Working weeks

It’s time to dispel illusions of the mythical bikinis and martinis lifestyle you think we live by injecting into the blog some mundane aspects of our life.  For the past three weeks we’ve been holed up in Solomons in Chesapeake Bay getting work done on Bandit and working 8-10 hour days ourselves.  The bikinis are packed away (as you can see from the photo the water in the Chesapeake is murky and it’s also full of jellyfish).  Okay I tell a lie – the marina has a swimming pool and we’ve been having the occasional afternoon dip – a necessity in this unbelievably hot and humid climate.

 With a Pacific crossing looming next year, there were a few things we needed to do to Bandit.  She is 15 years old now and, given we live on her and do some pretty serious sailing, day in , day out, things wear out quickly.   We do most all of our own maintenance but there are some things we’ve had to call the specialists in for.  Spending summer on the east coast of the States presented a perfect opportunity to get the experts in – this is after all the home of sailing.

      

While the experts were replacing some of our standing rigging, fixing our freezer and replacing engine mounts we busied ourselves with a long list of jobs.  We installed a new stove and barbecue and seemed to spend all day sanding, painting, varnishing, polishing, cleaning, replacing and repairing.  It felt satisfying to sink into bed each night absolutely exhausted.

As all cruisers will understand, nothing ever goes to plan when it comes to boats.  Parts NEVER arrive on time and there are always delays.  Our refrigeration unit and engine mounts came quickly but the rigging parts took forever. It was incredibly frustrating but did give us the chance to lots of jobs that had been on the”to do” list for ages.

 Solomons in the Chesapeake was a fantastic place to stay while doing all this work.  The marina had great facilities including a swimming pool, shuttle to the nearby supermarket, laundry, showers and a  grassy garden bar.   A popular holiday spot nearby Solomons Island has a lovely relaxed feel and some cute shops and galleries.  When Australian friends on cruising yacht Eye Candy called in we went to the atmospheric Tiki Bar for Saturday sundowners.  With palm trees and sand it was like being back in the Caribbean.  

 For people who are always on the move, it’s been really nice to just be in one gorgeous spot for a few weeks, feel like locals, get work done and relax now and then!  Oops…I guess these photos don’t do anything to dispel the myth.  But truly…it’s been a hard few weeks of work.