November 2020: More Tropical Wx & Boat Stuff

 Foreword:  In 1787 Thomas Jefferson wrote to James Madison that “a little rebellion now and then is a good thing.”  To date the USA has experienced two.  The first created our constitution & the republic, with 25,000 American lives lost.  The second in the 1860’s nearly ripped the country apart, took 655,000 souls, and failed.  Those now trying for a third will lose, too, but there will still be a cost.

The Drunken Path of a Confusing Storm

What was once Hurricane Eta morphed into a tropical storm after clobbering Nicaragua and the Honduras as a Cat-4 storm, then plowed into Cuba and eventually made two separate landfalls in Florida.  It had a couple of shots at Fort Myers and missed both times, although not by much.  Its path was as convoluted as it gets, giving the forecasters fits.  And that meant Ghost Rider had to be prepped for a possible Eta fly-by.

We had already deployed extra lines and fenders, so this time our preps were focused on securing canvas on the boat deck and flybridge, lowering antennae, and stowing all loose gear on the main deck into the lazarette.  On the night of 08-November Eta passed about 80 miles to our south, bringing rain and occasional gusts to 45.  After heading west into the Gulf of Mexico, then bending south before turning back to the northeast, Eta cruised past us again on 11-November, this time as a Cat-1 hurricane about 80 miles to our west.  That brought us another round of rain and wind, with gusts up to 60 MPH, and an extra four feet of sea surge.  It was an annoying way to celebrate our Veterans Day. 

Flybridge Cover Taped Down, Bimini Rolled Up & Non-fixed
Antennae Lowered & Tied for Storm Preps

By the morning of 12-November Eta had made its fourth landfall just north of Tampa as it turned to the northeast, and proceeded to strafe the coastlines of Georgia and the Carolinas before continuing out to sea a few days later.  We spent a day putting Ghost Rider’s gear back to a normal state, hoping we had seen our last tropical threat of the season.  There was another forming down in the Caribbean again (which became Iota, a record-breaking 30^th this year) but the long-term models did not predict a northern trek in our direction.  Eventually Iota spun up into a Cat-5 and clobbered the same areas of Nicaragua and Guatemala that had been whacked by Eta on its first landfall two weeks prior.  We count our blessings. 

Break/Fix 

Nothing broke this month.  Honest.  Really. 

Regular Maintenance 

It was a light month overall, and apart from the humdrum repetition of numerous, minor Wheelhouse preventive tasks, the main task this month was the bi-annual coolant flush for the wing engine.  In addition to serving as our “get home” auxiliary propulsion unit, that Lugger 984 also powers the hydraulics for our bow and stern thrusters, in addition to the Maxwell 3500 windlass.  It’s almost as important at the main engine, so we pay attention to its care and feeding requirements. 

But unlike the generator and main engine diesels, we had never tackled a coolant system flush for that powerplant – our friends at Yacht Tech had handled the last one two years ago.  Still, the principles were the same, so after a review of the technical manuals, Rick went after it.  Overall it was pretty straightforward, with the main key being the use of the flexible “Form-a-Funnel” – actually two of them; otherwise we would have ended up with all the coolant in the bilge instead of a drain bucket.  After that we flushed with fresh water until the drain ran clear and replaced the drain plug. 

Form-a-Funnels Make Draining Coolant a Much More Precision Operation

While he was at it, Rick also attacked a thorough cleaning of the heat exchanger core, and even that turned out to be reasonably easy:  remove the pencil zinc and drain plug, then both cap ends, take a wire rod and router it into each of the many honeycomb passages, pick out the old pieces of sacrificial zincs, and slap it all back together with a new pencil zinc. 

End Cap Removed on One End of the Heat Exchanger

After adding back about three gallons of the Peak Fleet Charge 50/50 premix (the Luggers are picky about their coolant), the engine checked out under load with no leaks, and kept a steady 180F on the temp gauge.  

Project Work 

There was only one small project that we got to this month, and that was the annual detailing of the dinghy.  To say the dinghy was dingy doesn’t quite cover it.  Cleaning and waxing of the interior FRP surfaces was fairly straightforward, but scrubbing the Hypalon inflatable tubes took several passes with different cleaning solutions before it was anywhere close to acceptable. 

