Century Club: mike pitchford

Friday, November 24, 2023 to Saturday, November 25, 2023
Number of days:
2 days
  • ready for winter

Thanksgiving is always the final warning that winter is upon us. It always seems to sneak up on me. Those warmer early November afternoons always lull me into thinking the fall may continue. Then, slam! The string of late November near freezing mornings remind me I will be cold getting the fleet and house ready for winter.

And so it was in the days after Thanksgiving. Post turkey, I completed winterization on the Key West and covered her for the winter. I covered the row boat and tied down the kayaks with ratchet straps. The SUPs went to the screened porch as did the deck and dock furniture. The dock water was shut off and drained.

Tomorrow, maybe holiday lights for the little sailboat?

Wednesday, November 22, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
  • winter cover coming soon!

Yesterday was a day of rain (technically it lasted about 20 hours). Towards the end the winds picked up to well over 30 knots. The midnight high tide was eight inches over my dock and flooded downtown Annapolis.

This morning I went for a short boat ride to check on friends' docks. I then began the sad task of winterizing and covering our fleet for the winter to come.

Thursday, November 2, 2023 to Tuesday, November 14, 2023
Number of days:
13 days

Sue and I made it to Stuart Florida yesterday. Sun set Bay Marina in Stuart is our winter home. It was eleven days, 1200 miles, 69 engine hours, 900 gallons of diesel and ten marina nights. The schedule, the weather, the crew and the boat all cooperated to make it go just as scheduled.

Sunday, October 29, 2023
Number of days:
1 day

Granddaughter Quinn was with us for the night.  This morning she wanted to go for a boat ride. The weather was cooperative and so the plan was confirmed.  Of course, underway she also wanted to drive.

Friday, October 27, 2023 to Saturday, October 28, 2023
Number of days:
2 days

We have nice fall weather for a few days here in late October. The boat and crew are headed south on the ICW to Florida beginning early November. The weather was perfect for annual and pre-trip maintenance.

Yesterday was oil change day. The Cummins main engine and the Onan Generator got new oil and filters. The day started with a short trip over to Annapolis to fuel up for the trip and make sure the engine and generator were warm for the following oil change.

The work itself took about two hours, with moire than a few "yoga like" moves in the engine room. The oil change pump is clearly the real champ in any oil change.

The transmission is on a 500 hour cycle so I will wait on that oil change. Today I will change the fuel filters and impellers. Once done a short trip back into the Bay will assure me all is ready for the 1200 miles to come.

Wednesday, October 18, 2023
Number of days:
0 days

Haven Harbour finished up some remedial items related to the earlier work and installation of dual Racor filters. It was a nice day crossing the bay to get back to our home slip.

There is more work to be done before I head south. Shore Power Solutions will be over in a week or so to determine if a soot stained aparent leak between the exhaust riser and turbo is just that, a leak solvable with cleaning and a new gasket, or a bad turbo. We will see.

Tuesday, October 10, 2023
Number of days:
1 day

From Late August into mid September the good folks from Haven Harbour has the boat for a list of things (repairs and upgrades) I wanted done before I head south to Florida for the winter. One of the upgrades was swapping the original single Racor filter for a dual Racor filter system.

The installation was very professionally done but the engine data screen freaked out upon restart. The engine hours were wrong and frozen at 428 (I had 590 on the engine at that point). Every start resulted in a series of engine communications error messages. The engine ran fine but the error messages were disconcerting.

So, after a couple unsuccessful efforts to sort it out at home and on a cruise, it was back to Haven Harbour for resolution. The folks from Shore Power Solutions will visit the boat plug into the ECM with their laptop and figure it out.

Wednesday, September 27, 2023 to Friday, October 6, 2023
Number of days:
10 days
  • Sunrise over ICOYC boats moored at CBMM

Spanning from late September into October and the front end of the Annapolis Power Boat Show, a group of 45 international cruisers joined up with a roughly equal number of Annapolis based cruisers and “experienced” the Bay. The ten-day cruise began and ended in Annapolis and included stops in Dun Cove, Cambridge, Oxford, St Michael's, Shady Side and Mill Creek. The cruise is a by-annual function of the International Council of Yacht Clubs and was hosted this year in the Chesapeake by the Annapolis Yacht Club.
The cruising fleet of 30 boats included a host group of local sail and powerboats as well as a handful of locally chartered cruising vessels. Our out-of-town cruisers came from yacht clubs in Louisiana, California, Washington, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, England and Australia.
For the most part our out of town guests do not have home cruising grounds anything like the Chesapeake. The modest tidal range, limited currents, soft bottom and nearly 12,000 miles of shoreline offered by the Bay were a revelation to many. For more on this watch the December issue of PropTalk

Friday, September 15, 2023 to Sunday, September 17, 2023
Number of days:
3 days
  • cruisers gzthered in Rock Hall at Haven Harbour

Winsome Winn spent four weeks in the yard at Haven Harbour. The work list included rebedding the ports and hatches and some paint touch up. She was inside the paint shed virtually the full time.

The plan, which worked well, was to complete the yard work and launch in time for the AYC cruising fleet visit to Rock Hall for Oktoberfest. The AYC cruisers gathered Friday after working their way north in a stiff breeze. Fortunately, all we had to do was drive over by car as the boat was happily waiting for us in a slip all cleaned up.

The assembled cruisers, 58 including us, enjoyed a beautiful weekend and the 16 boats that brought them there had an easier ride home on Sunday.

Monday, September 11, 2023
Number of days:
1 day
  • Our Cantler's chariot

From our house it is quicker to go to Cantler's by boat than drive (always better by boat). This occasion was at the end of a weekend of entertaining that included a wedding shower for one niece and a baby shower for another niece. It also included a visit from the family of our Mid nephew because it was parents weekend. After a long weekend of cooking we took the remnant guests out for dinner!

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