July 13 - 18 -- Sailing Four of Six Days

We began with the largest group of Old Salts so far this season, sixteen, nine on ILENE and seven on Deuce of Hearts. This was after an innovative experimental lunch. The problem with lunch at the Club has been that it takes too long to order, get our foodcooked and served, eat it and pay. We meet at noon, except for stragglers, but frequently do not get underway on our boats until after two. A sandwich, burger or salad should not take so long. So the innovation: a buffet of sandwiches and salad. Quicker with more food for the buck. A few were confused and sought to order a la carte, and some never like the food, or innovation, on principle; but this was PC Mark's innovation and I think it worked vwery well.
Good wind all the way into Manhasset Bay and then around The Blauses and a tack through Hart Island Sound. Speeds to 7.3 over ground with full main and small jib. With me were Debra and Mathew, Morty

and Clara, and

and Frank and Dianne and Rhoda and Peggy. I don't know why the computer does things like this sometimes, or how to undo them.

Photos of persons appearing in  prior posts omitted.)
We were back on the mooring shortly after four and shared two bottles of white and snacks, before joining the seven on Deuce of Hearts for more.
Thursday and Friday were devoted to major auto service and colonoscopy respectively -- no sailing.
Saturday afternoon I sailed with Heather, Christine, Ruth and Lene. 2.5 hours. We beat up Hart Island Sound and ran to Whitestone Point in the East River.before returning home. There is a tiny rod through an eye spice which holds the bitter end of the main sheet in its block. The rod is held in place with Allen bolts at both ends. See tiny pin at top of block.

One of those bolts worked loose and I luckily found the rod lying on deck and tied a knot in the sheet before the next sheave. Also, luckily the bolt in question, 4 mm, is standard and Buddy's hardware had them. I got two, to have a spare, 65 cents for the pair. The first is installed with Loctite on its threads so hopefully it will not be lost again.
Thursday afternoon we just got back to the boat from shore before a huge strong thunderstorm hit. We saw the Manhattan skyline disappear into blackness, then the Whitestone Bridge, then the Throggs Neck Bridge and then BAM! -- the front hit us creating a wild ride on the mooring with torrential rain to wash the decks. It was over quickly with sunny skies reappearing. Saturday, it appeared to happen again, after our sail, but with only a few drops of rain and much less wind and no darkness. In the evening, a party at the large and luxurious Hoboken apartment of  Bruce, Lene's acting teacher.
Sunday Lene and I sailed for a bit over four hours with four of her aspiring actor friends,who hd never sailed before. They hailed from the Ukraine, Tobago and Venezuela. The wind started light but built. We gybed out to New Rochelle, reached south to Seacliff in Hempstead Harbor and, after switching from Genoa to small jib, close reached for home, including beating through Hart Island Sound. Everyone except Dasha,

who elected not to, had a long stint at the wheel,
























including Sasha

and Ramona

and it was particularly good having Josef

aboard -- he raised the main and helped throughout, sparing my sore old muscles. Ah, youth!











Here's the whole crew with Lene and I in the launch.

 I had taken apart some components of the electric winch to try to get it to work, but need professional help with this repair and Ed will be here Thursday to try his hand. If the motor itself is seized, this requires removal of the winch for repair.  This pic looks upwards into a cavity above the aft cabin ceiling, with the control box to the left and the motor to the right.

The next day was the start of  the mini cruise to Sheepshead Bay, but the other three boats that had indicated they would join us, plus a fifth, who tried to get crew but failed, all bailed out of this trip, except two couples, Rhoda and Lloyd and Mike and Sandy, all Old Salts, who asked to come along as one-way passengers. They planned to stay for dinner at the destination and take public transportation back from Brooklyn to their homes. We dropped our mooring at the Harlem at 10:30 to catch favorable tide all the way during the four hours in which we covered the 29 nautical miles, 7.25 knots overall, including a pleasant slow sail for the last six miles in light wind with reefed main and small jib. Prior to that point, the wind had been strong and despite all the twists and turns of the route, was almost always too close to the bow. The air had a haze, less crisp than during the trip to Jersey City a few weeks ago, but the City still looked great. Lloyd was the primary helmsperson.
Lene came up with an idea that permitted her a day in the city and eased the guests return trip. She drove our car, picked up Sheila, met us for dinner in Brooklyn and stayed, permitting the day trippers to drive  our car back to the Club, where their cars were parked.
Dinner was at Liman, a Turkish Seafood waterfront restaurant where we had dined maybe twelve years ago, which I had selected. A mistake. Sandy's red snapper was not fresh, she said, and the management refused to accommodate her in any way. This blog is not Yelp or Trip Adviser, but she will let them know. Then a bit of the hatred and fear being promoted at the Republican Convention before a warm peaceful night. A problem: running no out of fresh water in the tanks: I think there is a leak when the pump is on. But three gallons of bottled water used frugally was sufficient for now. Sheila stayed overnight and sailed back with Lene and I the next day. I had planned to end this post with a report on the return trip but it was so exciting/scary that it deserves its own post. Stay tuned.