9 May 17
It is time to hit the road - or water - again, after our long winter break. We were busy this winter, but the highlight was the marriage of our son Dan to his lovely (now) wife Emily; we sure hope to see them out on the boat some day. This year, we will start out with a visit to our daughter Ashley in Boston, where she is attending grad school at Emerson College. Then, we will move on to Kingston, NY to rejoin “c’est le bon”. Launch day is scheduled for Monday, 15 May. We contracted with a local craftsman to touch up some of the minor dings in the topside paint, so we are looking forward to seeing the result of that.
10 May 17
We got into Boston late last night and were delayed at the airport because one of my bags failed to show up; naturally, it was the one with the ship’s course computer and important ships documents. It was midnight by the time we got to the hotel; on the taxi ride to the hotel, we received a text from Ashley advising that she and her boyfriend had been delayed on their return flight from Cancun and she would not make it back to Boston until late Wednesday night. Terri and I slept late, then rode the bus into town to see the Science Museum and had a nice walk around downtown. Light dinner at the Back Deck. Then back to the hotel to watch the Astros beat the Braves.
11 May 17
It was tough getting Ashley up and moving after her late arrival last night, but we finally got going and headed over the see the JFK Presidential Library. We spent about 3 hours there and it was well worth the trip. On the way back to the hotel, we picked up a rental car, and later went to dinner with Ashley at the Dali Restaurant - Spanish tapas, very nice. Lisa, daughter of our friends Jim and Robin, who is completing a masters in architecture at Harvard, was supposed to join us, but was busy helping a friend with a final project. So, we just stopped by her office for a quick hello and a hug. Got back to the hotel in time to see the Astros beat the Yankees.
12 May 17
Miles to go today, so we were up early, picked up Ashley and took her to breakfast at IHOP before hitting the road about 11:00. We drove cross-country (i.e., no interstates) in a generally southwesterly direction, finally ending up at Hartford, CN, where we checked into a very nice Red Roof Inn across the park from the state capitol; lovely location and we had a lovely walk around downtown and the capitol grounds, even being permitted a quick after-hours look around the beautiful capitol building by some very accommodating and friendly guards. We had dinner at Black-eyed Susan, just down the street and stayed to hear local bluesman, Slam Allen, put on a great show with his three-piece band, plus a couple of ad-hoc contributions by members of the audience. In bed by midnight. The Astros/Yankee game was rained out.
13 May 17
After breakfast at Starbucks, we went for tours of the Harriet Beacher Stowe (“Uncle Tom’s Cabin”) center and house and the adjacent Mark Twain house. Both were very interesting and well done. About 14:00, we finally got on the road west, just as it started to rain. We pulled into Kingston about 17:00, had a quick look at the boat and then went onto the hotel. Dinner at A Slice of Italy, strictly average. When we got back to the hotel, we found that the Yankees had beat the Astros in the afternoon game, but they were playing a double header to make up for yesterday’s rain-out. So, we got to watch the Astros beat the Yankees again. Who are these guys?
14 May 17
Happy Mother’s Day. We celebrated by spending the day working on the boat: re-erected the bimini arches and radar mast, installed the davit ways, barbecue, EPIRB and life raft on the transom, and tidied up the cabin a bit. It started to rain about 15:00, so we knocked off and went back to the hotel to tidy up ourselves before dinner. We found a very nice Italian restaurant - Savona's - down by Rondout Creek, but on the north shore, opposite the Rondout Yacht Basin (where the boat is). We did not see it, but the Astros beat the Yankees again.
15 May 17
We were back at the boat by 9:00, collected the bimini canvas (it had been in the shop for cleaning, re-stitching and water-proofing) and put it back up. By then, it was time to launch. “c’est le bon” hit the water again at 14:00 and, happily, floated. The engine started immediately but during the short motor over to the slip, we could hear a strange noise coming from the dripless stern gland, but only when the transmission was in gear. I had a mechanic scheduled to come to the boat Tuesday morning, so we shut down to wait for him. We flushed the water tanks several times to get rid of the remnants (and the taste) of the antifreeze, tidied up a bit more and headed back to the hotel. Dinner at the water-front restaurant, Frank and Mark Guido’s Mariner’s Harbor for a nice bowl of clam chowder and crab-cakes. Back to the hotel in time to watch the Astros come from behind again to beat the Mariners.
16 May 17
Our last night in the hotel; we checked out Tuesday morning and moved onto the boat.
The mechanic arrived about 10:30 and we went for a spin. My initial concerns were investigated first: apparent low oil pressure and water temp - no issues: he measured the oil pressure at 58 psi, my cockpit gauge showed 53 - 55, close enough. Water temp was measured at 171 F, my gauge was showing 179 F; close enough and he confirmed that both oil pressure and water temp were within normal operating ranges. The stern gland continued to hum (unnaturally) throughout, although one could make it stop by simply holding on to it. We tried putting a tie-wrap around it, but during that whole process the gland started to get hot and the shaft seemed to be vibrating; shaft bent? transmission coupling out of alignment? When we got back to the slip, the mechanic went back to the shop to collect his dials and gauges and, also, to do some work on another priority boat. I thought to myself that maybe it is the shaft log hose that is blocked and not letting cooling/lubricating water circulate between the shaft and the stern gland. While trying to remove the hose from the fitting onto the fiberglass shaft log, I broke the brass fitting, which should have been bad: there is nothing between that fitting and the sea. But water did not come shooting in. When I opened the through-hull valve at the other end of the (now open-ended) hose, no water came through the hose either - fittings at both ends and the valve had calcified up and weren’t allowing any water through. So, the heating of the stern gland is now solved, but now I have a broken fitting plugged into the shaft log. The mechanic had an easy-out and was able to back the threaded end of the fitting out of the shaft log - now the water came in big time (don’t tell the Admiral - everything is under control). We temporarily plugged the hole with a rubber gasket held in place with a hose clamp, while I ran up to Home Depot, Lowes and Auto-Zone to get a replacement fittings and a new hose. 2 hours later we were back in business. With the engine running and transmission in gear, no noise or vibration from the stern gland or shaft. Another routine maintenance job to add to the list. We had a late, light dinner at Mariner’s Harbor, then were in bed by 21:15.
17 May 17
We slept like logs until the alarm went off at 07:00. For a change, we had breakfast aboard - al fresco - and had an idle morning catching up on the news (none of it good) and booking the Admiral’s flight home from Buffalo in 3 weeks. Then, it was back to town for more groceries and parts to temporarily support the VHF antenna in hopes of improving reception for the main ship’s radio. I have a picture showing it mounted to the mast step with C-clamps. As the evening cooled off (did I mention that it got HOT today; 89F, same as Houston), I finally spent a good hour cleaning off the decks. Then, it was time for happy hour, or Captain’s hour, and dinner aboard. It’s been a good few days and the good folks at Roundout Yacht Basin treated us very well indeed. Although some low-life on the dock stole our “Welcome Aboard” mat while we were up at the showers. We hope to head out tomorrow for Houghtaling Island, about 60% of the way between here and the Troy Lock.