Final (?) Tropical Weather Check 

Almost December & the Tropics Aren't Done Yet

The official hurricane season runs from 01-June to 30-November.  That’s actually an arbitrary definition that simply brackets the months in which most tropical systems (about 97%) have historically formed.  But there isn’t a month when a tropical weather system has not formed.   After Hurricane Eta we were hoping we were done with them for this year, but then the day after the US Thanksgiving holiday two more areas got flagged for potential development.  Fortunately neither were anywhere close to us. 

Departing the Boat 

And lastly, the reconstruction efforts at the condo progressed far enough to make it sufficiently livable.  Chelle had actually been spending more time there than on the boat – busy with project oversight and numerous complementary projects that dovetailed with the overall renovation scheme – while Rick had made a conscious effort to avoid most of the mayhem, enjoying the quiet of the boat.  But by the time the Thanksgiving holiday rolled around most of the major work had been completed, and we both returned to dirt-dwelling. 

The Major Renovation Work Progressed Enough to Allow a Thanksgiving Back at the Condo

Finally, a big thanks to our friends Martin and Stephanie Maurer aboard N60, Blossom, who stopped off at Legacy Harbour on their way from RFYC to their home in St. Petersburgh.   They hosted us for two enjoyable evenings in the spacious open-air cockpit of Blossom, and the rare social experience was a wonderful break from the rigors of the pandemic. 

With the arrival of December and south Florida’s version of winter, we’re now at a point where we may start contemplating what Rick calls “a different kind of boat.”  But that’s an evaluation still in the very early stages, with more to come in the future.  Stay tuned. 

Afterword:  During any crisis the only thing more dangerous than a leadership void is blaming conspiracy theories for those failures of leadership.  That’s a downward spiral from which the weak-minded never functionally recover.  And from which pandemic victims get sick or die.  We’re supposed to be better than this, but unlike previous generations, too many are proving they are not up to the challenges.

September 2020: Same Old Stuff, Only Different

The intrepid sailor and circumnavigator, Eric Hiscock, once said “the only way to get a good crew is to marry one”, and there’s tonnage of truth in that.  And if you know anything about Ghost Rider’s crew, then you know our Chief-of-the-Boat (Michelle) is a list-maker.  All kinds of lists.  There’s always the “to do” list, but also lists of recipes, ingredients, galley supplies, durable foodstuffs, fresh produce, frozen food, shoes, whatever. And the shopping list.  She may have lists of lists. Fortunately, some time ago she discovered an application, called “AnyList” (LINK), which makes all that enumerating and cataloging very efficient.

An "AnyList" Screen Shot

Chelle has also been a long-time fan of the “The Boat Galley” web site (LINK) where Carolyn Shearlock has long advised cruisers on tips and tricks for the voyaging couple.  Carolyn asked Chelle to write an article on how she uses the “AnyList” app, and you can find the result of that collaboration at this LINK.  Note that while it’s mentioned as an option, we do not use the app for tracking boat parts or spares.  (For us that still remains in the realm of our Wheelhouse software.)

Break/Fix (Davit Update)

As for the davit’s new HPU, Ross’s machine shop is just now completing its modification work, which is fairly extensive.  

The HPU Manifold Assembly is Requiring Significant Surgery

Two aluminum blocks were machined to match the fluid ports and fastener holes on the new pump and manifold.  Those blocks also had fluid ports machined to accept o-ring boss hydraulic adapters.  Then the blocks were bolted to the pump and manifold, and a base is being fabricated for the valves. 

Next up will be to install the modified HPU after which it will be necessary to make up new hydraulic hoses for the pressure and return flow.  So there is still a lot of work left before we’ll know if we can make it all work.

Salon Ceiling Panel Removed to Reveal Water Leak Location (Yellow Arrow)

Along the way, the removal of the old HPU from within the base of the davit housing had exposed an electrical wiring run which goes through the boat deck level and down into the salon ceiling void area.  And that had started to leak rainwater inside the boat on the starboard side of the salon.  We took down the ceiling panel to locate the source, and then it was an easy task to apply some silicone caulk (at the boat deck level, inside the davit base) to resolve the issue.

More Break/Fix (Main Engine Water Pump)

While we were not exactly sure it was “broken”, the main engine’s raw water pump had developed a small oil leak at its engine block adapter.  That usually means a deformed o-ring, although there was the lingering doubt about more significant internal pump issues.  So Rick decided to remove and replace it with our spare pump with a new impeller.  That sounds simple, but access is a real bear, and it took him several hours over a couple of days.  Subsequent testing demonstrated the leak was resolved, and Rick then sent the leaking pump to the Depco Pump Company (LINK) in Clearwater for evaluation.  They were – as usual – very prompt, and recommended that both the pump’s internal water seal and oil seal be replaced; for $190 (on a $1600 pump) that was worth it.  It took all of three days to ship it, have it examined and rebuilt, and get it back into the spares bin.

