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says Brad. "I'm going to do it," says Holly, chisel in hand. Infuriated, Brad storms off threatening divorce. Maybe hard to believe but the word was said, and when it comes to the boat, a few threats of it are voiced every now and again. Frustrated exclamations of, "it's your boat" when something is going wrong - not our boat. And like the silly 1950's featured image of this post, sometimes, Brad just needs to let me deal with the boat. We both know each other have certain strengths and weaknesses when it comes to various tasks for and with CAYUGA. And this is just part of the deal when it comes to getting along and understanding each other - knowing that these moments are temporary and the current s*** show will too, pass. Heck, Brad and I love each other, if we did not, we would not have made it through any of this, and certainly not be about to celebrate 10 years of marriage and 15 since we met, in fact we already hit the 15 - on August 28, our first date. So, let's talk about how it got a bit heated - a chisel and woodwork - with the advisory to not proceed. I am not an expert with this tool, but I know what it is and what it does thanks to years of hanging out with dad and helping with his projects. They are deceptively simple looking tools, but they can do unintended damage if not properly handled. This all started because of a very silly situation that makes me totally nuts, it's my version of OCD; I do not like when things are broken or don't match or some variation of those issues. In this case, I'm talking about the hinges on CAYUGA's companionway doors. I took pictures last fall while being towed to our winter storage facility because I wanted to find a matching hinge - three are take-apart or bullet style knuckle hinges and one is a butt hinge. If the knuckles properly worked, the door is easily lifted out of place, but alas, due to the butt hinge on the port door, that was not possible. Hard to see in the photo dbut look at the bottom left, and you'll see what I mean - not to mention that it is silver (varnished over a bit and corroded). Oh, and lovely, the screws are different, and some are missing. This makes me crazy! This kind of thing makes me really wonder if people care about the things they own and want them to be in good condition. Clearly, I (we) am trying to get and keep CAYUGA that way. I scoured the internet to find a matching knuckle, but I was having little luck, then one day I stumbled upon a possible solution with what looked like a really close match except for the center part, this one having a large center ring and being flush with the rest of the hinge. This got me to thinking as the spring season wore on, what if I just replaced all four of the hinges with these? The existing ones are covered with varnish and bent, and generally a mess. Much easier to start new, right? So, I went one step further, what if I get them in chrome - everything else on the boat is silver colored, why replace them in brass? I measured the existing and got all new chrome hinges. As you know, Brad has been learning to varnish better with some help and asked the guy about the hinges. It was reported back to me that the new hinges were a little longer (figures even though I measured!) than the existing and it would take a lot more than simply unscrewing the old and screwing in the new. This was beyond what Brad felt I should be doing. I get it, he didn't want our beautiful teak possibly damaged because I am not an expert woodworker. But at what point does a boat owner relinquish their ability to work on their own boat if someone else doesn't think they can? I had owned and lived on a sailboat and had to learn to do things myself that I'd never done, how was this any different? Only, that I actually had used a chisel at least once in the past. I knew I could do it. It was a beautiful morning a couple of weeks ago, temperature in the 70s - a very welcome change from the insane heat and humidity of July - and I was headed to the boat to meet the varnish guy. Besides working on varnish and various repairs, we have also wanted to get the boat VSC (vessel safety check) certified. This requires someone who's approved to conduct such checks - usually folks from the Coast Guard Auxiliary or America's Boating Club (formerly the US Power Squadron). Brad had talked to a CGA person who has a boat at the marina, and they were showing up that morning too. And here's where it all went south. I get to the boat, meet varnish guy and Brad is completely set on me not performing any surgery on the boat to install the new hinges. We briefly discuss options: clean up and reuse the existing; try (again) to find that one replacement; return all hinges and get all smaller. I hated the idea of reusing the old hinges, it was hard enough to find what I had found and it was well past time when I could