Here it is September and guess what? We are beginning to head south to Florida again for the winter and spring. It's hard to believe that the summer is here and almost gone already, and we are getting ready to start our 8th year of full-time cruising. We are absolutley amazed!!
We spent a good part of the summer in Solomons Island, MD doing a lot of maintenance on "Diamond Girl." Bud repainted the engine room and then started on the engines. He changed all of the injectors on both of the big diesels and did a lot of other yearly maintenance. We also completed a bunch of other projects that we had been putting off. You have to stop traveling at times to take care of the boat that you depend on completely.
Solomons is great place to take care of all the projects. Not only did we have a lot of people living in the area that we knew, but all of the services that might be needed were there as well. We could walk to most everything, bum a ride from a friend when needed or just take the city bus to almost everywhere. We rented a car and drove up to Baltimore to visit some good friends (Jim and Cathy) and to Annapolis to have dinner with some other long-time friends (Terry and Nan). It was really a great place to spend a lot of the summer.
Now here we are...starting our trek south once again. We left Solomons before the 1st of September and spent the long weekend in Deltaville, VA at Regatta Point Marina. The Waterway Guide publication that we write for is headquartered there so we were able to see the people that we work with face-to-face rather than by email or phone. It's always nice to actually see the person with whom you're talking.
 |
| Regatta Point Marina |
 |
| An impromptu gathering for dinner and conversation. OH! And a drink or two.
|
Yesterday morning we hauled our anchor up and got underway again with a very short day planned. We were just going to go about 7 or 8 miles and top off our fuel tanks with some diesel and then continue down to Great Bridge and tie up to a free dock for the night. Well....after taking on our fuel, our port engine wouldn't start. So after trying to figure it out, Bud decided that it had to be a solenoid on the injector pump. After tapping on it a couple of times, the engine fired immediatly. After a couple of more attempts, he and a mechanic were totally convinced that the solenoid was the problem. So we tapped on it again, started the engine and made a beeline for a boat yard only a couple of miles away. They agreed with Bud's assesment and ordered the part. It should be here on Monday, and then we can get this show on the road.
We will try to keep you better informed with more frequent updates. We also update on Facebook, so now you have more than one way to try and keep up with us.
As always, we love to hear from you. So send us an email and let us know what's going on in your lives.
BandE
