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| Our Track from DC to Annapolis to Baltimore |
There were a few areas
where we also had to dodge floating debris, not too surprising given the recent
high tides and coastal flooding, but we managed to avoid the big stuff
(including a very large truck tire…still mounted on its steel wheel rim…that
was different.) The blah weather
persisted all day, so we handled helm duties from the pilot house except for
the two short spells on the fly bridge during the departure from the Annapolis
mooring field (when Chelle got quite wet) and the arrival in Baltimore (when
Rick did also).
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| A Shot from the Pilot House as We Neared Baltimore...Rainy, Cool, Limited Visibility -- Downtown Baltimore is Just Beyond the Bridge, But We Could Not See It. |
But it all went without
any drama and by 1330 we were “tucked in” at a cozy slip at Harbor East Marina
in Baltimore. Given the persistent rain
we did not bother with giving Ghost Rider
her needed wash down – that could wait until the next day.
On Monday, 24-September we awoke to the same but expected dreary
weather, and went about our business as usual, donning rain gear again and
giving the boat and the dinghy their much-needed soapy baths. After topping off the water tanks we also
retrieved numerous packages from the marina office that had been delivered over
the past two weeks as part of our periodic re-provisioning / re-supply process. By early afternoon we were done with boat
business and ready to get into town.
For the most part the
rain was intermittent and light, so it was fairly tolerable if a bit damp. Rick found a barber shop to get a long
overdue haircut and to run a few other errands while Chelle grabbed a few groceries
at the local Whole Foods store.
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| Steve Zimmerman Doing His Best to Teach Us About Vessel Electrical Circuits and How to Test Them with a Multimeter |
Next up was the main
reason we had come to Baltimore in the first place. Some of the attractions of the Trawler Fest
event are the courses that are offered.
On Tuesday, 25-September, and
Wednesday, 26-September, Rick attended the two day “Diesel Seminar”. While that would have been a better idea two
or three years ago, it was still quite a valuable educational experience. Taught by a pair of recognized industry
experts – Nigel Calder and Steve Zimmerman – the two days are loaded with
useful information, from theory of diesel architecture and operations, to
practical hands-on maintenance experiences.
A considerable amount of time was spent on electrical systems and
troubleshooting, not just the mechanicals, as that tends to be the focal point
in real world diesel engine fault resolution.
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| NaviGator, a Nordhavn 47, Up for Sale at Trawler Fest |
Tuesday evening was a
fun social night for us. Our friend and
trusted broker, Jeff Merrill, was in town to partake in the Trawler Fest
in-the-water boat show, so we joined him, his wife Pam, and owners of the
Nordhavn 47, NaviGator, Mike and
Patsy, for the evening. We started with
a happy hour aboard Ghost Rider,
migrated to nearby Taco Fiesta for a casual dinner, and then concluded with a
tour of NaviGator back at Harbor East
Marina.
Thursday, 27-September started with rain and stayed that way all day and through the evening hours. We didn’t have any seminars scheduled so it made a good day to tend to some boat chores. A new package of water maker prefilters had arrived so Rick got a new one installed. We had never updated the firmware on our Fusion stereo system so we got that done as well. Based on a tip that Rick had picked up from Nigel Calder, he also moved the house battery bank’s temperature sensor to a more effective location on the batteries. But the big job was removing the generator’s stainless exhaust elbow to see how much carbon had built up inside of it and at the exit point of the heat exchanger; we had run the genset quite a bit over the two months since replacing that elbow and this would be a good indicator of how effectively we were keeping it loaded: the interiors looked pretty good and only a small amount of sooty material was noted (which Rick cleaned off….getting most of it all over himself in the process.)
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| Ghost Rider's Slip at Harbor East Marina in Baltimore |
In
spite of the rainy gloom we enjoyed another fun social evening, this time with Charlie & Missy Hodge (who live nearby and own the Nordhavn 50, Ophelia)
and Michael & Tracy Woodring (who were at another nearby marina with their
Nordhavn 46, Chicory) . We had a relaxing
happy hour aboard Ghost Rider and then walked to one of Charlie’s favorite
nearby restaurants, Ouza Bay. Rick had
the Spiced Cobia (fantastic) and Chelle enjoyed a very tasty (and pricey) filet
mignon. Charlie had picked a great spot and we highly recommend this place.
