2026 September: Boat Prep plus

 August was gone in the blink of an eye, and September seems to be passing even quicker as we get closer and closer to our departure date for our boat ride south. Our time has been consumed with taking care of our health and prepping the boat. Every time I turn around, Clark has something he is working on or has added to the boat to-do list. Many / often times Clark's boat projects include use of my time to help get the jobs done faster / more efficiently. 

4 September 2026 - Friday

Each time we used the boat anchor this summer, a pile of rust appeared around the winch. Clark decided it was time to replace the anchor chain. We replaced 55 feet of chain, and when he weighed the chain, he found that it weighed about 80 pounds. He had to lift it a couple of times, but that proved to be a bad idea as it did strain some muscles. Thankfully, he does not appear to have any lasting issues from the exertion. 

He tied off the anchor to cleats before he disconnected the chain from the shackle to replace the chain. 

Extracting the chain from
the anchor and line

The old portion of line connected to the chain had to be cut before it could be reused to remove the worn section. Clark used a hot gun to cut the line to seal the ends.

Cutting off the old / worn out line section

3 Strands of rode to be spliced

Last time Clark sat on the boat splicing a line, it was when our anchor line suddenly got severed at anchor. That time he did the splicing of the anchor line to the anchor as I drove the boat to our next anchorage. This time I got to watch him at work. As I watched his efforts, I understood why he told me to drive slowly to the anchorage. The splicing is tedious and time-consuming. 

Clark splicing the line to the chain

He even tapered the splice to help ease the line through the winch. The first few times we use it, I will need to help move it along as it tends to get stuck until it gets wet and pulled tight.

The finished splicing result

I helped Clark move the chain along the side of the boat to feed it down into the anchor locker. Clark did the splicing while sitting in the pilot house to stay out of the sun while working.

New anchor chain in place!
(line shown to right is tying us to the dock)

Clark and I like to listen to music or NPR while traveling from point to point. On occasion I have used a speaker to play music from my Spotify or Pandora accounts while underway. Cark decided that we should install a Bluetooth receiver on the boat and tie it into our stereo system. I will still play tunes from my cellphone but they will come out of the boat speakers instead of my portable speaker. 

Of course hooking that up required some engineering on Clark's part. His optimistic solution turned out to be a fail because we found interference from navigation equipment, so all we got was a loud hum when we hit play. Unfortunately, any alternate solution rendered the issue of no power being available to run the Bluetooth unit, i.e. it would run on battery whenever in use. Clark found that to be an unacceptable solution. 

To install the wiring for the unit Clark had to tear apart some sections of the pilot house. Fortunately, or maybe not so fortunately, he had pulled down the access panels more times than we can count, so he is an old hand at this job. 

Speaker dangling from ceiling

Looking at the wiring layout and options

He finally decided to feed a wire out a cutout on the wood trim to get the power cable to an outlet. Neat, and not conspicuous, solution. 

The other project he decided needed to be tackled was a deteriorating strip of varnish on the hatch cover to the pilot house. Today he applied the nth coat to the job.

Fixing up the varnish on the hatch cover 
to the pilot house

5 September 2026 - Saturday

With all the Sunset Delight work done yesterday, Clark took a break from that to try out our new electric motor for our spare dinghy. We shoved the dinghy into the water off the dock, Clark set the outboard in place, and we took it for a spin. I took some photos as we motored along at a very slow top speed of about 4 knots. This configuration will not ever produce a wake!

Setting the outboard in place

This dinghy is not designed for comfort like our other one. There is a seat for one. The other person has to sit on a tube. I have to sit catty-corner to Clark to balance the dinghy. As we puttered out of our creek, I enjoyed observing the birds and other critters we saw along the way.

Egret

Another egret

Sea Gull

Another Sea Gull

As we left our creek, Clark noticed a rather huge jellyfish in the water. Just a few days before he had been diving under the keel of Sunset Delight to look at the props. I bet he would have reconsidered if he knew the size of the jellyfish that were in the water with him!

One of many huge jellyfish

It was too bad our grandkids were not visiting as we saw a crab attached to our dock just waiting to be scooped up!

Crab on our dock

My job while we were out, besides admiring the wildlife and scenery, was to record performance numbers from the outboard. We had issues as we tried it out in that it stalled periodically for no apparent reason. The instructions said that it would stall if something got entangled with the prop. Clark thought maybe we were running into jellyfish.

I used "Keep" on my phone
to record numbers as called out

After he dropped me off, Clark ran up and down the creek a few times to see if he could understand what was happening. 

When Clark was pulling the engine off the dinghy to pull it back on the dock, he noticed that the power / connector cable was defective. He showed me the connector, and I could see that things did not look symmetrical but was otherwise none the wiser as to the issue. He contacted the company and they said they would send a replacement cable. 

(The new / good replacement took a few days to arrive. Even so, Clark decided to take a look at the original cable and ended up fixing it. Now we have two!)

Repaired cable

After our dinghy adventure, I thought our boating for the day was concluded, but Clark had other thoughts. He wanted to exercise Sunset Delight to get some water under the keel. It was a great day for a boat ride.

