Between a slap and a whirrrr

10/15/14
Deale, MD; Chesapeake Bay
Position: 38 46.30N, 76 33.81W
Posted by Bill

The weather forecast finally jived with reality and we got hammered with wind and rain today. Most of the day we did not have too much rain until late afternoon. Glad we are in a marina. Being in a marina is nice because 1) you are tied to something solid, 2) you can get off the boat and do shore based stuff without messing with the dinghy, and 3) you have access to showers and a bathroom. The downside of a marina is that you are side-by-side with other boats and their owners, and it is usually expensive. The boats on either side of us are unoccupied, and on one side is a boat that did not have the halyard secured. A halyard (or this one in particular) is used to raise the main sail and it runs up the outside of the mast. If this is not secured, the halyard bangs against the mast when the wind blows and is called halyard slap. It is considered rude to not secure lines that would cause your neighbors angst, and it is a pet peeve of mine. In 20-30 knot winds, the halyard slapped all day and night, making a huge racket. On the other side of us was a boat with a wind generator. Most models of wind generator for boats make a whirring sound that can get rather loud. The one next to us was a 9 out of 10 on the noise scale. Between the 2 boats next to us, we had to drink several martinis to dull our senses to the point that we could tolerate it (oh darn), and we were up to the challenge.

2 great things happened to us today that were unexpected. First, upon telling the marina that we were going to stay a third night, they gave us the night for free! Second, I asked to have an air conditioning guy come to look at why our AC/heat was not working because it was beyond my troubleshooting capability. He spent a half hour looking at our system and it amazingly worked without him doing anything else. He did not charge us since he really didn’t do anything repair wise, and it is working great. On top of that, he taught me some things about the system that I didn’t know. Kind of like icing on the cake for Herrington Harbour North marina.

I met a couple from Cleveland a couple of slips down from us. Their boat name is High Spirits and they have cruised the Bahamas several years now. We exchanged contact info and will be looking for them as we move south.

I didn’t mention how good the food was at Skipper’s Pier on the blog yesterday, so I thought I’d add some content about yesterday’s dinner. Tricia had fried shrimp and I had ribs. The food was awesome. If you are ever in the area, we highly recommend it, and you can dock your boat there while you eat.

Mike and Sue are making a drive down to have dinner with us tonight. Seems they miss us as much as we miss them and it is not too far from where Mike’s band is playing, so I thought I would post the blog early, knowing the way we party when together…lol!

Tomorrow’s forecast is looking good for passage, so we will make way to Solomons Island.

One thought on “Between a slap and a whirrrr

  1. Greg Roeble

    Bill, thoroughly enjoy your posts! So glad to see you guys living out your dreams! Give my best to my pal Tricia.

    Reply

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