The Old Raw Water Pump Being Removed....Not a Fun Job

Project Work

When you acquire a boat – any boat – whether you acknowledge it or not it comes with its list of projects.  Whether you write them down or not is also immaterial to the reality, that list is there.  There is also a Murphy’s (maritime) Law that states any time you cross one project off the list, two more will appear to take its place.  It’s maritime magic.  If the Greek mythologists were more attuned they would have made Sisyphus a sailor.

Next up on our docket of boat projects was related to a time-based deadline, specifically the expiry date for the boat’s pyrotechnic signaling devices – primarily red flares and orange smoke.  For the record, those things expire at 42 months from the manufacturing date.  Our inventory included not only the hand-held flares and smoke devices, but also flare gun cartridges and SOLAS certified parachute flares, along with sea dyes.  An inventory refresh for a well-equipped voyaging vessel can easily run around $500 USD.

We have periodically tested expired pyrotechnics – New Year’s Eve and Independence Days are the best nights in the USA unless you want to entertain the consequences of an accidental SAR mission – and they’ve always worked.  Testing or practicing at any other time requires USCG and LEO notifications, and a securité call on VHF channel 16.

When we crossed the Atlantic back in 2017 we also had five vessels fire off an impressive variety of expired devices one night (quite literally in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean) and they all performed well.  The SOLAS parachute flares, by the way, were by far the most impressive given their brilliance, illumination time, and altitude / visible range.

The Array of Signaling Devices We Carry in Our Ditch Bag...with the New eVDSD Device in the Middle

The bottom line is if you store your pyrotechnic devices properly (waterproof container) and inspect them regularly (checking for damage), they will last for years beyond the expiry date.  But should you rely on expired stuff when safety is at risk?  Probably not.

But there is now another sensible alternative, and that’s the electronic Visual Distress Signal Device (eVDSD).  It’s only in recent years that these have received USCG and SOLAS approvals, sporting powerful LEDs which automatically emit the visual Morse code for SOS, built-in flotation, and user-replaceable batteries.  Replace the latter once a year and they never expire.  Combined with the standard daytime distress flag – and an arsenal of expired pyrotechnics – you can remain legal and safe for a one-time outlay of $89.95 (plus a few bucks annually for batteries.)  We chose the Sirius brand, but Orion makes a decent one, too.  There’s a good explanatory article at this LINK.

The next project was one that we had been debating for a while, and that was whether to upgrade our navigation software.  On Ghost Rider we use Furuno TimeZero Touch2 (TZT2) MFDs and also Nobeltec’s TimeZero Professional on the ship’s PC.  As you might guess from the shared “TimeZero” labeling, the software for both systems share an integrated architecture, so care must be taken to insure version compatibility between the two.  When Nobeltec introduced V4 of their TZ PC software in early 2020 it included a warning that its Furuno integration would break without the next version of TZT2 (version 7), so we waited for that.  Then the debate was whether the price was worth the gains.

These Types of Screens Make You Hold Your Breath....But It All Went Smoothly

In the end the price tag was nominal (Furuno’s upgrade was a freebie, Nobeltec’s was not) and we did not want to be in an upgrade-limited box canyon, so we pulled the trigger this month.  While it was a distinct pain-in-the-ass to upgrade both systems, overall it went fairly smoothly.  The Furuno side of it required separate upgrades for each MFD (involving downloads to both microSD and USB flash memory) and took a couple of hours.  The Nobeltec side of it was predictably less time-consuming – it basically was your typical PC-based software upgrade, although we did hit the limit on number of routes it could convert and support (200), easily overcome by removing duplicates and unused “what if” routes.

The New (V4.1) TimeZero Animated Weather Screen is Cool....Leaves No Doubt Where the Gulf Stream Current is Ripping Along.

Post-upgrade testing showed all functions to be ops normal, and Rick spent some time playing with most of the new features on both subsystems, all satisfactorily.

