Well, we got the batteries in place back in August, in time for the Labor Day weekend voyage to Oxford. Thanks to Bryan, my brother-in-law, for coming out and helping me to heft them aboard.
The sail to Oxford came the day after Ernesto passed through. He brought 50 knot winds to our slip, with gusts of up to 60 knots! Four headsails in our marina were destroyed, unwrapping and shredding in the wind. Fortunately, Silence rode out the storm with no problems. The wind for our sail to Oxford was 15-20 knots from the NW, which made for a downwind romp, with Silence hitting speeds of 8+ knots. This was great, except that we were towing our dinghy, Silent Partner, which began leaking water through the centerboard trunk at these high speeds. We've had this problem in the past, and we jam a piece of foam rubber and some rags into the trunk to stop the water. There was just too much pressure and so the dinghy took on water and began to sink. This required us to stop the boat, take in sails and I had to get into the dinghy and bail her out. This can be very exciting with 3 foot waves. This happened twice before we decided to shorten sail and keep the boat moving at less than 6 knots.
We came up with an even better fix on our return trip, we lashed an oar on top of the trunk with our foam and rags. The oar kept everything in place, so no more trouble.
The winds were light the rest of the weekend, and we passed a pleasant couple of days in Oxford. The day before we departed, the refrigeration pump gave up. I replaced this pump about 8 years ago, so I guess that's about how long a pump lasts. I've now owned the boat long enough that I'm starting to replace things that I've already replaced once before. I have to tell you that there is no one more unhappy than Suzan watching food go bad in a dead refrigerator. But we had plenty of ice, and the fridge was at 40 degrees when the pump failed, so we made out just fine.
When I pulled the pump out of the boat, I figured that I'd have to order one from the manufacturer. I stopped by West Marine just to see if they might direct me to a supplier, and the rep there said that he thought he had one in stock. Unbelievable, they actually had the exact pump! I was able to get the fridge back up and running in one day! (This rarely happens.)
Two weeks ago, we moved the boat to Annapolis for a week, while our friend Tom renewed the Armada on the teak. Silence is looking very fine now, ready for our annual trip out to watch the Schooner Race. Hopefully, we'll be seeing some of you out there!
