June 7, 2011
Today about noon Meredith sets sail from Hampton Roads bound for Bermuda. This with pleasure. Too much preparation can kill a journey and we are at the tipping point. Action is the call.
Temperature on our arrival in Norfolk last Thursday was 98 degrees F and daytime temps have not dropped below 90 since then. Our boat, stored during our absence on a gravel lot was covered in a patina of grit deposited in the dust bowl meteorology of the heat wave that grips and plagues the town of Chesapeake VA (not to be confused with Chesapeake City VA perish the thought).
First step on hitting the gournd was to inspect the work we commissioned at the yard. Half the job was well done. Bottom sanding was very well done and worth the money we invested.
On this I know some boaters insist you should do everything yourself and look down on those of us who have others perform tasks on our boat. To these expressive individuals I say "blow it out your pie hole you pompous asses". It is one thing to know how to do all the tasks on your boat and to be able to do them if required.
Only an idiot thinks he does every task well. When we have jobs that need doing and there are trained professionals available at reasonable cost we have no hesitation at all in having work done on our behalf.
Some work however was very poorly done and I am going to have to redo work for which we paid far too much (any price for bad work being far too much). Another pot of epoxy will solve most of the issues.
To avoid the heat we launched from Chesapeake Yachts and moved a mile and a half to the dismal swamp where we tied up at Deep Creek Lock in a lovely treed park close to groceries and auto parts stores.
A car was rented.
The Budget Committee provisioned the boat in a day and a half. Installation of the new AIS radio and reinstallation of the SSB took about a day. We then spent a day running around in an airconditioned Hyundai rental car picking up last minute items like a p/a horn for the new radio, a carbon monoxide detector and GCFI receptacles required by the survey and a pair of old fashioned rubber boots for those stormy days on the ocean.
Supplies laid in we sailed up the Elizabeth River to Hampton Roads for the night. Enroute we passed a destroyer and a diesel submarine both coming in after a lengthy time at sea, the submariners all standing on deck breathing fresh air in friendly waters.
We rose early. BC took off for the laundry, I filled the fresh water tanks, we checked the forecast and are now leaving.
More from Bermuda.
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