April 2024
Fri April 19
baji-naji is in her slip! Splashed Wed the 17th. Unfortunately Christian discovered a funky smelly growth in the bilge and that the bilge pump was not working. He was able to clean out the growth in the bilge somehow. Garrett ordered a bilge pump and Christian installed it this morning.
We arrived around 10:30am to load more things on and fill and clear the water tanks. We put in 2 oz of bleach for the 40 gallon tanks, rinsed out the aft tank and refilled with fresh water. Forward tank is filled with bleach water and will need to be flushed then refilled. Propane tanks installed. Checked that stove/oven works by turning on the stove. Checked out the birgie halyard, which Laz trimmed to the right size.
Clean linens were put away. Could not make our bed as we forgot to bring the mattress topper. Next time. Reset the dock lines how Laz likes.
Took her out for a short ride past the barges and back. Checked the anchor windlass. Apparently Garrett forgot to lock the clutch so the chain started to run out when I set the anchor. Went to neutral and Laz tightened the clutch. Anchor was set nicely and we brought it back up no issues. Headed to the fuel dock to top off, as we left her with a partial tank so Christian could check the fuel gauge (it’s fine, the electronics are not, but we are taking care of that). Put in 13 gallons and got ~0.54gal/hr since the last fillup last season.
Chilly but oh so nice to be out
Sun April 21
Got a later start than anticipated. Brought stuff aboard then made turkey and salami roll ups with a little Caesar dressing on the lettuce. Will from Altair came by, and we chatted briefly. Emily was at the grocery store and when she got back, we went over to say hi. They are taking off for a year long wander, starting down the Chesapeake, then likely to Bermuda. Perhaps to the Caribbean, perhaps to Bahamas after that. She is all set, with a shiny new name on her and the pillow we got them.
Back to baji-naji to finish set up.
Put on the mattress pads and made our bed, using the warm silk comforter.
Laz installed the shower caddy with screws so hopefully it won't fall down any more.
I realized I'd forgotten what setting the fridge should be at. It was set at 17° with air temp 38.5° in the main area without opening it. Laz thinks we settled on 18° as the set temp. The sodas were definitely cold at 17°! Set for 18° and air temp of 43.8°. Will try this for a while. This year I need to remember to record the temp that works.
Drained the forward tank and refilled, no bleach this time (had put in 2 oz on Friday). Running off the forward tank now. The bilge doesn't smell too bad, refilled the Kanberra gel.
Relaxing and reading by 4:45pm
Nomadic steak and gruyere pot pie for dinner
Nomadic apple berry crumble pie
HdG sunset. Tomorrow I will motor her down to Bert Jabin's in Annapolis.
Mon April 22 Earth Day
Off the dock at 9:47am. Wind was from the NW, so was able to undo the stern lines. Laz helped me with the bow lines and the port spring before climbing off baji-naji. He was driving the car to Annapolis. A gloriously beautiful day!
She is faster than last year at 2000 rpm, our usual cruising speed. Wind in my face with apparent of 13kts took the speed down to 6.3 or 6.4. Got chilly too, so ended up putting on the fleece vest under my Helly. Tried to go below at full speed, but she turned so ran back up and put her at forward idle, which let me go below to get aforementioned fleece and go to the head.
Oh, and get the life vest and tethers which I forgot to put on when I left! Silly me.
At yellow L in an hour, then headed down the Bay. They were blowing things up at Aberdeen, you could could hear and feel it, plus the patrol boats were stationed where you weren't allowed to go.
SV Stormy Petrel was having fun sailing around.
Passed this Catalina 34 just before Still Pond.
So sad to see the Key Bridge with the Dali to the right and behind. It was a lovely day to go down the Bay, listened to Sirius XM channel 13 (Taylor's channel) so I could sing and dance along. Changed to Chicago past Rock Hall. Got to sing Just You N Me at the top of my lungs coming up to the Bay Bridge ❤️
It wasn't all hard work singing and dancing, there was some chill time too. But the cold water and breeze got me up dancing to warm up.
Passed a cat boat going down wind
Always fun to go under the Bay Bridge. And of course the minute you do, there are boats under sail.
Pretty!
There were a ton of these pots! Multiple lines of them. Too cold for crab, wonder what they are catching?
Docked at Bert Jabin's around 4:15p where we are dwarfed by the larger sailboats around us.
A “before” picture. The after will have her new storm track with sails on, the repaired bimini, the generator serviced and a new rub rail. And the autopilot.
Went to Joss to celebrate a safe solo voyage and enjoyed shrimp and veggie tempura, delicious dumplings with black vinegar, an exquisite Toro jalapeno roll (hold the jalapeno but keep the avocado), and chicken teriyaki
Might have been some fried bananas with ice cream, candied walnuts and frozen raspberries for dessert. Had to take a few home, too full!!
