The rhythm of life at our cabin on a lake in Maine is very different from our cruising on “Summertime”. The pace picks up dramatically! We’ve been welcoming our daughter Erin and her girls Emily(7) and Bailey(41/2) for a month of good family fun for many years now. It’s always a treat when Brett can join them. This summer's big project was fabricating an earth oven (horno)... adobe clay dug from San Pedro River Wash in St. David, AZ! My dad Oric(96 1/2) lives next door and Wally’s mother June (95) is just down the road 40 miles. Our brothers and their families live in the general area. Our sisters live further away, but they plan a trip each summer to re-connect. Gathering is what we do throughout July and August. In between visits, we jumped on the Harley and cruised the iconic backroads to the very most northern town in Maine, Ft. Kent, and loved every minute of our three-day get-away. Each summer we usually host friends from our 16 years of on-the-road RVing, too. This year was no exception. Jil and Tom Mohr came to us after spending the summer in Newfoundland. Opening up our cabin and Dad’s camp takes about 3 days; closing up takes at least three weeks... how can that be?
On the 10th of September we moved back on “Summertime”. After 3 months of sitting on “the hard”, she was pretty gritty...inside and out. For the next week we carried out deep cleaning. Since Wally had such great success over the summer replacing the boat’s screens, he unpacked his new Sailrite sewing machine and got to work. By the time we put our Kadey Krogen back in the water, the zippers and frames around the ‘back porch” screens and eisenglass on the steering station were all new. Boat bottoms periodically need to be scraped and painted to prevent the growth of algae and barnacles. This year was our year. Once the surface was stripped clean, Wally and I proceeded to roll on two coats of the barrier paint and then another two coats of the anti-fouling paint. The resulting surface is very tough and good-looking. With all the fluids fresh and sacrificial anodes replaced, “Summertime” was ready to be splashed over. On October 2, the Cape Fear Boat Works Travelift delivered her to the river just above the port city of Wilmington, NC and we returned to our cruising lifestyle. Within the first hour we steered ourselves clear of a huge approaching container ship and talked with the captain of an overtaking container ship with the hailing port of Dammam, Saudi Arabia. When we lived in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia from 1978-82, we shopped in Dammam... small world!
Our first day of travel took us back to the Atlantic Ocean at Carolina Beach, NC. We chose to attach ourselves to a mooring ball provided by the city and paid $20 per night for the privilege. It’s an easy dinghy ride to the beach or to town. What a pretty spot!
On the 10th of September we moved back on “Summertime”. After 3 months of sitting on “the hard”, she was pretty gritty...inside and out. For the next week we carried out deep cleaning. Since Wally had such great success over the summer replacing the boat’s screens, he unpacked his new Sailrite sewing machine and got to work. By the time we put our Kadey Krogen back in the water, the zippers and frames around the ‘back porch” screens and eisenglass on the steering station were all new. Boat bottoms periodically need to be scraped and painted to prevent the growth of algae and barnacles. This year was our year. Once the surface was stripped clean, Wally and I proceeded to roll on two coats of the barrier paint and then another two coats of the anti-fouling paint. The resulting surface is very tough and good-looking. With all the fluids fresh and sacrificial anodes replaced, “Summertime” was ready to be splashed over. On October 2, the Cape Fear Boat Works Travelift delivered her to the river just above the port city of Wilmington, NC and we returned to our cruising lifestyle. Within the first hour we steered ourselves clear of a huge approaching container ship and talked with the captain of an overtaking container ship with the hailing port of Dammam, Saudi Arabia. When we lived in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia from 1978-82, we shopped in Dammam... small world!
Our first day of travel took us back to the Atlantic Ocean at Carolina Beach, NC. We chose to attach ourselves to a mooring ball provided by the city and paid $20 per night for the privilege. It’s an easy dinghy ride to the beach or to town. What a pretty spot!
1 comment:
Glad to see you're back cruising. Enjoy!
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