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The list in the picture is the final pre-departure "to do" list. God willing the remaining 18 items should be done by the weekend and allow us to have an easy week prior to our departure for points north around the 4-5th of June.
Nothing really of note to report. Just the usual spring chores of cleaning out the bilges and finding all of the stuff we "stowed" there last year. Kinda like Christmas sometimes and "I cant believe we brought this piece of junk along".
We took three days off to visit Larry's sister, Jean and brother-in-law, Bob who are in a nursing home in York, Pa about 100 miles or so north of the Solomons. They are in a magnificent Methodist assisted care facility. Squeaky clean inside and groomed outside like a fine golf course. All the staff we encountered were upbeat and helpful. If it weren't for those four letter words such as, snow... cold ... rain, it could be a serious contender not too many years from now. Jean is 84 with little short term memory but otherwise very healthy. Bob has a few ailments but is also doing well. We stayed in our camper in the parking lot so had the opportunity for a number of short visits without wearing them or us out.
Our Sunday School Class Friends continue to provide us a home away from home with visits and fun fellowship. We are going to miss their hospitality such as surprise visits to Baskin Robins.
So, if we can get 4-5 things off of the "to do" list in the next few days we can begin the cruising life as it is meant to be.
Pictures posted on picasaweb.google.com/lropka
And the wind blew and blew and blew
A soggy first weekend aboard as a major low pressure system camped out over the Solomons for 4 days and drenched the area with 4 or more inches of rain. We were snug in our slip but the high water and wind made for a restless nights Saturday and Sunday and a dreary Monday.
Our Sunday School teacher, Mike and his wife, Debbie gave us a much needed break from togetherness. Debbie has the best recipe for seafood gumbo which was followed by a super piece of green rhubarb custard pie. We are attending the church we went to last fall so it was like returning home. We are finding Christian fellowship a very important component to our cruising life.
We continue doing Spring chores such as a complete redo of tool and parts storage in the engine room, something really irritating and not done properly since Florida. Also installed a new and more powerful raw wash down pump. This Chesapeake Bay mud sticks to the anchor like glue and the new pump will blast it off much better. Joan redid the entire galley arrangement and we spent a lot of time bashing Democrats and cheering on Republicans on tv during our shut in hours. Don't know what the Republicans would do without our help.
We are off via camper to York Pa to visit Larry's sister on Thursday and Joan's niece who is attending a trade show in Harrisburg on Friday. Back Saturday to continue the mercifully shrinking list of chores.
We still plan to hang here until around 5 June and then start our voyage north. We have begun our route planning (Larry) and sightseeing (Joan). Joan's list of things to do is growing ominously.
God has rewarded us with a spectacular day today (Tue) which makes up for the drenching He gave us over the weekend.
More next week and a few pictures for now at picasaweb.google.com/lropka
The annual ritual of sanding and painting the bottom is a little like having babies. It is merciful that it only comes around once a year which gives you time to forget just how miserable it really is!!
Charis survived the winter magnificently in her shrink wrap cocoon. Everything was exactly as we left it and even the batteries retained most of their charge. Last years bottom paint more or less died over winter and we elected to remove it lest the new paint not adhere. Soooo two days working under the boat with a heavy vacuum assisted sander (heavy!) got the bottom pristine and then morning and afternoon rolled coats of paint and a morning of painting the white boot stripe finished the job and us!!
In the water on Tue 6 May and wonder of wonders all systems revived in order and it floated. Then began the transition from camper to boat with an amazing pile of stuff we seem to have brought with us. Thank goodness we have the truck!
By noon Wed most of the stuff had found a home and the good life aboard began again. The weather has been perfect albeit a bit chilly at night with the blankets always in the wrong vehicle/boat.
Tomorrow, Thursday, will involve a commissary run with the rest of the day devoted to just lazing on the poop deck and enjoying God's creation, watching for the Spring arrival of baby ducks and swans.
Friday we will begin to think about a few small maintenance chores and what happens next. (Shhhh, not to fear, the Admiral has a honey do list, ready and waiting to be implemented. Don't want the Captain to get into cruise time too quickly. They say you last longer if you have an irritant in your life ;-)).
All in all a great start to the Summer. More dirty pictures at picasaweb.google.com/lropka in album Splash 5/6/08
After several weeks of planning and packing the crew of Charis set off from 508 Mary Esther Blvd via the "pocket rocket" headed for Solomons MD and the landlocked Charis. The pre-departure was actually one of our better efforts and divorce was never very imminent. Naturally with only 180+ days to tour on the boat the Admiral had to hone her skills by driving through most of the Outer Banks to pick up the droppings from our previous half dozen passages through that area.
By accident we wound up the second night at Camp LeJeune Onslow Beach campground nestled a few feet from where Charis transited the ICW last spring. Then on to Beaufort, NC a heretofore missed gem. It was well worth the stop with many neat old homes and tidy waterfront streets. Lunch at the "grocery" was a special treat and 2" deep the apple crumb pie to die for.
The Pocket Rocket landed up in the Solomons Tuesday, mid afternoon to what felt like a long anticipated homecoming. We were fortunate to get a great camp site at the Navy Recreation facility just across the highway from our boat. Like living in the middle of well groomed golf course.
