Daily Archives: 1 21 October 14

A ship in harbor is safe but that is not what ships are built for. John Augustus Shedd, American author and professor

Tuesday, 21 October                                                                                                30.4 NM

At 0949 this date, after more than three weeks tied up or hauled out in one harbor or another, Steadfast once again started doing what she was built for. But getting her going again hasn’t been easy.

You get it done right at ZMI.

Life these past weeks has felt as if it were orchestrated by the Allstate insurance guy, Mayhem. The 1,800 miles of the summer put a lot of wear on Steadfast. Given that she may not get a break again for another 1,800 miles, there was so much to be done before she, and we, would be ready to head south.

Caroline and others helped with the “spa” treatment.

For the “girls”—Steadfast and Little Red—this was three weeks of bliss. They spent the first two at their favorite spa, Zimmerman Marine in Deltaville. Steadfast was bathed, massaged and manicured. Michael spent some time fitting Red with a new set of comfy sneakers (nifty rubber engine mounts). Chad checked all of Red’s vitals, declaring her in good health and fit for the miles and hours ahead.

The first 30 of those were a motor-sail down to New Point, across Mobjack Bay and up the East River to Ebb Tide, the Woodas Creek home of good friends Martha and George. How good, you ask? For three weeks, Ebb Tide was “home” to us, too. And once Steadfast tied up at their pier, George spent almost as much time as we did getting her ready.

The new-to-us WB10 needed a new drain plug.

There was the hunting for and buying a dinghy (well, actually two but that’s another story) then trailering to Ebb Tide to replace the drain plug, add cleats, splice lines and a painter. Kate got it registered on a day trip to Richmond. George helped fabricate insulation to fill a void in the icebox under the galley counter, tiller extension for the Torqueedo, a PVC fender “pipe” to keep the topsides off the bulkheads and fixed piers along the way. The list goes on.  (There also was cappuccino, AKA “frothy deliciousness,” in the morning, grilled fish steaks at night and, for medicinal purposes only, a Dark & Stormy or two.)

Bruce-the-Shipwright was back on board, too, installing a nifty custom bracket for the new larger Dura-Weld plastic holding tank which then, of course, needed to be plumbed into the existing system. On deck, the swim ladder came down, was polished, re-bedded and reinstalled.  All the bright work was prepped for a couple of coats of LeTonkinois to guard against the Florida sun (we hope).

Steadfast snuggled up to Quintan at the Ebb Tide pier.

Lockers were emptied and Kate cleaned the cabin, everywhere, even waxed the overhead, then cleaned and re-treated the canvas, too. And, of course, there were the usual several loads of laundry along with re-provisioning.

In between all that, there was a drive to Annapolis to take a shift at the boat show booth for Good Old Boat magazine, and, a couple of days of seminars at the “Snowbird Rendezvous” in Hampton (great information, highly recommended!).

Despite all the projects completed, there was more that could’ve been done. There always is with a boat. If one waits ‘til the boat’s ready, she’ll never leave the pier. So the decision was made—NOAA had a lot of input, forecasting a gale later in the week—to shove off early Tuesday, setting off a final 48-hour frenzy of activity.

Now, though, the sun shines. A soft southerly wind whispers its invitation to join the Snowbirds. Steadfast accepts, crossing Mobjack, then the mouth of the York and rounding Old Point Comfort for a couple of nights in Hampton.  After more than three weeks in one harbor or another, Steadfast once again is underway, doing what she was built for. What a blessing!

Steadfast out.