Memorial Day Weekend 2019

Probably the BEST weekend ever!!

On this Memorial Day weekend, we remembered those who gave all so that we can live with the freedoms we enjoy.

We spent virtually the entire weekend on the boat! I love camping and staying on the boat is "luxury camping" for me. We began by anchoring out in near a location called "Cedars" by the locals. Despite the crab pots and stakes for gill nets, we were able to find a spot to anchor. Shawn and I have pretty much developed our routine of anchoring...I drop the anchor and he ensures that it catches. Thanks to our anchor windlass, my job is easy!

My wonderful husband fixed drinks and cooked dinner for us (tuna and avocado) while I enjoyed the view and the sunset.

After dark, we put out the fishlight I got for Christmas. Who needs TV when you can watch the sea life??? All we saw were crabs--no clue why they liked the light so much (they were the smallest crabs I have ever seen!) and some really small garfish.

Saturday morning, we were up early! Lucky for us because the waterman who had set out the crab pots was checking them at 5:30am while we were drinking our coffee. While we have a stove top, we (Shawn) use an alcohol burner and an aluminum percolator to make coffee. For some reason, the coffee on the boat tastes way better than anywhere else!

After a leisurely breakfast of coffee, we weighed anchor to meander our way home. I commander the helm with Shawn directing me what to do while he weighs the anchor and rinses it off with the wash down as the anchor windlass does its thing!

We returned home to work on the boat a bit Saturday morning. We removed the hatch and the  handrails on the foreward deck in preparation for painting. We decided to take the little skiff with us this time. I have affectionately named it "Tar Baby". We had to change the lower unit oil (I learned to do that) and scrub her down and launch her. All successfully accomplished. I commandeered Tar Baby and followed Shawn in the Yellow Bird.

We anchored the YB and cruised around in the skiff. We were able to get some pictures of her anchored. We anchored for the evening in Dividing Creek near Ditchley...our "go to" spot as it is protected and near our house so a quick jaunt to get there.

We enjoyed a beautiful sunset as we relaxed in the evening.

 Sunday morning dawned and I awoke in a panic because it was light outside! It was only 6am but it felt like I had slept until noon! Shawn made our coffee and we took the skiff to the nearby beach for an early morning walk.

It is one of our favorite places to visit as it is relatively untouched. We love seeing how it has changed over the years. This is my fifth summer here and Shawn has been here twenty years, so he really notices the changes. We were fortunate to spot a crab growing a new class AND a turtle who was somewhere in the process of laying eggs.

We returned from our walk to find that our skiff was NOT exactly how we had left her! The tide was ebbing!

We returned to the YellowBird for a leisurely morning cruise and were fortunate enough to see a school of porpoises playing in the water. I took many pictures, but of course NONE of them showed the antics!

Sunday evening we returned to the area near Cedars to anchor. Just as on Friday night, there were several other boats in the area.

Monday morning and we had a perfect view of the sunrise and this sailboat!

 Monday morning, we made our way back to our creek and spent the afternoon at the beach enjoying the sun, walking on the beach and talking with friends. A great weekend filled with what we love the most! Sun, sand and BOATS!!!

Round Two

Round two begins!

July 15 we made the trek from our home dock to Jennings Boat Yard. A simply beautiful afternoon to cruise over and make preparations for the upcoming work to be done.

It is bittersweet. I miss the YellowBird at our home dock and I already miss the impromptu evening and morning jaunts, but I am looking forward to completing the work so she is sound.

May Flowers

After weeks of rain, flowers are blooming, the sun is shining and the sea beckons. Just in time for Mother's Day weekend.

My great-grandmother's rose bush blooms easy year on Mother's Day. Amazing.

May 11

Friday after work, we raced home to enjoy the beautiful evening on the water. Cruising around and enjoying drinks, snacks and music.

It was one of those perfect evenings where the universe was aligned in harmony. Shawn and I found a spot and just drifted as we danced on our flybridge and enjoyed the beautiful evening.

On our way to the home dock, we happened upon a fellow MTOA member anchored for the evening in one of the coves near our house. We love the instant friendliness of the MTOA!

We stopped by to see  our friends Wendy and Ian in Prentice Creek on our way home. Wendy takes great pics!

Saturday morning was dedicated to the radar mast. Shawn had Atlantic Metal construct an aluminum mast to his specifications to hold the radar antenna. Shawn's ability to envision EXACTLY what we need amazes me.

So we spray painted the mast and Shawn then determined the exact measurements of the holes to drill for both mounting the antenna to the mast as well as mounting the entire apparatus to our YellowBird.

I wish I had video of trying to stabilize the mast while Shawn was drilling the holes. I have to admit there was a moment when the mast completely fell off the sawhorse.
However, we got it painted and everything drilled in the morning, so we took off a few hours to enjoy the sun and sand!

Upon returning home late afternoon, we looked at each other and said "we have a few hours of daylight left! Let's mount the radar!" So we attached the radar to the mast. Then we mounted the entire apparatus onto the YellowBird. The pictures sure do make it look easier than it was. There were a few moments when Shawn was on the flybridge railing and I was holding the mast so that it could be aligned properly. I was petrified he was going to splatter onto the dock! But we got it in place and it looks amazing!