have returned or maybe even exchanged them, and there was no such hinge as what we had that I could find after an exhaustive search over the winter - if one existed it was probably in someone's old tools and gizmos bin. Then the CGA person shows up. Brad is upset because I want to understand what the process would be to do the work - which meant to him that I intended to proceed (he was correct). Brad's fury continues but now must focus on the CGA person, even so, he keeps coming back to me and telling me, please don't do it". I am trying to stay calm in the middle of the storm that's brewing. I ask Brad to focus on the CGA guy while I focus on varnish guy (who is charging money for his time). This might seem like not a big deal with each of us working on different things with different people, and those tasks demanding full attention separately. Oh no, that is not how it went down. I'm getting asked to turn on this, turn off that, while I'm trying to learn a quick lesson on skillful chisel handling. I'm trying to write this like I'm stuck in a blender at low speed getting turned up to high speed, because that's what it felt like. I'm angry that Brad is telling me not to do something I know I can do, right in front of everyone. All the while the CGA guy is going around checking here and there and I'm feeling bad and flustered that he's witnessing this meltdown (both of us at this point). We're not talking Chernobyl, more like Three Mile Island. And I'm apologizing to varnish guy every other second while trying to listen to him and relate to him that I fully get what he's telling me as he goes through what he thinks will be the job will entail and explaining a couple of really good points regarding the grain of the wood and the size chisel he might prefer for the work. I showed him the chisels we had on hand and then he offered his (really sharp!). As Wikipedia describes with reference to Three Mile Island , "Loss of coolant and partial core meltdown due to operator errors and technical flaws. There was a small release of radioactive gases". Who you think that might be in this scenario; I leave to your imagination. After both gentlemen have departed the boat, we are two very unhappy people. Brad is on fire about me installing the hinges. I'm beyond my capacity to figure out how to diffuse the situation when I know I can do the work and want to, and I just want things to simmer down. Brad leaves the boat in a big huff after we've directed some very pointed barbs at each other. I begin my hinge work. Brad does eventually return to the boat, I don't remember the sequence of events at this point, he left again and returned again, but somewhere along the line he had purchased some kind of cleaner - a sort of foaming stuff that strips paint/varnish/goo and put the old hinges in a jar to get them cleaned up. This is the kind of thing that is just a huge waste of time and money but in his mind, my hinge work should never have started and was doomed. I felt his ire was overwrought and his effort to restore the old hinges was the dumbest thing ever. Guess what - after attempting final cleaning of the first old hinge, he gave up. By this time, I was 90% done with my chiseling and had the top two hinges fully installed and working properly. To explain what my process of installation involved, first I had to chisel out almost 1/4" at the top of each leaf inset and then an additional 1/16" or so for each leaf to move inward because I had to keep the leaf flush with the edge of the door. I also found that I had to carve a new curve into each door trim to accommodate a slightly different location of the bottom part of the knuckle - you can see this in the first photo, particularly if you go back up to the photo of the old hinge knuckle location. I texted the varnish guy (and Brad) along the way and shared these photos of the progress. During it, I found all kinds of ways to hold the chisel steady and just use good old fashioned hand pressure on the wood as gently as possible but firmly so that my lines were straight and no wood was unnecessarily removed. I very lightly sanded each area after successfully trial fitting to prepare for a light coat of varnish later. I was worried that my chiseling would be too tight that once varnish was applied the hinge would not fit, therefore I tried carefully to allow for a tiny bit extra space but nothing you would notice unless you were this fellow: Anyway, in the end, we joked about having threatened "divorce", shared this story with a bunch of friends who know the dynamics around here, not to mention having lived through a lot of this boat with us, and laughed a lot, but mostly, Brad concluded the text message chain with the varnish guy saying, "I STAND CORRECTED". The doors look perfect - the installation a full success, the tools were returned, and yet another chapter of I love chiseling, is in the books.

