Off the Boat and Back to Las Vegas

Once again, we are on the move. Nine of Cups is staying put at Atlantic Yacht Basin and we are heading back to Las Vegas for some family time. As usual, the boat is a total shambles as we haul out duffel bags and suitcases, preparing for the trip back. This time, along with our usual clothes, laptops and other gear, we're transferring the contents of many bins that had been stored for years at Lin's back to Las Vegas. We carted it all down by car just after the holidays and now we're trying to jam it all into suitcases and duffels to get it back across the country, compliments of “two bags fly free” on Southwest Airlines.

Cups' front berth has been laden down with it all and I swear I can hear her sighing in relief as we frantically try to cram it all into our existing transit bags … which have, I must say, seen better days.

It's mostly memorabilia. You know, the topper to our wedding cake, love letters and diaries and journals, photo albums and framed pics from another time. I used to collect Christmas ornaments from each port, but we haven't celebrated Christmas aboard in a long time. All those ornaments are carefully packed in a bin which we're taking back, too.

By the time we pack up the one-way rental car with all the luggage and head to the Baltimore airport, Nine of Cups will be lighter and happier and all tidied up once again, bobbing at the dock, waiting for our return at the end of February. We've got our to-do list for leaving and another one for all the chores we need to do once we get back to Vegas.

So, what will we do with all the “stuff” when we get to Las Vegas? Well, there's a closet that we all share that's large enough to house a small family. We'll take up our share of it with all the bins and assorted crap ... I mean, stuff ... I mean precious mementos until we have the time to sift through them seriously and the courage to discard some of it. That day may never come, but David keeps hoping.

A Weekend on Solomons Island

We have been working non-stop lately (read that David) trying to get as many projects and as much boat work done as possible before we head back to Las Vegas at the end of the month. There's the alternator project and varnishing and installing new batteries and … the list goes on and on. My anti-all-work-and-no-play philosophy kicked in and I convinced the captain that a weekend in Solomons Island, Maryland would be a fine diversion. After nearly 35 years together, my coaxing methods are well honed. With a $9.99/day weekend rental from Enterprise, we set off before the break of day on Saturday. We wanted to make the most of the daylight hours once we got to Solomons and it's about a 3.5 hour ride/200+ miles ride away. Road trip!

It really didn't matter much because although the forecast called for “partly cloudy”, it turned out to be foggy, misty and raw … none of which dampened our spirits in the least.

Solomons Island, Maryland is located at the mouth of the Patuxent River just off Chesapeake Bay. Apparently part of a land grant dating back to 1680 when it was known as Bourne's Island, it's also been known as Somervell's Island and Sandy Island until it was purchased in 1865 by Isaac Solomon who renamed it … you guessed it … Solomons Island. Solomon built and operated an oyster packing plant here for many years, one of the main industries of the island until the oyster beds were depleted. Today the island is best known for recreational boating, charter fishing and tourism.

Part of the reason for our visit was to explore the possibility of finding Nine of Cups a temporary home in the Chesapeake for the coming year. We had originally thought we'd head to maritime Canada this summer, but family commitments will preclude us from spending much time there. So instead, we're rethinking the possibility of spending more time exploring the Chesapeake and its many rivers, tributaries and unique ports. There's so much to see and we've seen so little of it. Having a home base for Cups will allow us to come and go as we please. Plus we'll have a nice place for folks to visit if they're so inclined.

The island is only about 1-1/2 miles long, so we parked the car at our hotel and walked from marina to marina, taking in the town as we went. We ventured to several marinas, four of which were of interest. No decisions have been made yet, but Solomons Yachting Center is a likely candidate.

One benefit of walking all over the island was checking out what it might hold in store for us if we decide to keep Cups here. There's the “world famous Tiki Bar” which surprised us with its life-size Easter Island moai. Unfortunately, it was closed for the season until mid-April.

The two-lane main street is lined with shops and restaurants and a very pleasant boardwalk runs along the shores of the Patuxent River. The damp, overcast day scared away all the tourists and we pretty much had the places to ourselves.

There's a gem of a museum in town – the Calvert Marine Museum. Once the business of marina exploration was complete, we couldn't resist a visit.

The museum is modern, well-laid out and very informative. The highlight for us was the tour of the Drum Point Lighthouse which was decommissioned in 1962 and saved from extinction when it was moved to the museum back in 1975. It's not your usual tower lighthouse, but rather a “screwpile” lighthouse, a style unique to the Chesapeake Bay.

We stopped at the small craft shed where the local small craft guild work on traditional wooden boats.

