Joaquin Scare and Time in Fenwick, DE

Two weeks on land, a hurricane, a nor'easter and lots of manual labor - what have you all been up to?

We had a plan to spend two weeks at Sharon's family beach house in Fenwick Island, DE before departing for our trip south this season. Time off the boat is nice once in awhile!  The treats include your own laundry and land showers (nice when it's not 90 degrees out). The Fenwick Island house even has an outside shower (in addition to the bathroom showers) which we always look forward to using.

We buttoned up the boat in Galesville, MD (near Annapolis), plugged in so the A/C dehumidifier would keep things dry, then we headed to the Delaware coast on the 23rd of September.  We had a few major projects to accomplish at the house, as well as sharing fun with family and friends.  But, a few days later we were back in Galesville, taking sails and canvas down, stowing dinghy and solar panels, and preparing to have Dream Catcher hauled.  We were very uneasy with the forecast of hurricane Joaquin, and didn't want to wait until the last minute to ask the boatyard to haul Dream Catcher (we waited too long once and the boat stayed in the water through another hurricane). We worked quickly and Dream Catcher soon sat happily on the hard while we hopped in the car and headed back to Fenwick - a bit tired and with slightly sore muscles.

This meant, however, that we could stop worrying about the boat, and shift our attention to the house.  The house had suffered in Hurricane Sandy and we are still picking up the pieces from half a foot of water in the lower level.  This time, there was talk of a 3 - 4 foot tidal surge in the bays, on which our back yard sits.  As the nor'easter brewed and Joaquin got closer we walked daily to see the ocean, which turned into raging waves lapping at the dunes, steady 20-30 knot winds with gusts over 50 (for four days straight), and a promise of a lot of rain.  Friends had planned to visit that Friday and actually drove down from upstate Delaware.  They had to divert inland when they hit Dewey Beach because Rte 1 was flooded north of Fenwick.  In spite of the weather we had a wonderful two days with them.

Fortunately, the high water level stayed about a foot below the lower level.  All we lost was a patch of roof shingles.  When the winds calmed enough we carried new shingles to the roof and replaced the lost ones.  This is Greg's least favorite thing to do - he hates working on a roof!  Whew!  But, we were much more fortunate than those in the Bahamas and the Carolinas.

Normally the beach is twice as wide, about 30 yards from the fences; here, the surf is pushing at the dune fence

We are fortunate to have pretty high dunes that are well planted and fenced three times,
but the ocean has moved a lot of sand up onto the dunes.

This is our backyard - the gray stone leads to a boat ramp (which is underwater here) into the lagoon
which takes us out to the Bay; Greg says Sharon is standing on sinking ground - he is right!

By Monday, we were back in Galesville, happy that Joaquin had taken a right turn, and we took the opportunity to polish and wax the hull and change the propeller shaft zinc.  The zinc is the sacrificial metal that corrodes instead of the propeller.  Normally, (in warm, clear water) Greg dives down to replace this, but this was a welcomed opportunity to be able to stand next to it and do it in 10 minutes instead of 30 (while trying to hold his breath with tools in one hand and the prop in the other!)  But, just as Greg wasn't thrilled with his roof work, polishing and waxing the hull are Sharon's least favorite boat chores.  Why?  Well, think about hand polishing, then hand waxing your car about five times.  That's about the surface area the boat's topsides are (waterline to deck).  So, a few hours of "wax on", "wax off", most of this at eye level or higher, and you'll understand what shoulder pain is! Greg said he could hear his joints grinding!  He's odd, because he actually likes this job!

We are floating once again and are getting ready to leave Monday morning to head to Florida.  So, while we're at the dock we are taking advantage of local markets and boat stores to prep.  Sharon hit the markets for paper goods and other needed items.  (Love the coffee selection at Fresh Market!) Greg filled our #2 propane tank today.  Then he dismantled the top of the windlass (the motor to haul the anchor...there will be a test!) to install a new control arm (a piece of stainless steel that guides the anchor chain into the anchor locker when retrieving the anchor - another test question!)  This little item is spring loaded (like a clothes pin spring, only much stronger), and you have to tension the spring while assembling it.  One part of the windlass wouldn't come loose, so he had to tension the spring and push it into the slots in a way that was not intended. The spring snapped back many times before he was able to get it into the correct location.  Four finger cuts later he succeeded.  Ouch!  But, it works!

One year ago we purchased a cellular amplifier to improve our cell reception, especially in remote areas.  We've been disappointed that it never seemed to work.  The antenna sits atop the mast (remember when we had the mast pulled?), so it should have a much better reach than a phone inside the boat.  So, Greg took all the components to Fenwick, set it up there, and got the tech support guys on the phone...for an hour.  The result was that the unit was bad!  So, ship the old one back, wait for the new one.... today Greg reassembled the components on the boat and, voila - five bars!  It works!  Cool!

Tonight, we are relaxing on board, plugged in with a little cabin heat if we want to keep the chill away.  Tomorrow, we head over to Annapolis to attend the boat show and see a bunch of sailing friends.  Sunday, we do the rental car shuffle (drive to Salisbury, pick up a rental, drive to Fenwick, leave our car in the garage plugged into a trickle charger, come back and drop rental in Annapolis, get cab to boat).  Monday morning, we head south.  It will be an interesting trip given the amount of water and flooding the middle Atlantic states have had.  We will need to watch out for debris all along the way.

We are excited to be on the water again!  Woohoo!  We look forward to our travels south.  Hope you will travel with us.