Ready to Go--And Then Not

Peter spent a few more hours in the shed sorting through stuff that had been stored various places on the boat, bringing some items back on board, throwing some away and laying out an assortment of things for the people at the boat yard to take or disgard. I cleaned the bimini, the pilot house and the water collection conduits. Shalako coiled up the water hose and the shore power cable and stowed them. Shalako and I took showers while Peter finished up.

Peter stowing tools in the engine room

Shalako in the clean and uncluttered pilot house

At 1 p.m., everything seemed good to go, and we decided to eat out at the nextdoor restaurant, Capsize, before departure. Peter and Shalako enjoyed fish and chips while I savored a caprese salad.

Peter and Shalako at lunch

Peter, Sherri and Shalako excited about departing (Mantra is between Peter's and Sherri's heads)

Back on the boat, Peter decided to check the windlass (the device that lowers and raises the anchor and chain at the bow) only to find--oh, no!--that it was not working properly. So we could not leave. He puzzled on the possible causes and then went to the yard, where, with input from staff, he was able to determine that a single part needs to be replaced, which was ordered and will be delivered tomorrow. Meanwhile, he plans to take apart the motor of the windlass in the morning to clean and inspect it.

At 4:00 p.m., we cast off not for departure, alas, but to take on diesel and gasoline and pump out the holding tank at the fuel dock. After that, we spent a couple hours cruising around on the Tred Avon and Choptank Rivers to make sure the engine, instruments and sails are ready to go, which they are.

Shalako and Peter enjoying being underway (if not on our way)

Our new plan is to depart tomorrow to head up the Chesapeake and then down Delaware Bay for the first leg of our journey to Marblehead, Massachusetts. Our fingers are crossed! 

Shalako's short version

Got to Annapolis with the usual airline problems. Had a wonderful couple of days the Marcus, my nephew and his kids.  Marcus took me across the Chesapeake Bay in his power boat early Tuesday. 

They have me working like a dog ever since. Being a swabbie second class I get the low skill jobs but still screw up some. After constant repairs and putting things back in order after a major overhaul the boat is almost ready to go. Hope to leave tomorrow if the last of the repairs are done. 

Did a short shakedown cruise today found a few more problems.  

Almost Ready to Depart Oxford

Shalako, who will be on board with us for a month, arrived around 7 a.m. yesterday. I would have liked to have been up to greet him and meet his nephew, who brought him across the bay in his power boat from Annapolis in the early morning hours while the water was calm, but I simply could not arise after staying up so late the night before doing laundry and then not being able to sleep soundly and being awakened by the watermen at 3:30 a.m. talking loudly to each other from boat to boat on the other side of the fairway from us.

We gave Shalako a little time to settle in, then Peter put him to work! His first job was taking the caps off the eight durade boxes, cleaning the threads and installing the durade cowls (before drizzle began). He fixed the reading light in the aft cabin, did other odd jobs and helped Peter get many dock carts full of stuff off the boat, either to put it in the huge boat yard shed to be sorted the next day or in the dumpster. That took hours. Before that job, Peter was working to make sure the instruments were behaving properly and the new wiring for Starlink was attached to the boat structure with zip ties, among other things. I was busy all day with several jobs, including making five phone calls to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol in Baltimore until I finally reached someone who could give me the email address where we could submit the required form for departure. Peter had attempted to do this several times unsuccessfully the last few weeks, wasting precious hours. It took me about 20 minutes, either due to my superior skills in administrative work or sheer luck. Also, I spent time resupplying and organizing the ditch bag, making meals, and cleaning out storage boxes in the lazarette. Like Peter I found things there to discard, such as leaky containers as well as bottles of cleaning supplies and polish with not enough left in the bottles to be worth keeping. Many of the supplies in the lazarette were purchased and stowed by the original owners. If I had never used them in seven years, would I ever use them?

