own veggies, meats and such, and sauces, and they cook in on a big flat circular griddle why you watch.    Had a good meal and good visit.

Kris and Edie at Mongolian BBQ

Monday was our day to pack, do laundry, and hang with Derek.   Kris and Derek did manage to spend some time building some laser tag goggles and try them out.   

Derek and Kris goofing off with their fancy goggles

We had a very nice two weeks visiting family – and will miss them all.  Also enjoyed the convenience of land, and not really looking forward to life on the boat on the hard.  Boat in the water is good, boat life on land not so much.

Tuesday we flew from Boise back to Baltimore, MD, and then the 1.5 hour Lyft ride back to the boat.  Got in around 8:30 p.m.  Just enough time to put the sheets on the bed, unpack the 8 blocks of Tillamook cheese and put them in the refrigerator, and go to bed.

Wednesday the fun began – boat work.   Kris had partially finished the work on the starboard engine when we left, and the parts she needed had arrived, so she set to work putting the engine back together.

Dean worked on cleaning the hull and getting off all the stains and taping it off for sanding and painting.

The hull is clean, and the bottom is taped off ready for sanding and painting.

Thursday was a bit more engine work, and Kris drained the sail drive oil.  She did not like how it looked, slightly cloudy, so decided to change the seals.  She took off the props and zincs, and we discovered that the lower hole that held the zincs was elongated.  Don’t know why, but suspect that the spacer allows some play in the hub, and need to get rid of that as it may be the cause.   So Break Out Another Thousand (BOAT), and ordered new bearing covers for the sail drives.

Dean sanded the hulls.

Friday Kris finished up the engine work, did some cleaning on the props, and worked on installing a new hose on the stern shower.  The hose that comes with the stern shower kinks badly, and of course buying a new one is expensive since it is a "marine" part.  So we got one at Home Depot, and with a little modification, got it to work.  Kris took the Dremel to a small plastic part to get the new hose to fit.  That Dremel is one handy tool.

Kris modifying a part on the stern shower for the new hose.  

Dean got a first coat of bottom paint on.   The only color we could get in the paint we like was black, so that is what we are using.  Looks different from our normal blue.  

The mighty painter.   Always wear the correct personal protective equipment!

Friday evening Dean helped Kris bleed the starboard engine, and Kris was thrilled, that she got it started and it sounded good.  Always a worry when you disassemble as much as she did.

Friday was of course pizza night.  We ordered from Dominos - not bad pizza, really.

Saturday was Dean putting another coat of paint on the hulls, and then in the afternoon helping Kris on the port engine.  The port engine had a leaky rear seal, so Kris had to take the bed off, and the engine hatch covers, and then disconnect the sail drive from the engine.  Rig supports for the engine, so it could be pushed forward about a foot, to get access to the flywheel.   Dean had to help with removing the fly wheel, and other parts, and re-installing, as the flywheel is very heavy, and needs two people to remove, and re-install.

Kris taking out the old seal.

We are both dragging butt a little bit, as the work has been constant, but at least the weather has been very pleasant, with lows in the 60’s and high’s in the low 80’s.

We are hoping to get back in the water on Thursday, so still lots to do.

 

2025-09-07 Getting colds while traveling

We drove from Bend to Boise on Sunday, and Dean was not feeling great, but in addition, Derek and Kris also came down with colds. 

Monday thru Wednesday we did not do much, as we were all feeling a bit bad.  Coughing, sniffling and lots of nose blowing.    

Derek and Dean worked on designing and making some boat parts on Derek's 3D printer.  We have thru hulls for locker drains on the boat, with rubber flapper covers on them.  They work fine, but when water runs out them, it tends to run out the thru hull, and run down the side of the hull, leaving a dirty stain.    

We did some experimenting with sealant, and tried to put a drip edge on the covers to get the water away from the hull so it would drip down instead of running along the hull.  Had some success, so had Derek make us some covers with built in drip edges.

Old one on left, new one with drip edge - hope it works

Dean mowed Derek's yard, which was overdue after our travels to Bend.  Kris weeded some areas in the front courtyard.

Derek's back yard, nice view, but lawn needs some love still

We went to lunch with Dean's Mom.  She is having some back issues, so sitting in one position for a long period is not great, and unfortunately the restaurant we took her to had horrible service, so we were there way too long for her comfort.

Dean and his Mom, Nita

Dean took a trip with his brother to Magic Reservoir, where they have some property.  About a 2 hour drive, and they hauled 140  concrete retaining blocks and a picnic table out to put on the property.  It is a dry area, and the reservoir is very low now.

Magic Reservoir - very low

Never saw a beige Praying Mantis before - guess when the vegetation gets dry and yellow, they do too.

