6/29/09
Aboard No Boundaries
I know that by the time you read this post, it will be long past the date of departure. I am just trying to keep the timeline straight. Keep reading, please, and come back every day or two for updates.
Ever since May 1, we have worked and worked on the boat with one goal in mind: to get out of Chesapeake Bay and go north. It has been much harder to achieve than we imagined on May 1. I have chronicled for you some of our adventures, but I have left out a lot of the tedium. Let’s face it. A woman standing in front of a pile of lines, bags, buckets and assorted paraphernalia struggling to figure out how to fit them into an impossibly small space does not present compelling drama. Anyone who ever tried to help a teenager clean his room has already been there, and it was not fun.
However, today we have put a lot of those tasks behind us. The ones that remain look manageable, and it even looks as if we might be done in a day or two. We are starting to say, “Maybe tomorrow, or at least the next day.”
Yesterday we came back to Baltimore for a few supplies and to visit with friends one more time. The fuel dock was our first stop, and we had expected that with the fuel would come a free pumpout. That is an advertised benefit we count on. However, as sailing luck would have it, what we expected was not exactly what we got. The fuel dock attendant told us that the pumpout machine was broken and the parts were on order. AAaaaggghhh!
The solution was to go somewhere else and pay for the service. We decided to go the Baltimore Marine Center, located right beside the anchorage where we wanted to spend the night. The wind was blowing very hard toward their dock as we arrived, and we cruised past it once to assess the situation. Unlike the dock where we had bought fuel, BMC does not have fenders along the whole length of the dock. They have four fenders at each pump and nothing for long stretches in between. You had better get it right when you dock there.
We circled a second time trying to get a good feel for the approach. Then we turned to face that dock a third time, thinking we had it well planned. However, as we approached the fenders, but probably ten feet before the first one, a gust of wind threw us forcefully against the unguarded wood of the dock. There was a sickening screech. Then we arrived at the fender and we were certainly close enough for me to jump off and try to tie down the boat.
Unfortunately, the same wind that had slammed us into the dock had now taken it into its head to shove us away. I wrapped the spring line around a cleat and dug my feet in, figuratively speaking. Larry briefly put the engine in reverse to fight back at the wind. Then ever so slowly the boat responded to our direction and sank gently against the four fenders. I cleated the spring line, grabbed the stern line as Larry threw it and cleated it quickly before running to the bow to catch that line and cleat it down. We had arrived.
That scratch is repairable, and I always say that an unmarked boat hasn’t had any adventures. We have had a few, and both we and the boat have some marks to prove it. May it always be so.
Tomorrow, or the next day, we head north. If we have any more adventures, we will be sure to let you know when we connect with cyberworld again.
Write a comment