Whenever I see the word "troubles", it almost always makes me think of that iconic Star Trek episode The Trouble with Tribbles . "Aye, they're into the machinery alright," is the line I'm thinking of that Scotty utters while carrying an armload of the furry, purring Tribbles. Whatever is in the CAYUGA machinery, it is certainly trouble. So let me tell you the story of this week and where we are with Mission Impossible: Water - Episode 1. This past Monday, I arrived to the yard, we chatted about the plan for the day and headed out. CAYUGA looks amazing. Her white boot stripe is perfectly white, whatever that cleaner they used, it went from yellowed and stained of the Bay's waters to looking freshly painted. Such a minor thing when compared the transmissions and engines but hey, that's what people see as she motors by them. A sharp looking girl, with everything as it should be. I was so excited. It was the first day away from the dock. Not only did her boot stripe look fabulous, but her transom, with the black finished around the chrome exhaust ports, just popped brilliantly. Her undergear was glowing from the Propspeed which looks gold-ish and if you ever have felt it after it's applied, it's rubbery! The paint "flexes" so nothing sticks. I had it on my sailboat's prop and decided it was more than worth it given the importance of props on a motor boat... Monday was in the 50s with a light breeze, so it wasn't a glorious outing that we were about to commence upon with regards to the weather but it's March in Maryland. And that means, memes galore and one weather forecast that sums it all up (from 2023 but still applies), seriously, you have to check out that site - that guy is intense, especially when it comes to snow (yes, I love snow). Sidebar: we paid a few extra dollars on our boat insurance to put the boat in prior to April 1 because March in MD. Look, if I don't laugh about this insanity... Anyway, we were off to go fill the gas tank, and since the preference is ethanol free, the only station around with that is a Royal Farms out on the main highway, Route 404. We're going for a ride, on pavement, first. It was interesting to drive behind the boat on the highway, with the driver never going above 45-50 mph. Fine with me. Since boating is not unfamiliar to folks in that area, it was kinda no big deal. Pulling into the station was a little bit surreal though, I have never personally watched a large boat pull up to a gas pump, on land. But this is what it looked like: After the fill stopped at some allowed amount, I went into the store and asked a very helpful woman behind the counter to put a hold on a few many more dollars so we could get this done without that limit again. Well, we never needed the amount I'd requested so that was a pleasant surprise. Which got us all thinking about how much had actually been put in back in early December during the engine break-in. Apparently, more than we thought. Oh, I know, you think we're goofs for not knowing these things but these old gas gauges aren't perfect and I don't know at what level the pickup is, so we don't really know how much gas is in that darn tank unless it's totally full. Before we left, a fellow walked up to the driver and engaged in conversation and asked about the boat. I knew the guy! How random! Brad knows him well, but I've met him before and he recognized me too. Of all the places to run into someone you know, with a beautiful classic boat, on a trailer, at a highway gas station. I think the best part was when the driver said, "the owner's right over there". Back on the highway, we're headed to the boat landing to launch for the first time in 2024. A smooth slide into the water amidst a bevy of folks fishing off the edges of the town landing, as well as a few Town officials monitoring whatever it was they were monitoring... and it was time to start the engines. But a little before that, one of the Town officials strolled over to say hi to the Denton folks and they pointed me out (again) and the fellow came over and said he thought I had a very fine boat. CAYUGA says thank you again! So now, it's go time. The engine guru was aboard as was the electrical guy, who is a diesel engine guy but he knows all the other important wiring aspects besides the engines. Good to have so some knowledge aboard. And so I turn to engine guy as he looks at me, and we, as I think it happened, were thinking, who is starting this baby up? I defer to him to make sure it starts the way he wants it to and he turns the ignitions. Both engines, one by one, fire up and find their idle after the usual warm up. This is a BIG deal. But taking it in stride because it's as it should be, after a few minutes, with me now in the captain's seat, I turn and ask if we're ready to go. I get the nod and so it's time for me to remember how to drive a boat. Believe me when I say, it's been TWO LONG + years of no touch or feel of CAYUGA and I was really starting to dial into her right when the season ended back in 2021..... oh geez that was soo long ago! I was so incredibly nervous all day. The morning work meeting was a breeze compared to sitting there thinking about how I didn't want to get it wrong the first moment off the dock. All way over from Annapolis I was freaking out in the car, my right foot felt like it was going numb so I kept fidgeting to make sure my body wasn't going paralyzed. Back surgery in 2009 led to some weird stuff I deal with so it was a combo