Shalako on his first task 

In the middle of the afternoon, Shalako and I walked to the Oxford Market to get final provisions such as milk, eggs, bagels and, of course, Diet Coke. We also bought a couple treats, but we didn't consume them yesterday because we noticed as we walked by the Scottish Highlands Creamery that it was open. Since Memorial Day has passed, summer hours have begun and they are open every day. I insisted that Shalako indulge in their delicious ice cream, and we each had a small cup, with two generous scoops. 

Shalako, after talking with his wife Patty, called it a night around 9 p.m., but Peter and I stayed up doing small tasks until 11 p.m., focused on last minute preparations for the surveyor.

Todd, who has surveyed Mantra before, came on board around 8:30 a.m., and he and Peter reviewed all the new additions, modifications and corrections of previously cited deficiencies (according to the standards, which Peter does not always agree with). Apparently, the official survey includes three levels of priorities, and Mantra met all the requirements for A and B, with C just being recommendations and not necessities. This is not surprising given the amount of time Peter has worked on the boat, from rising early each morning to going to bed late at night, for six weeks last October and six and half weeks this spring. In addition, an exorbitant amount of money has been spent on parts and labor from the boat yard and on new items such as the batteries, Starlink, safety equipment, a 6-person life raft and almost innumerable other things that Peter installed. Mantra is in much better shape than when we purchased her, thanks to Peter being a master of many trades including electrical systems, mechanics, rigging, composites and sail repair (none of which I have any deep knowledge of or expertise in). 

With the survey completed around 11 a.m., we could focus on our immiment departure. I have been making a diagram of the boat (not yet completed) showing the location of all the through-hulls, fire extinguishers and blankets, manual bilge pumps and emergency beacons. Not only is the boat in great condition, but Peter and I have taken an on-line course on Safety and Sea (as has Shalako), which has provided a comprehensive understanding of things we may have known, may have overlooked or never realized. We actually have been somewhat cavalier in the past about some potential safety issues, and I need to practice more in particular because there are so many aspects that Peter understands and tasks he can perform that I cannot. 

We have only one mishap in our preparations for departure. When the rain let up around 3 p.m. today, Shalako seized the opportunity to fill the water tanks from the tap on the dock. However, he accidently opened the wrong cover and started to put water in the diesel tank. Luckily, Peter was in the cockpit and noticed almost immediately, shouting, "Stop, stop, stop!" The clamor brought me on deck, and we all stood there with the same idea: "Oh, *&*@! What will we do now?" I went to the boat yard manager, who was still here even thought all the laborers had left. (They start work quite early.) He loaned us a hand pump with a long tube and a large-capacity container to pump the water from the bottom of the tank, where it would have sunk. Peter and Shalako worked on this project for a couple of hours, having to make modifications to the apparatus with extra pipe to reach the bottom. Peter ran the fuel polisher after they believed they had extracted all the water and then turned on the generator, which worked! It could have been worse, and Shalako and I agreed that Peter had handled the situation with great equanimity.

While on the dock before dark, I saw a beautiful green heron, which walked along ahead of me, perched on a line and then flew off in the drizzle.

Mantra on the dock in rainy weather

Green heron perched on a dock line

Peter has spent hours in the shed today mulling over what to keep and what to discard. He took a break for dinner, and then went back at 8:30 (after finding another job for Shalako), working some more until 10:30. Shalako was in the forepeak until almost 10:00 dealing with an oil leak in the windlass. I made cheese potato soup and a salad for dinner and then cleaned up afterwards while they performed their jobs. It is now 11:30. Shalako has gone to bed, Peter has gone to the club house to shower off grease and grime and sweat, and I am getting ready to end this blog post.

It will probably be another early morning. Eventually, we will relax into the cruising lifestyle, but we are not there yet.

The Work Continues

Today, both Peter and I were quite busy. Our crew--our friend Shalako--called us right after we got up this morning, saying he would be arriving at our boat, via his nephew's power boat, from Annapolis around 7 a.m. Tuesday. We wanted to get a lot of jobs done before his arrival. After I made breakfast and cleaned up, Peter went on deck to finish making Brummel splices and installing new life lines starboard and port. We have been sleeping in the aft cabin, so I needed to strip the bed there and also the one in the forward cabin, where our friends Lori and Germán had stayed. Of course, it has been a week since I did laundry, so there were also towels and clothes to add to the baskets.

