Odalisque - July 11-17, 2004 Logs

Log 2004 – July 11th, 14th & 17th

Sunday July 11, 2004 – “Hempstead Harbor Club to Steppingstone Transit”
Crew: Matt, Caleb, Jessica

Arrangements were made to have an automobile available to us at each port, which forced us to do more driving than we wanted to do. It was a beautiful July day though so it would be nice to be out on the water. Before heading out we topped off the gas tank adding 3.5 gals of fuel and 2 ounces of lead substitute at Brewer’s Marina in Mosquito Creek.

We left the Hempstead Harbor Club around 1530 under motor until the wind picked up a bit near Execution Rocks. We had fetched up to Hart Island as the sun was descending just above the horizon and the full moon was rising to the Southeast. It was a beautiful sight to behold while comfortably cruising along. We saw another Tartan 27 (hull # 418) as we sailed passed City Island.

Everything seemed right with the world – for us anyway. The golden sun setting in the West, the shadows of the skyscrapers in Manhattan reminded me that not everyone could experience this moment the way we were. The sky and the horizon open up for the sailor in a way that no city dweller can fathom. New York City’s grid of streets is oriented roughly North to South and East to West so if you are inside one of those buildings you will see only half of the sky at once. On the streets which are like canyons with buildings rising up on either side to varying heights you also can only see a fraction of the sky available to a sailor.

We arrived at our Steppingstone mooring at 1850 just after sunset and running our bilge for 5 minutes. I had been afraid to tackle the dripping stuffing box, which I kept hoping would drip itself dry, so we would have to run the bilge pump every couple of days. I should not say that I was afraid of tackling the stuffing box, but I feared that somehow we could sink the boat if we tried to do it in the water, or if the old bolts might break or decide that they did not want to move. Such is the result when the human mind encounters something entirely new to it.

Sunset at Steppingstone
A photo of a sunset looking towards the Bronx from our mooring at Steppingstone.

Wednesday July 14, 2004

Despite the threat of a downpour Noah managed to get out to Odalisque after 3 days of neglect. He phoned me from the boat describing a flooded bilge: the carpet on the cabin sole (floor) had been soaked. This was disheartening news but nothing fatal. He ran the bilge pump for 10 – 15 minutes.

Saturday July 17, 2004

Matt and Caleb install an automatic sensor in the bilge so Odalisque will not flood. Matt purchased the sensor and did the wiring while I observed and helped by correcting one wiring mistake. The pump would now run with the batteries shut off when the water level in the bilge was a few inches below the cabin sole. As happens in summer we all had various constraints on our free time and were not able to get back to the boat for a few weeks.

— Caleb Davison