ILENE Is Ready At Last -- For Three Maine Months

Well it took four more work-days for me and Lene to get ILENE ready and she is as ready as she will be. Dinghy dragged down from the upstairs locker and wheeled on a cart to the dock, pumped plump with air, rowed to the boat (rowing now possible though she is still inefficient as a rowed boat),  hoisted on the davit bar, but without the engine. Engine next redeemed from the repair shop with a new rubber gasket and new spark plugs after a winter's warm storage, brought to the boat by dink and mounted and locked to the dink. The lock is VERY strong; they can't steal the engine without taking the dink too! Fuel tank retrieved from locker and attached to engine. Newly re-varnished cafe door hardware reattached and they are hung on their hinges.

Flag tied to flagpole and pole mounted in its bracket.

A slab of wood temporarily but firmly affixed to the aft end of the aft port cabinet makes that cabinet usable with a big cereal box blocking the tendency of smaller objects to slide out.

 And did I forget to mention cleaning? Lene was disappointed by the appearance of the interior, but I had not mislead her by claiming I had cleaned up. There remains a bit more interior cleaning needed but it can be done underway. And Lene, in addition to serving as Executive Chef and Communications Officer, holds a third billet: Master Organizer -  so everything is put in its place. But without her, will I ever be able to find anything?  Several things that we have never used have been moved off the boat into storage. They are available for the inevitable dark day when ILENE is eventually sold, but we don't use them so they just take up space. And yes, I have a canvas bag with the parts and tools for five more little projects to be done "soon".
And the forward head has a problem: pumping it (yes, with the seacock open) does not produce the desired effect of drawing seawater into the bowl for flushing. A test to be performed once we get fresh water at our scheduled first stop (at the Setauket YC in Port Jefferson) is whether by pouring fresh water into the bowl from the top, effluents can be flushed.  (And don't worry about sanitation, the aft head does work.) Hey, if you wait for everything to be perfect you will never slip your mooring.

Amid all this bustle, a delightful Sunday afternoon daysail with Lene, Sheila, Christine and Heather. What a lucky guy to sail with four lovely ladies. Winds very changeable in direction and speed (5 to 17.5 knots) with five minutes of calm, before coming back in a different direction.  We sailed west under the mighty Throggs Neck and Whitestone Bridges with the wind forward of the beam, expecting to have it push us home. But after the five minute calm,  it was forward of the beam again even though we were headed on a reciprocal course.

Three minivan loads of stuff brought aboard: clothes, books, papers, medications, 72 cans of catfood, two large bags of kitty litter, bedding, a case of wine, passports, supplies, non perishable foods and beverages, perishables, cats, etc.  Then I drove the car back to its safe garage in our building in New York (because big noreasters can flood the Club's parking lot and ruin auto engines), a subway/bus/launch ride back to the boat, a pleasant night's sleep under our new blue comforter and the adventure to start Wednesday, June 12 at 11 am. I am high as a kite, elated with the spirit of adventure. Ilene, the more cautious of us, has her reservations, as always. But I know from past experiences over 16 summers (and two winters in the Caribbean) that despite some rough spots ahead, she will enjoy our adventure.