Hot Weekend at the Harlem

Both days of a recent weekend the Clubhouse was full of people, about 100 each day, for events that were quite different from each other.

Saturday was an "Open House" to attract new members. The place was all shined up and I was too, in blue blazer and tie, to meet new friends. Food and wine were provided. Later in the afternoon, Lene came by car, with three friends including Manu and Michelle who had been staying at our house for the past week while their boat, "Teepee" was moored off 95th Street at the 79th Street Boat Basin. A poor mooring place that is, with a strong current which dragged their boat with its mooring. And theirs is not a particularly big or heavy boat nor was there strong wind that day, only the tidal current. The Boat Basin provides no launch service whatsoever. Its advantage is that it is only a few blocks walk to the subway system at 79th Street, near midtown, and for those heading south from the Hudson, it is "on the way" as compared to a 20 mile detour to Long Island Sound and back. But the Harlem moorings are less expensive on a weekly basis,  come with launch service, are nearer the dock and not subject to tidal flow so strong that it drags the mooring. Next spring, I hope that Teepee will moor at the Harlem. Also with Lene came Christine, not a stranger to this blog.

I bought dinner for the five of us and thereby was able to use up the last of my 2013 "chits" ,i.e., minimum spending in the restaurant and bar. When I joined in 1990, before computers, they actually gave us chits, little pieces of paper in five or ten dollar increments which we turned in to pay the bill -- "Harlem Money" if you please --and the name stuck. The amount is quite low really and normally I spend much more than the minimum, but this year we were in Maine for most of the summer sailing season so there were chits to be spent. The restaurant had closed the week before, but was reopened for one night, for the open house, which provided the opportunity to spend down my prepaid food allotment. The dinner was not ideal due to its being the encore performance before the long winter: e.g., no bread, no Parmesan cheese -- but the cheerful friendly service and the homey friendly atmosphere made the event festive.

Sunday was a food and drink day as well. On the way to the Club, we picked up Manu and Michelle, who had walked to the new 2nd Avenue Fairway Supermarket and bought a whole lot of groceries and perishable provisions. We drove them and this cargo to West 79th Street, took the groceries out to the head of the dock and said our farewells until next spring. Then on to the Harlem for a memorial for Margaret, wife of our beloved Past Commodore, Irwin. He threw a big party for those of us who could not make the funeral in northern California this past summer. The spouse of a Commodore, frequently nicknamed "The Commodorable", is an active participant in planning and running two big dinner dance parties each year. Irwin was such a good Commodore that he was drafted to serve an unprecedented second consecutive annual term. There were loving speeches about Margaret, who cancer took from us too young, after only a few weeks of known illness, while we were in Maine. A square paving brick with her name engraved in it was placed at the foot of the flagpole. And oh that good food and wine. Luckily Lene does not drink so I always have a "designated driver". A solemn occasion but filled with brightness, and good humor.

From now on it is work days to get ILENE hauled, covered, prepared for winter and for repairs and maintenance -- the less fun filled winter season.