Life on Lailia

Piney Narrows Yacht Haven, MD

September 15-24, 2022

After John’s diagnosis of gout, he was on an anti-inflammation diet of with food like chicken and cherry juice while he was avoiding red meat and alcohol. He was on some pretty heavy-duty anti-inflammatories for his wrist. He also was having a lot of gut pain which, naturally, we attributed to the meds. The only problem: when he discontinued the prescription stuff, the pain didn’t go away – in fact, over time, it got worse.

By the night of Friday, September 16, John knew he had to get medical treatment for what he knew was diverticulitis. We took an Uber to a local urgent care who, after a few tests, referred John to the emergency room to get a CAT scan. DIverticulitis can cause absesses which can quickly become septic.

We caught a cab to the ER where after several hours we learned that John did have diverticulitis but it did not require admission to the hospital. He did require an intravenous dose of antibiotics as well as a ten-day regimen of oral antibiotics. And a bland, liquid diet.

It took a while for the antibiotics to kick in fully. John also had to suffer through eating jello and drinking protein water, soda, and broth. I tried to eat when he wasn’t around!

Slowly he has been able to add food back. We’ve learned a lesson, too, that as soon as he feels a bout of diverticulitis coming on, he should get medical attention.

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We’ve only been taking short walks because of John’s discomfort but we realize haven’t been this far north for a really long time. The signs of autumn as well are starting to creep in. I am not a fan.

We seem to have been caught in a really windy weather pattern that’s pulled in some cooler air. We’ve been wearing shorts since the middle of February; I’d like to stay in warmer temps (but it’s probably not going to happen).

There have been some pretty sunrises, though, and we’ve enjoyed sleeping with the portlights open.

We’ll be heading to St. Pete Beach soon so I can lead a workshop for a few days – it will be good to go to the warm weather and see some IB friends. John’s feeling much better and only has a few days left on his antibiotics. There’s the potential for a hurricane, but it’s far enough out that we should be fine.

Galesville Harbor Yacht Yard (on the hard)

September 4-7, 2022

The weather for us has been pretty amazing – we haven’t had very many rainy or drizzly days for most of our adventure. Of course, when we need it to be dry, it rains…

Lailia was hauled out on Friday (when it was sunny and warm). While she was in the straps, she was power washed. Since she was out of the water and this boat yard allows for DIY work, we decided to paint her hull.

She clearly needed the wash. She also needs another coat of bottom paint. John painted her in 2019.

Prior to painting, Lailia need a light sanding. Since the bottom paint has a very high concentration of copper, a dustless sander needs to be used. We don’t have this technology so we needed to have boatyard folks do this for us.

There was a three-day weekend between when we hauled Lailia and when she could be sanded. The weekend was beautiful, by the way – sunny and warm.

Tuesday started badly. John’s wrist swelled up, got hot, and was very painful. The urgent care doctor diagnosed him with gout, which is pretty uncommon in wrists (it’s usually in toes). John has to take some prescription anti-inflammatories and wear a brace.

The weather was also difficult, although not as bad as forecasted. Instead of flash flooding, we had lots of clouds and drizzle.

Not much happened with Lailia on Tuesday. John was dealing with his wrist and I did some homework for some professional learning sessions.

John was able to get enough pain relief to allow him to sleep last night – an improvement over the previous night.

Lailia was sanded this morning. Muriatic acid was used to clean stains from the boat hull. The when hosed off the acid interacted with the copper in the oid boottom paint and turns it a funky yellow-green color.

To remove the muriatic acid residue, John and I used Dawn dish detergent, lots of water and scrub brushes. This should provide a clean base for the bottom paint.

We’re hoping for a few things: that John’s wrist continues to heal and that we have some dry weather so we can get the bottom painted. The forecast for tomorrow is much dryer plus pretty comfortable temps. That will make it easier for us to wear the protective gear, although we’ll still be pretty sweaty.

Galesville Harbor Yacht Yard (on blocks)

September 2 & 3, 2022

It was a very quick trip from the anchorage to the yacht yard where we met our surveyor, Curt. Curt spent a few hours checking Lailia’s systems while she was still in the water.

When he was finished with that part, it was time for Lailia to be hauled from the water.

Once we had her out of the water, she was power washed which took off a layer of “stuff” including some barnacles and algae.

Curt inspected Lailia’s hull. We have a through-hull that has to be replaced but everything else looks good. Since we had Lailia out of the water, John decided that we would get her sanded and then we would paint her hull – it’s been about three years since her last painting, so it’s time.

Curt’s a good guy and said that he would loan us a car while we were here; we are also able to stay on Lailia while she is up on blocks. These two things have really been a gift – we don’t have to find a place to stay and pay for Ubers. Curt also took us to a marine supply store and used his professional discount on the hull paint (it’s not cheap).

Staying in Lailia in the yard while she is up on blocks is…an adventure. Each time I climb up or down the ladder, I pretend that I am staying in a treehouse (for some reason). We do have power, so once I am inside our boat, I can forget how high we are.

We were able to go to the grocery store today. This part of Maryland is really, really pretty.

Galesville is a small, quiet town with some nice sidewalks, so John and I took an afternoon walk. There’s so many pretty flowers right now.

We have to wait until Tuesday morning to have Lailia sanded so we’ll enjoy our treehouse time for a few more days.

Piney Narrows Yacht Haven to Galesville, MD (anchored)

September 1, 2022

How wonderful it was to get back out on the water! Because the haul out and inspection are tomorrow, there’s no hurry to get to the anchorage and we can sail.

Low humidity and bright sunshine made this trip even better.

We had the mainsail and headsail up pretty quickly. Once the engine was off, we were able to just enjoy the quiet. Not much wind but we had plenty of time to enjoy the ride.

