Annapolis Sail Boat Show

Serafina
Rob & Sarah Bell
Sun 7 Oct 2012 01:21

Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri & Sat – 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th October.

 

The rest of Monday went very well:  we got the sails down without the standard marital row, but the result was the mainsail was so badly folded that it only half fitted into its bag - but at least the sail makers can manhandle it away!   And we started  stripping all the decks clear of ropes, various and other fittings.   We pumped up our old dinghy to act as a bath for all the ropes we need to get washed and dried.   Unfortunately with rain forecast for the next day we had to store all 4 sails down below and reposition our old bimini cover as a makeshift dodger.

 

Rob from North Sails was due to arrive with the new dodger but due to the rainy weather on Tuesday, he couldn't install it.   And without it we couldn't work outside due to rain and had hardly any room inside due to huge sail bags everywhere.   Rob managed to get on with all sorts of engine maintenance and I opted to cycle into town to deliver the curtains for repair,  and buy fresh roach-hotels and any other killing product I felt appropriate for a winter here!   Then the marina very kindly nominated their new yard lad to drive me to the supermarket and hang around till I had finished.   He felt it was polite to offer help and then just tail me round the store - not a very relaxing shop!

 

Wednesday I finished off cleaning out the bilges as the weather was still a bit suspect.   When we converted one of our aft water tanks to a diesel tank, the Turks unfortunately installed the new breather pipe in a hose material that gently oozes diesel and this slowly descends across the aft bilges.   It is so slight that it doesn't actually smell but leaves a film everywhere.   The only solution is to change the pipe and this can't be done now as we have a full tank of diesel to prevent condensation during the winter.  So another item for the to-do list.

 

Eventually Rob and Scott from North sails arrived to fit our new dodger, which is beautiful - it seems a great shame to leave it in situ all winter, but our old dodger is so rotten that one good blow will probably leave us with flying streamers and no protection at all, so we really can't put it back up.   Unfortunately they forgot to bring our cockpit cover back.....   But he did leave with all the sails to clean, repair and store for the winter.   As the weather had improved, we had a boom full of drying ropes and a lot of our canvas soaking in the dinghy.   On their recommendation I had looked at the Sunbrella website regarding cleaning badly stained (ie mildewed) canvas.   It suggested a fairly horrifically strong solution of bleach for a fast 15 minute soak but certainly our filthy bimini cover seems better for it.

 

By 1500 hours we were headed for the showers as Andrew and Digna Gant were kindly picking us up en route to the OCC dinner in Annapolis which was being held in Wolfgang's garden under a canopy, due to the bar licence being unforthcoming at the planned venue!   The evening was a great success:  Sid and Rebecca had done an amazing job arranging the tent, lighting and decorating it (with nautical flags of course), tables and chairs, tea-lights, even making the hors d'oeuvres and sorting out a catering firm to produce a delicious main course and cake.  Plus the all-important booze!   We caught up with many OCC members from this summer, including nearly all the Brits we have met and some more local members.   Wolfgang was in good fettle which was lovely to see;  it really was a wonderful evening to be finishing up our East Coast sailing for the season.   And to top it off Lisa and David had been nominated to drive us back to Herrington North Marina, which really was above and beyond the call of duty (especially as they live in Annapolis in the opposite direction):  it doesn't take very long to get there by sea but as with all ports in the Chesapeake they are at the end of long fingers of land....

 

Thursday was noses firmly back to grindstone and Scott came back to deliver the cockpit cover and ensure that it fitted to the dodger successfully, and so with fairly good weather we got a lot done.   Friday was forecast to be hot and breezy - perfect laying up weather, but we had arranged to go the Annapolis Boat Show.   This time Craig and Karene had drawn the short straw on the taxi service, but at least we were able to provide them with tickets as Spotless Stainless had kindly given us four - as their best ambassadors of the product!   Both Rob and I had huge shopping/information collection lists but we started off by visiting the 5 sail makers that Rob had been in contact with during the week for quotes on a Code Zero/lightweight genoa-type sail.   This proved very useful in perhaps narrowing the field and we should get all the quotes by mid-week.   The Annapolis Boat Show has the usual American hype of biggest and best but it is nowhere near as big (or as well organised - no stand numbers for instance to try and work out where the hell you are, or more importantly just where was that stand you are looking for?) or possibly as interesting as Southampton or London - but perhaps we are just biased!   There certainly is very little one can actually buy (I was in search of a variety of items for making up canvas wear) and none of the good deals we would expect to find at the UK shows.   Despite that we got a lot done and bumped into loads of people we have met this summer, Rob even meeting a guy who used to work at English Braids in Malvern and used to supply Viking!  And we did indulge in the biggest rare roast beef sandwiches you have ever seen - a good 2" of fabulous rare beef with the sort of horseradish that appears to complete clear your sinuses forever!

 

Craig and Karene kindly delivered us back to the marina before they shot off to an Oyster Yachts party at the show.   We shall miss them hugely as we have spent much of the last 10 months with them off and on, and they have been incredibly generous in every way:  they are heading south to the Caribbean for the winter but hopefully may be back again in the spring.   We just crawled off to the boat and had an early night.

 

Saturday had promised to be sunny all day (yes, I am totally obsessed with the weather, it is the difference between an easy lay-up or a slog when everything starts with trying to dry the stainless or GPR, ropes etc. etc. before you even start the job in hand) but disappointingly turned rainy in early afternoon:  I had to resort to hanging up the newly waterproofed bimini cover under the stairs of the office to dry.   Rob is managing to get quite a lot done although it may come down to a race between the jobs being completed and his back seizing up altogether!  He had started the day at the crack of dawn with another session in the gym (this is the pre-golf get fit regime) forgetting that he had to cycle into and then out of town to find the 7-11 store to top up our US mobile which was the number we had handed out at the boat show for a variety of contacts!   Late morning the "CYC crew" (all the lovely people we had met at the Washington YC) - Scott, David and Bill turned up to make arrangements about ladder borrowing, anchor lid repairs and advise on the Air Breeze dampening down.   Otherwise it was just heads down and getting on with something as the weather dictated - can't imagine how I would survive without the wonders of Audible books to listen to on my iPod as none of my jobs could be called challenging!

 

And once again we finds ourselves singing the praises of the Spotless Stainless product. Never mind the free show passes, it is remarkable how each time you use this to clean the stainless steel, the job gets easier and faster and even better!