After successfully launching Nick at University of Oregon, we packed up the cat and headed back to Pleasant Cove Marina in Pasadena, Maryland to begin our journey south. Read Cat on Cat for a full understanding of how THAT journey went. After a week in a hotel, we were finally able to get Gémeaux back in the water and formally introduce Dot to boat life.

First order of business was to determine why our newly-upholstered cushions were not holding up. A seamstress I am not, so given $49 Spirit airfares from Ft. Lauderdale to Baltimore, naturally we invited a seamstress onboard. We flew up Garry, who was the actual cushion-maker, form Creative Canvas in Ft. Lauderdale. He arrived with sewing machine in hand and spent the day with us troubleshooting and fixing canvas zippers, etc.

Although it looks like we’ll end up reupholstering all the cushions 😞, we made lemonade out of lemons. We had a very enjoyable day getting to know Garry and crossing off some repairs on our own to do list. What fun it was to have a sewing machine on board and listen to the stories of a New York designer!

We returned Garry to the airport at the end of a very full day and we signed up for another dinner of Maryland soup and soft shell crab at the famous Cheshire Crab restaurant. At last, we bid farewell to the hospitable crew at Pleasant Cove Marina and and headed south to Port Annapolis.

 

On our to do list in Annapolis was to eliminate the stench in the third head (so Nick will visit us again), replace one of the emergency hatches that was leaking, and the biggest project–remove the mast to inspect all the antennas and wiring. Recall our mast is 70 feet tall so an inspection is not a small undertaking!

Back out of the water AGAIN. Five guys and one giant crane lifted the mast off Gémeaux and onto saw horses so we could inspect the insides. I found the entire process very scary–not just the risk of 70 feet of metal falling on the ground or, worse, onto the boat, but the risk of being at sea and discovering that it wasn’t properly put back together. Allen loved every minute of it and of course captured the experience on drone. I hid in the closet with the cat.

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