Annapolis and Boatshows

We had a lovely sail down from Baltimore to Annapolis and were pleasantly surprised that we could squeeze ourselves into the main anchorage (with the upcoming boatshow the anchorage was full!). The wind was very fickle but we still managed to put the sails up and do it mostly sailing. It meant that there were times we were only going 3 knots and then other times when we were going 11 knots.

This day was also Thanksgiving and Halyna’s 13th birthday! So, while we were sailing and making our way to Annapolis, we were also baking a birthday cake and prepping Thanksgiving dinner. We picked up what we thought was an 8lb turkey in Baltimore a few days before (it was the only one available) but when we opened it up on Thanksgiving, it turned out to be a turkey ‘breast and rib cage’. So, what it actually was, was a near full turkey, missing only the legs and wings. In otherwords, I was able to stuff it like I would a normal turkey, but we had none of the dark meat (which my family considers the best). It was also super funny looking! But we made it work. In the end, because we cooked the turkey in our convection oven, the white meat turned out really juicy and we were happy. We had a turkey dinner with all the fixings and then followed it up with chocolate cake with blackberries (Halyna’s special request).

We came back to Annapolis to go to the annual Sailboat Show. However, it didn’t start until the Thursday so we had a few days to waste. We spent them doing boat jobs and school work. Our first boat job was to clear our navigation station and set up a family computer station/desk space in the main cabin. Kevin and I have been using our labtop computers but Kevin hopes to do some independant work that requires a little more desk space than that you get from your lap. Plus, we are able to put charting on the computer rather than using the multifunctional display that we currently have inside (and isn’t working anyway). It was exciting to clean up the navigation station because it really was the last spot *inside* the boat that hadn’t been cleaned up into something more useable.

The next day we did school and then took a trip into town to play at the park. At the park were a number of other families that are living aboard their boats with children. It was a chance to exchange information and stories about our adventures. It also gave the kids a chance to play with other children, something they haven’t done too much of since we started this trip. One of the neat things about cruising with children, is they get a chance to practice meeting new people and learning to play with children that are not necessarily in their grade.

The next day we met up with a couple people from another family that is just about to move onto their boat next month. They have purchased the same boat as us and their kids are very similar ages to ours. We had arranged for their eldest daughter to hang out with us while the dad visited the boatshow to get some information on boat jobs he needs to complete on his boat when he gets it. We took the daughter with us back to the boat for a couple hours so she could get a sense of what it will be like on her boat. The kids had a lot of fun showing her around the boat and talking about boat life. After, we felt the kids could do with another fun excursion as it had been several days on the boat with mostly just school work. We have found that the kids, and adults alike, expect a certain amount of fun and excursion time while on this trip to help off-set the time on the boat. The day before we had travelled by Uber to pick up the keyboard and mouse for the computer, and had noticed that there was a small fair set up in the mall parking lot. So, we decided to take the kids to the fair for some rides. They each selected 3 rides to go on. I was surprised that all the kids wanted to ride the scariest ones that they were allowed on. We waited so long for one of them to be set up, that they actually let everyone, even the adults without tickets, to ride on one of the little kids ‘drop’ rides. It was pretty fun. We finished the day off with dinner at a mexican restaurant. We really enjoyed the company of the other family and are excited to see all of them in the Bahamas this winter.

The next day was our first day, of two, at the boatshow! I was excited to go. Kevin and I have gone to boatshows in the past and it is fun to wander through all the different types of boats and see how the styles have been upgraded and how new conveniences are added. It is sort of like going to a home show. This time was going to be even more interesting because the things we saw would be more applicable to our current situation. We made a point of not just visiting the other catamarans, but also some of the monohulls. Our kids haven’t had any experience on monohulls and we wanted them to understand just how much space we have on our current boat. Lucky for us, even though the other boats are ‘pretty’ and new, all of us agree that we are pretty happy with the boat we ended up with. It’s just too bad it had so many things that needed fixing at the start.

That evening, and through out the next day, a storm blew in and it rained. It rained like we were back in Vancouver! However, we had tickets for our second day at the boatshow and a planned meet-up with other boating families in the evening. So, despite the rain, out we went. Actually, first Kevin and I went to get some packages of water filters from the local Amazon lockers. We got there using our new e-scooters. Kevin managed to break his baby toe on Thanksgiving, just as we arrived in Annapolis. He was walking on deck with socks only (not a wise decision) and slipped on the surface and stubbed his toes on the edge of the deck by the trampoline. His baby toe took the brunt of it. So, now he is hobbling and not able to walk very far, or at least not with much speed. Between this and grocery stores that have been farther away from dinghy docks, he decided we needed an easy way of getting around on land. It also needed to be a way that didn’t take up much space on the boat. So, many cruisers try either e-scooters or folding bikes. Kevin though the e-scooters would fit better. It turns out they might fit, but they are so heavy it actually limits how much we can manipulate them into tight places. But, they sure are fun to use! And they made getting the filters and some groceries a whole lot easier.

It was so rainy, I was surpised to see that it didn’t stop many people from attending the boatshow. For us, it was a very different experience visiting the show on Saturday because instead of checking out more boats, we went through the tents and visited the boat-related vendors. It actually proved very helpful. We have had a few lingerig questions about our equipment that have been puzzling us and we were able to get really good answers. For example, we have been wondering if our watermaker needed to be cleaned with chemicals to help it run longer before the low pressure gauge turns it off. We had been assumed this was because the filters are filled but wondered if the system also needed cleaning. However, the man at the watermaker booth was able to review what pressures and output we were getting and confirmed that they were appropriate. He also confirmed that it is not unusal to be going through so many filters when the water is as dirty as it is here in the Chesapeake (sadly, filters in the Caribbean lasted us weeks instead of one day). We also asked about our autopilot, because although it works, it makes a very loud noise (Kevin describes it as a tiny jack hammer) and we have been wondering if it was inappropriate or not. Everyone we talk to says their autopilot, while noisy, doesn’t sound that bad. Turns out, there is probably something loose and shaking around inside and it will need to be fixed. I also got some information about putting a decal of our logo and boat name on the hulls of our boat. This is something we have been planning to do for a while.

Finally, on the catamarans we visited, we saw a better way to set-up the blocks for our mainsheet and wanted to change our set-up. Previously, the blocks and mainsheet were rubbing against our hardtop so we changed their configuratioin. We put the mainsheet on more blocks and now it is often twisted or putting some torque on the blocks that will eventually wear them down. We were able to visit the rigging booth and discuss this with the sales representatives. As well, we discussed ways to make the track on our mast run more smoothly. Currently, our main sail tends to get stuck in places as it is coming down. Likely the track is just dirty and needs a good cleaning. Another thing on our to-do list!

After the boatshow we attended a meet up of other cruising families. It was held in a outdoor pavilion and was a potluck. I think the turn out was pretty good considering the rainy weather. It was really neat to meet all the different people that are cruising with their families. Some had lots of experience, and some were new to it like us.

Now that the boatshow is done, we are trying to decide where to go from here. We obviously have the rough idea of heading south after the hurricane season, but we are not sure what towns we are going to stop in on the way. We thought we would do a few boat jobs as well but instead we have mostly been focusing on school and taking trips to land at the end of the day to get some exercise and playground time. We have also had laundry to catch up on. It has been a simplier way of life for the last few days. But if you know us at all, it won’t last long. 🙂