It is a cool 50 degrees (F) outside and a 10 mph wind out of the NE today. But there is just enough sunlight to create a greenhouse effect of under the biminis on the fly bridge.

What’s up with all the Canada Geese today?

Secured at S-Dock for the night.

New alternator.

New alternator belt.

New Air filter.

Tests 100%

Sounds simple, but doing an alternator and belt change was a major project! On this CAT 3126 there are steel covers over the alternator, belt, and flywheel. So in very tight quarters, removing the covers to simply get access to the components to be changed was a challenge. Next door neighbor and Dock-mate “Bobby” of 5K was a great help! Thanks Bobby!

Here is the old:

Possibly the original alternator from 20 years ago?!?!

The plastic/rubber “boot” over the “+” terminal was very brittle… certainly seemed like it was 20 years old.

When you buy a 20 year old boat, you’ve gotta be ready for stuff like this!

The Jones Beach water tower and outdoor stadium/amphitheater can be seen on the horizon of these sunset pics that Shelly took tonight on our way home. (Another good day rafting with Precious Cargo). The prop got a little polishing, but I think we faired well.

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Boats are maintenance intensive.

Today,

Engine Room pics:

Getting full access to the engine room is a major project on this boat. Furniture all has to be moved.

Strainer (right) for A/C pump (upper left) got cleaned today; the through hull fitting valve (lower left) got “exercised.”

Air conditioners on land pump the heat (hot AIR) outside. On boats, cool sea water is sucked in and the heat is pumped outside as warmed WATER! It’s more efficient on boats than on land!

Secondary fuel filter (2 micron) got replaced today.

New OIL filter is on the list later this fall when the boat is hauled for winter, and the engine oil gets changed.

Pictures like this of V-Belts help ensure correct replacements are purchased for the next maintenance project day.

Last night we put a second anchor off the stern as we anticipated a wind shift from SW to N overnight. That wind shift would have us hitting bottom by morning. So we deployed a stern anchor seen here keeping us out in the middle of the cove where we belong!

Sunrise is almost always worth getting up for when on the hook.

Tonight’s game viewable on the boat, thanks to VZW and our 12″ iPad Pro!

Nice day hanging out with Bobby and his crew pictured here with Shelly, Sarah and Amy on the fly bridge.

Bobby’s boat Five K in the foreground… Looking west (above) and looking east (below).

Captain Marc of Precious Cargo even came by for a visit on his jet ski (no pic). We may all be back next weekend.

Secured back at S-Dock, Shelly did up some yacht dogs to hold us off till morning.

Tonight was our first time ashore at Cedar Beach and the Salt Shack.

There was a duet doing a great job! It has been a ling time since we’ve seen live music. Thank you!

Bands=No go. Duets = OK!

Evidently, Outdoors for live entertainment is OK!

It was great hanging out with Dock mates Bobby and Amy and their neighbors Laurie snd Joey of the Anchorage Y. C. near us.

Power and water pedestals line the marina at Cedar Beach.

Got back to the boat after work and found this babe waiting for me!

I guess Friday is also PIZZA NIGHT!

Shelly has come to love her 3-burner Princess stove and oven! Propane… so works on the hook without having to start the generator.

We don’t have as many stars here in the NYC Metro area as we had back in Maine, but we keep track of those things we CAN see!

Jupiter and Saturn have been close together in the southwest sky all summer too. (See post for August 20th below.)

g.co/kgs/378svS

A Netflix movie: My Octopus Teacher

Excellent!

We had a memorable time with Marc and Colleen the past two days. Good food! Good times!

Shell and I just walked around the facility here by River Street. The cold snap ended, so it is very pleasant at this hour (9:30pm).

The “Pumpkin Muffin”

The new dinghy’s name is finally revealed!

The sun is just about to cross the equator into the southern hemisphere for another six months.

Here’s a first for Ray… an eye splice of 8-Plait line. Making a “Snubber” to take the strain off the electric windlass.

Snubber deployed.

Its purpose is twofold: take the strain off the windlass, and to act as a shock absorber as the anchored boat sways left and right. The rode is still all chain except for the top 8-10 feet of snubber.

It’s only 61F outside. But under our canvas its like 80F! Very nice extended season… 2-1/2 more days till the Fall Equinox on Tuesday morning.

Sweet crabmeat harvested right next to our boat! Tnx Capt Mike Winter for the crab trap!!!

Seizing wire secures the shackle and teflon tape make for a first class job.

New anchor beside old.

Anchored at Cedar Beach cove for the night.

It works!

Vulcan 25 by Rocna (55lbs) will be deployed tomorrow morning.

Yellow paint marks 0, 50, 100, 150, and 200.

Red paint marks 25, 75, 125, and 175.

This way we know how much rode we have let out. Normally 5X one’s depth is a common rule of thumb. More if needed due to breezy conditions and bottom conditions.

We bought a new dinghy tonight from a fellow in Bayville NY. A very sweet area of Long Island! Enjoyed the drive to find him. He delivers it here tomorrow!

Photo by Dez!!!

The weather turned out to be a whole lot better than predicted. Shelly even went in for another test of her swim ladder!

Latest pic.

Lots of dirt from tunneling project.

Here’s what it looked like in May 2020:

https://shellerina.com/2020/05/17/big-clean-water-infrastructure-project-happening-near-our-hangout-cedar-beach-cove/

What a great day aboard Shellerina, nice weather too. We are looking forward to having Nick, Dez, Nancy, and Kirk aboard tomorrow!!!

4 telescoping steps, and ALL of them are in the water. This goes down much further than most boat ladders!