No sunset picture, we were walking to dinner. Off in the car tomorrow to go back home. Will be back later this week to pick up baji-naji.
Thursday April 25
Picked up a one way rental from Enterprise in Aberdeen. Left the Volvo at Tidewater after transferring what we wanted to bring on board. Drove to Annapolis in a lovely Suburu Impreza wagon.
The face you make when you arrive at 3p and there are no sails on baji-naji. Laz called Chuck, who said he would be by shortly. His helpers showed up soon after with the jib, but Eric dropped the shackle into the water so Anna went to the car to get the strong track and another shackle. Chuck arrived, and we moved the boom to port to install the strong track.
On a happy note, John Lavalle installed the fixed autopilot, and True North installed the new rub rail which looks fantastic. Nate has serviced the generator and all looks good.
My friend, Susan Bairstow Hebden, whom I've known since first grade, has lived in Annapolis for 30+ years. I haven't seen her in 40+ years, since high school. She was happy to come to the marina, meet Dan, and tour baji-naji. The original plan was to have cocktails aboard, but with Chuck and crew working, and the wind blowing from the sewage treatment plant, we decided to go out to Grapes wine bar, close by. Turns out Susan lives just a few minutes from Jabin's. Laz stayed aboard to watch and learn how the new sail system is put together.
Susan and I in the cockpit. Yes, there is a height difference, always has been. We had a lovely time at Grapes, enjoying a charcuterie of two cheeses, a brie and a Compte, as well as a salami, and a warm goat cheese and fig jam over toasted baguette for our snack. I brought home a lamb Bolognese papparadelle for Laz.
Of course I tried some as well. Quite delicious!
Sadly there was a manufacturing flaw in the storm track making it quite difficult to raise and lower the main. Something in the extrusion pinched the track so it narrows. Chuck ordered a new one, which he will install in HdG, hopefully next week. He has done many of these installs and has never had this happen before. C'est la vie. We can sail her, but the main won't come down easy if we need it to. The bimini was not ready yet either, he will have it for us by 0800 tomorrow. We'll see.
Here she is with the new rub rail, and her main and jib in place. And sunset.
View of the rub rail at the bow. And sunset.
Tomorrow we sail her back to HdG. After the bimini gets here.
Friday April 26
Well, Chuck called to say the zipper was missing teeth so he needed to replace it. Thought he would have it to us by 0900. We enjoyed Nomadic quiche, smoked salmon for me and cheddar bacon broccoli for Laz. Plus excellent coffee, the mix of decaf from Gryphon and the Alma Negra from Regulator Roasting Company in Peoria, IL. 0930 we called and the zipper was delayed. Laz told Chuck we have to go and he can bring the bimini when the strong track gets replaced. Jabin's crew helped get us out sideways, as they had put another yacht in front of us fairly close. We motored over to the Spring sailboat show.
We could see Pride of Baltimore docked near the show. We did a slow motor around the show. No one at the Sailtime booth, but a bunch of folks at the Crusader booth. Dave Townley saw us, recognized us and waved! So fun. Headed back out and put up the main as soon as we were able to head into the wind.
Enough breeze that we were able to unfurl the job. Wind was 5-7kts from the NE. Went across towards Kent Island with the wind oscillating more N then more E. We had almost 2 kts of tide against us and we're not making much progress. At ~11:30am we furled the jib and motored under the bridge. Had a nice Sam's Italian special for lunch. It felt progressively colder, so after a few times adding more layers ( I had my wool base layers the whole time) I finally put on my warmer lined pants and my foul weather jacket over the base layer, a long sleeved T and a fleece jacket. I was finally warm! Got sleepy and took a nap. When I woke, the wind had shifted to the W and was strong enough to unfurl the jib. I brought out trail mix, honeycrisp apple slices, smoked Gouda, cheddar and crackers. Unfortunately sliced my thumb thinking it was part of an apple. A little extra red coloring on the apple slices.
The wind picked up nicely to 12-13 it's, at one point steadily 15+ and we set up to reed, but it came back to 12+ so we left sails all the way up. It was a fantastic sail back once past Still Pond.
Able to sail wing coming into the HdG channel. Just lovely.
Beautiful sunset on its way down. Laz has to go to the mast to bring down the sail. Back in our slip around 7pm.
Heated up Talula’s creamy tomato soup and cheddar stuffed baguette for a quick dinner before unloading and heading home. Was such a lovely first sail together!
Friday May 3
RBF neighborhood tag sale tomorrow so not able to go sailing just yet despite 80°+ temps this week. Down to the 60s today but a good breeze.
Updates: Chuck used the scraper on the strong track but was unable to clear all the instructions. A new strong track is on its way. The new jib is also on its way. Bimini is repaired and on board, but not put up yet.
Hoping to go down after the tag sale or in the next few days to put up the bimini and install a water filter. Rain predicted, but we shall see