I postponed the laundry until later so that I could clean the cabins, saloon, galley and bathroom. This took a good deal of time, but it was warmer today and the sun was shining, so I was able to open the hatches and let in more light. In the process of cleaning, I removed everything from the nav station and laid everything on an old towel on the saloon table, and I put all the boxes and bags and paraphernalia on the couch so, after scrubbing and dusting, I could wash the floors. The mess is getting more contained!

Peter's stuff off the floor and other areas and contained in one place

All the stuff from the nav station

Peter and I both finished our work after 2 p.m. and decided to walk into town to get lunch at ice cream. We ate lunch from the Oxford Market and Deli in the park and then enjoyed our delicious ice cream--there are always new flavors to try!--on a bench in front of the shop.

Peter and Sherri in the park

The Scottish Highland Creamery

We separated after that, with Peter returning to the boat to get back to work and me extending my break to stroll around town and finish the walking tour. One stop was the Oxford library, which was founded in 1939, the year after Oxford High School closed. It has been at its current location since 1956. For 86 years, it has been run entirely by volunteers, who also contributed to construction costs of the one-room building.

The Oxford Library

Saint Paul's Church, built in 1856, was the town's first Methodist Church. Before the Civil War, all Methodists in Oxford attended church here, but after General Lee surrendered to the Union Army, the congregation segregated into those who had supported the North and those who were Confederates. The lovely building is now privately owned and hosts concerts and other social events.

Saint Paul's Church

Maplehurst, built in 1880 by Edward and Margaret Stevens. Of their seven children, two daughters, Ida and Nellie, never married and inherited the home. Beloved local school teachers, they shared a passion for botany and planted trees and other plants on the property. Nellie successfully cross-pollinated a Chinese and a native holly. The tree still stands in the yard and became nationally registered in 1952.

Maplehurst

Further down Morris Street, which extends the eight blocks through town and still has brick sidewalks on both sides of the road, is the stone Holy Trinity Episcopal Church. Designed in 1853, it was not actually finished until 1903 due to financial setbacks and the disruption early on of the Civil War.

Holy Trinity Episcopal Church

Heading back to Oxford Boat Yard, which has been a site of construction and maintenance of boats since the mid-18th century, I passed the two-story red Odd Fellows Hall, builit in the 1890's and situated in what used to be the heart of the self-contained neighborhood of Black families. (Whites lived along the Strand and Morris Street.) The residents had their own markets, school, barber and beauty shops, taverns, churches, pool hall and gathering places, including the Odd Fellows Hall. The bright building, with its distinctive pressed tin siding and cupola, now leans noticeably to the east.

Odd Fellows Hall

The lean of the building apparent in relation to the house across the street

I passed a small fleet of watermen's boat across from the docks of the boat yard, which we watch returning six days a week. (I am not up at 4:30 to see them depart.) Active year-round, these boats are used to harvest crabs in the summer and fall and oysters in the winter and early spring.

Watermen's boats

Around 5:30, back on Mantra, I set to work cleaning, as requested by Peter, two of the large deck hatches, a job I thought would surely take less than an hour. Alas, I ended up cleaning all of the deck hatches and then the durade cowls, and the sun was setting by the time I finished.

I still had to do the laundry! I made us a salad for dinner, which we ate on the aft deck (the only place available) and did the dishes. Peter helped me load all the laundry and supplies into a dock cart and we headed to the marina clubhouse. Peter planned to take a shower and return to the boat, while I planned to shower and then settle in for a couple hours. I got two of the four loads started (There are only two washing machines and two dryers) and then realized that I could not find the roll of quarters I had picked up earlier in the day. I walked back to our boat, but I couldn't find the roll. I was not going to be able to dry the linens and clothes! Perhaps they had gone into one of the machines, but, no, when the cycles finished, they were not there. What was I going to do? I called Peter on the boat and after looking in various places, he finally found the quarters and brought them to me. I started two dryers and two washers. Then I realized that I didn't have enough money to dry the clothes I had just started to wash! I will have to take them back to the boat wet and bring them back here to dry in the morning after the marina store, where I can get more quarters, opens.

