Mary Elizabeth goes topless

Mary Elizabeth is without a dodger. Bill did lots of boat chores yesterday He took down the dodger (the canvas that covers the cockpit) and sent it to a sail maker to fix a tear on the top. This is one of the advantages of being in Annapolis where there are so many resources and places to have things repaired. Once the canvas was removed Bill spent a lot of time polishing the stainless underneath, which was badly rusted.

Not having a dodger has made it very hot to sit topside, but it is cooling off. It is almost September after all-- time has flown by!

The other big project that Bill worked on yesterday was replacing the windlass. The spring in the "up" switch had corroded and stopped functioning. Island Packet sent us a replacement part and Bill was able to switch them out successfully. The first time the windlass (which lowers and raises the anchor) stopped working reliably was in Bermuda. Then, Bill was able to cut a piece from one of my rubber stamps to use as a temporary spring. Now we have a permanent fix, which we are happy for since we are looking forward to (easily) anchoring in the Wye River and other places in the Chesapeake.

We have also been enjoying watching TV!!! Dave and Molly have generously lent us their direct TV, which they helped us set up on Sunday. What great friends.