Weekend in St. MIchael's

We spent an October weekend in St. Michael's, crossing the Bay with another Ranger tug, The Beach House.

Crab Pot Watch

Valentine and Chelsea enjoy sitting up at the table, 

watching for sea birds. 

Valentine decided to stretch out and nap, wedging Chelsea in. The rocking of the boat made Chelsea sleepy but she was stuck...and unhappy.

Solution!

The Original Chesapeake Bay Retriever

The Naming of the Dinghy

At last, Nudge's dinghy has a name. The signal flag for "Z" (Zulu) also means "I require a tug". So Zulu it is!

The Mini Ranger Fleet

There's a third Ranger tug at the marina! 

It's a cute little fleet...

And a view off our stern of the mouth of the river

Dinghy Dogs!

We finally got the dinghy in the water and trained the girls to board from the swim platform. Giant milestone - this will allow us to anchor out!

James' First Cruise

We had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend cruise with friends Jim and Christine and magnificent Baby James. James loved napping in the quarter berth to the sound of the engine. We wore his PFD with great grace. After the cruise, Jim polished NUDGE'S brass to USCG Honor Guard specs!

Last of the Winter Projects!

The table and cabin sole finally got their Fred-level varnish treatment. The table received five coats of spar varnish. The cabin sole received three coats of floor urethane. Despite repeated vacuuming with a Dyson animal machine, some Chelsea and Valentine hair is imbedded for eternity.

Cabin Sole in Master Cabin

Nudge in Stained Glass

This was a surprise birthday gift from the First Mate. It was custom made by a stained glass studio in Michigan, based on photos of NUDGE. Their website is: www.sgccnet.com. The backdrop in the photo is our frozen pond.

Brrr.....

We have had four days of temperatures well below freezing. NUDGE is safely berthed in her garage. The marina has water jets to keep water moving around the boats and once a day they run a small outboard power boat around the marina to break up ice just outside the slips. The ducks have discovered the water jets and mill about smartly in the only unfrozen water. Fred installed a heater designed for engine room spaces that goes on automatically when the temp drops below 50° and holds the temp at 40°. So far, works like a charm. 

Looking south down the West River from NUDGE'S stern. 

Looking north toward the mouth of the West River.

Stern of our Sister ship SHARED DREAM and NUDGE'S bow. Water jet is under the dock...along with the ducks! 

SHARED DREAM'S bow and NUDGE'S stern. You can see the trail of broken ice from the morning's "ice breaker" pass. 

Looking forward to spring….