To top it off, I was so distracted by the quarter fiasco that I put the towel and washcloth I had brought for showering in with the dirty clothes, so the shower will have to wait for the morning also.

It's approaching midnight, so I will add a few photos and put the laundry in the baskets and wheel the dock cart back to our boat, where I will still have to make the bed before we can sleep!

Ditch Bag and Life Lines and Other Tasks

Sunset on the Tred Avon

After a couple days of an unrelenting, cold northeast wind which kept flags flying stiffly, the breeze abated  yesterday in the late afternoon, although the water was still choppy. Peter and I played a game of Phase 10. (He won, but I won at backgammon the previous evening.) Then, we went to bed. 

The skies were sunny until the late afternoon today, although a lighter northeast wind still made it chilly even though the thermometer almost reached 70 degrees Fahrenheit. We spent the day on the boat. 

Peter spent time working on electronic equipment early in the morning, and, after I woke up, he installed the new forward-facing sonar. He wanted me to video the water gushing up through the bilge in the time between when he pulled out the bung and when he inserted the sonar device. Unfortunately, when I jumped back from the little geyser, I must have accidentally stopped videotaping, so I failed in my first task of the day. (Breakfast of mushroom and cheese omelet and fried potatoes was a success, however.) 

Peter getting ready to pull the plug

After the geyser

After breakfast, I walked to the marina clubhouse and enjoyed a delightfully hot and long shower. On the way there, I stopped to observe the cluster of nests where numberous purple martins are tending their young.

Purple martins nesting

Purple martin at a nest

Later, I inventoried the ditch bag and ordered items I thought we needed such as a signal mirror and a whistle and a compass (I found the mirror and whistle in a hidden pocket later.) and tested all the lights and beacons. I found a four-day supply of the previous owner's heart and cholesterol medicine. We don't need those prescriptions, but finding them made me realize that I should put my own prescription drugs in the ditch bag! I guess I'm not as optimistic about rescue, because I cached a ten-day supply. I also found copies of their passports, which would have been confusing for rescuers if they found the ditch bag but not us! Obviously, copies of our passports will be included.

After lunch, Peter and I worked on putting on new lifelines. Some of the ones on the port side were damaged when a enormous amount of accumulated snow fell from the roof of the large shed in the boat yard onto Mantra, stored on the hard directly beside the shed. Peter looked at video to remind himself how to make Brummel splices, and he taught me. We cut the first line for the top line on the port side too short, but luckily it fits in the middle. Unluckily, the holes in the stancions for the middle and bottom lines do not have as big a diameter as the top, so the Brummel splice would not go through them. Peter had to undo one of the splices and then redo it after feeding the line through. There is now one new line in place and three to go, but that is a job for tomorrow--although Peter may be working on it as I type and wait for the water to boil for pasta.

The new Dyneema line

Peter and Sherri ready to splice line

Peter finishing off a splice

A Brummel splice

Peter attaching a line to the forward pulpit

A stanchion, showing the top with a larger hole for the line

STILL in Oxford for a Few More Days

Currently, an inspection of the new batteries and the electrical connections is scheduled for Tuesday, May 27, and the survey for insurance is booked for Wednesday. Rain is predicted Monday through Sunday of next week, but we hope to leave on Thursday if possible. It is 700 nautical miles to Marblehead, Massachusetts, where we are scheduled to to take a U.S. Sailing hands-on safety at sea course on June 7. 

Yesterday was gloomy and quite windy. After a brief walk around town, I worked on registering our new rescue beacons, including a new Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) and personal locator beacons (PLBs) with the relevant authorities, which took a few hours. Among other tasks, Peter reconnected the single sideband radio, which required rewiring, re-securing and soldering since the riggers had cut the wire when the backstay was removed two years ago. 

