September 18 -October 2 -- Fifteen Days with Six Day-Sails and One "Other"

Days sails are fun and interesting, but not the same as cruising. But winter is imminent, a sad time, but I am doing what I can to get as much sailing as possible in before hauling, maybe about a month from now.
Three of the six sail dates were on Wednesdays, aboard ILENE with the Old Salts. The group missed ILENE during the six weeks we were away, but reported that lousy wind on Wednesdays diminished the loss.

Mostly regulars but Aya at the helm in the top pic, and Dan and Mary Jane in the bottom two, are new, I think.  About two hours per day, with lousy wind one of the days, though we went anyway. The last of them, October 2, saw wonderful strong winds on our course deep to the south end of Little Neck Bay on nearly a beam reach with the return including a side trip through the King's Point Channel and around Stepping Stones Light. With three  women aboard, discretion called for a single reef in the main and using the small jib, and we still did 7.4 knots. The helm was manned by Doug, the HYC's secretary, outbound and Sarah on the way back. The only problem (no one was hurt) was that the forecast 35 percent chance of rain turned out to five minutes of 100% heavy driving rain starting about 30 seconds before we got onto the mooring -- the passage of the leading edge of the cold front which cooled the air from a record setting 93 degrees (old record: 92 in 1927) quickly. Everyone went below except Doug on the bow and me at the helm. A better plan would have been to head out to clear water with Doug below and wait for the rain to end.
We closed up the boat in sunny warm dry air and moved the libations from the cockpit to the Adirondack chairs in the Club's gazebo.
Another day, three hours, was the Second Annual Sailing Excursion of the New York Map Society aboard ILENE. Also good wind and every member of the crew took the helm, including the eleven year old daughter of one member. We went out to Execution rocks and back.

Dan, at the right, is a sailor and helped pick up the mooring and performed most of the helming duty. He told me how different ILENE feels as compared to the small boats he is used to, where every slight shift of one's position changes the weight distribution and hence the boats performance
A couple of hours with Rhoda and Lloyd aboard their 27 foot Catalina, Jazz Sail, around lunch at Louie's Restaurant in Port Washington in Manhasset Bay. Zero wind outbound. Louie upscaled his dive about ten-fifteen years ago and it's one of the rare places where one can sail and use the dock while at lunch, but the food is just not the best part of the experience. The return trip started out windless but the wind came up and we made a nice close hauled sail on port tack back to Big Tom before falling off a bit. Lloyd had the helm and is developing good sailing skills.
The sixth day sail was with my Nephew Mendy, in the afternoon of the second day of Rosh Hashonna, after morning services. Again excellent wind. We used full main and small jib and made 7.4 knots heading south toward the fort at the west mouth of Little Neck Bay, then tacked under the Throggs Neck Bridge and a few more times under the Whitestone Bridge and to the longitude of Citi Field. Broad reaching on the way back and also through the Kings Point Channel. Mendy is also developing into a good sailor.
And another day writing the article for Points East magazine about Rhode Island and dinner and theater with Bennett and Harriet.