November 2022 — Mostly Spain, With a Splash of Water

 Two three-hour work days on  ILENE. I used the “L” shaped angle iron to secure the dozen bolts that hold the viewing port to the top of the forward fuel tank. Worked like a champ! Now the tank is both bone dry snd air tight. I charged the batteries and planned other work, applied more rubber to the mast boot gap and ordered a roll of self adhering four inch wide rubber tape. The water in the bilge was low but frozen. I removed the motor that drives the autopilot and delivered it to the care of the always helpful nearby  Bronx Ignition for diagnosis and whatever surgery may be needed.

The hard parts of that job were, physically: getting into the port aft corner of the huge starboard entry lazarette with tools, and emotionally: cutting the three wires that feed the unit electricity. If it works fine, then I’ll reinstall it next and remove two electronic components to be dealt with in Florida. 

We attended a lovely reception at the Club welcoming new members. Good food and wine. But before that, an opening of a local art gallery on City Island which was showing the photographic art of one of our new members. And surprise! One of her pieces was a scene that, at the right edge, included ILENE’s unmistakable shape:

But most of our activity in November related to our trip to Spain, my first. Lene had been there 50 years ago. We started in Barcelona, and we visited Columbus on his pillar,

the larger Marina,

with its  Scandinavian visitor

the architect Gaudi’s fantastic Gruel Park, overlooking the Med

and the fishing village Sitges with rocks and a beach at which I rolled my trousers and waded in the Med.

My only disappointment was that a half day bareboat charter of a 31 foot Beneteau, my first and last chance to ever sail in the Med, had to be cancelled because the prior charter party had wrecked the boat’s sail.

Our next stop was landlocked Madrid with mountains nearby and we did discover and get out on the water in a smaller, non-wind powered craft in a lake in El Retiro, the municipal park near the Prado Museum. 

A good trip, but not restful.