Back Out on the Water!

After a few weeks of getting ready, I'm finally back out on the water!

It's been two weeks... last weekend I thought I was going out in the water, but a combination of boat repair and (mostly) weather, kept me ashore.

I went down to Osprey Point last weekend, leaving after work on Friday and arriving just after sunset Friday night.  Once on board, my practice is to do a quick check on the various boat systems.  On checking the water, I received a surprise.  I had just filled the water last week before heading home, and I noticed that only one of the tanks had water in it.

Tank 3 is Empty???

Just a little context is in order.  For a couple of weeks, Captain Joe from Sol Searcher has been telling me that my bilge pump had been going off every few hours, but only spitting out maybe a cup full of water each time.  I had checked... couldn't see any point of water entry, and since it was a little fresh water in the bilge (not salt water) I just chalked it up to maybe some condensation from the cold weather.

But now with the fresh water drained, I looked closer and saw some water leaking out of the manifold that controls which tank is sending water to the main house water pump.  A relatively quick repair - just cut off an inch from the one hose that had been overtightened & deformed, and once everything was reattached all seemed well.

No more leaks!

I spent the night on-board to watch and ensure there was no more water leaking.  While there, I noticed that the weather had changed for the weekend and what might have been a pleasant Saturday turned to a cold and damp day.

So I abandoned ship... deciding that hitting the theater organ concert Saturday evening and going to see the Little One on Sunday was a better use of my time.

Simon Gledhill at DTOS

1 week old

Which brings us to this weekend.  Knowing that everything was all ready to go, I headed down to Osprey Point on Saturday morning, did a quick wash of Seas The Day and an oil check and I was off and sailing shortly after lunch.

It was a relatively clear (slowly turning to mostly cloudy as the afternoon progressed - there were storms forming over Baltimore) day with no real wind and temps in the mid 60s.

It's weird to look over towards Baltimore and NOT see the Key Bridge.

This pound net seems new... it's kind of in the way.
(Right by the green #3 buoy where everyone turns.)

I did get the sails out, but there wasn't any wind to speak of.

It was a nice day!

After getting back to the marina, I had time to rinse things off, clean up a little and enjoy a nice dinner at the Osprey Point Inn.

Sunday morning was some lazy time before cleaning Seas The Day for a showing (She's still For Sale) later Sunday afternoon.