2023-07-23 Working engine - Amazon delivery - moving east again

We spent another day in Setauket.  Our dinghy has a slow leak, so Dean wanted to get some Flex Seal paint at the local Ace Hardware and try painting.   Of course we walked right by the deli, so had to stop.

Tried to count all the sandwiches on the menu at Se-Port deli, but stopped at 85, as our order was ready.

We got back just in time, as the winds picked up, and the rain started.  Got our tanks filled up though.

There has been lots of rain lately and the Connecticut River is flooding, washing down lots of debris, so we had to keep our eyes open when we headed out the next day to motor sail over to Duck Island.

Duck Island was just a quick overnight stop so we could get into our next spot at Old Saybrook early in the day.  

We did pass one large floating part of a tree on the way, 3 foot diameter and 35 feet long.

Not something we wanted to run into.

We were planning on anchoring in the river, as the mooring field we use at Old Saybrook is quite tight, but with the river flooding and all the debris washing down we decided the mooring field inside a protected cove would be safer.  The issue is that the cove is small, and the mooring field is quite tight.  To be prepared,  Kris stayed on the boat outside the mooring area, while Dean took the dinghy in and scoped it out.  He thought it was OK to proceed, so we did, and Dean was right.  A little tense and nerve racking, but we made it in on one engine through the tight mooring field, and got hooked up to the mooring ball without damaging our boat, or anyone else.

We met our friend John for lunch, and had a nice lunch with him.  John was also kind enough to be our shipping address for our new heat exchanger case, and some Amazon orders.

Finally, a heat exchanger case that is the correct one - BUT - it wasn't painted.  Luckily Kris had already got some official Volvo Penta engine paint, so se set up a small paint booth in the cockpit and went to work.

Unpainted raw cast aluminum heat exchanger case

Kris's paint booth.  Notice spinach cans holding up exchanger case (That is how you know Kris is doing it, Dean doesn't touch spinach 😀)

New painted on left, old on right

Dean also got busy, with the paint purchased earlier, and put a full coat on the dinghy.

Dean painting the dink.  It looks shiny and new like.  Hope it helps seal and keep it from leaking as well.

We also got some Amazon goodies.  Dean got a rain jacket, and Kris got some sprout trays.  She has wanted to try growing sprouts, as in the Bahamas just eating Romaine gets old.  Plus Dean likes sprouts, so maybe he will get some green in his diet as well.

Kris's first batch of Alfalfa sprouts.  One on left too full, one on right too empty, but both worked and sprouts were delicious (according to Kris - Dean has yet to try them)

One other Amazon purchase was  foldable hand cart, which we used the following day to get gasoline for the dinghy, and propane.  With the gas at 30 lbs and the propane at 25 lbs the cart made it an easy trip.

The cart worked excellently - pulled it about 3 miles, and no issues.

Old Saybrook is a cute little town, with a good hardware store, grocery store, small WalMart, Farmers market twice a week, and lots of little restaurants.

Cute sculpture outside the Library

Nice mural on main street downtown.

We had one stormy day on the mooring.  Kris got the heat exchanger case installed, and we stitched up some seams on our dinghy cover, and relaxed on the boat.

Stormy weather at Old Saybrook

Old Saybrook has a 72 hour limit on guest moorings, so we left on Saturday, and had a nice sail up to Enders Island.  Never anchored there before, but it seemed a good spot with the North winds, and once the boat traffic died down, it was a peaceful night.   Today the winds go south, so we will head over to Fisher Island, as Kris wants to check out a museum.  Winds should be good in a couple days to head to Newport Rhode Island, which will be our next long stop.