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After our three weeks of maintenance at Washburns Boat Yard, we headed further north to Kent Island, just across the Bay from Annapolis for Trawler Fest, held at Bridge Marina, Kent Island, MD.
We could not get slip space at the Bridge Marina, but we found reasonable rates at the Marina off of Kent Narrows (Piney Narrows Yacht Club), across Kent Island.
We broke the journey from Solomons MD (Washburns) to Kent Narrows, with a nice overnight at the Rhode River, just south of Annapolis. It was a nice anchorage, pretty easy to get into, and we had three or four boats around us.
We made the final 25 miles to Piney Narrows, arriving at the marina at about 3:00. The tidal flow in the river before ducking into the Yacht basin was pretty rapid. Southern Star crabbed along the river as I made my way into the basin, slightly surprised with a counter current, which suddenly pushed me toward the fuel dock.
The marina, wanted to put us inside one of the boat sheds, but we quickly realized we were too tall to fit, when we told them we needed about 35feet.
They put us into a very tight slip with about 8” clearance between the pilings, and we could not reach the dock at our mid door.
The slip had only 30 amp power, and the adapter to use 2x 30amp to 250 50amp did not work. So they decided to move us to the t-head at the fuel dock, where we were happily moored the rest of the week with a full 50 amp power supply and great internet.
That afternoon, Jenny had a Tanti as we were missing the New England and Houston football game. So as soon as we were tied up and plugged in we got our bikes out and peddled across the bridge to Annie’s to watch the game. Tom Brady got the job done in the final minutes, but only just.
There is a bike trail that follows an old rail path that goes from one side of the island to the other, about 8 miles long. We wanted to see if we could survive the bike ride, and commute from Piney Narrows to the Bridge Marina each day and back. So the day after we settled in at the Piney Narrows slip, we biked over to the Trawler Fest Marina. The ride was great, long- 6 miles which took us about 35 minutes, but most of it was on the dedicated trail, nicely sealed, nice and wide, sending us through the forest, along farm fields, along the shoreline, with several bridges, that crossed creeks and inlets.
It was a really nicely done and soothing trail. The last mile or so, we had to get onto Hwy 8, this too with a nice wide shoulder/bike trail. This road fed the motorway, and had some traffic, and we had to watch as we passed across the onramps.
The Bridge Marina, had lots of space for the trawlers that were coming for the show. The marina is good sized and modern, with floating docks. We found Hemmingway’s Restaurant, where my diesel engines class is being held for two full days, beginning tomorrow, Tuesday.
This class is run by Nigel Calder and Steve Zimmerman, and is always full. I am looking forward to this overview of diesel engines and electrical trouble shooting class.
And so we headed back after catching our breath, and rode the 6 miles return trip back to Piney Narrows.
The next two days, Ted attended school, leaving the boat at 0730 for school. Jenny did not have any classes until Trawler Fest started on the Thursday, but she would escort me to Hwy 8, and then ride back. She also rode back to meet me at the end of the day. Kind of like mom meeting the school bus.
So Jenny got in 24 miles per day, to my 12 miles while I learned about diesel engines, and bulked up the thigh muscles.
Trawler Fest is held 3-4 times per year in different locations around the country. It is a very small boat show, featuring a range of Trawlers. This show was mostly Kady Krogen trawlers, with 8-10 on display. Our friend/broker from California, Jeff Merrill had a Nordhavn 55 at the show, Terrapin, and we were looking forward to catching up with him.
Trawler Fest started on Thursday and went to Saturday. Jenny and I attended classes from 8:30 am to 4:00 each day. Most all were really interesting. The highlights for us were: Safety at Sea, a Panel discussion with cruising and trawler experts, cruising Cuba and the Bahamas, Jeff Merrill’s’ Offshore Essentials.
We discovered that we were some of the few boat owners, most attendees were dreamers, much as we were a few years ago. It was fun and we were treated as though we were sort of celebrities as we are already living the dream.
We met some really nice folks. Enjoyed talking about our journey so far, having a few drinks at the hosted cocktail parties. We invited one couple from New Jersey, Frank and Pat, over for drinks after the show ended on Saturday. They were really appreciative and treated us to dinner that night. They are Nordhavn dreamers, planning to buy a 52 in a few years.
I was introduced to Wheel House Systems program at the Diesel Course, and met with Craig and talked more about the all-encompassing software, which inventories each component in most all of the main systems on board, puts their serial #’s and part numbers , and then creates maintenance lists and parts list for systems based upon either hours or the calendar. It is pretty impressive, as we have tried tracking the maintenance on a spread sheet. Jeff Merrill also recommended the program as it adds value to the boat to prospective purchasers, when that time comes. So we signed up and Craig did a walkthrough Southern Star on Saturday night.
And so we learned a lot of new information, we had a lot of information reinforced, and renewed. We found some ways to spend more money and we met some new friends.
And so we are now underway, having left Piney Narrows, yesterday morning, we are back in cruise mode; this after 3 weeks of maintenance and haulout at Washburns, and 5 days of school and learning at Trawler Fest.
It feels good to be underway; we are heading back south now, with a planned stop up the Potomac and a 7 day visit in Washington DC. We have about 175 miles from Piney Narrows – 80 of those up the Potomac, and then back down and on to York River in VA.
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