26 Sep 16

We had a quiet night on the PYC mooring ball, but it definitely cooled off during the night - we were under the duvet well before dawn. After breakfast, I spent the morning applying Tonkinois No. 1 varnish to a few spots on the dinghy and oars. Then, I applied a coat to the toe-rails and the port-side lee-board. We lunched at the mooring ball and inventoried clothing and started packing. Although the tide was foul, the wind was fair for Rondout, so we sailed off the mooring ball and headed 6 miles up the river under sail until the last half mile. We crept under the road bridge (56’ vertical clearance at HW) at dead low water with no trouble and were tied up at the Rondout Yacht Basin dock by 17:00. The wind was very light in Rondout Creek, so we immediately dropped and flaked both the foresail and the mainsail. Unfortunately, in the process, my prescription sunglasses fell off my head and straight into the water and sank like a stone. I suited up in my shorty wet-suit and snorkel gear and dove a few times trying to find them, but at fifteen feet, my bottom time was only a few seconds and the water was very murky (i.e., zero visibility at that depth), so I was reduced to groping around in the dark muck; I did not find the sunglasses. We had happy hour and dinner aboard. Rondout Creek, and the town of Kingston, is a lovely little, bullet-proof spot about a mile off the Hudson River; a good place to spend the winter, I think. After dinner, we showered ashore and I sat up and listened to the Presidential debate between Hillary and The Donald - HUGEly depressing, believe me. That is it for our 2016 campaign. We will probably haul the boat on Thursday.

41-54.737’N, 073-59.384’W

27 Sep 16

I slept poorly last night - achy knees did not help, but maybe it was the Presidential debate? But, we were up and at ‘em before 09:00. The Admiral tackled an impressive load of laundry while I completed preparations for un-stepping the mast, which will occur shortly after we haul the boat; this included: disconnecting and dropping the boom onto the dock, stripping the main-sheet, disconnecting the vang and lashing it down to the deck (alongside the kayaks), replacing the spinnaker and pole lift halyards with messenger lines, and disconnecting the electrical, instrument and VHF cables from the bottom of the mast. This latter job included cutting a larger hole in the deck and installing a new water-tight gland to facilitate pulling the VHF cable without having to cut and re-solder (every time we unstep the mast) the coax connector; although, to execute this operation, I did have to cut the cable and solder on a new connector (but this is the last time). Unfortunately, the installation of the new gland (for the VHF cable) fought back when I twisted off one of the four hold-down screws. I was unable to drill it out and finally just gave up and fixed in with 3 (of 4) screws and a bit of 5200 marine sealant; if it leaks now, I will be annoyed. Then, oh joy, I hosed down the inside of the port holding tank and cleaned it up in preparation for decommissioning. I also ordered 18 gallons of non-toxic anti-freeze for winterizing all of the fresh-water systems. And we agreed to haul the boat at HW on Thursday, around noon. Happy hour and dinner aboard and then early to bed.

28 Sep 16

After breakfast, we moved the boat back over to the fuel dock and pumped out both holding tanks, including hosing down the inside of the starboard holding tank. We also topped up the fuel tank while there. Then, we moved back to the regular dock and winterized the holding tanks. I spent the afternoon changing the oil and oil filters and the fuel filters on both the generator and the main engine. After which, we winterized the generator and stripped off the bimini and dodger canvas. The sail guy next door picked up the spinnaker, main sail and enclosure canvas at the close of the day. Finally, about dark, we packed up our traveling clothes and moved off the boat to the Quality Inn, followed by a quality meal at Hardee’s.  

29 Sep 16

Another day of hard slogging; we winterized all the other systems on the boat: fresh water, air-conditioner, bilge, shower drains, the freezer/refrigerator and the refrigerator drain. Then, it was time to haul the boat. The original plan had been to unstep the mast after the boat was blocked up, but just before the haul, the boatyard boys advised that they wanted to pull the mast while the boat was still in the travelift (as the boat would not be accessible by the mobile crane in its parking location) but they had not bothered to advise the guys next door who operate the mobile crane. Anyway, it all got sorted out in the end. The boat came out without a hitch; the bottom is still in very good shape although the prop-zinc is pretty much gone. The mast came off again without a hitch and we laid it down on saw-horses to be ready for prepping. After the boat was all blocked up, and after chatting with the shrink-wrap guy, we lowered the aft bimini support bow and the radar mast so they would not get loaded up by snow-load during the winter. We then winterized the main engine. I also disconnected the spreaders from the mast and gathered the shrouds and stays up close to the mast. Then, back to the hotel to clean up, after which we drove back into town to have dinner at the Armadillo Bar and Grill; not bad. On the way home after dinner, we stopped at Home Depot and stocked up on industrial-strength cling film, bubble-wrap and wrapping tape for the mast and boom.