Dock mate Steve Romano inspects the dinghy davit actually holding up the dinghy for the first time.

Wyze CAM v3 cameras have CMOS Starlight sensors for remarkable color night vision, and they can be toggled to IR (infrared mode). They are also weatherproof.

An iPad at the helm will help me see traffic in back of us… likely overtaking us on one side or the other. At night these cameras see a lot more than we can! They record “events” differentiating PEOPLE as opposed to ALL motion types. Afterall, things are always moving on a boat; we only want to be notified if people come aboard.

a “dark” boat last night, as seen when we got back home!

Earlier last evening:

Dez, Shell, Chelsea, Nick, and I enjoy a meal captured by a new Wyze CAM v3.

When you visit Shellerina we can give you access to our own WiFi Access Point. What is the SSID?

Shellerina of course!

Pictured here are the guts: two MiMo vertical antennas and a Pepwave dual-modem CAT 12 router. Two SIM cards: VZW and T-Mobile.

The smaller ‘black box’ is the Pepwave router. The rabbit ears are WiFi paddle antennas for you to connect to, to gain access to the boat’s network. This wireless network has been operable at our home since Christmas when Santa delivered it. But it is now deployed on the boat where it was intended.

Also visible in the antenna pic is our new radar doppler scanner, Raymarine Quantum2.

The larger black box in the second pic is an Icom 7100 amateur radio and SSB Marine HF radio. (More on that later.)

Ray has never skippered a vessel with radar… always wanted to learn about it! Santa fit one down the chimney last December, and with Nick and Bobby’s help, we finally got it working today!

Lots of clutter / echos here at the marina; we will learn more about it underway!

Dez, Nick, (and Mr Miagi) are doing the “wax on – wax off” thing this weekend! Our mechanic, Gerry is also going at his long list for the generator and main engine… readying them for a big season.

Here is a pic of our boat six years ago today back in Harrison Maine. A far cry different from here on Lon Gisland NY <grin> !

Nick was a huge help preparing for the new radar… old one has got to go! Nick took the old radar apart… very cool insides.

Nick is checking out the insides of the old radar!

Here is a close up for all you antenna experts!

In the water right on schedule!

After work I drove over to the boat. It looks like it is ready to launch!!! On schedule March 27 – tomorrow – Saturday.

Weather is supposed to be great. It will mostly be a work day + test day + projects. But everything is easier once it is “in” (after all the other stuff below the waterline is done.)

If you know what this contraption is (below) near our prop, leave a comment for chance to win a million dollar lottery ticket!

These are pics of the bow thruster. A sideways tunnel with props that push the bow left and right. Great for docking. Notice the new “zincs” (sacrificial anodes) that are designed to corrode so the other metallic components don’t!

Spring launch prep has begun!

Won’t be long now!

Splash!

26×27 4-blade RH prop all set and ready to go in a couple months!

We’ve put it on Shelly’s car until next Spring!!!

Lunch aboard, day after Thanksgiving 2020.

We officially passed 100 engine hours for the season since we pushed off from East Warwick RI in July.

The air temp was 60F in light airs. Very comfortable under canvas. We might come out tomorrow too, or do some work aboard tomorrow.

And, we are not alone! Others have the same idea.

64F air and no wind!

Water’s temp is a hair under 50F. Should have brought my woolen jock strap and bathing suit.

Stats:

72 times getting underway this season (either boat)

44 times in the Mainship. After 90 sea days in the Mainship I can upgrade my USCG Captain’s License to a 50 ton rating.

We stayed overnight 95 times this season with one boat or the other.

Engine hours on MS390 at end of day: 1479.72

NMiles logged (since 8/29/20): 282.3

July when leaving port in East Greenwich RI.

Today after securing at S-Dock.

This video might help you get inside our heads! (30+ minutes… but it’s worth it!)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wsdFbk2Y4ws

We love these guys’ episodes on Youtube!

Pumpkin Muffin in her winter berth:

Furniture moved around to give access to the engine and systems for winterization.

Total lifetime hours on the engine at the end of our season:

Lots of boats out tonight.

Another “Summer Day” in November here on Great South Bay.

Hundreds of boats out here again today.

For some reason, we did not feel the earthquake this morning while hanging out on the boat. <wink>

Warm, but not warm enough to jump into 58F degree water!

It doesn’t get any better than this! November boating in 70+ degrees light wind. Lots of other boaters agree as you can see in the (at anchor) vid below:

Nice pic!

Here is some txt to go with it found on FB this week.

I want to age like sea glass.

Smoothed by tides,

but not broken.

I want my hard edges to soften.

I want to ride the waves

and go with the flow.

I want to catch a wave

and let it carry me

to where I belong.

I want to be picked up

and held gently by

those who delight in my

well earned patina and

appreciate the changes I went

through to achieve that beauty.

I want to enjoy the journey

and always remember that if

you give the ocean something

breakable it will turn it into

something beautiful.

I want to age like sea glass.

I feared the starboard dock cleat was going to rip out when I checked on the boat this morning. The gusts were giving this on line a violent workout. So I bought a second cleat, added a second line, and added the shock absorbers.

Big improvement!

The boat was riding much better!

Anchored at our usual spot…

Very toasty inside the fly bridge this afternoon!

Dock mates Lennon Rose and Layla Rose and friends earlier this afternoon trick’r’treating in Manhattan where they live.

A great day.

We are very impressed.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JS_4MO2ZrAg

I’d have done a few things differently. But this guy did a nice job on his boat… same make and model as ours.

Replaced the 360 degree white light up top today after work. New LED light looks like it will work just fine. USCG regulation say it needs to be seen at 2 nm away. It will also fold down for the winter shrink wrap coming in a few weeks!

I think Santa is gonna bring us a new Raymarine Quantum2 Doppler Radar, whadda ya think!?

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.

.

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.

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!

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.

Anchored at Cedar Beach cove for the night.

It works!