of nerves, sitting, anxiety, etc. and anyway I arrived just fine. I've sort of come to enjoy my weekly ventures to Denton, although I am looking much more forward to my, hopefully, daily ventures to CAYUGA at the dock where I can relax on her, fuss about something to clean or fix, take her out for spin, maybe dinner at the club by water, or raft ups with friends, anchoring.... dreaming. Are you still with me? Pulling out of the launch ramp, there are, as I mentioned a bunch of folks fishing. I don't know how they thought this would go but I can only avoid so many fishing lines if you'd seen it. Luckily, we snagged no lines and everyone was cool. Pretty much I felt like I got the girl pass, maybe that's horrible to say, but really, how many girls drive boats like this? I can't imagine they've seen that often. I want to recall current flowing upriver with wind coming downriver. The current can be pretty significant, more than half a knot, so maneuvering at slow speeds is always fun. In the end, I tried to stay calm and just went with the flow so to speak and up, past the oyster bed shallows to starboard, in the middle of the channel we went. I was cautioned that by engine guy that he didn't know the waters super well, but I recall when CAYUGA was first delivered to Denton, taking a quick ride with the Denton folks, and them mentioning about the water depth and hazards - I remembered. Let's not run aground first time off the dock. We go slowly, the idle is not the same as I remember, the gears are finding themselves, the engines are sounding OK. And now we are headed down the river, a few fusses here and there but under the bridge and with the caution to mind the few residential docks on the east side of the river not to go fast as we pass, we push forward at 6 knots. As you can see, it was clouding up a bit, but it was the most beautiful day I will remember for a long time since it was THE day. You can see the gauges here, with the RPMs at about 1100 each, however, the engines are not in harmony if they are reading exactly the same, and they aren't if you notice - the starboard gauge is slightly higher and that's about where you hear the engines sync. It's all how you hear it. It's not handled electronically; it's something you just have to know. I grew up with that. It's such a cool feeling to hear it and feel it and know it. Maybe a lost art, and I have to wonder how many girl boaters are out there like me who are doing this? I wish I had a screen shot of my Garmin chart plotter, which thankfully when it turned on for the first time since... the track up the river was still in memory and that was awesome - just stay on that or around it so we won't find the bottom. Maybe this OpenCPN screenshot helps. Right above the "clr 24.9" (bridge clearance for any boat going under at mean lower low tide) is a tiny blue indent in the dark brown of the Town of Denton, and that's the boat landing. The Upper Choptank River Buoy 2 is where we went and turned around before heading south. It's narrow looking, but at low tide it's really narrow when you see where all the marshes and oysters bars and such appear. Our adventures this day took us as far south as Daybeacons 78 and 77 with the depth 9 indicator being the approximate ground zero for our fate. I can share that the waters in the river run deep at the outside of the curves and you can find well over 10' of depth and if you stray into dark blue (not shown on this screeshot) you better turn. Once past the residential docks with no boats in sight, it was time to ramp it up! The moment had arrived to open it up and go for the ride we'd all been waiting for. I took the throttles and began pushing forward, past 1200 RPMs, 1500, 1800, 2000, 21---- nope! The port engine stops. When an engine is off but the ignition is on, there is a LOUD bell. So the bell goes off and above it I call out to the enginer guy - and throttle back on starboard immediately and into neutral. Now we are floating about in a river, with a current, a narrow channel, a stronger breeze, and one engine not working. I love yachting. But it was really good while it lasted. Episode 2 coming soon.

Fall is in the air and the recent cold snap has turned the verdant landscape into vibrant bursts of colored foliage. It's Holly's favorite season, leaves turning bright reds and yellows, shifting summer winds into fall with some of the best sailing anywhere on the east coast, and our first voyage with CAYUGA beyond the safe harbors of our beloved Annapolis. Tomorrow morning, after an extra hour of sleep (!), we begin our transit from Whitehall Creek over to the Eastern Shore, up the Choptank River, and ultimately to the Town of Denton where CAYUGA will get some tender loving care over the winter. Given the time change and earlier sunset, we're breaking up the travel into two days, plus we need to arrive on a weekday for the haul-out. So, our trip tomorrow lands us in Cambridge for a tie-up overnight at the Cambridge Yacht Club . In addition Holly's pleased to dock locally for a visit to one of her favorite breweries... RAR . It looks to be a spectacular few days ahead, with favorable wind at our backs, a minimal current, and today was already a success with a lovely road trip over to the boatyard to drop off one car for the ride home on Monday. Fingers crossed for reasonably calm waters and decent temps as well; I think it's going to be chilly sleeping weather Sunday night aboard, but we're fearless