Posts Tagged ‘tiki bar’

2011 Sailing Season on Schooner Heron is almost here!

Friday, March 18th, 2011

The 2011 charter season for Schooner Heron Charters out of Solomons Island will begin mid-April. You may visit our website www.schoonerheron.com and our new facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Schooner-Heron-Charters/203632606316106

Please “Like” the facebook page and join in to get the latest news, learn about events and special deals that we’ll be promoting through the Facebook page, read sailing stories and see photos from all our charters. Please share your own adventures in sailing, whether it’s out on the water, searching for a boat, asking questions, etc.

I’ve just started on a big project on Schooner Heron: prepping the decks and pilothouse for new Alwgrip paint and new non-skid surfaces. First, sections of the deck — where the paint and fairing compound has lifted from the aluminum — must be ground down to bare aluminum and primed with a special paint that stops the aluminum from oxidizing. Then, additional primers and fairing compound to bring the thickness of the material back to the same height as surrounding areas. That all gets sanded down, made smooth, then primed again before the topcoat (the shiny stuff) gets sprayed on. Finally, the sections of the deck where we walk will get taped off, and a special paint will be rolled on to give a rough surface for secure movement, even when wet.This is a big job and I hope to be finished by mid-April for the start of the season.

That’s about it for now. We’ll have updates on the progress of the work as we go.

Happy sailing!

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Patuxent Adventure Center - The Place for Outdoor Adventure

Saturday, April 24th, 2010

Schooner Heron edged

When you make a recreational visit to Southern Maryland, try to get in a schooner sail aboard Heron, our beautiful 60′ staysail schooner. Schooner Heron Charters offers the best deal on the Chesapeake Bay to take a personalized schooner sail out of Solomons Island. $390 for a 5-hour daysail charter for 6 people, including lunch! There isn’t a better offer like this, anywhere. Captain Aram Nersesian will do everything he can to make your personalized sailing charter a wonderful experience and a great day on the Chesapeake Bay.

Bikes on racks

Compliment your sailing experience with bicycling and kayaking. Patuxent Adventure Center has kayak and bicycle rentals, as well as lessons, tune-ups, and full repairs. Open six days a week, closed Mondays, Patuxent Adventure Center is your center for all your outdoor needs when you come down to Calvert County for a day or weekend getaway.

Kayak Demo day

May 8th, Patuxent Adventure Center will have a Demo Day at the Solomons Beach on the right side of the main drag going into Solomons Island. Current Designs kayaks will be there in force, and Hurricane and Heritage kayaks will be supports through rentals.

paddle boards

Also, Patuxent Adventure Center now carries Tahoe Stand Up Paddleboards, the lastest craze on the water. These great paddleboards are more for flatwater, and provide higher stability and higher speed/track than stand up paddleboards used in ocean waters.

Kayaks are available on the water, every day, ready for a test paddle. Just let them know what kind of kayak you’re interested in trying out, and they’ll arrange to have a few for side-by-side demonstration. This is really the best way to find the kind of kayak you’re looking for. A 1/2 day kayak rental is $35, and that fee is taken off the price of the kayak if you purchase one.

Sunday, May 16th, the Patuxent Adventure Center is helping to sponsor the Leonardtown Criterium Bicycle Race put on by the Pax Velo Cycling Club. This is a full day of bicycle racing on the square in downtown Leonardtown. Races go all day and the kids race is always a fun time.

Heron aerial

And don’t forget… a visit to Southern Maryland and Solomons Island isn’t really complete without some time out on the water, so plan a day sail aboard Schooner Heron and enjoy the natural beauty of the Chesapeake Bay.

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Getting Schooner Heron Ready for Charter Season

Sunday, April 11th, 2010

Ice on Mill Creek

It was a snowy and cold winter… no need to tell anyone that. The cold and wetness put off maintenance and projects on Schooner Heron, so I’m rushing to get things done before our charter season opening on April 16th.

Schooner Heron bow shot

Projects for this spring include re-routing the main engine exhaust hose to prevent hydrolocking. This happened to us about 60 miles offhsore in sporty conditions when we made a quick September, 2009 trip to Block Island. Hydrolocking occurs when water is able to back up through the exhaust hose and enter the engine cylinders, preventing the pistons from moving. You can’t compress water! But the initial symptoms can be confused with other problems. When you turn the key, you hear a clunk, then nothing… so, perhaps a dead battery? Corroded connections? But my good friend and master mariner Karl Westby, aboard for the trip, diagnosed it properly. My 100 hp 2-stroke Detroit was hydrolocked. We were sailors, without an engine. No worries. We had plenty of wind. Anyway, back to the project, the cure is to put a raised loop in the exhaust line to prevent siphoning. Sounds easy, but when you’re working with 4″ rigid exhaust hose, and need to find room for the loop in very tight quarters with an aluminum infrastructure, it can get trying. I completed this job, after a lot of grunting and groaning and lots of cuts to the hands and arms, about two weeks ago.

Maintenance also includes new varnish for the toerails, oil for the teak in the cockpit and on top of the pilothouse… some electrical work, some plumbing… and LOTS of cleaning. We even need to bend on two more sails which have been plumped in a pile in a bedroom for the winter.

We’ll be ready, and our first booked charter is April 18th, the Sunday of the Tiki Bar opening, and the second day of the rockfish season opening weekend. It’s going to be crowded out there on the Bay!

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Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

Schooner Heron Charters is pulling the rug out of the bottom of the private charter business on the Chesapeake Bay. Times are tough, and we want to get folks out on the water, so we’ve reduced our price for a 5-hour daysail out of Solomons Island for six people, including lunch, to $390! There’s nothing on the Bay like this. Sail on Schooner Heron, our 60′ custom aluminum schooner, and enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Bay.

Visit our website: www.schoonerheron.com

Also, look to this blog and on our website in the coming weeks as we post information about local restaurants, lodging, and special events.

2 spin during race

Looking forward to the sailing season! We are aiming to start our season by the weekend of April 16th. This also happens to be the opening of the “world famous” Tiki Bar in Solomons Island. An afternoon sail would be a wonderful complement to all the action on the Island.

See the tiki bar website for more info.

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