Heading Down the Bay, Part II

The Canadian Navy behind us this morning -
a dozen boats, most from the Great White North

Solomons Island, Chesapeake Bay. It's a lovely spot to stop over on your way south to the ICW. Large, protected anchorage, excellent marinas, and some good restaurants. There's also two chandleries, so if you need parts or gear, it's not a bad place to be.
Unfortunately, no one carries in stock the replacement gaskets and rubbers for the Whale Gusher Galley MkIII water pump....and how in blazes did they ever come up with a name like that for a foot pump?

Beautiful Sunsets to accompany the wine

So last evening during a gorgeous sunset, Philips screwdriver in one hand and glass of wine in the other,
I disassembled the thing, pulled out the offending rubber and gooped it up with silicone, in the hopes I could restore water to the galley sink, without two thirds of it coming out onto the floor instead of in the sink.

Mr. Fixit at work...

After letting it cure overnight, I reinstalled it, and wallah!, it worked perfectly. Now I have time to source a new gasket and do this all over again in a week's time - although I admit, I'm tempted to see just how long this repair lasts.
This is a normal cruising day...there's generally always something that needs fixing, or maintaining. I also tightened up the fan belt this morning, and adjusted the engine idle screw. It's this daily maintenance that keeps you moving, that and just paying attention to your boat to see what's going on so you can keep on top of it. Boats can be sneaky about these things, as you likely know!

Today's destination is Reedville, VA, or if we do really well, Deltaville. I'd love to make Deltaville and shorten tomorrow's run to Hampton by fifteen miles, but with fall's short days, it's unlikely - although I've entered Deltaville in the dark many times before, it's always been to tie up, not to anchor out, and the anchorage in D'ville is very small.
Today's conditions are pretty benign - sunny, a high in the 60s, light winds WSW at about 5 - 10 knots, light chop. We've got the main up, and are running about 5 knots, with the tide against us - it turned at 8 am, so short of getting up really early, we were out of luck there.
To give you an idea of the difference the tide can make, even in Chesapeake Bay, yesterday we were running about 4.9 - until we got the tide behind us, then we were looking at 5.5 - 5.7. That's a significant push.
Tomorrow's weather is looking a bit dicey - we may have to hole up wherever we end up. However, since no two forecasts have been the same for the past week, we'll just have to wait until tomorrow morning and see what we get.
In the meantime, for those still unsure about boat maintenance, I include the following flowchart - use it in good health!

Photos courtesy of good friend and sailing partner Daren Magness....