While we put our lives together on land, Skyward has been tucked away restfully at Chesapeake Harbour Marina right on the Chesapeake Bay. The move from New Jersey to Maryland is coming to a finale in July, and so our sailing activities have been slow-going while life on land takes precendence.
I chose Chesapeak Harbour Marina (CHM) when comparing against several other locations starting from the most Southern options going North towards Annapolis:
- Herrington Harbour South – Skyward lived there for 4 years with the previous owner on F-dock. The marina knows this boat well. They were full for the season, and the marina would be a long drive from our home. So this marina didn’t make the cut. I like that they have a webcam.
- Herrington Harbour North – Skyward lived on land for more than 6 years with previous owners. The marina knows this boat well, and it would be an ideal spot with a big sailing community and with Hallberg-Rassy USA and owners on premises both during Summer and Winter seasons. Plus HHN has lift capacity for Skyward. They were full for the season, and the marina would also be a long drive from our home. I also don’t like that we would have to really watch the tides coming in/out and go well South to avoid the sandbar on entrance/exit to the Harbour in Herring Bay. We will be back for the Winter storage. I like that they have a webcam.
- Shipwright Harbor Marine – They had one slip available, but I couldn’t bring myself to take the drive down there on any given day for a sail. Same issues as with the sandbar and tides.
- Hartge Yacht Harbour – They had a few slips available and one slip we picked out. We were very close to securing this dock, which was long and wide. I felt that it, like HHN, was a low tide issue, and I would be sitting in soft mud often. I also felt that it would take some time to motor in/out from the Bay in the Weset River including navigation. This place felt a little more like a local marina as opposed to a well-maintained kind of place. Very nice people though.
- Liberty Marina – This place was the lowest cost. We secured a dock and after digging into the details we backed out. The dock was on the outer row, which I didn’t like as I expected we would be exposed to wakes. The South River seemed like a power boat river from my research, and this was a very long run out to the Chesapeake. Nice people, but I didn’t want to be alongside the noisy bridge.
- Bert Jabin Yacht Yard – Annapolis prices and as big as it gets. They had one dock available for Skyward and of course, they have plenty of lift capacity, amenities and contractors. We knew we would have to back into the slip, and the decision was that they did not want our passerelle on their dock permanently while we were docked. They felt that it would impede foot traffic from neighboring boats. All of this conversation was via the phone, and so later I walked on the same dock and realized that we could have made it work very easily on Back Creek. I like that they have a webcam.
- Annapolis Landing – They have a fuel dock and are very close to the entrance to the Bay. They did not have a dock when I first inquired, but after I chose CHM and signed the contract, Annapolis Landing called me back and said that they had a dock. Later, when I walked the docks at Annapolis Landing, I was glad we didn’t go there. I felt that the docks weren’t as in good of shape (for the money), and honestly, the neighboring boats ranged from 1970’s liveaboards/no maintenance/no movement to a variety of typical Bay boats. It didn’t fit what we were looking for anyway…other than a fuel dock.
If we were going to pay Annapolis dock prices, we felt that CHM had all of the amenities that we were looking for:
- Short drive – 25 minutes away from home
- Quick to the Bay -Sailing within 5-10 minutes of pulling off the dock
- Close to contractors – We have every type of contractor in Annapolis, many of them less than 0.5 miles away. This makes us a very attractive client.
- Deep draft – We have never seen below 6 foot at low low tide
- Protected – We are in a cove of 3-story townhomes that surround the marina on all 4 sides. The marina also has a gated entrance with a guard.
- Membership privileges – Pools, tennis courts, gym, showers, laundry, plenty of parking, etc.
- Friendly service – Docks are maintained, area is cleaned and manicured, crews are nice and leaders are easy to work with
A few weeks ago, we had the engine looked over by Dick Vosbury. What a great opportunity to meet him and speak with someone with such a strong reputation in the area. Dick really like the Volvo TMD-31LA engine, because it is a simple mechanical diesel engine. Easy to maintain. With the lead time on new engines being much longer than 6 months and maybe as long as a year or more, we do not have the option to replace the engine.
Following his strong recommendation, I took off the turbo exhaust elbow to check for build-up and corrosion. Good thing that the elbow is installed with a single banjo-style clamp and has a metal-on-metal seal.
I used a flathead screwdriver to scrape away the carbon buildup. I don’t see corrosion, but I am concerned about some pitting on the exhaust side of the turbo. As I gently but firmly scrape in a in flat pattern, carbon buildup perfectly falls down into the paper shopping bag that I positioned below the open turbo and elbow parts. Dick is going to give me a quote to pull the engine and perform a major service on it since it has about 4,000+ hours on it.
Witht help from Ray, we temporarily repaired the aft hatch which was leaking, installed LED lights in the engine bay, installed exhaust fans on the liquid-filled battery box ot reduce carbon monoxide build-up, installed LED lights and red light with dimmer switches in the galley, repaired the electric winch.
The electric winch motor was very challenging to repair. There are no other similar 700W 12V motors with 3 wires in the market any longer. Most places want $800 for me to purchase a different motor which would require a different control box. I just purchased a new control box for the motor, so that wasn’t the best option for me. I finally found Pasco in Annapolis; the mechanic ‘Said’ repaired the motor in less than 2 weeks. Perfect!
The boat is sitting tight in its dock with the passerelle installed. The marina is quiet but nice and peaceful.
We had the boat cleaned professionally inside and out. It looks amazing. I also finally put the HR46 stickers on the outside of the cockpit. I think it looks amazing.
A lot of people are driving into the marina hoping to see the restaurant and outdoor bar open and leaving with disappointment when they see it is not yet open. Since I haven’t sailed since May, I took the opportunity to check out the Wednesday night beer can races on the Chesapeake.
A lot of dock walkers and neighboring boats have a lot of questions about Skyward. The most commong question: What is this big device on the stern? (We refer to it as the WindPilot). More on that topic in a later blog.
The Loxodograph 