Dean and his brother, Lee

Kris did her annual shopping run to thrift stores in the area  picked up some boat clothes and found a bunch of forks for Derek, as his roommate has the irritating habit of losing them - or throwing them away with leftover food stuff.

Kris and Derek got busy, and put some landscaping in the courtyard area where Derek has had only bare dirt and weeds for the past year.   Looks much nicer now.

Weeds and excess dirt are gone now

Got heavy duty landscape fabric for the area

Looks better than a clump of weeds and dirt

We all went out for the afternoon with Deans brother Lee and wife Edie for a target shooting session.  A 22 caliber and 9mm handgun were used to shoot targets out in the hills.   Lee was the best of us all, but we all hit the target multiple times.

Dean shooting the .22

Have enjoyed spending time with Derek, and his girlfriend Emma, and visiting family.   We have a couple more days before we fly out.   

2025-08-31 Hauled out and trip to Boise and Bend

The yard came to the boat at 8:30 Monday morning and said that they needed to move us.  We were happy because that meant we would be hauled out.  They moved us over to the fuel dock so they could use the dock we were on for the large motorboat that was in the travel lift.

Homemade boat mover does a really good job

We spent most the day at the fuel dock, did not really want to get into any projects, as we did not know at what time we would be going into the travel lift.  Around 3:45 we got moved into the lift, and out of the water.   Then they did the pressure wash, but by then it was close to quitting time, so they did not move us into the yard area, but left us right at the haul out area for the night. 

In the slings just hauled out

The bottom not too bad - mostly slime, but a few barnacles on the props

Just a few baby barnacles

We got busy that night, and removed the two thru hulls that we wanted plugged, and then spent the night at a slight downward tilt hanging in the travel lift, but blocks under the keel.  Next morning we got busy gathering up laundry and packing for the trip, as we had scheduled a pick up at 11:30.

Kris went to do laundry, and there was no water pressure.  So after about an hour delay that was all fixed, and laundry was started and showers taken.   Dean was working on getting out  a thru hull for our depth sounder, but luckily he was making sure the new one looked good, and found an issue, so had to hike up the hill to get good reception and then spent an hour on the phone with Raymarine trying to determine the problem.   

Depth does not sit flush with exit of thru hull

Of course then about 10:00 they decided to move our boat to the yard position, so we did not get back on the boat until a bit after 11:00, so we scrambled around like mad to get everything ready to leave.  Got off the boat at 11:25, and our ride with Lyft pulled up at 11:27.   Close timing.

In the slings moving to new location

Our flights were relatively uneventful, first one was late, so had to hustle through Denver airport, but made it with 10 minutes to spare.

Derek picked us up from the airport, and had our room all nicely made up for us.   He does not have a spare room, so we have a nice foam mattress on the floor in his theatre room.   Still, it is a room to ourselves, so we are quite happy with it.

Welcome to Boise

Nice inlay on the floor of the airport

Our room for the next week or so

On Wednesday we had doctors appointments, so got those done.  Went to the store to get groceries for the visit, and relaxed.

Thursday we went to a long lunch with Dean's mom, and stopped and Home Depot for supplies to do some work to Derek's shower.

Friday, Derek came with and drove the 5.5 hours to Bend, Oregon.  We met at Kris's Dads house, and then went to dinner with her Dad, her sister Kay, and her husband Pat.

Back at the house Kris did some prep work for the next day.

Saturday, Dean went and got fresh maple bars for breakfast, and then Kris and Kay did more prep work for the 1:00 gathering for their Moms passing.  Not a service, just a gathering of friends and family.

Poor Derek knew almost no one, and all the guests remember him no bigger than 4' tall, so no one even recognized him until they were introduced.   It was good to see old friends, and Derek was able to see a couple of his cousins he hasn't seen in 10 or more years.

We were all dressed nicely, so time for family photo

Kris with her dad who is 93, and her sister Kay

We spent a bit of time out on the back deck, as the weather was quite nice, and enjoyed the visits from the deer.   

It was funny to see this deer laying next to the statue.  Guess it figured it was the designated deer location

Kris in a stare down with a visiting doe.

Sunday we headed back to Boise, long day.

2025-08-23 Worton Creek anchorage and marina - haulout did not happen

 

Sunday we walked up to JoJo's Diner in Chesapeake City for a nice lunch out.  Then back to the boat, relaxing and started prepping the boat to be hauled on Thursday.  Just general organizing, and going through our lists of things to do.

Monday we had a brisk sail from Chesapeake City to an anchorage just outside of Worton Creek.  Weather was brisker than planned, so made really good time with a single reef, and then just a jib for a while.  It was chilly out though, temperatures lower than normal it seems, which is OK with us, as usually the Chesapeake is hot and humid.

