6/19/25 Another day in Solomons Island

Erik began the day in usual form, then received an early call at 7:30am from the boatyard (Washburns) and discussed the problem and possible solutions to our leaky through-hull.  The guy from the boatyard, Eric as well, agreed with Renee that trying to repair/replace it with the boat in the water is not a good option!  Unfortunately, the yards two travel lifts were too busy today to allow for our boat to be lifted out and sit in the slings for an hour or so to make what could be a pretty quick and simple repair.  So, after determining the size of the through-hull and associated valve, Eric with Washburns said he would investigate getting the necessary parts and that we would talk later in the day to formulate the repair plan and timing.   While walking Riva Erik ran into and had a good conversation with Tom, a fellow AGLCA member and gold looper.  He is a retired Naval Airman and this is their home port where they have both a sailboat as well as their 39’ American Tug which they completed their loop on in 2021.  Being a native and having cruised the Chesapeake waters much of his life he was a wealth of knowledge sharing many nuggets on best places for boat service (fortunately he says Washburns is a really good one 😊), restaurants, nearby attractions, upcoming ports, etc.  He shared that at our next destination, St Mary’s, every Friday evening St Mary’s College does an outdoor symphony that can be heard and seen well from a specific anchorage.   We had been planning to head that way Friday morning, but, that may have to be re planned depending on the timing of the repair of the boat.   

Culprit leaking valve on through-hull
Always something on the old gal

We spent some time doing a couple of loads of laundry and some small boat chores and then had a late, big breakfast before heading out for some more exploration of Solomons.   On the agenda for today we had decided that we would take Riva with us on the bikes to the Annamarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center that we had passed on our bike ride yesterday.   It had been a few days since she had been able to get a bike ride so she was more than happy to be coming along and sat in her basket for the ride like the diva she is.  

Some of the interesting sculptures in the garden

In addition to sculptures they had 35 or so little fairy gardens inconspicuously placed just off the trails that wound through the woods

The children were excited to explore and find them all

Many of the bronze sculptures were on loan from the Smithsonian 

Nice fountain statue at entry to the gardens

It was after noon by the time we finished up at the garden and the sun was now high and hot so we rode back toward the marina to get Riva into the AC on the boat.   On the way we swung through the adjacent Washburns to check in with Eric on parts timing and also to share Riva with the boatyard office manager, Linda.   Tom had shared with Erik this morning that she was a dog lover and angry with him for not bringing his puppy over to visit recently.   There Riva got some loving from Linda as well as treats and a visit with the yard dog, Jackson 🐕.   It was determined that the parts would not be in until sometime tomorrow and that the plan would be to get the boat out and blocked up sometime between 9-11 in the morning to have it ready for the repair when the parts arrived.   Leaving the boatyard there was a large cruiser rolling by in one of the lifts and we conversed with its owner for a bit.   It was a 60’ Selene yacht.  He was having some bottom paint work done and a couple other small things to have it ready for a marine survey and to put up for sale.   He shared that he had spent multiple years, fitting the boat just as he and his wife wanted it to be there forever boat, but, recently he was poking around on the Selene Website and electronically built his perfect boat.    Within a few short hours the owner of Selene had called him and within a short few days he ended up dealing and in contract for a brand new 66’ yacht.   He stated that one of his investment funds simply sat around and caused him stress as he watched it go up and down, so he figured he may as well utilize the fund for something that brings him and his family joy……3.5 million in joy to be exact 😂 😮.   

Back at the boat, we sat around in the air conditioning to relax and cool off for a bit.  We had some concerns about the timing of the boat coming out of the water tomorrow and the fact that while the boat was out, we would not have anywhere cool for Riva to be.   We pulled up our AGLCA app and found that there is a ‘harbor host’ that lives in the condominiums adjacent to the marina and boatyard.  Looking closer at her profile, we noted that she had a dog in the picture with her. We called and left a message with her inquiring whether she knew of any nearby, doggy daycare or other options for Riva for a part of the day tomorrow.   Within about an hour Kim called us back and stated that she would be happy to help out.  She also told us that she was currently up at the pool that is the same pool, which is shared by the marina and her condominiums.   We put on our suits and rode up to the pool where we spent a couple of hours floating around and chatting with her.  She is currently in the planning stages of her great loop journey and hoping to start it in approximately 2030.   She is currently looking for a boat to get her used to cruising on motor vessels. She grew up on the bay and has significant experience sailing, but not a lot of experience on motor vessels.   Later in the afternoon/early evening, and after some thunderstorms rolled through to cool off the day, Kim was out walking her dog and stopped by the marina to introduce her dog to Riva to ensure they would get along (Which they did marvelously) And Renee gave her a tour of Happy Destiny.  Plans were made to connect tomorrow morning when the boat gets taken out of the water when we will likely go to her condominium where it was determined that a friendly Scrabble game would be be had while the work on the boat is getting accomplished.   The later part of the evening was spent relaxing aboard, watching a Netflix movie and partaking in our usual caloric intake of ice cream 😝 Before heading off to bed.   

One of several canine companions Riva had the chance to meet and interact with today
This is our new friend Kim’s dog Dusty who she rescued about 2 years ago