There's a wooden marsh walk and a live river otter exhibit. Watching the otters was fascinating and the otter tank was quite popular with the little ones. There's even a live webcam of the otters which is pretty cool.

Inside, the varied exhibits explore the history, geography, fauna, flora and industry of the Chesapeake Bay area … and so much more. We wandered through at a leisurely pace, each caught up in our own interests. David spent time learning about this area's involvement in the War of 1812. I enjoyed learning about fossils and the flora and fauna of the area. The seahorses caught my attention.

We enjoy discovering something new when we visit a museum. For instance, we learned the differences between a skate and ray (the tail tells it all at a glance). We observed a skate nursery and finally identified the weird natural objects we'd seen on many beaches as skate egg sacs (and some sharks, too), aka mermaid's purses. That's another of the differences between the two – rays have live births vs. the eggs of the skate.

We learned that a “bugeye” is a type of distinctive sailboat developed in the Chesapeake Bay for oyster dredging. There's a sculptured plaque illustrating a bugeye located along the river walk, a monument to fishermen and watermen who have died plying their trade in the Bay.

Who would have expected (or given it any thought to it at all) that it was Benjamin Lewis who first invented and patented the crab pot?

All and all, we had a great day, walked our dogs off (16,000 steps!!!) and retired to our hotel room exhausted, but satisfied. Sunday dawned dark, grey and dismal with a forecast of heavy rain and thunderstorms. Ah, well … so much better than snow.

Will Nine of Cups end up here in the Solomons? We're not sure yet, but you'll be among the first to know.

PV - Easy-to-Make Fender Covers

Yes, PV … that's Pink View. I know you were expecting the Captain today, but he's up to his eyeballs in alligators, I mean alternators, so you'll have to settle for me instead. That said, this is the how-to blog on making fender covers that I promised the other day. Fenders act as “bumpers” to keep Nine of Cups off the dock and prevent her hull from being scratched and chafed by whatever sticks out from the dock, like cement or wood pilings. Covering them is partly cosmetic … it looks better ... and partly to keep the fenders from rubbing and scuffing the hull. There are pros and cons to using them, but we find them quite useful. Our last fender covers, or fender boots as they are sometimes called, were purchased in Australia and they never fit quite right and were looking pretty ratty. I'd repaired a couple of chafe spots in the past, but their current condition was beyond repair. It was time for something new.

I saw some in West Marine on-line … ~$40 for the size that would fit our fenders and we needed three of them. Yikes! I looked for a pattern on line and found some how-to directions, but none seemed all that cheap nor reasonable until David happened upon a sailing thread that mentioned using sweat pants as fender covers. Brilliant!

Here's how …

1. Measure the circumference and length of the fender to be covered.

   

2. Purchase sweat pants in your choice of color(s) at a thrift shop or discount store, e.g. WalMart, with the following criteria:

   * Be sure the pants are elasticized on the leg cuffs

   *Measure the width of the pant leg and multiply x2. That number should equal the circumference of the fender. For instance, the circumference of the largest fender was about 29”. We chose size 3XL sweat pants for it and a 2XL was large enough for two slightly smaller fenders. Remember the pants have a bit of stretch and the final fit needs to be snug.

   *Measure the length up to the crotch of the sweat pants to be sure the “leg” is long enough.

   *You can make two fender covers from each pair of sweat pants.

3. Stuff a fender into a pant leg bringing the elastic end as far as it will go, but keeping the attachment ring on the end exposed. It should be a snug fit.

   

4. Measure the length allowing for a 1” seam at the cut edge and mark accordingly. Remove the fender and make the cut.
5. Stitch along the top edge, leaving a 1” tube through which you can draw a small length of line.

   

6. Make a small cut in the tube and insert a piece of line attached to a safety pin (or paper clip) and work the line through the tube, drawing it through as you go until it meets the other end of the line. Seize the end(s) of the line with a lighter to keep it from unraveling.

   

7. Slip the cover back onto the fender drawing it up snug and tight from one end to the other. The elastic cuff will keep one end in place.
8. Cinch the drawn line tight on the other end. Tie a knot and tuck it inside the fender cover.

   

   

9. Attach lines to the attachment rings as you usually would and make fast to the boat.

   

Voila! A fender cover that looks great and protects the hull. The only maintenance required is periodic laundering. Hint: If you don't drag your fenders in the water, you won't have to wash them as frequently.

Total cost: ~$4.00/fender cover

Sweatpants at WalMart - $7.36/pr + local tax (makes two fender covers)

A bit of thread, about 18” of small line and 20 minutes of my time.

We Pink View girls are very budget-conscious and handy to have around.