Odalisque - July 5-9, 2004 Logs

Log 2004 – July 5th - July 9th

Monday July 5, 2004 – “Owners Sailing Reunion”

Today was to be a day that Caleb, Matt, and Noah all got to sail on our boat in Huntington Harbor. Both Matt and Noah had left voice mail messages on my cell phone mail box. There had been some talk of sailing Odalisque back to Steppingstone or even Hempstead Harbor but my cell phone did not work on Lloyd Neck so I had to dial in from a land line, which I did around 1300 so we did not get an early enough start for such an ambitious journey. By the time we all got to Huntington Yacht Club’s parking lot it was 1600 and the clouds were looking a bit ominous. We had had some pretty strong thunderstorms in early Summer already so why not more? But this was the first chance for us all to sail together out of Huntington so we motored out as the skies improved. The winds were reaching 15 knots in gusts as we traversed Huntington Bay into Lloyd Harbor. The evening weather was very pleasant and there was wind so we stayed out till after 1900. We were all hungry so we went to the Mediterranean Snack Bar for nice Greek food. It was a splendid, if short, sail and would have been a perfect dinner had Noah not badgered the waitress. She eventually picked up on his sense of humor but it took us 20 minutes to order as Noah cajoled her about her ethnicity (Greek), and the prices on the menu , and could you substitute French fries for spinach with feta, and how was that fish prepared (pan fried or broiled).. Noah tries to eat kosher so I understand he doesn’t want his fish fried in pork fat but he seemed to enjoy grilling the young waitress with questions about how everything was prepared even though it was her first week working there.
All in all, a nice sail in the summer sun with Jessica, Matt, Noah and Caleb. Bilge pumped out. Stuffing box is still dripping. Engine is gulping water.

Tuesday July 6, 2004

We were talking about taking my niece Kate on the boat around 1200 but the wind seemed pretty wild in the trees overhead so we begged off. We swam in the Sound instead under cloudy skies. By the time I got to the boat it had become a gentle sunny day. Who can tell what the wind and the weather will do?
Bilge pumped out in 7 minutes. Stuffing box is still dripping

That night we barbecued a thick sirloin steak with our special shrimp and fresh corn done in the husk. Delicious. A scrabble game soon broke out but I was more interested with playing music with Melisa who picked up our old nylon string guitar and played just as she had done so many years earlier except now her voice is much bigger. The songs were funny; a mix of Leonard Cohen and Loudon Wainwright and I accompanied her on violin. The rum drinks helped to loosen up the ladies who wanted to go to the private beach with instruments and start a bonfire. It turned out that we didn’t need the instruments as starting a fire on the beach when a nearly full moon comes up is almost a tribal kind of experience. I was compelled to keep the fire burning while the ladies dipped into the water off Lloyd Neck in search of phosphorescence. It was a bit early for this wonderful marine phenomenon to be easily seen although the water temperature was nearing 70 degrees F. The moon probably did not help. I am sure that the neighbors near the beach were happy that we did not break out the instruments and start singing and pierce their night. Instead, we all coalesced around the fire and watched the sparks drift off into the moonlit night.

Wednesday July 7, 2004

The day started out hot and still for me around 1300. I was reluctant to take Kate out on a day with no wind, after a night of drinking, so we decided to lick our wounds from the previous evening and try to catch high tide for a swim around 1600 at the nearby beach. I went to run the bilge pump around 16:30 and it had turned into a nice sailing day after all with a light southerly breeze. It was too late to switch our plans to go out anyway. I ran the bilge pump for nearly 10 minutes and back on land, went for sandwiches, which were eaten on Melisa’s deck. Jessica back to city via LIRR
I guess it was Matt or Noah who told me that we should change the engine oil after our overheating incident. This of course makes sense with an old engine. The motto seems to be when in doubt: change the engine oil; which was my plan for the next day.

Thursday July 8, 2004

I retrieved my electric engine oil pump from my mother’s garage in sea Cliff and bought some SAE 30 oil and set out for Huntington Yacht Club. It seemed like prudent maintenance, so I put it in my black box as part of the preparations for taking Odalisque back to Hempstead Harbor in a day or so. I had already spoken to Rick Geismar about helping me make the trip from Huntington to Hempstead Harbor on Saturday. Ran back to NYC in my car to get to an 8:30 pm rehearsal with the Alphorn Phenomenon.

Friday July 9, 2004

I came back out to Sea Cliff this evening in preparation for tomorrows sail.

— Caleb Davison