Now we have radar. While some may feel it is not a necessity, it sure does make the Captain feel more secure about navigation at night and in the rainy, foggy conditions that can arise. 

Sunday morning

Mother's Day. We went for a short boat ride Sunday morning to check out our handiwork. Another successful project by Team Shawn and Liz. 

Spring has sprung!

What a long winter it has been! I have been ready for warm weather since the end of January! I think....I hope,,,,that spring has finally sprung here!

Our Yellowbird has been patiently awaiting for outings and so have I! Maybe not as patiently as she has!

Shawn has done quite a bit of work here and there on the YB so that she is ready to go! The bimini is back on which makes her look so pretty!

With warmer weather FINALLY here...we set off on our inaugural 2018 boating season with lots of excitement.  On Friday the 13TH! What a lucky day for us!

 We were BOTH happy and excited to be heading out! One of us does not like photos!

We headed over to our favorite Friday evening spot. This is my 4th spring/summer here in the Northern Neck and even in that short of a time, I notice that the beach is different each year as the storms and tides change it. Shawn says there have been years when the beach was not there at all! 

At some point I am going to lose my little "table" when we mount the TV antenna higher up, but for now I am taking advantage of it!

 I tried (unsuccessfully) to attach the MTOA burgee, so Shawn fixed it for us! I love the way it flutters in the wind!

A perfect evening with warm weather, clear skies and a light breeze as we puttered up the creek. I think the YellowBird is ready for some overnight cruises! As so are we! Just as soon as the weather is consistent!

Our inaugural outing of the 2018 season. More to come....

Winter Work 2018

I have come to the conclusion that owning a boat and working on a boat together intensifies a relationship. Both the good aspects and the negative aspects of a relationship seem to be magnified in a boat partnership. Or perhaps it is just our boat partnership. We work extremely well together and are so completely congruous on many things. And diametrically opposed as well.

I am the happy-go-lucky grab life with both hands kind of person and Shawn is much more reserved when it comes to new experiences. We both enjoy working and accomplishing tasks but many times it is with a different goal in mind. I like to finish a task and when the task is complete, go out and grab an experience and enjoy it. Shawn likes to complete a task and then begin the next task and the next and the next. While I am very task-oriented and a hard worker, I have to have down time to recharge my batteries so to speak. I am really hoping that we blend work with fun this boating season. Relationships are the most important to me and I love spending time with friends and family. I also need to experience a variety of activities; I am not a one dimensional person.

Our original plan was to use the winter time to make some road trips to warmer climates over long weekends to explore them together but we did not. I have a list of places and the list gets longer every year! *sigh*

Shawn completed several improvement projects, both large and small. The benefit of being a task-focused personality!  One of his many talents is his ability to analyze the physical space and visualize the possibilities.


Electrical Work

I wanted an inverter for the microwave and coffee pot. We had house batteries in the front of the engine compartment and the start battery was aft.

original configuration

Shawn added the inverter and moved the house bank all behind the engine where there was unused space. He built a panel to hold the remote battery switches for the engine and inverter plus an automatic charging relay for charging of the house bank.

new switch panel

reconfigured battery storage

inverter

inverter and batteries

source selector

Shawn put an AC source selector (shore power or inverter) switch beside the AC panel and also the remote on/off switch for the inverter and inverter power.

He changed the AC panel so that anything run on the inverter has green indicator lights and anything not on the inverter has amber indicator lights to help ME visually identify which power source to use.

AC panel

Galley Work

As I mentioned, one of Shawn's talents is his ability to analyze, envision and mentally reconfigure the storage space. From the beginning of our acquisition of the YellowBird, he has poked around and noticed many areas that could be better utilized for storage (the stairs leading to the galley are the best example thus far).

In the galley, Shawn noticedwasted space outboard of the refrigerator that could be used for the air conditioning unit, so Shawn removed the refrigerator and cut out the bulkhead.

bulkhead removal

Then he installed shelf for AC unit. This was a multi-step process since he had to actually fiberglass as well as build the shelf.

Once the shelf was complete, he then installed the AC unit. A great fit and a much better utilization of the "dead" space.

AC unit

AC unit

Shawn next turned his attention to the refrigerator space. Our "new" refrigerator is 6 inches shorter than the original one we removed. Shawn decided to install a shelf for new refrigerator in order to have storage space below in the now available 6 inches of space.

refrigerator space

shelf for refrigerator

newly installed refrigerator

refrigerator

Our next improvement in the galley will be the stove area. We removed the electrical stove with the intent of adding a gas stove top and storage space. We determined that between the microwave and the stove top and a yet to be acquired grill, we will be able to cook what we need AND use the space where the oven was for more storage.

I admit that I am frustrated and impatient. I was so looking forward to cruising this spring and summer and now it is going to be Spring 2020 before we are able to cruise. I want to go on short weekend cruises and longer week cruises to see if we like it BEFORE we make more of a time and money investment. I did not realize that to even go out for a weekend overnight, a boat needs everything it will need for long-term cruising. I want my friends and family to be able to go out on the boat with us and have FUN! And it keeps getting further and further away as the list of what is needed appears to get longer and longer!