Category Archives: Repair

Where we fixed something that failed.

Lying Low Between the Majors, Staniel Cay Area, Exuma Islands, The Bahamas

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On Wednesday, December 10, 2025, we woke up wondering if the Apocalypse had just happened.

While Christi and Keith did school, Eric removed the salinity probe and cleaned it. But it didn’t help — the sensor still wasn’t working. When he put it back, he tightened it as much as he could to ensure it didn’t leak.

We needed to go to the grocery store. We decided to go to shore at 1130, figuring that would give us enough time to have lunch and do our grocery shopping before the current was too strong in either direction. We somehow made a big mistake in calculations. Going in, the current was still strong. We made slow forward progress while the battery power was quickly sucked down. Eric had intended to bring a spare battery for the dinghy to be safe, but when we were about halfway to shore, he realized he’d forgotten it. From there on out, he was really anxious about getting stranded. We made it to the yacht club dinghy area with no problems. It was high tide, and the sea wall was again underwater.

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Changing Plans in Norfolk, Virginia

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Tuesday, November 11, 2025 — Here was Kosmos in her slip at Morningstar.

Cruising season in the tropical latitudes officially began on November 1. Many families that were silent all summer have begun chiming in on the various boating apps, sharing where/when they were going. We’d mentioned that in Annapolis, we hadn’t met a single family going to the Eastern Caribbean — most were going to The Bahamas. As such, Keith has been asking to go to The Bahamas since that was where all the kids would be. Eric and Christi kept assuring Keith that there would be lots of families in the Caribbean and he’d have plenty of friends. But as we watched the check-ins, Eric and Christi began to doubt that was true. Few families indicated they were going to the Eastern Caribbean, and those that were wouldn’t be heading over there until later in the season.

Meanwhile, yesterday it cooled down again, but the terrible cold snap hadn’t hit yet. We knew the freezing temperatures were coming and would last for a while. We did not have the proper clothing/gear on board for such low temperatures. There was no weather window to Bermuda for the next three weeks, but a weather window was opening up to The Bahamas on Wednesday. Eric and Christi decided to give up on the Eastern Caribbean and just go to The Bahamas, instead. Keith was thrilled by the news. 

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Keith’s Perspective on Our Last Days in Maryland/Le point de vue de Keith sur nos derniers jours dans le Maryland

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On Saturday, we were supposed to go to DC with one of mom’s friends, but mom’s friend had to cancel. My parents wanted to go even without mom’s friend, but thankfully the museums were still closed because of the government shutdown. Thank you government shutdown! Instead, we went to brunch at a restaurant, then had Tiki Tour over for D&D. 

Samedi, on devait aller à  DC avec une des amies de maman, mais elle a dû annuler. Mes parents voulaient y aller quand même sans elle, Mais heureusement tous les musées étaient fermés parce que le gouverment était fermé. Merci fermeture du gouvernement! À la place, nous avons mangé un brunch à un restaurant, puis Tiki Tour est venu pour D&D. 

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Finishing the Repairs in Drayden, Maryland

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Friday, Nov. 7 — The full moon was still up this morning and shining brightly.

Since we’ve missed our weather window to Bermuda, we needed to form a new cruising plan. We’ve decided that once the repairs were completed, we’ll go back to Little Creek to wait for another weather window to Bermuda.

Eric continued to work on repairs/maintenance while Christi and Keith did school. He noticed that the bilge pump sea strainer and hose was leaking. That part was awkward to access, so tightening the sea strainer was difficult.

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Replacing the Low Water Bilge Pump in Drayden, Maryland

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Thursday, November 6, 2025 — Despite going to bed so late, we were all up by 0730. While we did managed to get some sleep, we didn’t sleep particularly well — especially Eric. The anchorage was beautiful.

The full moon hadn’t yet set, and was still huge and bright, even at 0730. And yes, the little boat was a working waterman boat.

Eric determined that it would be best to fix the problems in a marina. There happened to be a marina, called Dennis Point Marina, a short distance away. Eric called promptly at 0900, when they opened. They said they did have a slip for us, which was a relief.

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