Storm Zeta is coming

The morning on the mooring ball was very calm. Although we had just dealt with the composting toilet two weeks ago the very wet weather and condensation had fouled it so we did a quick processing of it before we left Galesville – this process is pretty easy and just took us about 15 minutes.

After checking the weather on the Chesapeake Bay we headed out with a plan to go to the Solomon Island area to hold up while Zeta passed. Baltimore to the south of the Chesapeake was in the storm path.

Stew enjoys his music while we move – typically singing and dancing along with the beat…

The trip to Solomon Island took us about 6 hours. The wind on the Chesapeake was against the tide so there was quite a bit of chop. I typically make breakfast and lunch while we are underway. But today it was so choppy we just ate snacks.

It is always a different world when you enter a river or inlet off the Chesapeake. Entering the Patuxant River was no different – chop was gone, wind reduced. We continued moving into Back Creek – even calmer.

We docked at the Beacon Marina, just past the Calvert Marine Museum. This time we docked with our bow facing the Chesapeake prepared to take the wake and waves should they materialize over the next few days. We also prepared the cockpit for the rain by dropping the flaps and adding our canvas extension. I also re-caulked around the mast collar because we continue to get some leaking there.

We were pretty hungry when we arrived since we had just been snacking all day. Stew grilled some chicken and I had a nice salmon filet with some potatoes and broccoli… it hit the spot!

We were both really exhausted – why is it that things always happen when you are at your most tired? I had washed the dishes and was just draining the water from the sink (water filled with nasty salmon, chicken, brocolli etc pieces) and it sounded like it was running directly onto the floor! IT WAS! Unbelievable! The entire plumbing under the sink had pulled away from the drain – filling everything under the sink and now out onto the floor with disgusting water!

The plumbing under the sink has been a nagging issue the last 6 months. Stew did a full replacement before we left Erie and we thought that it was solve. But evidently not! It is an odd “T” that doesn’t fit standard plumbing and I think next time we have a chance we might do a complete “redo” with standard plumbing fixtures.

But for now we had quite a mess – even before the rain came we now had water soaked towels (disgusting water soaked towels)- UGH. So, Stew had to fix the sink again and then I had to wash everything from under the sink. But we couldn’t put anything away because the entire area needed to dry out. What a disaster. Well, it really wasn’t a disaster but when you are tired everything feels like a disaster!

Once it was done and we had things drying all over the cabin we finally had a chance to sit down. It was still quite a calm night, but we knew that storm Zeta was going to hit in the night…

The rain and wind started in the middle of the night. But we were secured to the dock and being so far back from the Chesapeake Bay – the waves and wind were much reduced.

It rained on and off all day on Thursday. We spent the day catching up on things. I did some laundry – it was time to do sheets! We also started our search for a marina to store the boat across the holidays.

Our plan is to stay at the dock tonight and then, if weather permits, to move to anchor for Friday night.