The
weather finally broke the morning of Friday,
29-September, dawning a little cool but mostly clear with light winds. It was a most welcome change. We had arranged for a diver nearly a week ago
as we were well overdue for bottom and running gear inspection and
cleaning. “Dave the Diver” showed up
right on time at 0830 and got to work – it was bottom cleaning by braille, as
the local waters were loaded with sediment and muddy runoff from all the recent
rains, allowing underwater visibility of only six inches.
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| A View of Harbor East Marina and Nearby Baltimore from Ghost Rider's Fly Bridge |
A short
time later our good friend Jeff Merrill visited us again aboard Ghost Rider, this time carrying his bags
of camera gear. We were due to change
out one of the main engine’s Racor fuel filters and Jeff has asked if he could video
that procedure to use as one of the (many) training and “how-to” clips. Chelle helped him with setting up the gear
and manned the camera, which probably took longer than Rick needed to actually
change the filter, but it all seemed to go well.
That
afternoon we attended our last Trawler Fest seminar of the week, this time a
two hour “round table” session with a panel of noted industry experts,
including Jeff, but also: Bruce Kessler (who practically invented voyaging in
power boats, and has logged more ocean miles than nearly anyone on the planet,
including circumnavigations); Steve Zimmerman (boat yard guru and cruiser);
Eric Kunz (Furuno’s head tech and an experienced cruiser); Chris Parker (noted weather router
and experienced cruiser); plus several other highly experienced experts, who also had
logged many miles at sea. It was a fun
and instructional Q&A forum.
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| A Slew of Very Nice Boats Lined Up for Viewing at Trawler Fest |
We
concluded the day with a brief walk down the Trawler Fest dock where all the “for
sale” boats were moored; we got some ideas of which boats we would spend more
time on the next day, but mostly just enjoyed the warm late afternoon sunshine
and pleasantly warm breeze.
Saturday, 29-September, was another gorgeous morning, with mid-morning temps
in the low 70’s, low humidity, light winds and sunny skies. We had slept in a bit and then spent some
time mission planning our routes for the coming week and loading those into the
ship’s navigation equipment. After
Chelle made a brief provisioning run to the Harris Teeter grocery store (via
e-bike) we headed into town to shop for some stainless steel hardware.
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| Chelle & Our Two Electric Scooters Outside the Ace Hardware Store |
Our
goal was to find a very, very small stainless steel bolt and nut that had sheared off from one of the
boat’s windshield wiper arms. There was
an Ace hardware store about two miles away, but rather than walk or cop an Uber
ride we tried out the locally popular (and sometimes controversial) “Bird” and "Lime" scooters. (LINK.)
Basically the things are electric skateboards with a handlebar-mounted throttle and brake controls, and after using a smartphone app to unlock and pay a nominal fee, you can buzz
along at about 15 MPH anywhere in the city.
Riding on sidewalks, bike paths and streets are all allowed, although
that’s part of the controversy. But we
got to and from the hardware store rather quickly and took a tour of the
Baltimore harbor waterfront on the way back to the boat. Our take on them is that the suspension is awful going over cobblestones, but they are a fun and quick way to get around....and could be dangerous if reasonable caution is not exercised around pedestrians and automobile traffic.
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| Rick on His "Lime" Scooter; Chelle Used a "Bird" Model |
Once
we returned to the marina and implemented the quick wiper arm repair we headed
over to the adjacent docks to view some of the Trawler Fest vessels. We toured a couple that seemed interesting,
but mostly just out of mild curiosity, and perhaps with an eye to the future
and the “next boat” – once we were done with trawler voyaging. We also stopped by N47 NaviGator to say “hi and bye” to Jeff, Mike and Patsy, since we
would be departing the next morning.
That
evening we hosted a tour of our own onboard Ghost
Rider when we came across a young(er) couple who wanted to tour a Nordhavn
50 – apparently they had decided this was the trawler model they wanted when
they retired and were focused on finding one.
That’s not an easy task as there aren’t that many in total, and
currently none are on the market. But we
enjoyed answering their questions and apparently confirming their choice of
vessel.
After
that we completed our final departure preparations….engine room and lazarette
pre-flights, emptying the trash, filling the water tanks, removing the covers
from the pilot house windows, stowing the water hose and Chelle’s e-bike, and
sending out our standard float plan email.
We were looking forward to the next morning and departing Baltimore.
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| Jeff, Rick and Mike Onboard Mike's N47, NaviGator |
