HYC Cruise Day 6 July 30 Lay Day in Block Island

Blasts crew rented a car to tour the Island, by day, dined at the National on a gift certificate and reported that it was excellent.

True North remained aboard during the day to make sure their anchor was holding in the big winds and came in for dinner at The Oar. 

Everyone from Ohana and ILENE (except Ilene) rented bikes from Aldos at the Boat Basin for the big loop of the southern half of the island. First major stop was at the beach at the foot of Mohegan Bluffs. 

There the younger generation went for a swim while Bennett and Roger took a long walk west along the beach. I dont think I have ever been there at low tide before. It reveals where one can swim without fear of being crushed against submerged rocks by the breakers. Then a brief stop at the lighthouse for liquid refreshments as defense against dehydration. There we learned of the imminent plan to build a "U" shaped cup of windmill generators around the southern end of the island a mile or two off shore. We had lunch at Finns, where Bennett satisfied his craving for whole fried clams and Roger ordered this new (for me) treat too. Then marketing at the very pricey local market before returning the bikes -- 1.5 hours late for a half day (4 hour) rental but they did not charge us the extra ten bucks -- and we dinked back, except for Rolo and Chris, who went to the beach and returned by launch later

Dinner on ILENE for eight: from Ohana, ILENE and Shanghai. A weird assortment of foods that somehow came together magically.  A rain shower required us to migrate from the cockpit to the cabin. CJ enthralled us with stories from his interesting life. We eight were from China, the U.S., Guatemala and Denmark, and included speakers of about ten different languages.  Most of our dinner table pics are after the meal; eating seems to always take precedence over photography until plates are empty.

Rolo, Christian, Laura and Bennett

Jenny, CJ, Lene and Roger

Shanghais dink motor failed on the way over so they came in tow. And I towed them back. Maybe we can create one fully operative dink between Shanghais inflatable and Ohanas outboard. But, in fact, it appears that all of the places both boats intend to visit on their ways back -- yes we are at our furthest point away from City Island -- have either docks or launch service. The other alternatives are the blissful solitude of staying aboard a well provisioned boat or getting a lift from strangers.

Stay tuned.

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Early Season Sailing June 20 to July 1

My first sail out on Eastchester Bay this season was on Bennetts new boat. This means that the first 11 of sailing the calendar year were all on Bennetts two boats: The first eight of these in the BVIs on On Eagles Wings, plus the two days bringing his new Beneteau back from RI and finally, the eleventh, a day sail arising from a chance meeting with Bennett and his friend, Will, in the parking lot on a day when I had planned to work aboard. OK! I admit it. I confess! Yes, I am weak to the siren call of sailing, and strapping me to the mast would not help this weakness. We sailed for about three hours and then spent a few more on the mooring investigating two possibly related problems: a rasping knocking sound when the rudder passed 15 degrees to starboard and the auto pilot steering off course rather sharply to port when activated. I under stand that both problems have already been fixed.

Two nice social events in peoples homes as well: a party to honor the naming of YC friends Mark and Marcias new grandson and a birthday party to celebrate Bennetts birthday.

Then came two five hour days -- cleaning the boats interior, putting things away, putting things back together. It all payed off: my severest critic, Admiral Ilene, said the boat looked "clean" when we finally went sailing. Dont worry, I know where the remaining dirt is hidden and will get to it soon.

Our first sail of 2014 on ILENE was four hours with Dev and her boyfriend, Vin, who we were very pleased to meet.

An intelligent gentleman. It was his first sail and with the wind Gods not having provided enough, I had the pleasure of inviting them back for a day with more wind so he can enjoy the true thrill of sailing. So we did some motoring though we did get up to 4.8 knots Speed Over Ground for a while during one brief puff. We got into Little Neck Bay before turning back. Two things are not working yet: Speed through the water measures at zero due to the speedo wheel being clogged and the Genoa cannot unfurl though I do have the Allen headed set screw needed to fix that issue. This will take place next time I am aboard with another person to haul me to the top of the mast in a bosuns chair in light wind.

