The two sail days could not have been more different.
First, on ILENE in LOTS of wind (20 with gusts to 25 knots) with David of "Hidden Hand". We were only underway two hours and part of that was a delay near the start while I corrected the reefing of the main: (I had connected at the cringle for the third reef by accident and had to slack the halyard to reattach for the second forward reef point. I'm going to find a way to indelibly mark the three sets of rings. Once that was straightened out we were very fast -- to Ex. Rocks and back in less than two hours. Seven or more knots, peaking at 8.4; exhilarating! David is good at electronics and both erased my track and recalibrated the wind speed instrument. He also saved the day when, on the way home, through inattentiveness I was heading for maybe 150 feet inside Big Tom's R 2. No harm done. I also gained a greater appreciation for Lene's skill in bringing the boat to very slow AT the mooring. I had criticized her for how she did this but it took me three tries to get it right.
Next day I was with Lene and Bennett on his "Ohana". I "used" Bennett as bait -- to get an extra day afloat with Lene; she would not have come out for a day sail with me alone, but with Bennett.... And after sailing a good dinner at their home in Alpine cooked by Harriet whose broken leg is recovering.
The wind was very light and we had problems with the sails. First, we could not unfurl the in-mast mainsail. I think it may have had to do with not releasing the vang which we had used in the race the week before, which changed the angle of the boom relative to the mast. Or it may have been that our other crew member during the race had furled the sail too far into the mast. Just theories. Bennett has purchased a brand new mainsail and the sailmaker will know how to get the old one out. Without a main, we used his code Zero which is a rather powerful sail and I learned a little better how to rig it up.
Ilene liked the colorful and powerful nature of the big sail but using it is complicated and we ended up with one of the sheets captured in the furl; It can be fixed, by unfurling it on the Club's ballroom floor during the winter. Anyway, we rather drifted south to the north coast of Great Neck, east of Kings Point, and had to use the engine briefly to turn the boat for the drift back to the mooring. Not exiting sailing but good fun with good friends.
The first Work day was frustrating. My primary plan had been to winterize the water maker but an error symbol had come up saying 'check prefilters". Having replaced them I tried again with the same non-result. I gave up. I did use the new velcro dots that Zarcor sent to me, for free, to reattach the "CloZure" sliding shutter to the aft cabin port. Zarcor stands behind its products. I wish I could buy their cafe companionway doors, made of starboard, but no need because ILENE came with beautiful wooden ones.
I consoled myself from the frustration of the day with a meeting of the Harlem Yacht Club, held outdoors, overlooking the water. It was the shortest (60 minutes), most productive and least acrimonious Club meeting I have ever attended. Literally, no one disagreed with anyone else about anything and reports were made on all of the progress that our Board is making on so many fronts. I feared that the Treasurer's report could have a lot of red ink but while revenues this Covid year were down, so were expenses and we seem to remain afloat.
Next day involved a lot of time on the phone: with the insurance broker, and an email to the underwriter to explain, with pictures, that the keel modification made the boat safer rather than less safe, with the hope that they would relax the need for a full survey. The jury is out on this issue. And to Bryan of Headsync, up in Newport RI. They installed ILENE's water maker in 2010. He told me to let the work on the winterization go this year because the propylene glycol I put in two years ago is still good. But after ten years, I have to stop in Newport next summer and he will put in a new "membrane".
My next day on the boat, was very satisfying. I took the winter covers, their cords and pads and the ladder and ground tarp from the locker to the boat. Then after scrubbing off the fish remains left by the birds (I think ILENE becomes a more popular dining spot for them in the fall when there are less alternatives.) I stripped off the genoa and bundled it coarsely for later transport to shore. A round trip motor drive to the fuel dock on the north side of the City Island Bridge to top off the tanks to avoid introduction of water to them by condensation during the winter was next. I cranked up the diesel as high as I could but after 2600 rpms, the rpms and speed did not increase when I pushed harder on the throttle. Enroute we passed the small orange death ferry transporting the remains of the unclaimed poor across Hart island Sound (The River Styx).
I screwed down the cabin sole and the board under my berth (over the watermaker). Ashore, after a restorative beer with the guys to rehydrate and rest, I laid the genoa out flat and folded and rolled it into a smaller neat package, tied it up securely and two of the guys helped me carry it up the stairs to its winter home.
And in the evening, thanks to a tip from Sid, I watched "Second Wind: The SNOEK Refit" a PBS documentary on the life and accomplishments of Onne van der Wal, a noted boater and boating photographer, who has a photography gallery in Newport RI. There were many scenes in the New England waters and ports that we have come to know. It celebrated Onne's lifetime of accomplishments not least of which was his almost complete rebuild of a 1972 Pearson 36, a boat with "good bones". He clearly spent more time and money than the beautifully restored boat is worth, but it was a labor of love and he took pride in it. Available on You Tube. Thanks, Sid!
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