Tuesday we took the dinghy in to Worton Creek Marina, where we were getting hauled on Thursday. To make sure everything was on schedule, and see if they needed anything from us.  All was good.   We did stop to see and talk to the shop guys, and they have a large motorboat – maybe 100’ hauled out in the travel lift, but also blocked underneath.   It had a bent strut and shaft, and was out for emergency repairs.   Huge boat.    No one could get the exact story of what actually happened to do the damage, but the owner was at the helm, not the hired captain.    

A very large boat hauled out for work, taking up the travel lift and most of the roadway

We spent the rest of Tuesday and Wednesday on the boat, relaxing and doing some miscellaneous prep for haul out.  Cloudy and rain off and on.  Kris under a blanket most of the day, keeping warm.

Thursday, Kris got up early, and found an email from the yard saying they could not haul us, as the big powerboat still was not fixed.   Bummer.  The yard was nice, and has provided us a free dock space so we can collect the packages that we had shipped in, and Kris could start working on the engine.  If needed, they have a boat that can move us from the dock to the travel lift, so we don’t need working engines to do it.  So we moved into the dock.

Thursday afternoon, Kris started working on the starboard engine.  There has been a small oil leak that is about a cup per oil change – more of an irritant, but it is getting worse.  Kris decided to tackle the leak, which we knew ahead of time was more work than it is worth, as the entire timing gear cover comes off, the fuel return line and injection pump to injector fuel lines must come off, cables disconnected as well.  Once all off, it is just a small little O-ring.  But the old gasket has to come off as well.   Taking off the old gasket took most of Friday with razor blades, and numerous Dremel tools, and dental picks, and anything else she could use.   She decided to replace the crankcase seal while she had the cover off, which won’t come in until Monday, so the project will have to be finished when we get back to the boat from visiting in Boise.

Kris cleaning up old gasket material off engine

Hurricane Erin is offshore, but we did not see any wind this far up the Chesapeake, but the tides were sure high, with water right up to the dock.

Tides were quite high from hurricane Erin

Usually the water is a couple of feet below the dock.  Made getting on and off the boat difficult for those people with short legs

Dean did a few miscellaneous projects, but since most of his hard work will come once the boat is out of the water.  He did install new outdoor speakers, as the old ones had stopped working, and cleaned out a locker where we need fiberglass work done.    He also worked on a change to how our boom vang is attached, as sometimes it develops an irritating clunking noise we hope to stop.

Not much more we can do until we get hauled, so today and Monday might be pretty relaxing until we fly out on Tuesday afternoon.    Internet access and cell phone coverage here is pretty poor, so we will just have to be entertained by the cormorants and our local blue heron.  Life is hard :)

2025-08-17 Back together again - Lewes to Chesapeake City

Kris’s Mom took a sharp downturn, and passed away on Sunday the 10^th.   Monday, the family moved all the furniture out of Memory Care back home and finalized funeral plans.   Kris flew out Tuesday to head back to the boat – a late overnight flight, arriving in Philadelphia at 5:30 in the morning.  She then had a 3-hour wait, until a shuttle bus that goes from the airport to Lewes, DE left.  That was a two-hour bus ride, then she took a local bus to a bus stop not far from the dinghy dock.  Dean met her at the bus stop to help carry the luggage.  Kris was a bit out of it by then.

Kris was not impressed with the Philadelphia airport.  Spent 3 hours waiting in the baggage claim area, walking around in circles and taking breaks to sit.  It was worn out and dirty, and she watched the police come remove a homeless person, and watched a mentally disturbed lady in the bathroom obsessively tearing paper towels off and wiping the floor.   Oh, and did we mention the pigeon napping on the luggage carousel?

 

Did not seem to be bothered by Kris walking around - carousel was not running.

Kris was one worn out, tired person after the overnight travel, and only had to lay down briefly to fall sound asleep in the cockpit.

21 hours of travel - only a 2-hour nap while flying.

While Kris was in Bend and travelling, Dean checked out the local bus system and dinghy dock option in Lewes ahead of Kris’s return.  Found the best place to take the dinghy, which was a 30-minute ride from the boat.  10 minutes going fast to the channel entrance, and then a 20 minute no wake slow ride down the channel to the dinghy dock.    He scoped out and rode the bus to the local grocery store as well.

He did have entertainment, watching the numerous large jellies around the boat, and even got in some polishing of the stainless.

There were many many of these jellies, about 1 foot in diameter in the waters around the boat

Pre polish

After - Dean does great work

Wednesday together again we took the long dinghy trip in, and rode the bus to get groceries before leaving Lewes.  This was the last grocery trip until we haul the boat on the 20^th, and spent 4 days working on it, so had to plan for normal meals, and haul out meals.

