June 26 to July 1 -- Five Days Before the Fourth

Sunday was great. Marci and Ken, day sailed with us.

Each took the helm for a while but "auto" steered a lot of the four hours we were underway.

We tacked out of Eastchester Bay but then had a long starboard reach  out to Matinecock Point and were close hauled on port all the way back, with a motor assist for the last quarter mile to the southwest end of Hart Island to avoid the rocks there and the need for a tack. Boat speeds mostly in the six knot range. Ken felt a bit queasy for about 20 minutes on the long reach, but overcame it. He's a trooper. Before we got back to Ex. rocks, Bennett called us from Ohana, from off our port quarter. We, our guests and Bennett and Harriett  shared dinner at the Black Whale. A lovely day.

One night we went to see "Free State of Jones" after I did the laundry and read the Times in the Library.

Wednesday, the Old Salts met, without Lene, who went into the city. Five of the thirteen of us sailed on ILENE. Me, Debra, Matt and Mike and Sandy.  Wind was very light at the start, but picked up a bit as the 2.5 hours underway wore on. We did not get much past Belden Point, going back and forth slowly across Eastchester Bay. The light wind meant use of the Genoa which is a task to furl and unfurl for each tack, and I put Matt's youth to work. For the last hour we were able to change to the small jib and we touched six knots.  The refreshments were aboard  Deuce of Hearts. Among the thirteen of us were a couple, friends of our club's sailmaker, Paul, who have been living aboard their Caliber 40 the last four years, and obtaining lodging with friends for half of each year. Currently their boat is on the hard in Jolly Harbor, Antigua, until after Christmas. They have not been south of Antigua yet. Always fun to talk with other cruisers. Marcia had been among the thirteen. She came back to ILENE with me while waiting fifteen minutes for her husband, PC Mark, to arrive after work while I fed the kitties. Mark came out on the launch which picked us up and took us to Leeds The Way, their 31 foot Hunter. We motored her around to the other side of City Island, where they are renting dock space at Minnefords Marina. Then we walked back.
Thursday we motored to the IGY Newport Marina in Jersey City to meet a mechanic. Next to her neighbors there, ILENE, center, looks small.

The original aim of this exercise was to get the wind and water speed instruments calibrated. For the ten years we have had the boat these indicators have always been inaccurate and we got by, but why not pay someone to actually fix the situation. Life is short. This is done by first "linearising", which means driving the boat around two large circles, 720 degrees, and then programming the unit using combinations of long and short pushes of the four buttons on each of the display instruments. I know the theory of what has to be done, but not how to do it. And alas, speed through the water is still displaying about 2.5 knots less than accurate and wind speed displayed is a lot more than I can tell it is blowing out there. But while we were there, the hot water heater got fixed, which made Lene happy. It seems that antifreeze circulates through the engine block, which cools the engine by getting the antifreese hot. The circuit then flows through the hot water heater, where the hot antifreee gets the fresh water hot. The mechanic discovered that the antifreee was low also discovered a small leak which I have since taken care of with my father's pipe wrench.

Our trip to Jersey City was great, about 17 miles each way, but timed with the tide it took only 2.5 hours.

And the New York skyline always looks magnificent especially early in the morning when the sun hits he east side horizontally.                                            A surprise on the way down, shortly after we got underway: the heat indicator dial, at the other end of wire from the thermostat, has been "off" for the ten years we have had the boat. It showed a uniform cold temperature whether the engine was running hard or off. The good news has been that we've never overheated in all those years. Suddenly, a screaming warning siren sounded, a red light came on and the temperature dial was at the "hot" end.  I checked and seawater was coming out of the salt water tailpipe. I turned the engine off, added some antifreeze and some lube oil, waited a while, and she behaved
herself the rest of the day. I continue to learn new things about ILENE
Friday was a doctors appointment and then theater in Hoboken, NJ in the evening, recommended by Lene's acting teacher. The play was about an acting teacher and four of her students. Many of Lene's classmates were in the audience. Friday night also saw torrential rains, accompanied by lightning and thunder, but much wind. We were fortunate that all of this display took place when we were not walking or in the launch

So we were underway three out of the five days, though the last was hardly a sailing day, though we did put up the small jib, most of the way home and it occasionally gave us a few tenths of a knot.

Next posting will be about the three day Fourth of July weekend.