Sid and his wife, Jan, their daughter, Danielle, and Danielles friend, Kara, both age 13, and our nephew, Mendy joined us the next day for five hours, mooring to mooring. Sid was a colleague of mine and continues to work in the law; Jan is a recently retired teacher. They are also  gourmet cooks but this time they brought delicious store bought Italian delicacies for lunch. More wind than the day before. Almost everyone took a turn helming so Auto got a day off. We passed east through Hart Island Sound, and then deeply into Manhassett Harbor before going near the Throggs Neck Bridge and then back to the mooring. On the way back we passed near a 2006 Saga 40 which I learned is kept at the nearby Morris Yacht Club. Perhaps we can get to know the owners better but we have been away a lot in the summers of late, so that may be difficult. We had the Clubs pretty good burgers (except they have not yet mastered the "rare" button) for dinner in an elegant friendly atmosphere at a bargain rate. Except for first timer Kara, they are winners of ILENEs "frequent sailor" awards, but that does not excuse my forgetting to shoot their photos; sorry.

Next  a day of shopping for the boat: a punch to knock out a pin at the forward end of the boom that will no longer be needed; weather stripping to seal water out of the propane locker; the aforesaid Allen head set screw; the services of a lumberyard to cut a small piece of cherry veneer plywood I had into three smaller pieces to fix a hole in a corner of the aft port cabinet; cherry veneer to iron onto one of the edges of each such piece; a mast base block and a rope clutch (so that when installed, and the line snaked through the tunnel, I will be able to adjust the outhaul from the cockpit instead of having to go forward and put the boat into irons to tighten the main sails foot); and a  shackle to hold up the starboard dinghy davit tackle to replace the one I lost. All this for only $200!

My third sail aboard ILENE was with club members Rhoda

and Lloyd

and their grand dog Rocky, a cute young well-behaved Westie.

About 4 hours to get to the Seacliff YC mooring field in Hempstead Bay and tack back. There was enough wind, over 20 knots at the end, that a first reef of the main would have been desirable. Lloyd, who had not yet an experienced ILENE rounding up due to being overpowered, has now learned how to deal with this, gaining confidence in the process. I love teaching, which readers of this blog probably characterize as my pedantry.

Fourth of July weekend had three boatloads of friends but the first of them got washed out by the weather. Rain dates are being sought. Stay tuned.

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HYC Cruise Day 7 July 31 Second Lay Day in Block Island

Shanghai departed after the fog lifted and CJ reported that they made it to a mooring in South Cove at old Saybrook in the Connecticut River.
True North rested up after Bruce felt ill from the dinner the night before. The folks on Blast continued exploring this island via automobile and planned dinner at Deadeye Dicks.

We detached and stowed Ohanas dink engine and then hauled the dink aboard and discovered the cause of the leak when water that had entered the inflatables starboard tube flowed out through a separation between that tube and the blue conical cap at its aft end. Drained of air and water it is rolled and stowed with the outboard.

Ohana and ILENE then took advantage of our rafted condition to take a 4.5 hour day sail past the southern coast of the island aboard Ohana, leaving ILENE on the mooring. We experienced moderate winds under clear sunny skies accompanied by big ocean rollers from yesterdays winds. We saw Mohegan Bluff and the SE lighthouse from the sea, from a distance.

Our fastest speed was sailing back into the Great Salt Pond.

After our return, Rolo, Laura and Christain headed off to swim and dinner while Lene, Bennett and Roger dined at Elis, a small gem of a restaurant one block back from the main road through the Old Town. Elis is a fine dining experience that Ken and Camille, who plan incidentally to meet up with us in Stonington CT, tomorrow,  introduced us to a few years ago. This was my third time there and we have never been disappointed. It opens at six, takes no reservations, does not advertise and is always full. I got there early and  waited on line while Lene and Bennett shopped for souvenirs. Im not going to describe the menu but it is imaginative and if we paid a lot more for this food in Manhattan we would not be dissatisfied. And the walk back to the Boat Basin helped the food settle.

