Baltimore Chores

September 6, 2013

Being at a dock - a real novelty since our life aboard has been mostly moorings and at anchor for quite some time - has led to more and more chores. But plenty of resources to get them done.

After our bow to stern interior and exterior cleaning, the heavy lifting was mostly done. Wednesday we had a nice drive over to Maryland's Eastern Shore to meet up with Ken & Sarah from s/v SKEEDADLE to pick up our car and kayak. 

With Ken & Sarah in Rockland, Maine for Car & Kayak drop-off 

Being a bit early, we crossed the Choptank River over to Cambridge to check out the Cambridge Lighthouse and Town Marina. Both very nice. The Marina seemed to have new floating docks around the perimeter and plenty of available space. Our last Chesapeake cruise did not get us too far up any of the many rivers here but clearly there are some great places to see.

The Eastern Shore itself was gorgeous on a beautiful September day. All fields and corn and soybeans. And marshes and streams.

We had a wonderful lunch with Ken & Sarah on their deck overlooking Trapp Creek on the Tred Avon River in Oxford (even more beautiful and sailor friendly than Cambridge, we're told). Another gorgeous Eastern Shore spot with an available mooring for us (until SKEEDADLE returns from Maine at least). We have added it to our itinerary as we head South from here.

More of a slog back to Baltimore in two cars since we ended up in commuter traffic. Definitely not used to that. Though we often lost sight of each other, we did manage to hook up to pass a phone charger between us just as my phone/GPS/lifeline ran out of power. This allowed us to drop Katie's car off to her at AFYA (so she could get home from the school's Family Night). We then headed to Hickory Avenue to unload the kayak in her basement.

Luckily, Kyle was there. Otherwise Tess or I would be writing this from the hospital. Or prison. Or the funeral home.

This is a nineteen foot tandem kayak. It easily weighs 100 plus pounds. Katie lives in a 1800s era town home. Three units. She's the middle. Think southern style shotgun house. Very narrow. No side yards. No back yard access from the street.

Here's what we have to do. Drive behind Katie's house to the alley upon which her rear neighbor's house fronts (houses on the alley have no street fronts). Unload the kayak off the car into the alley. We have a two wheel dolly for under the kayak so we can just roll it in, right? Wrong.

Katie's back yard access gate (every yard is surrounded by six foot stockade fencing) is in the exact middle of her rear neighbor's house. This means we have to roll the kayak along a two foot wide house and stockade fence sided sidewalk (of sorts) to the back of the  neighbor's house. Then make a ninety degree turn to the right into the two foot wide space between the rear of the neighbor's house and the stockade fence running along the back of the property Katie's house is a part of. Then a ninety degree left (within this two foot space) into Katie's yard.

The dolly proved useless. We decided to stand the kayak on end and carry it "like a ladder". That means the proper roofer's way to carry a ladder. But it's not a ladder. It's pointed on one end, wide in the middle, and pointed again on the other end. And gear inside seems to be shifting. And we can't lean it against the stockade fence (Baltimore brittle) or the neighbor' s house (easily destroyed gutters).  So...

One of us pins the front end to the ground. The other lifts  the stern and starts walking under it. Then as the stander has both arms flayed out to provide some stability, the low man quickly moves the pivot point inches at a time until the corner is made. Not a pretty sight. No witnesses (Tess was moving the car out of the alley).

Finally, in the back yard. Now, the easy part. Just slide the 19 foot kayak straight through the basement foot into the 16 foot space prepared for it (Katie- I will come back to fix the dent left in your basement wall). Clearly, this is not going to work. The house is not long enough or wide enough to accommodate this kayak. It is now held prisoner in the back yard. Safe and secure unless a couple of eight foot tall burglars decide to pace it over several fences to reach a sidewalk or alley.

We will have to come up with easier storage options.

Katie & Kyle in the 19' Kayak in Harpswell, Maine

All of which made today seem easy. Replaced the Macerator (the dirtiest, stinkiest job in boatdom). Replumbed and rewired the raw water pump.  Rewired the aft head toilet. Nothing to it.