Winds were pretty variable – sometimes we hardly had any and then we would get to a better spot. We never exceeded 6 knots but it was a nice day out on the water.

This anchorage is very peaceful although there are several marinas nearby. John took the dinghy over to see where we will be hauled out tomorrow – it’s only a few minutes away. The light pollution here is much less than at the marina, so we’ve spent a few minute looking up at the stars.

Piney Narrows Yacht Club, Kent Island, MD

August 3 -31, 2022

We have spent the month of August in a marina. John has done a lot of boat maintenance (including making new deck hatch covers, washing and sealing the teak as well as changing the oil and filters and repainting the chain markers) and I have done some IB work, both virtually and in-person. The marina has been a great homebase that allows us to focus on tasks rather than travel.

Early August was marked with regular afternoon storms. John and I like watching the clouds come in. The winds pick up and Lailia moves just a tiny bit in this very protected marina.

We’ve explored a lot around the marina – the Cross-Island Trail goes right by us. We’ve walked the Ferry Point Trail a few times, but it gets really buggy. The bugs were almost worth it the evening I saw a fox there.

The view of sunrise is blocked by the covered docks near us but we do get some nice sunsets.

A short walk across the Kent Island Bridge takes us to a bunch of restaurants, including a really nice coffee shop, Dessert First, that serves breakfast as well as baked things.

Our friends Casey and Andy, as well as their dog Frank, have also shared meals with us. There’s even a pretty great taco counter in a gas station that’s about a mile away (right off the Cross Island Trail).

We have decided to stay in this marina for another month. As the weather cools down a little, we’ll take some day trips out in the bay. It’s also nice to have an address where we can receive Amazon packages.

Lailia will need to have an insurance inspection which includes being hauled out of the water so her hull can be viewed so we’ll be heading across the bay to get that done soon.

John: Piney Narrows Yacht Haven, Kent Island, MD (docked)

Chris: Springfield, VA (hoteled)

August 1 & 2, 2022

The workshop I am leading this week is in a school about 60 miles from the marina, so the organizers have rented a car for me to use. John and I stopped at a grocery store on our way back to the marina and also had lunch.

There’s a lot of traffic in this area. I knew there was but I think I had blocked it.

This workshop had the potential to be really messy – our hotel rooms and workshop rooms were not set up when we arrived (never a good sign) and most participants had not logged in to the learning management system prior to the workshop.

Fortunately, everything came together when participants arrived. They were really engaged in the work. I appreciate these teachers who drove through lots of traffic over the summer to collaborate with their peers from the surrounding districts. Their students are really lucky to have them.

The workshop leaders for this event were definitely international. My dinner companions included folks from Canada, Argentina, and Jordan.

Tomorrow’s drive will be through lots of rush hour traffic, but I know I will enjoy the time. Instead of sitting in an airport I will get an opportunity to unwind and relax (in traffic, of course, but there’s no hurry).

Piney Narrows Yacht Basin, Kent Island, MD

July 31, 2022

John gave me an orientation of the marina and the area. This is a nice place with some great paved trails nearby so we’ll be able to get outside. There’s also a pool here.

We spent most of the day just hanging out on Lailia. Tomorrow I will be driving to Virginia for another workshop so resting is a top priority.

John: Piney Narrows Yacht Haven, Kent Island, MD (docked)

Chris: Austin, TX (hoteled)

July 24 – 30, 2022

We are a couple who really enjoys each other’s company. For us, being on Laila – all 42 feet of her – is pretty great. We manage to have space apart on the boat when we need it (and we usually don’t need it). I also occasionally need to lead workshops in person, so sometimes we have to be apart.

I left early on July 24th to fly to Austin to lead six days of workshops. John had to single-hand Lailia to her new spot across the bay. John brought Lailia from Florida to Charleston solo when we first bought her, so this is not a big deal for him.

Austin is one of our favorite places and we have favorite restaurants there, too. The folks who were in my car cohort either were or became Torchy’s Tacos fans – we managed to eat there 3 times during this trip (including on the way from the airport to the hotel).

Our new marina is very close to where our Bahamas friends Casey and Andy have their boat docked. John got to enjoy a cold Bahamian Kalik beer with Andy on Andy’s birthday. John requested that I NOT sing happy birthday to Andy when I called.

Workshop leaders in Austin ride to the workshops in car cohorts – we usually make plans with these folks for any extracurricular activities. I was really fortunate that my group and another group had similar interests so we spent a lot of time laughing, eating, and walking around together. (Shout out to Kurt and Lu who drove, as well as Eve, Sabrina, Katie, Jason, and David who are my ride and Torchy’s friends forever).

Several of my Austin peeps had never seen the bats leave from under the Congress Street Bridge – how cool that we happened to be there when there were three flights. This was an entirely unplanned event that started out as a walk after a giant Texas barbecue dinner.

“Maybe the two different worlds we lived in weren’t so different. We saw the same sunset.”

S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders

How amazing is sunset? Every day we have a chance to take a couple of minutes to watch the sun go down and reflect on the day (sometimes we are up early enough to watch the sun come up, but not often these days). Even when we are not together, we try to have a sunset moment.

Austin has some really great murals. My IB friends and I were able to watch one being painted on a utility box in SoCo – this was a tribute to Joan Means Khabele, the woman who desegregated Barton Springs in 1960, while she was still in high school.

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Of course, even though we were in a city, I made sure to look for gifts from Mother Nature. These Muscovy ducks were down a trail that led from the back of our hotel through a nature area with a pond.

It’s strange to consider that I will be going to Lailia on roads I don’t know to a marina I have never been in. We have been so water-based for so long that I have few mental maps of where we are and how to get places.

John will need to orient me to the marina and the area – he has been exploring this week.