We will test drive this afternoon…

Test Results:

Notice also the new grab bar above the transom!

Easy up and easy down!

Great enhancement.

Final assessment:

Best GD boat ladder we have ever tried!!! It is only 304 Stainless Steel (not 316) so we expect to clean up some rust stains periodically. Still worth it.

Sunrise – Leaving our slip beside Precious Cargo.

Up with the sun – Absolutely the best time of day on the ocean!

Leaving Great Peconic Bay at the north entrance to Shinecock Canal.

Once we were outside of Shinecock Inlet, we saw huge “fields” of Bunker fish, I tried to capture in this vid

We love the fuel efficiency of our single screw diesel! Hardly a dent after nearly 150 miles.

The Sirois, Elbaums, and Romanos hung out at TreasurevCove Marina today taking advantage of all the amenities including the pool.

Great evening dockside with the Elbaums of Precious Cargo.

We cruise between 1800 and 1900 RPM, which is about 10 mph. Slower than many boats; but ours is a very fuel efficient craft. After 9 hours underway, our fuel gauge still shows FULL!

On long legs like this one, the new Auto Pilot really becomes an appreciated member of the crew!

One of my favorite prayers!

Nice night!

Two nights away from the Full Moon Sept 2.

There will be two full moons in the same calendar month, October, this year… so rare Blue Moon is October 31, 2020!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=share&v=UEByMIRojbU

Mark Stover is a great friend of mine. This is a great place to visit by boat!

One of the ‘challenges’ we have is finding better food dishes when we go out compared to what Shelly comes up with here on the boat or at home. Tonight, Chicken Tika Marsala. Love the extra cillantro! Too good to describe!

It was the quest for Indian spices that motivated sailors from Europe to sail West in the 1400’s and 1500’s. We have those same spices right here aboard Shellerina! How fortunate we are!

We had a great time as we always do with Steve and Tina.

It was a great day. Disaster was averted as some kids were caught in the current leaving Sore Thumb. Some quick action by a couple of boats smaller than ours saved the day!

For more info about Sore Thumb see the video links here: https://shellerina.com › sore-thu…

We had a great time with Jane today. She brought lunch and a bottle of wine, and Shelly trained and demonstrated all the deckhand duties. Jane was also patient as I had a couple chores to do… she and Shelly let me get them done. One was testing a new fuel gauge, which tested great. The other was removing the last of the old boat name off the port bow.

We are anchored out here at Cedar Beach Cove and another boat came out of its way to give us that complement this hour. Nice.

Very pleasant evening… not too hot, not too much wind. Good night to gain some more hours and experience… and just enjoy ourselves!

After hours we could clearly see Saturn and Jupiter! From our dock looking up towards our upper deck SSW. With all the ground light here in NY we miss out on a lot. So we celebrate anything we can get!

Pluto, well we’ll have to look for you from a different locale!

We are anchored in our usual spot enjoying some crabs that Tom harvested for us last night.

We are secure inside the boat!

About an hour before the bad weather arrived, our newest dock mates next door came in under one engine. “Five K” captain Bobby did a commendable job at the helm making the slip landing with only one screw. I fended off the bow. So Matt assisted. Wife Amy nervously watched from the dock.

In any event, it was a good first intro for the next door neighbors.

My brother Russ was crew aboard Brian Saulter’s boat out of Boothbay Harbor Maine. They caught this 82″ Bluefin Tuna!

These recent drone pics are taken by friend Don Lockhart, and are in the vicinity of Shellerina’s Rock in Harrison Maine. We spent countless hours and nights tied up there for years before moving to Long Island in 2015. Don and Beth rent from Gateway Marina on Long Lake, and this day they had Robby and Wayne Oliver aboard for the outing!

Andre (Shelly’s brother) and his step daughter Katie in Rockland Maine this week.

Here is a pic sent to us from friends in Maine. It’s not something you see everyday!

First priority upgrade for us was Auto Pilot. A boat that we plan to cruise in … which only goes 10 mph requires Auto Pilot! Its almost like having a third crew member aboard, saves fuel and time, as a computer can steer way more accurately over long distances than a human.

Today was my very first experience using Auto Pilot. At first, I was not impressed. “It must need calibration or tweaking.” But, then after I read the manual, it started to work. I wasn’t doing anything different <wink>. But remarkably, the thing started working much better. <grin>

There are two of these control units, one at the lower helm (shown here), and another at the upper helm.

I’m looking forward to an orientation and sea trial with SeaCurity Systems of Lindenhurst NY who did the install for us in a timely manner this past week.

Donna and Shelly were patient with me this morning while I was “playing” with this navigational aid for the first time.

Sea Trial / owner instructions with the installers happens tomorrow night after work.

Addendum [Tuesday Aug 11] Frank Regan of SeaCurity Systems came aboard and did all the commissioning and calibrating of this new system, and it is 100% now!

Happy Customer now!

Thank you Frank & Co.!

It was gr8 to have Steve Romano aboard for the testing too!

Donna with a surprised Shelly!

The Elbaums and the Romanos scored two surprise birthday gifts today for the birthday girl, PLUS cousin Donna Lambert (from Salem MA) showed up for a two-day outing aboard MV Shellerina! Shelly likes being surprised, and today we all scored for her.

Then! Nick and Desiree came through with their surprise too!

Day after birthday: Shelly in her “nest” at our apartment on the phone with Linda back in Maine… flowers are in the background.

All the dock lights are on and working, no wind, beautiful night!

S-Dock is a very protected spot to ride out storms like this one.