sailors. (is there a power boater version?). We've been looking forward to the run across the Bay and up the length of the Choptank for many reasons, but one is traveling where we have not yet been. While it should be easy-peasy, even a short trip in mostly familiar waters requires a bit of forward thinking. That includes boat prep, passage planning, and provisioning. The better the prep and planning, the less likely we are to have I love yachting issues. Thanks to Holly, on the maiden voyage, we had the first aid kit when I was unfortunately sprayed by hot coolant fluid from a broken hose. That said, CAYUGA has been running well – knock on varnished wood. Boat prep will consist of the usual visual inspection including checking fluids, belts, and hoses. And making sure all safety gear is aboard and in operable condition. The rest is up to the ole gal. Holly has sailed on the Choptank for log canoe racing, out in the river off the shore of the Tred Avon Yacht Club, but never power boated further than Island Creek right around the corner (so to speak) from Oxford. Oxford is where CAYUGA began her forays into Bay waters when she was delivered from CT, on a very, very rainy, cold early May day. That inauspicious start behind us, tomorrow, we will motor through Knapps Narrows (with a pit stop for fuel), past Oxford, Island Creek, and onward up the river to our dock for the night. Monday will be the true adventure as we wind our way slowly up the remainder of the Choptank into historic Denton. The Choptank is meandering and narrowing from Cambridge to its headwaters. And probably has some wicked current too... the guidance given is stay in the middle of the markers and closer to the outside of the turns (where the water runs deepest). Oh, this is going to be interesting! The Denton folks have a little area along the river next to the Choptank River Yacht Club (a delightfully unassuming place) and there's where CAYUGA will get hauled and then towed into her own indoor space. The picture is of CAYUGA being delivered to Campbell's Boatyard in Oxford where she first arrived in MD. I can't pass up a bit of the old-school world of passage planning, which is pretty straightforward, to share with you. Holly and I are still loyal Power Squadron (now known as America’s Boating Club) members, therefore, we (mostly me) plan and plot courses in advance with nautical protractors and paper charts. For this passage, we will be using Chart 12266 to get through Knapps Narrows and to Cambridge. From there we venture to Chart 12268 to get from Cambridge up to Denton. Looking at the 12268 chart, and how that river just keeps on going, reminds me of a movie with a river and a crazy Marlon Brando character, but regardless, this is going to take some time... CAYUGA is equipped with an older version Garmin chart plotter, and we both have navigation apps on our phones, but we always have paper charts at the ready just in case. Furthermore, reviewing paper charts is still the best way to get the big picture of where we are going and the obstacles between start and finish. It’s also a way to gauge how long the various legs of the trip will take. Yep, good old course, time, speed, and distance - dead reckoning. We will leave the dock knowing where we are going – magnetic courses to steer – and about how long it should take to get to the destination at average speeds. With the hard part of navigating an unknown body of water researched, my provisioning is the easy part. It'll be the usual cooler bag with ice, Modello, some wine, and healthy snacks. No chance I'd forget the water, Holly always makes sure we have that too. With extra blankets, warm clothing, first aid kit, the usual music playlists and some jazz and Chicago (for Don), full tank of gas, and an attitude of "time to get off the dock", wish us luck. And with fingers crossed, next week we will NOT have an I love yachting story to share with you. But then, what would be the fun in that? Remember, where there's a boat, there's a story.

Contact Holly and Brad by phone, email, or even VHF if you see us out yachting. Contact Us Want to share a story directly with us? Email or call and we'd be happy to take notes and write it up for you. Or if you just want to reach out and ask why we are crazy to have an old boat that keeps generating stories. Whatever it is, we look forward to talking with you. 571-276-1476 cayuga1984@gmail.com Annapolis, MD First Name Last Name Email Message I want to subscribe to the blog. Send Thanks for submitting!

All about Holly & Brad. Contact Holly & Brad. And the story of CAYUGA. Ship's Loggers Brad D. Cole Master Story-Teller, History Buff, Extoller of Traditions Holly A. Tompkins Editor, Publisher, Encourager of Stories Inspiration CAYUGA Classic Gal, Gorgeous Gas-guzzler, Beloved of H&B

The storied history and pedigree of Holly and Brad's boat. CAYUGA - Her Story Back Story I Love Yachting started as a hobby and continues to inspire us to write and share more stories of our own. There's a story dedicated solely to where "I love yachting" started. Thus far most stories have been fueled by our boat, CAYUGA. (We continue to solicit for your story - and you can upload one right here !) Our gal is special and deserves her own explanation, much of which has been compiled by Brad, master storyteller and researcher. If you have questions, please "Hail Us " and we'd be happy to tell you more. Line Drawings Architects & Builders First Owner The Boat