For those of you who really like to keep tabs on me, my little nautical “Truman Show” now has me back on Webcam at my berth in Solomons.
http://www.act-us.info/i-cam.html
I should have let you know this morning as you could have watched my solo docking in this berth with enough wind behind me to make it interesting. I would have been proud to have it on tape.
I had enough rare presence of mind to row over in the dinghy first with most of my dock lines and set them up ahead of time. I tied the port bow and stern lines together and the brought the starboard bow line across to them tied tightly enough to hold them just below stemhead height. The port stern line was hung on bolt that holds a sign stanchion to the piling. A loop was tied in the end for easy boat hook snagging.
I rowed back, fired up the engine and cruised into the slip with fenders and fender boards rigged on the starboard side since the chafing gear on the piling is worn down to the splintery wood and nails. I stopped the boat, grabbed and made fast the starboard stern line, and it then took but a moment to untie the three other lines and lead them to their cleats. A couple minutes of line adjustment and I was secure.
Friday morning, I woke to wind and rain as I have every day of this stalled little low that has been grinding over the bay. I walked out to look at the bay just before lunch and decided it was worth getting wet and beat up to save another night of marina dockage.
The run down wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. There had evidently been enough easing of the wind during the night to let the waves die down a bit. There were a few showers, including one in which it rained hard enough to beat the sea flat, something I have only seen a few times. Mostly, it was just a long and damp day.
I pulled into Solomons too tired to want to try this morning’s evolution so I anchored off the Tiki Bar and spent two nights and a day just sitting and hanging out with only a brief foray in the dinghy to buy ice.
I’m now hooked up to electric power, have had a good hot shower, and am about to take my first walk ashore. The mechanic comes to adjust the valves on the engine tomorrow. Jimm plans to arrive Tuesday evening on the first leg of his grand adventure south and beyond. We’ll then cruise together down the bay for a while.
http://www.act-us.info/i-cam.html
I should have let you know this morning as you could have watched my solo docking in this berth with enough wind behind me to make it interesting. I would have been proud to have it on tape.
I had enough rare presence of mind to row over in the dinghy first with most of my dock lines and set them up ahead of time. I tied the port bow and stern lines together and the brought the starboard bow line across to them tied tightly enough to hold them just below stemhead height. The port stern line was hung on bolt that holds a sign stanchion to the piling. A loop was tied in the end for easy boat hook snagging.
I rowed back, fired up the engine and cruised into the slip with fenders and fender boards rigged on the starboard side since the chafing gear on the piling is worn down to the splintery wood and nails. I stopped the boat, grabbed and made fast the starboard stern line, and it then took but a moment to untie the three other lines and lead them to their cleats. A couple minutes of line adjustment and I was secure.
Friday morning, I woke to wind and rain as I have every day of this stalled little low that has been grinding over the bay. I walked out to look at the bay just before lunch and decided it was worth getting wet and beat up to save another night of marina dockage.
The run down wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. There had evidently been enough easing of the wind during the night to let the waves die down a bit. There were a few showers, including one in which it rained hard enough to beat the sea flat, something I have only seen a few times. Mostly, it was just a long and damp day.
I pulled into Solomons too tired to want to try this morning’s evolution so I anchored off the Tiki Bar and spent two nights and a day just sitting and hanging out with only a brief foray in the dinghy to buy ice.
I’m now hooked up to electric power, have had a good hot shower, and am about to take my first walk ashore. The mechanic comes to adjust the valves on the engine tomorrow. Jimm plans to arrive Tuesday evening on the first leg of his grand adventure south and beyond. We’ll then cruise together down the bay for a while.