12 Jun 14

The weather was cool and rainy and windy, which meant the mooring was rolly all night long, which did not please the Admiral. We had downpours all morning long, so just chilled on the boat and thought about what to do next. After noon, it let up enough that we decided to get in a bit of grocery shopping, so we called Stanley, the friendly harbor master, who had graciously volunteered to run us up to the grocery store on his day off; all we have to do to compensate him is agree to pay it forward - what a gentleman. When we got back to the dinghy, it was pouring again, and still rough on the mooring, so we decided to move up Spa Creek to the other side of the bascule bridge. We crossed through the bridge at the 16:30 opening and picked up the last available Annapolis City mooring ball; this is much better - calm and absolutely flat. The rain finally quit about 18:30, but we stayed aboard for dinner anyway. I believe the Admiral will sleep better tonight.

13 Jun 14

Friday the 13th, thunderstorms forecast for the afternoon. The forepeak hatch leaked a bit more during the morning shower, so, I spent an hour trying to figure out how to take the hatch off and do something to improve the seal. After lunch, we got the bikes down into the dinghy, took them to the Burnside Street dinghy dock and rode the 2.2 miles to West Marine for advice. They called Lewmar for me and I finally got a bit of (semi) useful advice on how to disassemble the hatch frame; they also suggested simply cleaning the rubber seal before going to the expense of replacing it. We rode home and got back to the boat just before the heavens opened. Lightning strikes were frequent and near, but they all missed us, fortunately. After dinner aboard, we took the dink into the Charles Street dock and walked around town for a bit. It was a very pleasant, cool night after the thunderstorms cleared out.

14 Jun 14

Saturday dawned clear and cool. We hauled the laundry into the dock master facility and Terri spent the morning doing laundry, while I did some forward planning for the journey between here and New York City. After a late lunch, I worked on the forepeak hatch again, but it took two hours to figure out how to get the hinges off. Once I finally figured it out (after reading through numerous web sites, to no avail), it was easy. We cleaned off the acrylic pane, the rubber seal inside and out and the aluminum frame, put it all back together and tested it with a gallon of water poured on the top, and … no leak, hooray! To celebrate, we dinked into town and ate at “Level”, a lovely “small plate” restaurant, sort of like a tapas bar, but without any tie to Spanish or any other style of cuisine, although they do tend to favor Maryland dishes. Definitely worth a revisit.

15 Jun 14

We awoke to another beautiful day in paradise. Cool and dry last night; we had the duvet on again. Happy Father’s Day. We lazed around for awhile in the morning and then went for a kayak to the furthest extremities of Spa Creek. After lunch, we went into town for a bit of sight-seeing and shopping. My very thoughtful and dutiful children called to wish me Happy Father’s Day; much appreciated. Back aboard for happy hour and dinner. After sunset, we went back in for showers.

16 Jun 14

Monday was hot from the get-go. We had arranged for the “honey wagon” to come round at 09:00 to pump out the holding tanks. At 9:30 they had still not arrived and advised that the boat would not be ready till 13:00, so we hung around doing chores and reading. The honey wagon finally arrived just before 14:00, and we did the business and headed for shore. We rode the bus out west to the Barnes & Noble; this turned out to be a bit of an adventure in its own right. We finally got back to old Annapolis about 17:30, whereupon we stopped back in Level for a light dinner, then strolled over to the Rams Head Tavern to watch the USA v Ghana match in the World Cup. USA surprised nearly everyone with a 2-1 win, so it was a good evening.