March 31 -- April 8 -- The Explorers Club, The Salmagundi Club and A Social Event With Sailing Friends Plus 4.5 Work Days

Pleasurable business before pure pleasure. Why 4.5 work days? Because one of them lasted only 2.5 hours due to 36 degree temperature in light rain, no fun out there. But all told I worked 26 hours and also derived the benefit of three and a half hours of help from Ed Spallina. Ed mixed up a batch of Epoxy to 1) repair the two small broken pieces of cabin sole that surround the mast, 2) the holes for the lowest hinge of the aft head door and 3) filled a notch in the fiddle at the galley sink. We also reinserted the ball bearings in the car of the mainsheet traveler.

We disassembled the gooseneck fittings and discovered the cause of the rattle. I had previously been pleased with the phone advice given promptly by Charleston Spars, the manufacturer of the unit, from its location in South Carolina. But that company was acquired by the very fine French marine devices company, Wichard, and it being in the rush season, the gentleman there did not return my calls. The casting riveted to the back of the mast has two vertical holes through which a pin is bolted. The pin also goes through two vertical holes in a casting at the forward end of the boom.

There was a bearing in the top of the two holes of the mast fitting. It was loose but I cut a strip of plastic from an old retired yellow cutting board. That piece, wrapped  around the outside of the top bearing, filled the gap rather neatly. The bottom was more problematic. A bearing was supposed to be in there but was not. Hence the offensive rattle. Ed measured for it and ordered one from Carr McMaster ($4.50 plus shipping). During our next time together, the problem should be solved. Meanwhile the boom is suspended from the main halyard at its forward end and its topping lift

aft, and tied off to both sides so it cannot swing.

I asked Ed to help me install a replacement diaphragm in the Whale brand manual bilge pump located under the cabin sole in the galley.  He said it is aluminum and corroded and should be replaced with one of reinforced plastic. We took it out and I searched for the replacement on line and from catalogs. It uses another name but is also made by Whale. Here are the similarities and differences: The plastic one pumps the same volume as the aluminum (good) but is lighter in weight and slightly smaller in its dimensions (good). And in addition the new plastic one is half the price! I ordered via the internet from a place in Florida, at a price considerably lower than Defender's, and it arrived next day and is ready to install when next I meet up with Ed.

I spent almost four hours sanding the sides of the repaired cabin sole boards, which had expanded a bit with the epoxy. They now fit again, and I polyurethaned them. I got the prop and shaft and its fittings down to bare metal for their coating with four coats of specialized bottom primer and paint and replaced all three zincs. Well. not so fast: The barrel zinc for the shaft that I had bought at Defenders (I got two to have a spare) were aluminum, not zinc, and 1 1/4" rather than 1 1/2" inch so I had to return them and get the right ones. And the tiny zinc for the Spurs line cutter cracked so two more are on order from Florida (the cracked one replaced at no cost, no questions asked). I also lubed the prop. It reminded me of the first time that I tried to do this in the spring of 2006 in Annapolis, and did not even know what a zerc fitting was, much less how to use it to get the grease into the prop. It was the evening of the last day before the launch and I knew the task had to be done before launch. Finally I asked a truck driver who was parked nearby, who showed me how to do it.

Then I rigged up the new hose and sprayed the dust and particulates off the top and did a "proof of concept" trial on using FSR (fiberglass stain remover - blue non-toxic goo in a jar) to erase the organic stains caused by leaves, before using that same product all the way around the water line, to get the gelcoat in that area from tan back to white. And I used a maroon Scotchbrite pad and water to lightly scrub the bottom. I was not nearly as thorough as usual but I got it ready to tape and paint. And I have decided that I will not compound the entire freeboard, about 450 square feet of white gelcoat above the waterline, this year, but will only do the bad spots, before waxing it. At least two days of work shedded, and with my shoulders being as they are, I will live with a boat that is imperfectly clean.
Lene and I enjoyed a brunch and matinee with our sailing friends, Harriett and Bennett.