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Working on a July Launch Date for the Optimist

My brothers and I have slowed our building of the Optimist down to a crawl. However, my brother Darren has taken the lead and wants the first boat to launch on July 4th.

He has purchased sail, tiller and extension, blades (rudder, centerboard), gudgeons from APS - Annapolis Performance Sailing.

To protect the chine he has laid down a 2 inch strip of fiberglass cloth in simple-clear polyester resin. It should provide a bit of resistance to any "hard blows" on rocks that make up the shore of our part of Lake Ontario.

Polyester resin is quick to harden and very easy to sand. It costs about half the price of shipping epoxy to us. Its just a short drive to the auto parts to pick up a quart.

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July 3 4 Parade up NY Harbor with LHermione 60 Miles

The New York Times of July 3 had a full page article on the visit of The Hermione. (We learned that while we pronounce her The Her-my-oh-knee, the French call her LAir-me-own.) A replica of the French square rigged wooden gunboat that ferried Lafayette across the puddle to help us win independence from the Brits. She visited Yorktown VA, where the original boat helped defeat the British resupply and re-enforcement fleet, thus causing General Cornwallis to surrender to General Washington, effectively ending the military aspects of the Revolution. We visited Yorktown on our way south and on our way north. Hermione is doing this as a good will tour, to remind us of our friendship with the French and making stops up the eastern seacoast to Boston. 

As Fleet Captain I put this out as a potential Club adventure and three other members joined us for the parade, though only two of us on  HYC registered boats. My friend since 1972, Marty, joined us at ten a.m. at the Harlem and we got underway at 11. But a failure of communication caused us to spend half an hour, drifting, waiting for "Shanghai," a Pearson 31, the other Harlem boat, with CJ and Jenny, while they had gone ahead. During the wait the NYC police burned off a vast stash of fireworks they had taken.

No problem once communications were restored; we caught up with Shanghai at about 90th Street in the East River, making great speed with the favorable tidal flow and engine.





ILENE, shown here passing 25th St.,used mainsail pretty much the whole way, but the wind was so light that except for a few puffs it mostly just prevented rocking.

 We anchored in Gravesend Bay, off the west end of Coney Island, Brooklyn, On the way we were passed by Gandalf 3, another Saga 43 out of Stamford, which I had visited to study its dinghy davit blocks before connecting ILENEs
Gravesend Bay is huge but exposed. But its very near where the parade was to start and there was very little wind at night, so we anchored out on the flat in 17 feet of water, with 70 feet of snubbed chain. There is a deeper channel, 25 to 27 feet, closer to shore, so we stayed further off. Our new smaller stainless steel snubber hook was deployed and it works like a charm. Finally!

Having left at 11:30, we arrived at 3:00 and lowered the dink. You cant miss the spot, Toys R Us put out a big welcome sign. The boats to the left are among the four French flagged Beneteaus,  Waquies [the key for the last letter of the alphabet is inoperative] and hard chined aluminum sloops "dressed" for the parade with their signal flags. They came in after us and anchored far enough away from us. I had expected more boats.

Then came a few hours rest, except I used the time in an unsuccessful attempt to get the cockpit VHF radio to power up. It is so convenient and useful because VHF Channel 8 was used for communications during the parade, but we had to use the inside radio turned up loud.

A shared dinner aboard ILENE for the five of us: Lene, Roger, Marty and CJ. Thanks for your pictures Jenny!

Everyone had brought food that did not need to be cooked and the menu was varied and delicious, starting with a bottle of champagne and cheese provided by Shanghai. We were together from 6 to 9 before I dinked CJ and Jenny back to Shanghai and everyone had a good nights sleep. Jenny, became infatuated with our cats, and can you blame her.

Sunset under the bridge:

In the morning, mango- sweetpotato pancakes were on the agenda, sweetened by honey that we had, and peanut butter that Jenny brought, not that the pancakes really needed to be sweetened much. And I forgot the bacon as well as the maple syrup! And the final system to seemingly go down was the fresh water pump. I can hear it run but it is not bringing water to the tap. So the dishes were rinsed off in a bucket of soapy seawater and will be properly washed once order is restored.