As we were working on documentation down below, there was a knock on the hull, and we were delighted to find Bill and Rosemary Thomas on the dock. They owned a 60-ft. Sundeer for 16 years and cruised around the world. (We own a 56-ft. Sundeer.) We last encountered them in Mobjack Bay in the southern Chesapeake Bay a few years ago, when they still had their Sundeer. Now, they have gone to the dark side and are owners of an enormous 57-ft. Nordhavn trawler. They invited us over for drinks and dinner in the evening.

Peter realized that the boat yard shop would be closing soon and rushed up the dock to pick up packages. The store was already closed, but Peter spied a FedEx truck getting ready to pull away and flagged down the driver. This was fortunate, because the truck contained our new life raft, which we need to have on board before inspection. The driver used his dolly to move the palette with the big box on top to the dock by the stern of our boat. 

We enjoyed a lovely evening with Bill and Rosemary and their long-time friends Bert and Pat, who sailed in from Baltimore on a Beneteau, all of us exchanging amusing stories of being on the water. As the sun was setting, it was time to leave. Bill and Bert offered to help get the life raft on board, an offer we could not refuse because it is a bit unwieldy in size. I untied the lines securing the old one while the three men adjusted dock lines to get the stern as close as possible to the dock. Then we lowered the outer frame for the life raft and made the switch. I am pretty sure we could not have accomplished this task, at least not in such a short time, without them. But it is just an example of how boaters help each other without a second thought.

Bill, Peter and Bert adjusting lines

Peter securing the new life raft

After two glasses of wine, I was ready to go to bed, and Peter and I both retired early (10ish). He was up before 6 a.m., as usual, while I slept for over 9 hours, as usual. This morning and into the afternoon, he worked on attacking the "critical mess" on the nav table and elsewhere. After taking care of a couple small things on the boat, I left to go to the post office to pick up packages, to look at the quilt exhibit of antique American quilts at the Oxford Museum, and to download and use the free historic walking guide of the town. Along the Strand, I watched the little Optimists from the yacht club racing on the river. 

Optomists racing on the Tred Avon

When I arrived at the museum after stopping in the post office, I took photographs of just some of some  the many quilts and other items. 

State Flower Quilt, 1945

Detail of a crazy quilt

Maryland Mathematical Quilt, 1830-40

Easter Bunny baby quilt, 1940

Square within a Square Quilt, 1870-80

Quilting and other tools and a cross-stitcheed pillow, 1881

Red Rhapsody Quilt, 1895

Part of the Fabric of History: Antique American Quilts at the Oxford Museum

Signature on a quilt made by different people in Oxford

Hubert Ver Mehren Dalia quilt, 1935

Detail, crazy quilt, 1893

Crazy quilt, 1893

Great Aunt Minnie's crazy quilt, 1920

Detail, Laural Leaf quilt, 1850-60

Brickerville Oak Leaf and Reel Quilt, 1850

Then I downloaded the guided tour and begin strolling and listening to history. The area was settled by English colonists in the 1660's, centuries after the local indigenous people, the Choptanks, started using this small peninsula of land by the mouth of the Tred Avon River. In 1670, the plan for streets in a grid pattern was created, although development was slow. The lovely town park between Morris Street (the main street) and the Tred Avon was the original marketplace. On the north side of this former market, starting in the 1800's, white children attended the long gone elementary and high school. Churches, houses and other buildings surrounded the marketplace in the 1800's. The brick sidewalks still existing along Morris and other streets trace their origins to pre-Revolutionary times.

The most grand old house in Oxford is the Bratt Mansion, also known as Academy House. It was built in 1847 by General Tench Tilghman, a great-grandson of Lt. Col. Tench Tilghman, who was one of George Washington's aides-de-camp in the Revolutionary War. After this war, with trade with England diminished, Oxford declined from a thriving port rivaling Annapolis to a town of fewer than 100 people. To help re-build the town, Gen. Tilghman started the Maryland Military Academy here. The mansion was the officers' quarters, with facilities for cadets beside it. On September 13, 1855, the young men were smoking, which was against the rules, and burned down the dormitories and classrooms, and the school was not rebuilt.