The Salmagundi Club was created by artists for their own pleasure about ten years before the Harlem. On Fifth Avenue at 12th Street, it is about a seven minute walk from my house. They had a show of maritime art so I alerted the members of the Harlem who might enjoy it. The work was beautiful and expensive, e.g., up to $30K, but it was a small show -- only fifteen pieces, six of them seascapes without boats.

The Explorers Club was founded 20 years after the Harlem and has a lovely clubhouse on East 70th Street. It promotes and celebrates exploing by land. sea and air, on the earth's surface, in space and underwater and in caves. Their program was an all day series of excellent, well illustrated lectures by name brand circumnavigators. It included breakfast, lunch, snacks during breaks and a cocktail hour with enough food that it sufficed as dinner. The sister of the chairman of the event was very pleased that three of us Harlemites were present, and asked me to thank our Commodore for publicising the event, which is how I learned of it. Hoch, who has a Pearson 36, drove up from suburban Philly and Matt, who is a social member (does not own a boat -- yet!) were my clubmates in attendance.  Matt is scheduled to crew on a passage from Hawaii to Seattle next month and offered to crew on passages with ILENE in the future.

The best part was the speakers.

Halsey Herreshoff was there to introduce one of the speakers. I got to speak with John Rousmaniere about his recent article in Cruising World announcing that his age, the same as mine, had compelled him to decide that he was not alert enough to do blue water sailing anymore. He admitted to me that he would do overnights, such as Nantucket to Nova Scotia, but not longer than one night out at a time. He spoke about the Americas Cup (mentioning that like me, while recognizing the advances of technology that that race has inspired, he is not really a fan of the new planing craft). He also described the Fastnet tragedy, which is the subject of one of his many books.

Dave Rearick went around solo on a modern Open 40 racing hull, "Bodacious Dream" with corporate sponsors. He told us his technique of sleeping with a kitchen timer in his pocket, set to wake him up every fifteen minutes. I asked why, given the infrequency of meeting other boat once far off shore and his radar alarm, he needed this, but he likes doing it his way. He took 8.5 months to get around and asked himself "Was it worth it?" And he answered that it seemed like a self indulgent activity, until he thought that by writing about it he thereby was helping others so indeed it was worth it. And while I have never and will never circumnavigate, I like to think that this blog is intended to help others too.

Frank Blair circumnavigated on a 63', gaff rigged wooden schooner, Maggie B, with 30 of its 70 tons being its lead keel. he praised the schooner form as fastest and easiest at sea. He took 26 months to get around (38,400 NM) but noted that despite long passages between continents he spent two out of every three days in port. Hmmm! -- the same ratio as on ILENE's cruises. He had about three crew at all times, but 27 individuals comprised those three. He said: I can teach a neophyte to sail but I can't teach a jerk to not be a jerk. He told us many lessons he had learned:
Every new noise is a bad noise, a sign of trouble.

Save all manuals and label all chargers.
Night watches are the most pleasant past of the day.
Customs is crazy; in Australia they confiscate ALL of your food.
Always get propane as soon as you clear customs because it can take a long time.
Use meteorological forecasts to place your boat where the best winds are.

He agreed with Dave Rearick that autopilot is more accurate after an hour that a human helmsperson.
He put his boat in the yard in Lunenberg Nova Scotia, where it had been built, after his return for some refurbishing and lost it when the yard completely burned down. But he got a new boat with the insurance money and plans to cruise Newfoundland this summer. Perhaps we can connect there; I'll be looking for him.

The last two speakers were women. One lost her fiancee overboard from a 46 foot delivery from the south seas to San Diego in a dismasting/rolling/pitchpole and spent the next 41 days jury rigged to Hawaii using celestial navigation. She wrote a book that was made into the movie "Afrift" released in 2016. The other circumnavigated on a 28 foot boat "Inspired Insanity" with a severe budget and many system failures, but made it.

Lots happening already this young spring.