The parade formed up: about a hundred boats at its peak, all at the sides and rear of Hermione once she turned at the start.

I felt bad that I had not yet purchased a new American flag and flagpole after ours went missing during our winter excursion. But marty wore a sweater during the parade which eased my guilt.

The leader had a fetish about arriving under the Veransano Bridge, and at the Statue of Liberty, at precisely pre-scheduled times

presumably for the coordination of a US Navy flyover by two jets, for the media and for fire boat blasts, center in next photo.

But this caused me problems because Hermione did not maintain the five knots speed over ground that had been the plan and was repeated via VHF. I had only the small jib up and engine but it is hard to go straight when you slow down to 1.8 knots and when boats are perhaps fifteen feet away on both sides of you. I should have furled that jib but no harm done.    Here is Shanghai:

 The other expected Harlem participants were Gene, not on "Chandi Nerissa", but on a friends boat out of Stamford, which I did not see, and Rear Commodore Peter, not on "Annandale" but on Ricks boat, now in Jersey City who hailed us immediately after the parade formally ended. Several other Harlem boats rafted up in a rendesvous in Oyster Bay these days so there were plenty of guest moorings available.

I felt guilty for not having purchased a replacement for our American flag and pole, which went missing during our winter travels to Florida. But Marty assuaged my  guilt somewhat by wearing an appropriate sweater.

It was too early to go home when the parade ended because the tide in the East River and Hellsgate were adverse. So we drifted slowly down the Hudson from midtown to the Battery under only the small jib and tide.

The wind was down from the 15 knots out of the north that had faced us during the parade: still from the north but perhaps six knots. And a light rain was falling. When we reached the Battery Lene wanted to go home as soon as possible to see the fireworks from our roof so we did what was silly: we went up stream against the tide using motor, full main and small jib. Unlike the eight plus knots we had enjoyed on the way down, we made speeds that got as high as 4.2 knots, briefly, and as low as 1.1 knots at times.  But we were back on the mooring by 7:30, an hour before sundown. If we had waited two hours before starting, I think we would have arrived only fifteen minutes later, having expended a lot less fuel in the process.
A good time was had by all.

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HYC Cruise Day 4 Tuesday July 28 Mattituck to Noank 35 Miles

Views exiting Mattituck

     

Yesterday I described Mattituck Creek as "scenic," so I added a few views taken on our way out. Tide was "up" so no depth problems today

North Star left first, headed for Block Island where we will join them tomorrow. ILENE left next and took this picture of Blast as she passed us.

The wind was from behind, but rather light. It provided only a few tenths of a knot to our engine speed. The biggest help was the tide rushing out of the Sound as we passed alongside its end, pulling us along. ILENE got about three knots at one point, making 8.5.

The posts from this cruise are being sent back to the Club and posted on its own blog. The Fleet Captain, moi, made a stupid mistake but fortunately a harmless one. ILENE and Blast had made reservations at Spicers. However, in my mind, I was thinking of the Noank Boatyard, where the Club Cruise stopped in Noank in 2012. I remembered where the Noank Boatyard was and went there, despite PC Bruce advising last night that Spicers was a long walk to Abbotts lobster restaurant, where we had planned to have dinner. Bruce was right; he usually is. So arriving off the Noank Boatyard I found out that I did not actually know exactly where Spicers was. We had to go out again into Fishers Island Sound, go back east a bit and then North again to Spicers. The detour was only about 1.2 miles. In this picture the pencil points to Noank Boatyard, the pen to Spicers.

We asked to be berthed near Blast and they honored this request after a fashion as this photo from ILENE shows. A short swim away!

And yes it is a long walk to Abbots so we dined at The Sea Horse, located in Spicers, the six of us from ILENE and Blast. Food pretty good. It was another quiet night. A bit of wind would have cooled things off. It is always cooler on the water but snuggled into slips it was hot.

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