Day 26 through Day 29, Year 1: Engine in Hardscrabble
Date: Saturday, November 12 through Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Weather: Still Warm . . . Wonderful Full Moon
Location: Oxford, Maryland, Tred-on-Avon, SailAway Marina
As the sun was going down, I was walking back from the shed where I had just taken a shower. There is a door on the shower, but it is essentially outside, and I’m having a hard time believing that I am warm in mid-November after taking a basically outdoor shower. And then I looked up and saw the incredible full moon. What a treat!
I had hoped to be writing this log yesterday (Monday) reporting that the new engine had arrived, but alas, we had one more snag. Mack-Boring shipped the engine on Friday for a Monday arrival, but the shipping company, Estes, sent it to Harrisburg, PA, instead of Salisbury, MD. The engine did arrive in Salisbury last night and was then delivered to the engine doctor’s shop in Hardscrabble, Delaware, at noon today. Tomorrow morning we should finally get to see this new baby here in Oxford. The hope is to get it into the boat tomorrow and have everything ready for the first sea trial on Thursday. If all goes well, we will have the boat pulled out on Friday, put on a new prop, and go out for a second sea trial with the new prop. If all of that works, I’ll decree it a miracle and we could actually be ready to go on Saturday. We’ll see.
Today was the 16th straight day of beautiful weather. Last Friday and Saturday were chilly, but the temperatures have climbed back into the 60’s during the day and only dip into the 50’s at night. Roses are still in bloom here in Oxford but the leaves are falling quickly. Rain is forecast for tomorrow so this incredible streak of weather might be coming to an end. We can’t complain, but we do hope that we will get a decent weather window next week when we hope to head out of the Chesapeake.
Last night, Ron and Suzie Williams came over to visit from across the Chesapeake Bay. Ron went to high school with Mark and a few years ago they discovered each other on the internet as fellow sailors. Ron and Suzie have a Gemini catamaran that they sail to the Bahamas most winters. This winter they are not sailing, but are doing a South American land tour and might meet us in Panama to do the canal transit. We are thinking that when we leave here, we will head to their place in the Patuxent River, and go from there to the Hampton area to wait until the weather is right for the crossing to Bermuda. Or we might just wait in the Patuxent and head out from there. The weather will be the determiner, so again, we’ll see.
Sunday evening we also had a visit from old friends. Sally and Bob Moneymaker, whom I mentioned in a previous log, came over to visit. Sally and I taught together in Seaford, Delaware, before Mark and I moved to New Hampshire. In addition to being friends, Sally and Bob are part-owners of this private marina where we are staying while doing the engine work. One of the other owners, Jeffrey Banks and his wife, Barbara, came on Monday, so we have now met the wonderful people who so graciously are letting us stay here while getting the engine work done.
It is 8:00 o’clock and the moon is officially full. I’ll sign off for now and hope to report good news of engine installation tomorrow night.
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| 051113 Day 27 Boston to Norfolk, USA–Sally and Bob Moneymaker Visit |
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| 051114 Day 28 Boston to Norfolk, USA–Ron and Suzie Williams Visit |
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| 051115 Day 29 Boston to Norfolk, USA–Enjoying Oxford While Working |
