So, what was Steve up to while Jessie, Will and I were enjoying the sights in Baltimore and Jake was visiting his buddy, Tito, and taking advantage of 24-hour outdoor potty access?
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Jake Chillin' as Jessie and Will's
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Jake and Tito Keeping Watch
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Steve was still anchored in Deltaville aboard Starry Night making use of his fancy Sailrite sewing machine! He made a replacement for one of the Starry Night Lounge cushions which blew away during a heavy wind event and re-covered the other seat cushions up top to match. Ever the engineer, he also designed and fabricated a new backrest to attach the upright cushions to.
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| Replacement Cushion |
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| Newly Covered Sun Lounge Cushions |
The cushion project kept him busy for ten days - until the scheduled haul-out of Starry Night on September 10th - and during this time he also began identifying and purchasing all of the parts and supplies which would be needed for the other projects on the list.
Once out of the water, the planned work included sanding the hull and applying a fresh coat of paint, minor fiberglass and gelcoat repairs of a few areas, cleaning and repainting the anchor chain, and beefing up the anchor roller and its bracket.
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| Anchor Roller with Gussets and New Roller Axel |
And then, of course, there are the things that weren't on our list but came up unexpectedly... like the new refrigerator that we need because ours developed a freon leak, a new thermostat and switch for our secondary fridge in the cockpit, new stereo parts since the control panel on ours stopped working, and mesh for the new trampoline we need due to holes that have developed in the old mesh.
Two steps forward and one step back, as they say.
Meanwhile, back in Maryland, I've been doing odds and ends around the house while Jessie and Will are working, in addition to taking care of the pups, getting back into a regular exercise routine, reading, and adding some more traditional learning methods to my Spanish language curriculum (e.g. working through a grammar workbook), which until now has only consisted of Duolingo training.
One weekend, Jessie, Will and I took a hike on the Serpentine Trail in the Soldier's Delight Natural Environment Area which is located northwest of Baltimore. The "serpentine" in the name is not referring to resident snakes or the shape of the path but rather the type of rock which is the foundation of the so-called "serpentine barren". The rock, which is oceanic in origin, is greenish brown, and resembles the scales of a serpent. It contains minerals such as nickel and chromium which are not suitable for most plant and animal species, and therefore is home to a unique set of plants, some of which I was not able to identify.
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| Soldiers Delight: A Serpentine Barren Ecosystem |
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| False Foxglove |
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| Nightshade Plant |
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| Pin Cushion Moss |
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| Ironweed |
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| Canada Thistle (I think) |
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Partridge Pea
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| Unknown, but I'm Calling It Seymore |
Although I've spent most of the last month at Jessie and Will's house, I did take a couple of trips back to Deltaville to be with Steve: the first for the haul out and the second to celebrate Steve's (60th!) birthday. Unfortunately, I failed in my blog duties and didn't take any pictures. :-(
With a travel time of around 4 hours, it's a little too far to go on a more frequent basis - especially for Jake - so Steve is getting a little more alone time than any of us prefer. We're hoping that we will be able to reunite within the next week or so, and travel to Connecticut to visit relatives for a few weeks.
Until next time....
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