We spent September 13 on a day sail with guests John, Jim and Charlene, Wally and Michelle. We sailed through the North Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel on N winds 10-15 kts, then sailed back via the south tunnel. We spotted a very impressive flock of rays along the way and enjoyed a nice lunch spread.   Dave was happy to have plenty of helpers eager to take the helm and adjust sails.

We spent September 21 on a day sail with Dave's dad, Norma and brother Pete. We headed over the south tunnel then back via the north tunnel, flying the spinnaker for the run toward the Hampton Bay Bridge tunnel in winds up to 20 kts.  Good thing we had Pete along to help douse the spinnaker which can be challenging in high winds!

During the remainder of the month, Dave replaced the suction and discharge filter housings on the watermaker. Apparently some air leakage prevented the watermaker from developing full pressure and affecting its flow rate. After the housing replacement, all tested out fine.

Dave placed a service call for our refrigeration due to the repetition of a problem we experienced two years ago when the refrigeration failed to chill. We just weren’t willing any longer to trust its reliability, which would be critical for successful long-term cruising. At the recommendation of the manufacturer and based on feedback from other Catana owners, Dave had a complete checkup performed and had filter dryers installed in the refrigeration lines for both the freezer and refrigerator. We would be setting the larger unit to act as our freezer which we wanted for more capacity.

During the summer, we noticed that the satellite phone wouldn’t turn on. Donna placed a phone call to a representative in Norfolk who identified the problem as a dead internal battery. Unfortunately, the batteries (which have a 6-7 year life span) cannot be changed by the owner so a guru conveniently offered to visit and replace the battery, which is soldered into the phone’s circuit board. His availability was critical because we were only a few days away from our lease expiring at the marina at the end of September and after that date we would be on the water "out of reach". The guru tested all functionality with the phone number we had already established through our Mini-M subscription.