We did walk through Lewes a bit, as Kris wanted to see the town.

Lightship Overfalls - now a museum

Lots to look at while on the 20-minute slow ride to the dinghy dock

Pretty church and graveyard in downtown area

Nice park area next to dinghy dock

Cute little downtown area in Lewes

Although Lewes has a nice little downtown, when you take the bus out to the busy area where the stores are, the traffic in incredible - very busy.   Three lanes each way, plus a dedicated bus lane - good thing or riding the bus would be impossible to maintain a schedule.

Traffic never stopped, no breaks at all

Thursday we relaxed on the boat doing nothing much, Friday we left Lewes and sailed / motored / and motor sailed up to an anchorage in the northern Delaware bay, where we spent the night.  Early the next morning, to time the currents right, we headed down the C&D canal to Chesapeake City.   Spent the rest of Saturday just relaxing, and Kris working on getting our new tablet for navigation ready to go.

We will move south tomorrow or Tuesday and anchor near Worton Creek, as haul out is scheduled for the 21st.  The weather looks to only be in the mid 80s, so hopefully not too bad while we are on the land.

2025-08-10 A week apart, Dean single handing and Kris helping parents.

It's been a busy week for both us.  Kris flew out on Sunday to Bend, Oregon, where here parents live.  Her Mom is ailing, and was in hospital, but moving into Memory Care.   Kris's Dad is 93 and needed some moral support during the transition.  Kris's sister still works, so Kris flew out to help. 

That means Dean was on the boat alone - OH NO - what trouble could he get into?

Dean became Mr. Busy with projects, deciding to tackle a few items that were easier when living alone and Kris could not spend hours planning and directing, and fussing over the project.

Dean sanded our salon floor and applied new Varathane to it.   The first coat was great, but the second coat ended up with lots of little bubbles.  So sand and try again, after walking into town for a new roller.

We had purchased supplies to add more epoxy to our table-top, so he got busy and did that project as well. 

 

Floor and table looking great

Dean found other jobs to occupy him while the floor Varathane dried, like scrubbing the outside of the boat.

You can see the port hull is clean, while starboard still has some yellow stain.

While Dean was busy on the boat, Kris was sitting in the hospital room, and cleaning her parent's house.  Her Mom hasn't been physically able to clean for a while, and let's just say her Dad is less than enthusiastic.   Kris started a top to bottom scrub of every room when not in Hospital, or moving her Mom to the Memory Care facility.

On Wednesday, Dean single-handed sailed the boat 21 miles from Port Jefferson to Port Washington.

Gray sailing day

 

Only other boat on the water

Meanwhile, Kris kept scrubbing.   One job was to empty out her parent's camper and truck to get it ready to sell.   Let's just say that her folks have a lot of stuff everywhere.  A lot.  A LOT.  The water line on the truck/camper went up a few inches.

All this stuff plus more in the camper not used for last 10 years or so.   

When not cleaning at the house, Kris went in with her Dad daily to visit Mom in Memory care.  And spent some time watching the wildlife.

Mother deer and fawn in backyard of parent's house.

These deer were eating the grass right outside the Memory Care facility.

The deer were doing more than eating.

When you have to go - you have to go

 

Different from the wildlife Dean was seeing.

Think maybe a young green heron on the rocks next to dinghy dock in Setauket.

Friday Dean left Port Washington, and headed west through New York, and then just kept going for an overnight trip to Lewes, Delaware.  The weather for the upcoming week had only southerly winds, and that is the direction we wanted to go.  Option A was for Dean to go now by himself, or Option B wait for Kris and have a very miserable trip south.  Went with Option A.

 

Kris worried the whole time, and checked his live track, and called him often to make sure he was still on the boat.

Going through New York

Panorama shot - that's why the lifelines look wonky

The Queen Mary, docked in New York

Lady Liberty

The overnight sail got a bit chilly.  Dean actually put on sweatpants and shirt for the overnight journey.  Not many boats out, and winds lighter than forecast, so more motoring than wanted, but not bad seas - so all in all a decent trip.

Nice full moon on the overnight trip

Dean was quite tired, but a successful, singlehanded 30-hour trip.   Good job Dean

Dean made it safely, and anchored in Lewes, DE

Kris spending her days cleaning, helping her Dad, and visiting Mom in Memory Care.  Her Mom is going downhill quickly.  Hospice is doing their best, to keep her comfortable.

View of the mountains that you see when driving from Kris's folks into town.  South Sister and Broken Top

Dean will hang out in Lewes a few days, Kris plans to fly back on Tuesday if all works out.  Plans are flexible.