The Bratt Mansion

Across the street is the Barnaby House, built in 1770 by Richard Barnaby, a sea captain. It is one of only four late-eighteenth century buildings remaining in Oxford and the only one on its original foundation. and 95% of its original structure is intact. 

Barnaby House

Nearby is the former post office and home of Molly Stewart, who served as postmistress for 63 years. She was the first female postmistress in the U.S. She was just 18 years old when she succeeded her father in 1877. Her story is quite fascinating. In 1928, Republican Senator Phillips Goldsborough was elected and, in appreciation for his financial and other support, George Dawson of Oxford was appointed postmaster by Goldsborough. Not wanting to give up her job, Miss Molly took the train to Washington, D.C. and went to the Senate to appeal the appointment, insisting on a civil service exam. Several people, including Miss Molly and Dawson, sat for the exam; she received the highest score, and Dawson failed the test. Senator Goldsborough called for another exam in a year and allowed her to be the interim postmistress. A year later, she again earned the highest score, but Dawson also passed. However, the other Senator from Maryland, a Democrat, rallied behind her, saying he would vote against Dawson's appointment and contacting newspapers nationwide, letting them know that the Republicans were trying to deprive an old woman of her job and livelihood. His efforts were successful, and she remained on the job until 1940.

The Molly Stewart House and former Post Office

The Grapevine House remains much the same as when it was constructed in 1798 by two brothers, one a sea captain. Capt. William Willis was returning from France and stopped at the Channel Islands of Guernsey and Jersey. While there, he took cuttings from local grapevines and stuck them in potatoes to keep them alive for the Atlantic crossing. One perished, but the others thrived in the soil in front of the house. By the 1850's, the grapevine had a circumference of 45 inches and went all the way around the house, making it one of the largest in the world. It is reported that one year, it produced 24,500 bunches of grapes. Today, there is a small section remaining by the walkway to the house.

Grapevine House

James Stewart from Scotland built the Stewart House in 1790 from the timbers of old ships. The house faced away from the water to eliminate the impact of the strong winds that sweep over the Strand. The house was enlarged over time. Members of the Stewart family lived there from 1790 until 2006; Erma Stewart, a teacher in Oxford, lived in this home for 100 years.

The Stewart House

Across the Strand from the Stewart House is a replica of a small customs house. Captain Jeremiah Banning was the first federal customs officer in Oxford, appointed by President Washington. He owned a plantation, The Isthmus, across the river. Banning built the customs house on his land for his convenience. If boats docked on the Oxford side of the Tred Avon, he would have a servant row him across to check the cargo.

All along the Strand, docks accommodated large ships for cargo and passengers, and commercial buildings, not homes, faced the waterfront. But, at the point where the L-shaped peninsula bends, sits the Sandaway Suites Inn, the main building of which is the home of a wealthy Philadelphian Col. Samuel Wetherell Sr., built between 1873 and 1876. He planted spectacular gardens and specimen trees that still dominate the landscape.

The Wetherill House and Gardens, now part of the Sandaway Suites

The Robert Morris Inn, at the corner of North Morris Street and the Strand, had its beginning in the early 18th century, as the small office and possibly home of Robert Morris Sr., who arrived in Oxford in 1738 to manage the affairs of Foster, Cunliffe and Sons, a powerful British mercantile firm based in Liverpool, England. A brilliant trader, he made a fortune for his firm and for himself and is credited with reviving the town's economy. Local dried tobacco filled the holds of outgoing ships, while incoming vessels brought a wide variety of manufactured goods and luxury items.

The Robert Morris Inn

There are more stops on the tour, but I decided to return to the boat and see more tomorrow. Peter has been working on installing a new bilge pump in the forepeak, and I had to help him for a while. It's getting late now and I should think about dinner before sunset.