7:30 am Sunday Morning. I hopped in the car and ran up to Astoria to grab Max. He used to be a Brooklyn resident, but currently residing in LA. Walked my dogs and then hopped in a friends car and we were off. 4 Humans + one Chihuahua. Hopped on board the Kirie, and the battery was low. Opened up the compression so that the diesel could turn over and then eased it closed and the Kirie came to life. Reminiscent of popping my car into 2nd gear on a downhill. Starting to love this diesel. Headed out of the harbor and set both sails setting course for “The Ruins” above Gardiner’s Island. Once again Mr Mark Cuban’s “The Fountainhead” was spotted and we altered course to cut him off. They were moving along at a pretty good clip and we tacked a couple times to catch him when he had thrown anchor. Ran into my friend Ricardo sailing by and he chased us for a bit. Then let down the sails and motored in to grab a mooring and swim a bit before putting the Kirie away. Solid day on the water. 

4th of July was a great weekend. We sailed out Friday afternoon to Coecles Harbor. Threw anchor and spent the night there at Shelter Island. Sort of slept in, had an epic spread for breakfast and then tried the engine, but batteries were low. Live and learn. Should have left just 1 or 2 battery turned on, not both while sleeping and hanging. Got a jumpstart from SeaTow (they arrived in 45 minutes) and we were off again. Sailed around Mark Cuban’s “The FountainHead” in middle of Gardiner’s Bay and then around the corner and south to below Gardiner’s Island(sailing at 8 knots and change). Gave up on Anchoring at Devon yacht club (it was so shallow everywhere and kind of choppy). So headed back to dock a day early. Switched to cars and had dinner in Amagansett at LUNCH – Lobster Roll Restaurant seated at the table next to Cam’ron and his entourage of a dozen people. Then drove over to Devon Yacht Club to take in the fireworks from the beach. Drove back to the boat and then up early in the morning to drive back before traffic started up. It was a one of a kind weekend. Good times and July/Summer has just begun!

Couldn’t open up the Waste Deck Fitting. Was bending the deck key left and right.  And then popped open the lazarette to take a look, and scary enough there was the waste tank bulging overcapacity.(no time for photos, this is a time for alarm!) Realized the tank was full and the air vent was compromised by a kink in the hose. Undid the venting hose, cleared the thruhull of any gunk and refitted with a quarter turn to offset the kink.(Looks like this is from the Lazarette being piled with stuff onto the hose pushing it against the fitting and forming a kink by the hose clamp). But, Small miracles! Two people pushing at same time (with two Phillips heads- with long necks to get the lower angle) in tandem and we got the deck fitting open and then looked around to see who had witnessed our victory and there was the pump out boat, talk about timing. So now our waste tank is bone dry and ready for the holiday weekend. Also got organized moving supplies and tools from the old boat over. And after searching online, we then called our local shop at the marina and ordered the Starboard bow light from them and they will have for us to pick up this week in time for the 4th of July. We intend to anchor somewhere near the bottom of Gardiner’s Island or maybe by Montauk for that night, and if we have to motor or sail at night, lights will be crucial.

We sailed out from Three Mile to just shy of Orient and then lapped back to meet up with a friend on his Dufour and exchanged a few photos. I think 5-6 hours total sail. When we opened up the Navionics app we were sailing at 5-6 knots consistently with both sails up in 10-15 knots of wind. Handled well, we have some tweaks in mind, but the rain started up at the end of the afternoon and we ended up just hopping in car and heading back to the city. Really need to give the decks a good scrubbing, as you can see here. Next on our list is cleaning the bilge thoroughly and then sanding and oiling the wood on deck/in the cockpit. Then we will go through/reattach the electronics systems on board so we can take advantage of all the gadgets on board and leave our phones stowed away. 

Now we just have to make sure we go through the USCG checklist for any open items. . .

We are in the water. A bit of trouble at first,our initial slip was not deep enough for our keel. And we had to wait until midnight/Higher Tide to relocate into a deeper slip. (Fun midnight antics) Now the fun can begin.Going to replace the hoses in the bilge first and foremost, and replace a few wooden slats in the cockpit. Engine started up after some tinkering with the switches and ran strong for 30 minutes.