Finally, it was time once again to test out all of Ghost Rider’s bilge pumps.  The nuisance water pump (a Whale Gulper 320) gets a daily workout just expelling air conditioner condensate, but the other three dewatering devices require a special effort to verify their operation.  So Rick ran a dock hose down to the engine room, turned the nuisance pump breaker off, and flooded the bilge until the high water pump float switch kicked off the next pump (a Rule 3700) and triggered the high water alarm.  That revealed a problem, which turned out to be a blockage near the through-hull at the stern of the boat back in the lazarette; repeated cycling of the through-hull handle along with a coat hanger auger and a high pressure water hose took care of that.  (There’s a lesson here: we’ve discovered that any through-hull that has a 90 degree bend near its exit port needs periodic testing and cleaning.)

The Pacer Hydraulic (Crash) Bilge Pump....Capable of Expelling 10,000 Gallons per Hour

Next up was the manual pump (an Edson 638) which primed and pumped as advertised.  And last was the hydraulically powered emergency crash pump (a Pacer centrifugal model rated at 180 gallons per minute)….we leave that until last because that beast will completely empty a flooded bilge cavity in a matter of seconds – and it did (after priming.)  In the process our Monnit high water remote sensor also dutifully alarmed and sent its remote notification, so we declared victory.

Weather Check!

To say that the tropics were – as predicted – heating up this month would be quite the understatement.  By mid-September the NHC's map of the Atlantic basin and adjacent seas looked like a video game of tropical pinball.  Here in Fort Myers we got all of 24 hours of notice when TD18 formed just east of Miami, and by the time it cruised past us a day later became Tropical Storm Sally, mainly as a rain event.  But by the time it reached the next shoreline at the Mississippi-Alabama border it had reached hurricane status and dumped about a year’s worth of rain there as it slowed to a crawl for several days.

Tropical Storm Pinball...as of 14-Sep-2020

Luckily all those other named storms got steered out into the Atlantic, pin wheeling towards Bermuda or otherwise heading into vast open ocean areas.  As the month progressed the number of storms finally exceeded the normal allocation of names (all 21) and progressed into the letters of the Greek alphabet.  Even the Mediterranean and the coast of Portugal encountered tropical systems this month. 

Sally Skirted Us as a Tropical Storm then Moved on to Clobber Alabama as a Cat-2 Hurricane

Wait, why do we only use 21 letters of the alphabet, why not all 26?  Naming these systems has a long and tortured history, but first note that it isn’t NOAA/NHC in the USA that decides such things – it’s the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) international committee that does that.  They actually maintain lists of storm names for four separate ocean basins (one for the Atlantic/Caribbean/GOM, then three others for the different Pacific Ocean regions).  And there are actually six such lists for the Atlantic basin which rotate on a six year basis – except for when a really nasty storm gets its name retired.  The Atlantic list doesn’t use the letters Q, U, X, Y or Z because there just aren’t enough available (and recognizable) names that begin with those.

Towards the end of the month the tropics settled down for a spell, but we expect the activity will pick up again in October.  To make it more entertaining, that’s the time of year when such storms tend to originate closer to home – in the Caribbean and GOM – which tends to give folks less prep time.  We’re two-thirds of the way through hurricane season, but there’s more to come.

Afterword:  It’s only slightly humorous that many in the USA are acting shocked that their government has been lying to them about Covid-19 since late January.  As if that was a new phenomenon.  Just as interesting were those twisting themselves into knots trying to explain it away as some bizarre and nouveau form of leadership. We continue to look to science, wear our masks, keep our distance, and long for competent governance.

September 2018: Chesapeake & The Potomac

Ghost Rider Comfortably Hanging on Her Hook at
Horseshoe Bend in the St. Mary's River

We had our usual laid back morning on Monday, 03-September.  The anchor had stayed where we had dropped it and it looked to be another warm and sunny day ahead.  We got through our normal checks in the pilot house and engine room in short order, and performed a quick weather check – the tropics were heating up again but locally things looked good for the next several days.  It was time to launch the tender and explore.

Just as we were getting to launch the dinghy we received a visit (via their own dinghy), from Don and Debra McCarty, who happened to be out for a spin and recognized a fellow Nordhavn.  They own N55, Mondai Nai, (Japanese for ‘no problem’) and live in the general area but were exercising their Nordy with some local gunkholing.  We had a nice if brief visit, and decided we would reconnect that evening for a happy hour event.

