The Realities of Living at Anchor | Solving Everyday Boat Problems Ep. 75 #boatlife
Life at anchor isn't always about sailing. Sometimes it's about solving the everyday challenges that come with living aboard full-time.
In this episode, we've settled into one of our favorite anchorages in Spa Creek, Annapolis, and we're tackling three very different problems—each involving one thing we can't live without: water... and keeping the bugs out.
The first challenge starts every time we weigh anchor.
Anyone who's anchored in the Chesapeake knows the mud is legendary. It clings to the chain, anchor, and bridle, and without a raw water washdown pump, cleaning it off with our freshwater tanks simply isn't practical. Until we install a permanent washdown system, we came up with a temporary solution using a submersible pump, an extension cord, and a little ingenuity. It's not elegant, but it works surprisingly well.
The next challenge is filling our freshwater tanks.
Although ROAM is equipped with a watermaker, the Chesapeake's muddy water would quickly clog our pre-filters, making it an expensive and frustrating option. We could take the boat to a dock for free water, but doing so would mean giving up one of the very few anchorages in Spa Creek that's large enough for our 54-foot catamaran—and there's no guarantee we'd get it back.
Instead, we found another solution.
A 100-gallon portable water bladder rides in the dinghy to the free water dock in Annapolis, where we fill it (with permission from the Harbor Master), tow it back to ROAM, and pump the water directly into our tanks. It takes two trips and about an hour each time, but it's far easier than moving the entire boat every time we need fresh water.
Finally, we tackle one of the less glamorous realities of summer cruising in the Chesapeake...
Mosquitoes.
Lots of mosquitoes.
With the calmer conditions in Spa Creek comes an evening invasion of bugs, so Geri heads to the sewing machine to make custom mosquito screens for our salon hatches. Like many boat projects, it wasn't as simple as following an online tutorial. Most hatch screens are designed for square hatch openings, while ours have curved corners, so the design had to be completely rethought. Using spring steel wire, bug netting, and plenty of patience, the first prototypes slowly came together.
They're not perfect...
...but if they let us sleep without donating a pint of blood every night, we'll call that a success.
Cruising full-time isn't just about exotic destinations and perfect sunsets. It's also about solving dozens of small problems that make life aboard more comfortable, one project at a time.
If you enjoy sailboat DIY projects, liveaboard cruising, catamaran life, and finding practical solutions to everyday boat problems, we think you'll enjoy this episode.
⛵ Thanks for coming along as we continue shaking down ROAM and turning her into the cruising home we've dreamed about for years.
00:00 Intro
00:17 Channel intro
00:29 Old school raw water wash down
04:11 Spa Creek
07:59 Potable water bladder
18:30 Mosquito nets
24:59 Wrap up/Like and subscribe
25:26 End Card
☝More about us, our adventures, and how we do all this on our website.More about Roam here
⛵️https://sailingroam.com/our-sailboat/
📲 Keep up with us on social
FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/sgsailingroam
INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/sailing_roam
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WE'RE GERI AND SHAWN. A couple travelers out chasing the horizon, meeting the people, and capturing it to share with you.
We’ve chosen to Roam the world by boat because, let’s face it, the most interesting path is rarely a straight line.
As we learn to let go of our American drive to finish, and embrace the meandering routes across islands, oceans, continents, and people, we hope to gain a better sense of our world and our place in it.
The path won’t always be comfortable or easy to find but, it will always #roam
#Sailing #Liveaboard #Annapolis #SpaCreek #Catamaran #CruisingLife #BoatProjects #DIYBoat #Watermaker #Anchoring #BoatLife #SailboatLife #ChesapeakeBay
Sailing Roam
👋 Hi, we’re Geri 👩🏻⚕️(a retired nurse) and Shawn 🤓 (a not retired technologist). We’ve gone on the greatest adventure of our lives instead of living the comfortable and predictable suburban world we left behind. Living aboard Roam, our cruising catamaran, we explore and immerse ourselves in new cultures, do boat repairs in exotic places, and get up to all kinds of shenanigans. Roam isn’t just the name of our boat, it’s kind of a philosophy. We’re not taking the shortest routes or using a formula to sail around the world. We’re not in a hurry either. We’re meeting the people, seeing the places and getting distracted by things we find interesting along the way. We’re unconventional and we’re living the best life we can imagine! Join us as we turn our 11-year old catamaran into our perfect adventure platform and see what’s over the next horizon. We can’t wait to meet you wherever you are! Clamptite Tools link: https://clamptitetools.com/?sld=syroam 10% discount: gerischaffer10
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The Realities of Living at Anchor | Solving Everyday Boat Problems Ep. 75 #boatlife Locations
- Annapolis (38.9764364,-76.489642)
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