February 2007

February 18th, 2007 Well we had quite a ice storm. We were without power for 20 hours so we just ran our generator. It has been a funny experience. Our dock got power back but the docks in front or us and behind us were without power for 2 more days. Then when power came back on it was in a strange way. There was power to have hot shower in the marina bathrooms but no heat in the bathrooms. We didn't have water at the docks for close to 5 days after the storm so when it came on we filled our water tanks. We were getting low. We had filled up 8 days before knowing the storm was coming.

The day after the storm, I went to work at West Marine and I had to crawl off the dock. We had clear ice on the piers that was so thick that it filled in between the boards. Work was really different, our little strip mall was the only place with power. All of Edgewater and Annapolis was without power. Most of the customers were locals who were looking for things to stay warm - Buying propane bottles and batteries for 12 volt devices in their homes, and trying to figure out how to hook up generators they had just bought. We had two Mexican men come in looking for something to warm food for a 5 day old baby. We heated water in our microwave and put it in a thermos for them. Everyone was in survival mode. The grocery stores could not sell anything because the cash registers wouldn't work. We did the best we could helping everyone. I left work at 12:30 and after the working day the manager called to tell me that our store was selected as the best store in our district for the year. Not for what we had done that day but for what we had done throughout the year.

We have been going to our local coffee house to get our email because our Wi-Fi was inoperative until today. Traffic was slow on the icy roads. The state trucks had spread salt but ice from trees kept falling on the roads; not to mention the trees that kept falling on the roads also. On top of all this, we are having our coldest February in recent history. There have only been two colder Februarys in the last 100 years. Sooo, because of that our harbour is completely iced in. They are reporting 4 inches thick. I run our engine in gear (forward and reverse) for about 20 minutes in the mornings to clear the ice out from around us and the dock behind us. The ducks like the open water. One duck has figured out that we have bread onboard and comes to beg on the ice beside us. He has to beat out a seagull for the food but they have fun.

It was funny watching the duck sliding across the ice going after the bread, the seagull decided it was easier to fly for bread instead of running on the ice.

Jeff and Tessa offered to put on a local show as their contribution for breast cancer research. Arrangements were made with Herrington Harbour South and we used the old Yacht Club building that the marina has beautifully renovated - mostly for weddings. Herrington Harbour donated many things for the show and catered a banquet that went with the show.

It was a wonderful evening. Tessa is secretly in love with me.

February 2nd, 2007, Well a lot has been happening this last week, Owen and Morina moved their boat to Annapolis, Liberty Marina. Owen is not familiar with the Bay so Nancy and I went with them and their boat up to the big city. Owen and Nancy acted as helmsmen and I did the navigating and took the helm once. It was a cold and rainy (ended up as snow) trip to the port. Visibility was bad and all that other stuff. This is Nancy aboard their sailboat named "Warefree". It took us about 4 hours to get to the new slip. The boat did great and we made a good speed of about 6.5 knots average over the trip. Earlier in the week Nancy and Morina had a spa day. Body massage, face massage, toes and all that other stuff. After all that was done it was time to get their hair done. It was late in the afternoon by the time they got home. See Nancy's new hair cut. Then that evening we had a pizza birthday party for Morina and Nicky. Joining us for the party were Steve and Carlie from Texas. They had come to Annapolis to look at some more boats. Oh yes, we also had our first measurable snowfall of the year. Morina (from the Pacific Island of Borneo) had a ball in her first snowfall. She built a little snow man on our bow. So the days have gone. Today is the last day of decreasing temperatures here. From now on, the daily average temperature is increasing. Summer is just around the corner and we have gone through the hard part. Yeah! (I'm so sorry dear - but the weather man disagrees - the arctic express hits next week and they are forecasting the coldest weather on the Chesapeake in over 5 years. I think they call it "paying your dues" before we head off into the tropical sunset.) Speaking of the cold - we are snug as can be on Solitaire thanks to the insulation we installed a couple months ago. We got closed cell foam pads used for camping or yoga to cover all our interior walls - including lockers. As a result, we can maintain a cozy temperature of 72 even when it's in the 'teens outside - with only our heat exchanger and one small space heater. The heat exchanger only comes on occasionally and it has never gone beyond the low blower setting. Last year we had three space heaters going and both heat exchangers running on full fan and a couple of nights we even lit the oil lanterns for additional heat. What a difference. Again a cold thing. Today we had a new 12 volt refrigerator installed. We had a Norcold before and now have a Sea Frost. We already had Sea Frost compressors for our freezer (engine driven and 120 volts) and have never had any trouble with them so went with the Sea Frost Refrigerator. As the installer left he said goodbye with the following comment, "We have installed about 100 of these and have never gone back, they are bullet proof". :-) Price for that nice of a refrigerator,?? About $3000.00. That's a lot of wine. Nancy corrected me.... "That's a lot of COLD wine."