St. Mary's College Boasts a Fine Marina Facility for a
Modest Student Population

Early that afternoon we launched our tender and after verifying its systems, we headed out on an expeditionary run in the local waterways.  First stop was nearby St. Mary’s College and township.  We walked the small but picturesque liberal arts campus for about an hour, learning some interesting historical lessons along the way.  St. Mary’s was originally settled in the early 1600’s (the first colony in Maryland) and eventually became the first capitol of Maryland until that was moved to Annapolis in 1695.  The college was founded in 1840 and remains viable and vibrant today; although its total enrollment stands at only 1,800 students, last year it was ranked as the sixth best "Public Liberal Arts College" in the U.S.  It certainly has an enviable private marina with all sorts of watercraft available to its students, many of whom were enjoying watersports on this very hot Labor Day holiday.

A Replica of an Early Settelement Built on the St. Mary's College Campus

When the still air and heat got to us we headed back to the dinghy to get some artificial wind going.  Chelle piloted us down river back towards the south and along the west side of the St. Mary’s River and then into one of the westerly channels to explore a small marina and potential restaurant.  After that we headed back towards the boat, but this time up the eastern shore of the river, past the USCG station and back to Ghost Rider.

We got cleaned up and then took the tender upriver a short way to find Mondai Nai’s anchorage spot and joined Don and Debra for an enjoyable happy hour, swapping boat stories and learning more about mutual friends.  We retired to Ghost Rider just after sunset for dinner aboard, celebrated our 24^th anniversary and called it a night.

A Shot of Mondai Nai as We Approach in Our Dinghy

Tuesday, 04-September, was another lazy day.  It was already hot by the time we arose, with nearly calm conditions and mostly clear skies.  The anchor and its snubber continued to hold firm.  We worked on the next couple of routes for the boat’s Nobeltec navigation computer and got those uploaded in preparation for tomorrow’s departure.  But during that process Rick discovered the Windows 10 OS on the ship’s PC was trying to upgrade itself to the next rev of the OS.  That’s generally a bad idea while you’re underway (especially on a slow cellular Internet connection) as you risk bricking the computer; we always have the Furuno MFDs as backup, but it’s a lot more convenient to plot and load everything via the Nobeltec PC and let the Furuno units get it from there.

Another Nice Sunset at Horsehoe Bend, St. Mary's River, MD

It took Rick a while to figure out how to interrupt the annoying Microsoft big brother process and then disable that upgrade service (again - we had gone through this once before a couple months ago.)  But he finally got it blocked.  In the interim Chelle took the dinghy for another excursion up and down the St. Mary’s River, checking out a couple of marinas and a restaurant at the far south end nearer the Potomac.  Unfortunately the local eateries were closed on Tuesdays, so we had to nix the dinner-via-tender plans, and instead enjoyed dinner on the boat, and a late happy hour on the fly bridge in dead calm conditions.

As We Cruised Down the St. Mary's River Towards the Potomac
We Passed The Maryland Dove from St. Mary's City As She Headed South

It was time for us to get moving again, so on the morning of Wednesday, 05-September we pulled up the anchor around 1000, headed back down the St. Mary’s River and then out into the Potomac.  We pointed Ghost Rider northwest up the big river, with the eventual objective of visiting the Washington DC area.  But today’s target was an intermediate anchorage about halfway to DC around an area called Fairview Beach, on the southern shore of the Potomac.

Overall it was about a 7 ½ hour cruise, under clear skies with temps in the 90’s once again and not much breeze (again.)  The river was flat as glass and nearly devoid of traffic.  We arrived at our planned anchorage area just before 1730, set the hook on the first try in about 10 feet of water, and settled in for a quiet evening.  There's isn't much around here.

Passing Quantico Marine Base Enroute DC....That's a V-22 Osprey
on Final Approach Trying to Figure Out How to Land.

We got underway the next morning (Thursday, 06-September) around 1030 and continued chugging northwards on the wide Potomac River.  Weather and water conditions were identical to the previous day (hot, calm) and we only had a short cruise of 35 NM to reach National Harbor Marina near Washington, DC.  We had a pushing current most of the way, motoring 8 to 9 knots at a loping 1400 RPM the entire way; during our daily WOT we even cracked the 11 knot barrier.  Once again there wasn't much to see in this area.  However, we did pass by the Quantico Marine base where Rick got a kick out of watching a V-22 Osprey (LINK) trying to decide if it was a helicopter or a real airplane as it did some touch-and-go’s on the riverside runway.  We also noted that the further north we went, the bigger the occasional home was….more like expensive estates perched on bluffs.