A quick inspection of Charis this morning revealed her to be in pristine condition inside and out. shrink wrap rules!!!. Tomorrow we sand the bottom and apply the new bottom paint Friday and Saturday. Back in the water Tuesday the 6th for several days of reassembly and stowage and then possibly sneak off for a day or two shake down.
We plan to cool it here until after Memorial Day to let it warm up and just enjoy this lovely place that is really hard to beat, following that it is off to Canada. A few pictures of Joan's practice touring can be found on picasaweb.google.com/lropka
Seven days and counting!
We hope to get underway via camper next Friday the 25th headed for the Solomons and Charis. About three days en route and then five or six days to paint the bottom and get ready for launch o/a 5 May.
We have had a nice relaxing winter with visits to San Antonio, Orlando and Seattle with house maintenance and vehicle chores inb etween. Speaking of maintenance, Joan had a shoulder replacement the end of Jan. She is doing well with more rehab to go before she can pull up the anchor by herself or throw a line.
We will get the pictures going as we get rolling and look forward to our planned cruise from the Chesapeake to the Ontario area of Canada and return. It should be a very photogenic route and we look forward to sharing it with you.
Captain serves Admiral breakfast in bed to celebrate end of season
Cruisers syndrome finally caught up with us during our last weeks aboard. Almost all things could be done tomorrow and life was easy. If tomorrow ever comes there is going to be a ton of stuff waiting for us there.
Basically, Laura and Joan continued to drag the boys around exploring every last nook and crannies of Calvert and St Mary's counties.
We did get in two delightful nights anchored at Broomes Island and Mill Creek. Then the work began to haul the boat and prepare it for the winter. That was done on 1 Nov at Washburn's boat yard and it went very smoothly. We were most pleased with the condition of the bottom after a year in salt water (Admirals note: One of us on board ran aground twice and we were a bit worried about the amount of living creatures we would find attached to the hull.) which will make preparation and relaunching next spring quite easy. Applying the 40'X75' 120lb piece of shrink wrap on a windy day was a new and exciting experience. The result was a really tough total enclosure which will provide much peace of mind as the winter stroms swirl.
After a frantic weekend 3-4 Nov chasing around we were off to Ft Walton and after a delightful night with our wonderful friends, the Paul and Nancy Goldsmith, in Greenville SC, we arrived home on the 6th.
It is difficult to find words to describe the joys and pleasures we experienced this summer. They greatly exceeded our hopes and dreams and more than rewarded the 5 years of boat building effort. . Although we feel unworthy and undeserving, we saw God's hand up close and personal as time after time mini miracles happened to pave and comfort our way. Not the least of which was the continuous fun and quality brought to our cruise by Laura and Jason, our boat buddies. We will miss them greatly and pray that our paths will cross again.
So this is it for the winter. We will relaunch Charis on 15 April, God willing, and wend our way North to cruise the Canadian canals. Most are unaware of these spectacular waters and if you are looking for something to do this winter Google up " Trent Severn Canal" "Rideau Canal" and "North Channel Cruising".
We thank all of you for your interest in our odyssey and look forward to an encore next year.
As usual more and final pictures at picasaweb.google.com/lropka in album "End of Summer"
Joan and Larry
Beautiful downtown Port Deposit Md.
Made famous as the birthplace of Charis' Captain. ;-)
A super highlight of our idyllic summer last week as we drove about two hours north to celebrate Larry's 75 birthday in the environs of his youthful boating days at the head end of the Chesapeake Bay.
We stayed in an ancient and antique B&B two nights and toured Havre De Grace, Port Deposit and Perryville. Larry contacted several relatives still in the area and had a delightful visit with his cousin Lee Steinhilber who he had not seen in 60 years. Lee is 85 or so and was very close to Larry's father. He still has total recall of Larry's early years and many long forgotten moments were joyfully recalled. Joan had a voice recorder so the visit is saved for posterity.
Larry also met several old timers who knew his father and all of the hunting and fishing lore of early 1900's. Joan delighted in the architecture and charm of the old towns and the quaintness of the natives. All in all, perhaps Larry's most memorable birthday
After returning to the boat Friday we headed out Saturday evening with our friends Laura and Jason to an obscure fall festival at St Clements, a small town nearby on the Potomac, expecting to see a few fireworks and the usual array of hot dogs and funnel cakes. To our surprise and joy there were all kinds of tasty seafood which we ate and possibly the most beautiful fireworks display we have ever seen this side of Taiwan.
Monday we ventured away from the dock to Broomes Island and Mill Creek for two nights at anchor. What a joy. Mill Creek was our favorite anchorage 30 years ago and we were thrilled to find it had changed very little. Even found the crab cakes at Clarke's Landing, a bar and honky tonk back then, to be as good as remembered.
Plans continue on track to lay the boat up on 1 Nov and be home a week or so later.
Pictures at Birthdays and Memories Picasaweb.google.com/lropka
The list in the picture is the final pre-departure "to do" list. God willing the remaining 18 items should be done by the weekend and allow us to have an easy week prior to our departure for points north around the 4-5th of June.
