July 5 - 12 -- Time Flies when Having Fun.

Tuesday was a watering day. We took ILENE to the Club's dock about an hour and a half before high tide and stayed three hours. Having emptied the port fresh water tank of its remaining rather sulfuric smelling water, we filled it with fresh water plus about 3/4 cup of bleach, pumped all that out, filled and pumped again and finally filled with fresh that tasted neither sulfuric nor chlorinated.  And while there I washed the topside too, mud all gone. Lene took our four rubber backed mud rugs to the dock and they were scrubbed and rinsed too.
Wednesday morning, after Lene went into NYC, I went to try to help Mark get Deuce of Hearts ready for the Around Long Island race, which is coming up in a couple of weeks -- two or three days of non-stop action in the Atlantic and the Sound. He perceived a problem with his engine mounts, and I went back to ILENE to get my silly putty to try to get the part number from the back side of the mounts which are not visible. Mark also had special tool: a small lighted TV camera at the end of a flexible probe, for the same purpose, but no luck. Next we took his boat out for a spin under motor. I did not perceive excessive noise or vibration and suggested the maxim "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" By then it was time for the Old Salts, this time with Marcia,

Rhoda,

Art,

Carolyn,

and the currently boat-less cruisers whose boat is in Antigua, Frank and Diane.

Light wind built during the afternoon and we close reached out of Eastchester Bay and got half way to the Whitestone Bridge from the Throggs Neck Bridge before returning back.
Thursday we visited a non-sailing friend in Kent, CT, and Friday had been scheduled for a day of sailing with Howard on his boat, but an inaccurate forecast of no wind caused us to adjourn. I went into the city with Lene, worked out in our home gym, took a free two hour guided walking tour of Greenwich Village (the West Village) and saw two new movies: Maggie's Plan and Captain Fantastic, before driving back to the boat and two hungry kitties 13 hours later.
Saturday was again an adjournment day due to false fears of bad weather. One or two at a time all off the six guests cancelled. I did some boat work, attended a membership meeting at the Club and we had dinner with Linda and Joel, who had planned to sail with us, and Bennett and Harriett at Bistro SK, right here on City Island.
Then three consecutive sailing days on three different boats:
 First I soloed with ILENE for three hours in mostly light wind, though I did get a gust that got us quickly to over six knots and broke a plastic fruit bowl that had not been properly secured and fell off.  Mostly rather slow at 3 - 4 knots over the bottom. A lazy sail, with no destination, just crossing back and forth. I actually whipped the ends of a few of my short lines while auto steered. I did not know that I had any unwhipped lines left! It had been a long time since I have soloed with the big boat but it was easy in the light winds under full main and small jib; such an escape from everything! In the evening we visited Sid and Jan, in New Jersey for a traditional, for them, gourmet dinner. I worked with Sid until about 14 years ago and they have sailed with us many times.
Next was two and half hours with Howard on "Covered Call" his Hunter 28.5.
Howard and I shared a harrowing and dangerous trip to Rhode island in a nor'easter in the fall of 2010. Some day I'll have to tell you about it and the legal consequences. But on Covered Call the wind was moderate and we made the clockwise circuit of Hart Island and Stepping Stones, beating up Hart Island Sound and gybing when passing Great Neck.
Finally, I sailed for less than two hours, with Rhoda, pictured above, on Jazzsail, (Catalina 27), after returning from the City where I ran a bunch of errands, including dropping off the Florida and Maine Charts and picking up those and the Cruising Guides for Long Island Sound and Massachusetts. Don't leave home (waters) without them. The wind was at about 15 knots and Jazzsail flew with just her Genoa. She is a light boat and really bounced around.
Lene has been cooking delicious meals and the weather has been good except for a few stormy nights these past four plus weeks aboard. This far into July we should be experiencing the worst part of Long Island Sound weather -- its notorious two windless summer months. But so far so good.
The proposed mini-cruise to Sheepshead Bay next week has thus far attracted three other Harlem boats to join us.