May 20 - June 1 -- LAUNCHED MAY 27; Motored to the Harlem, GIC and the First Sail

So the Hard season, also known as the Work Season, and the Cold season (though we had a mild winter) is finally over and ILENE rests on her mooring, looking for fun this summer.Three more work days before the 27th. Polishing and waxing parts of the topsides and the rust removed stainless, while Lene cleaned and set the interior in order. Well, more orderly than before.

Launch was about 4 pm, a few minutes after the high tide and came off without a hitch: engine hummed to life and no water rising in the bilge. Mounting the small jib while on the Huguenot dock after the launch involved a problem that I had created because too much of its furling line was wrapped in its drum.

Next day was for transit from the Huguenot to the Harlem and we got off to a rocky start because the wind caught ILENE's port quarter and pushed her stern to the west so I could not turn her head that way. But Mendy's strong lungs caught the attention of the bridge tender who opened the drawbridge to Glen Island while I tried to jockey her in place. We passed under the opened drawbridge and thence, circling to the right around Huckleberry and Davids Islands to clear New Rochelle. It was motoring all the way and at the Harlem, the tall pick up stick was not attached to the bridle (because I had forgotten that I had put it in the locker!!) It was held afloat by a plastic bottle. Mendy had to grab it with the boat hook, which he accomplished on our second try.

Here she is, held securely by her new ultra strong single bridle to her mooring, at last. The new bridle has more tensile strength than both of the two old ones combined, and the picture, with her bow bucking out of the water attests to the strength of the wind. Her new blue Sunbrella canvas Lifesling cover is on her port quarter. Not quite ready to play yet, ILENE's genoa is visible rolled up and tied on deck aft of the mast. Plans to mount it with the help of Mendy, who helped in so many other ways, were postponed due to the winds that, as can be seen, have lifted her bow out of the water.

Then came the bittersweet Zoom Going Into Commission ceremony, a shadow of its normal self -- when the happy crowd is on hand to cheer the officers and eager for the delicious drinks and food to come. Here PC Anthony has just fired off the cannon and my white hair peeps over the top of my cell phone, by which I photographed the iPad from our bedroom.

Another signal that spring is here: The return of our senior members, the Swan family, with this year's brood.

The first sail, for three hours, with Lene and Mendy, was on May 31, after we got the Genoa mounted

and before the stronger winds came up.
We went out about fifteen minutes past Execution Rocks and then, rounding Stepping Stones, to the shadow cast by the Throgs Neck Bridge before returning to the mooring. Winds from northerly directions were fluky with strong prolonged gusts and holes and seemed always to be near our bow once we cleared Eastchester Bay. ILENE's clean hull got us an estimated average of 6.5 knots and peaks to 7.5 under main and small jib. Mendy is learning how to feel and respond to puffs and lulls.

 

He also made another contribution when we were stowing the sails. He noticed that after all the bouncing around and heeling we had done,  the sash chain had come to rest where he could grab it and so he did. Next time there is little wind, he will haul me up to the masthead again, but only briefly this time, and I'll pull the new spinnaker halyard up through the mast on my way down. 

And a new problem: Diesel in the bilge!  To stop that condition is why I spent all that time and money this winter replacing the tanks. But in communicating with Cap'n Jim, retired from s/v Aria, we have a lead on the probable cause of the problem -- to be tested this week. It seems that the fuel gets into the bilge only when we run the engine. I moped all the pink stuff out and if it does not reappear while the engine sleeps the next few days, that will confirm that the leak occurs only when the engine is running, which will probably mean that the new tank is sound but that one or both of the hoses taking fuel from the tank to the engine and returning the unused fuel from the engine too the tank is incorrectly installed, which is a fixable problem. There is always something.

In 2007, while our apartment was "gut renovated" our furniture was put in storage and we lived aboard ILENE, mostly at her mooring for four months, except for a few weeks of cruising and day sails. Lene used the Club's ballroom as her office and our car permitted us easily to go into the city for all of its delights. This summer, so far, those delights are still closed, but we are thinking to reprise that summer.