Wednesday was Old Salts day. In last week’s outing of this group, aboard Ohana, the dramatics occurred at the end of the sail with the inability to furl the mainsail. This time, aboard ILENE, the problem occurred at the start. The main was up and we were ready to sail off the mooring in light wind when a call came in from another passenger. I said we would wait, my mistake and I made the further mistake of leaving the main up, it’s sheet loose, waiting for ten minutes in the light air. But unattended, the boat sailed over the mooring ball which got stuck with the bridle stretched down and back, taut, so we could not pull its eye off the cleat. When chief launch operator David dropped off the final member of our group he tugged us in various directions until we finally sprung clear. There is probably a scratch in the bottom paint where the hardware of the ball passed the keel. The sailing itself was not extraordinary, everyone who wanted to
took a turn on the helm.
Thursday Lene and her friend Sharon were aboard for what urned out to be a brilliant day of sailing. After lunch aboard, the wind was rather light, and we made speeds of about three knots for the first two hours. We headed further into Manhasset Bay than ever before — to the point where the chart plotter said the depth was only six feet. But that is at low tide and at the stage of the ride cycle when we were there the depth sounder noted nine feet. We went into that Bay to avoid a broad reach out toward Execution Rocks, it was a hot day and the broad reach would have diminished the apparent wind. But the wind came up getting into the six and seven knot range. Coming out of the bay we headed for the north end of Hart Island and beat back through Hart Island Sound.
Friday was “moving aboard” day for us and the kitties, who seemed rather non plussed by the move. They knew where their box was and their water bowl. We left our apartment at 2, arrived at the Club at 3, got all fourteen bags of stuff (two of them containing felines) plus blocks of ice aboard by 3:45 and everything stowed by 4:30 followed by repacking everything in logical places in the aft cabin (warehouse) by 5, and dinner at the Club. Not the most comfortable night of sleep with the rain forcing the closing of hatches, but the fan helped.
Saturday afternoon we sailed with David on his “Hidden Hand”. First I helped him run his reefing lines through the boom using Gorilla Tape to attach each to its messenger line which had been pulled in last fall. It is an ultra strong tape, worked well and is now on my shopping list. We also inserted one final baton into the mainsail and measured that it is only two inches too long, which excess Dave will cut off soon. Reefing seemed in order when we arrived but the wind calmed down by the time we were ready to go. Dave’s mooring pennants are of super strong but super thin and super expensive high tech fiber. Underway, we sailed with full sails to Kings Point, eastward through the channel off the Point, almost to Ex. Rocks and back via Throggs Neck. With her seven foot draft, HH is wicked fast like the racer she was designed to be. David treated us to dinner on the lovely verandah of his Club; good food but the place was almost empty. We gave David a ride to the end of the Pelham Number 6 line, shopped for more food, and were delighted that we did not get stuck in traffic on the way back to the Island. I’m delinquent in not having photos of this day.
Patrick, Steven and Matt were my guests on Sunday. Lene took in the movie Elvis in New Rochelle. Matt, not in photo, was an aircraft mechanic on an aircraft carrier. Another good day sail, after our lunch aboard. Light wind at first but it came up and made for a good sail. We were underway from 1:30 to 5. We heard the radio chatter on VHF channel 16 about a Pilot coming aboard a ship, and looking around saw a large merchantman in the Sound off zNew Rochelle. Later it made its way around Stepping Stones Lighthouse and we gave it a wide berth. I saw the guys onto the #29 bus but could not drive them it’s route to the subway because Lene had the car. Patrick is the newest member of my book group.
Monday was the last pre-cruise visit to the city, to pick up mail, some things we had forgotten, more groceries and home showers. Back at the Club we brought ILENE to the dock at high tide for a couple of hours for water. The water in the port tank had gone sour so it was drained, the tank cleaned and both tanks filled. Low water volume at the faucet was caused by the usual culprit: crud in the metal mesh of the filter. It was removed, cleaned and put back into service. And the “no hot water” problem was also easily solved. In the fall I had removed from the hot water heater the hoses bringing cold water to the heater and taking hot water from it, and stuck a short length of pipe into the ends of each hose thereby bypassing the heater. But this spring I had forgotten to remove the bypass and reattach the hoses to the heater. I love it when problems have five minute fixed. A lot of city grime was scrubbed off too.
Dinner aboard with Lene back on the mooring was quite a simple one: franks, beans, sauerkraut and corn on the cob. Simple but delicious.
ILENE is loaded up, ready and excited— waiting for the club cruise to begin.
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