Plain Jane Plain Talk
Journals from the road, trails and at sea
Category: BreakOutAnothaThousand
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Cat Maudy sails (or tries) south for her winter ‘home’. Home this year will be Reedville VA. It’s a dot on the map just south of the mouth of the Potomac. She’ll be getting some work done – on the hard. Departed from Baltimore on a beautiful fall day – temps in the upper 50’s.…
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The Lauderdale Marine Center boat yard is filled with the largest yachts you can imagine. Well over 100 feet in length. Most of these yachts are larger than a 3000 sq foot home – 4 and 5 stories tall. The yard is a buzz with hundreds of contractors and servants – to the owners of…
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The New River in Ft. Lauderdale is touted as the American version of waterways and channels in Venice. If this is true, then I will scratch off my bucket list any attempt to ride the river boats in Italy. The New River is not designed for mega yachts, sightseeing paddle boats…or even catamarans for that…
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When Captain Paddy broke the news that Cat Maudy had sprung a leak…and water was coming in — I admit my first thought was getting OFF the sinking ship. Sure enough, all of the little seals that are used to keep the water OUT of the engine compartment – BROKE – and now water is…
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Somewhere near the Hillsboro Inlet, we noticed our starboard engine shaking violently. Not a good time to be down an engine – when trying to navigate in narrow waterways, wait for drawbridges to open…and contend with strong tidal currents. We were down to one engine, and I had my finger on the VHF ready to…
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The port side rudder was LOCKED into place. It would not turn – making steering Cat Maudy a challenge. So when we paid a visit to the St. Augustine Marine Center – (who were short on staff due to the December holidays) – we weren’t sure what to expect. Would Cat Maudy need to wait…
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Rich from Georgetown Yacht Basin, Galena MD worked on Cat Maudy’s saildrive problem. He had the drives out of the boat a couple of hours after we were blocked on the hard.Rich found that in addition to the rubber diaphrams we needed prop shaft seals and damper plates on both drives. So while Rich was…
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Is traveling to Georgetown like time traveling into the past? It is and it ain’t.. Georgetown Yacht Basin is the only yard able to haul very beamy cats. So in the mid-Atlantic region GYB is THE destination for big cats.
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Jane and I departed the dock at 1300 hrs. we had a very good 10-15kts from 045. close hauled we were making 7 and 8 until we reached the bay and the wind increased. We were nearly at the eastern shore and the weather was looking a little nazty so we turned back. This course…
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What started out as a minor “CLEW” repair, morphed into needing new sails. The clew, is the end of the main sail, that attaches to the stern end of the boom. It looked like the attachment had worn out…but apparently the entire sail had no life left in her. So, while Cat Maudy was down…
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Don’t try this at home…or on your boat. Unless of course, you want to save $20,000+ in boat yard labor fees. The salon window replacement project began in “concept” – last fall. Without adequate weather or temperatures, windows replacement waited until the following spring. Spring felt more like monsoon season in the tropics. We waited,…
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(Captain Pat) Back in the day… …Cruisers had many little tricks for preserving fresh food on board the cruising boat. None of those tricks included a Frigoboat keel cooler refrigeration unit. You can probably google preserving fresh eggs and find that eggs can be kept for a very long time without refrigeration. Ok…we’ll save that…
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The windlass install is complete. In this shot the chain, solenoid, motor, and gearbox are visible. This project was complete on 5/10. We decided to replace the old windlass on 4/19 and started the project with 4 days of dis-assembly. The old windlass was a Diport AG with a much larger footprint and easily twice…
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This year we are in dire need of a good rain. This year we are in dire need of a windlass fix. Driving south toward DC you’ll pass over the itty bitty Patuxent River. It has been an almost dry river bed for a few years now so this abundant spring rain we are hiding…
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Last December while in Sea School working on my USCG Captain’s license…I met “Captain” Jane. What are the odds in a predominantly male merchant marines – that I would meet another femme with the ‘jane name’. We instantly became friends, and shared sailing stories during class breaks. At least I thought we were sharing sailing…
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After a winter in Baltimore, or for no other apparent reason, our automatic anchor windlass has decided to act up. The windlass is a motor that turns the chain holding the anchor…allowing either the anchor to get dropped into the water….or to bring it back on deck. Our best guess, is that the bearings are…
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(Captain Pat) … that I have spent the winter in a dark corner of the basement sucking my thumb while in the fetal position due to this window nightmare. Well… almost. While gas prices were “lower”, we took a road trip out west – a real Lewis and Clarke adventure. This provided a wonderful distraction…
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Cat Maudy gets new cockpit boat cushions on the cheap… * discounted Microfiber upholstery fabric from G Street Fabrics @ $7/yard * reuse existing cushion material * use velcro to fasten ends* use the existing foam to cut new materials * spend a 7 hour rainy day with good friend Husqvarna Viking sewing machine and…
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We’re back on-board Cat Maudy after a 9 week stint on land. So, what’s changed?– the seagulls (along with all of their friends and relatives) have invaded our dock– the city of Baltimore has installed a shed with a solar powered conveyor belt to help capture storm runoff pollution.– our windows are still broken. Yes,…
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…Cat Maudy’s panoramic port side salon window develops a seismic crack. We love to meet people, work with them, solve their business and technology problems and walk away at the end of the day knowing that my clients are satisfied. Designing software business solutions is what we do for a living, and there is nothing…
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Dockside in Baltimore MD. It would be nice to enjoy some downtime after 30 days of cruising. But no. Since arrival into the port of Baltimore:Day 1: Skate 25 milesDay 2: Can’t move. Realize I was too outta shape to skate 25 miles on Day 1Day 3: Still recovering from Day 1…tho my new PINK…
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Deltaville VA…and north to Solomons Island MD 4/22-4/23/08Boat Repairs in Deltaville VA We couldn’t have picked a better spot to have some down-time, while waiting for southerly winds. I can’t say this with any certainty, but Deltaville appeared to be the kind of place, where everyone knew everyone else in town. You could leave your…
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North….Two weeks back in Maryland – land-based, filled with work, work, work…taking care of my Dad, family stuff, hooking up with a few friends…and a swim debut.That’s right – swim. My least enjoyable sport. But, since I am in training for a sprint-TRI – I guess I need to find my way back into the…
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After 6 weeks of being land-based in Maryland, I was looking forward to finally rejoining Pat and boat life on Cat Maudy. The weather on Saturday 1/12/08 was perfect for my 9 hour drive from Silver Spring MD. The original plan was to take the Amtrak from DC to Charleston – but due to a…
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Captain Pat Log Entries:Beaufort to Swansboro 11/14I made some scramble eggs with sausage and covered with shredded cheese. And we had coffeeTim leaves around 1000Derrick and I do some choresDerrick and I motor at about 1100First bridge at 1215 which is sitting at 63 ft.Derrick and I waiting till 1400At 1400 the bridge clearance is…
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Following the advice of Commander’s Weather, Cat Maudy and crew waited until Sunday morning for the offshore seas to settle. Unfortunately the projected weather of 15-20 knot northerly winds….turned out to be a wimpy 2 knot wind. Cat Maudy only holds 90 gallons of fuel. Not enough to motor to the next inlet at Beaufort…
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We worked tirelessly on Cat Maudy, for over a year – to bring her back from “deathrow”. We closed the deal on Cat Maudy – the day after Thanksgiving 2006. The price was right, but she was in serious state of disrepair. Much progress has been made, but her list of necessary repairs remained long…
Plain Jane Plain Talk 