May 22 - 27 — Two Sails and the Solution of the Water Problem

During neither of the sails was the wind strong enough to be exciting. The first was with Sheila, Lene,  Christine and Heather on ILENE. We sailed off the mooring to avoid exposing the the boat to the engine area leak and sailed until the last 90 seconds when we used the engine during our second attempt and successfully grab the mooring. Our track was back-and-forth across the mouth of Eastchester Bay with a long trip of the Eastchester River and back down again. It was a hot day and by keeping the wind at or forward of the beam most of the time we achieved enough apparent wind to cool off. The clever launch operator maneuvered the launch so I could capture a pleasing background as well as the beautiful crew.

The second sail in this period was aboard Bennett’s Ohana with him and five other Old Salts, joined by four more who sailed with Dave on his Lady Kat and who joined us on Ohana for the libations. Bennett was contented to let me try to keep the boat moving in light air with dead patches. A good time was had by all. Thanks, Bennett!

From the left: Mike, Dave, Virginia, Clare, Janet, me, Bennett, Sandy, Rich and Beau. Photo credit: Social Member, Anne, thank you.
The next day I spent 2.25 hours with a new, to me, diesel mechanic, Peter, who I met while he was working on someone else’s boat at the Huguenot this past Winter. He seemed like he knew what he was doing and mine was his first job at the Harlem. I was mindfull of the time because I’ll be paying him for it. It took him two minutes to find the leak associated with the diesel that I had not been able to see. The black hose transmitting water from the sea, through the seacock to the raw water strainer providing cooling water to the engine is taken off the input pipe each fall to permit the entry of antifreeze the the engine and then replaced and its hose clamps tightened. After more than 20 years of this the clamps had cut a slit in the hose. Bottom of the next picture. This was temporarily fixed using the clamps and new replacement hoses were purchased the next day, to be installed soon.

Similarly, it took no time for him to figure our that the old Rule 1500 bilge pump was kaput, to install the new Rule 1500 automatic one, with built in float switch. It fit into the existing base without the need for new screws and the existing discharge hose attached to it. A test wire from the battery showed that it works well, but most of my time with Peter was spent trying to find out why it did not work through the existing wiring and the the electrical control panel. I knew there was a fuse back behind the panel and that it worked, but the culprit was another one, chased down (by the control number in the book and the color of the wire to it behind the control panel) to an in line fuse near the batteries under the aft cabin berth. Missions accomplished. Then an hour and a half putting the boat back together and putting all the tools away, and the salon table reattached. Like with some many other toys, the time and expertise goes into finding the problem; once found, fixing it is easy.

Next day I picked up the new custom made aft cabin mattress from our upholsterer and brought it to the boat and put it in place. I also measured and purchased from Bridge Marine the two replacement hoses. Installing them will be the next job. I’m planning to keep the new mattress covered in sheets, i.e., ready for its intended use. This for two reasons. First to keep it from getting stained by folks, including me, traipsing in and out of the aft cabin and second because the new fabric is slightly more “nubby” than the old and hence a slightly more attractive target for the kitties razor sharp claws.