Not a Lot to See Along the Northern Potomac, But There Are Some
Nice Estate Homes in the Area.

We entered the marina basin around 1445, maneuvered Ghost Rider stern-in to her assigned slip (thrusters really helped today in the current), and got tucked in.  The boat as well as the dinghy got a much needed hosing down after several days at anchor.  While Rick tended to some post-flight items Chelle went out for a walk in the heat of the afternoon….and pretty much got exhausted and lost trying to find a shortcut back to the marina.  Uber saved her day.

The National Harbor Marina Has Nice Floating Docks But Also a
180 Foot Ferris Wheel and an Outdoor Theater

We took a break that evening to tour the marina and adjacent facilities; more on those later, but as nice as Waterside was back in Norfolk, this place makes that look like a slum.  In addition to scores of restaurants, condos, stores and shops, they also boast a 180 foot tall Ferris wheel and their own big-screen outdoor theater.  Mostly, though, we were just looking for an eatery to grab dinner, and we found The Walrus Oyster and Ale House, where the seafood was quite good and the sangrias came in 50 ounce glasses.

We (well, at least Rick) slept in the morning of Friday, 07-September, which started just as sunny, hot and humid as the previous several days.  We had several routine boat maintenance items we wanted to get accomplished, so after a light breakfast we went to work on that stuff.  Wheelhouse had apprised us that annual davit (boat crane) maintenance was due, so Rick took care of that, plus some routine stuff on the dinghy – checking oil, battery, and adding fuel. 

Ghost Rider in Her Slip at National Harbor With the Capital Wheel in
the Background; It's Gondolas Are Fully Enclosed and Air Conditioned.

Additionally we spent time cleaning the horizontal surfaces of the boat’s exterior with “boat soap” – not something we typically like to do even though we use a very gelcoat-friendly mild detergent, but even with that it tends to remove wax. Nonetheless it was time to muscle away some embedded dirt and stains that had accumulated since we had the boat detailed back in February in Fort Myers, so we scrubbed and hosed.  Then Rick kept finding new things that needed attention (weathered hatch latches for the most part) and by the time all that was done it was late afternoon and weather was moving in.  The predicted cold front was arriving and with it thunder and lightning.  We lowered the big antennae, covered the fly bridge and stayed dry and comfy in the salon for the evening.

Oh Joy, Five Tropical Storms Pinballing Around the Atlantic

We awoke on Saturday, 08-September, to the predicted weather – overcast, cooler (70’s) with rain in the area but not overhead for the moment.  Chelle headed off to a yoga class while Rick studied the weather – mainly the Atlantic tropics, where storms were lining up like they were on a busy assembly line.  For the time being we appeared to be in a good place, being 140 miles from the nearest shoreline of the Atlantic Ocean; that said the NHC still seemed pretty clueless about Hurricane Florence’s track, and model guidance was literally all over the map.  For now we were staying right here as we didn’t trust the predicted tracks of the other two or three systems stacking up behind that one.

A Pic from the Apogee of the Ferris Wheel....You Can Just Make Out
the Washington Monument in the Distance

On her way back from the yoga session Chelle picked up brunch to go…eggs Benedict and French toast.  After Rick finished his morning projects we got cleaned up and got off the boat to do some local area touring.  First stop was the big Ferris wheel at the end of the marina pier where Rick overcame his fear of heights (yes, seems a bit strange for a pilot) and we went for six revolutions up to the 180 foot pinnacle.

The Brass Tap is a Happening Place With Lots of Brews

After that we went for a long stroll around the National Harbor township; luckily we had the umbrella handy as the low overcast proved to contain copious amounts of rain.  We were OK with that as the temps stayed in the 70’s and we were more than ready for a break from the weeks of summer heat.  During one particularly stout shower we ducked into The Brass Tap sports bar which boasts hundreds of brews (Rick liked the hoppy Heavy Seas “Loose Cannon” IPA as well as the baked cheesy bread.)  The rain wasn’t letting up much, so we retreated to the boat and enjoyed another quiet evening dockside.

Another Shot of National Harbor's Outdoor Theater....the Yoga Classes Are Held in the Same Locale
and Broadcast on the Big Screen.

A Shot of Ghost Rider's Slip From the Ferris Wheel