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We’ve been slowly trying to check off stuff on the never ending project list lately. It’s crazy that summer is nearly halfway over. We really need to get on it if we’re ever going to get thru what we need to before we want to leave. Our list of ‘Things to put off until we’re in the Caribbean’ is getting longer and longer. If we keep up this pace, we’re going to be busier down there than we are up here!
Matt’s been trying to resuscitate our old Northern Lights generator for quite some time now. It had been running like a dream until one day when we were running it the AC and the water heater kicked on simultaneously, blowing a fuse. No matter what we tried, we couldn't get it working again! Bummer. Since then, Matt has taken nearly the whole thing apart, replacing the fuse as well as numerous other parts trying to get it to work again. It’ll run just fine, but it won’t produce a charge, so we can't put a load on it. Meaning it's of ZERO use to us. UGH. I think we’re going to have a professional come look at it soon, because we're just stumped. We’re planning another trip to St. Michaels in August, and would really like to have AC while we’re out. Oh, the hu-midity!
Another line on the list was to polish the metal on the boat. We’ve never done this once in the year that we’ve owned the boat, and it was looking a little grungy. I think this is probably a regular boat maintenance thing that we should most likely be doing more often. Since Matt was waist deep in the generator compartment, I opted to take this one on… you know, Blue jobs / Pink jobs. I dug out the wax and microfiber cloths and got to work, and, YES, I was totally channeling my inner Karate Kid the entire time. Not every spot cleaned up as nice as I had hoped it would, but I’ll tell you this – it’s a hell of an arm workout! Look at those winches, baby! Like a mirror!
Another win: We repaired a weld on our bimini top weld that snapped over the winter when a strong wind gust came through and lifted the whole top up. Matt’s cousin Brian came over with his welding machine and fixed her right up in about an hour. It felt good to have one in the Win column this weekend.
What else?? Oh yeah, our boat was T-boned by a bunch of drunk teenage girls on Saturday. Yeah. Talk about fun times. Luckily we were both home when it happened. Matt was lying on the front trampoline and I was watching TV inside – when we both heard a huge “BOOM”, which is the very recognizable sound of something large ramming the side of our boat. Never a good thing. Matt jumped up and watched a boat full of 7 teenage girls slowly backing away from the stamp they had just given our boat about halfway down the hull. They had pulled away from the fuel dock, apparently feeling all-right, and went ahead and rammed the side of our boat in their 18′ Carolina Skiff. Oh, and the best part? They just drove away without even stopping. Total hit & run. The damage doesn’t seem to be too bad, but there are a few dents in amongst those scuff marks that we want to get checked out.
Luckily some of our neighbors took pictures of the boat driving away, so we had a hull number to give to the police when we called them. Can’t believe they drove away! It gave us (ok, ME) a little bit of satisfaction knowing that they were probably freaking the F— out. Ha. Crazy Drunk Girls. The DNR officer was super helpful and said he would contact the owner of the vessel to pass along our information.
By the way, this is the SECOND time the police have visited our boat this month. The first was 4th of July weekend when we got a citation for not having enough life vests aboard our dinghy. $95 fine and two additional life vests later, and we’re all squared up. Our boat neighbors are probably wondering who the heck are the derelicts are living at the end of D dock!
To heal our wounds, we went out to dinner with some friends on their new Edgewater power boat. This thing was a sexy, sexy boat. When you spend the majority of your time on sailboats and dinghys, you forget how quick powerboats are. We were going over 40 knots across the Bay! Compare that to the lightening slow speed of 8 knots we’ve topped out in on our catamaran. Wow. I couldn’t talk because as soon as opened my mouth, the spit would fly out. We were literally going that fast. Mind = Blown.
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