I love looking at clouds!

We were not the only ones out on the water enjoying the day. Some guys were out on their jet skis zipping this way and that. One guy signaled us that he wanted us to go fast and make a wake for him. I just shook my head no at him and he went away. At over $6.00 a gallon for diesel fuel, we are not interesting in running up the engine for someone else to jump our wake. 

He was kind of crazy when he did find a wake to jump. A couple of times I thought he would flip the  jet ski over on top of himself. Each time he recovered but it was scary to see.

On the way home from our run to Sea Bright and back, we found a sailboat out enjoying the day.

We got back to our dock and called it a day around 5:30. Time to go find some dinner!

6-7 September 2026 - Sunday and Monday

When we were out on our maintenance run on Saturday, I noticed that the boat was grimy. 

From floor to ceiling and everything in between the boat needed a good scrub. On Sunday, I cleaned every square inch of the upper helm and on Monday I cleaned every square inch of the cockpit. 

I neglected to take pictures of the upper helm but did take some of the cockpit.

Floor cleaned with vinegar added to cleaning bucket

Freshly cleaned life ring!

I was envious of the deer lounging in our backyard as I scrubbed and scrubbed!

I am not sure what Clark was doing while I scrubbed the boat from top to bottom. He has a long list that never seems to get shorter of things to do before we leave dock.

8 - 11 September 2026

This summer, our Idaho contingent came out to visit us. That is our older son, Jeff, his wife, Devon, and our three grandchildren - Sierra, Violet, and Zoe. After they left us they toured several states to visit family and National Parks before going home. Devon sent me pictures she had taken, and I created a Shutterfly book for the girls with the pictures from their trip.

It took several tries to get the right book size and all the pictures positioned correctly. I finally managed after several frustrating days to get the book ordered on the 12th of this month. Fortunately, there was a 50% off deal in progress, so I saved a pretty penny!

Their trip ended at their home in Boise, Idaho where a balloon festival occurred nearby soon afterwards.

Devon and Jeff

Sierra, Zoe, and Violet

Clark asked if I could make a cover for our new electric outboard motor. Fortunately, I had some canvas sitting around that I could use. I made a pattern by tracing the outboard onto a piece of unprinted newspaper paper. I crawled around on the basement floor making the pattern. Clark had requirements for how much of the engine he wanted to have protected. Other than that I had free reign on deciding what it should look like.

Measuring the outboard for 
its new cover

I tried to use the sewing machine I have in the house, but it is a cantankerous unit. I don't know how many times the thread broke, and I ran out of needles after so many of them broke as well. 

Finally, Clark helped me move my project to the boat to use the sewing machine I have on there. It is not a Sailrite machine, but it is a good "work horse". I made it to the end of the project with its help. I was so happy to have the job done, I forgot to take a picture of the end product!

12 September 2026 - Saturday

We had so much fun the other two times we got together with our neighbor Marina to play piano / guitar after dinner that we did it again tonight. This time I made the dinner, and Marina brought strawberry rhubarb pie for dessert. After dinner, we ran across the street to her place to use her piano. Ours has not been tuned in many years. She thought it might be best to use hers.

Clark brought a book with folk songs in it, and we played / sang them all evening. "Oh Susanna! ..." 

It's interesting that the same song can be written in so many different keys. Marina and Clark work together to get something that works for her on piano and him on guitar. I just sing along with whatever!

14 September 2026 - Monday

I do not know what caused it, or what corrected it, but for about 5 days I had to take is easy as I had daily episodes of vertigo. I woke up in the morning with the room spinning around me. One move in the wrong direction, and the room took off. I played a lot of Mah Jongg this week, which worked out fine as long as I didn't move my head too quickly to the left. 

17 September 2026 - Thursday

Earlier this month, Clark took note of the fact that a production of the play "Come From Away" would be playing at Bell Works in Holmdel, NJ. The play started at 7:00; we were told to arrive at 6:30. Clark decided to make a night of it, and we went to a restaurant in Holmdel for pizza before the show.

We arrived at Bell Works in plenty of time to walk the first floor and theater level of the building - the only floors open to the public. Both Clark and I worked in this building when it was AT&T Bell Laboratories - that is how we met almost 50 years ago now. It was nostalgic to walk around. 

Someone working as an usher for the show talked to us briefly where Clark told him he had worked there in the past. The usher then told Clark to give me a tour! We set him straight on that as I had worked there many years as well as Clark!

The play was fabulous. The sound was perfect - not too soft that one can't hear the words and not so loud that it is deafening. The story of folks being directed to Gander airport in Newfoundland on 9/11/2001 was well told. 

18 September 2026 - Friday

The next day Clark remembered that we needed to get our flu and covid vaccines before we left town. He called Walgreens, and they said, "Come on over!" A lovely and fun-loving nurse, Randelle, gave us our vaccines. She got a kick out of Clark and I bantering with each other. 

Clark wanted to know which one hurt more, so he got a shot in each arm. I wanted only one arm aching, so I got both in the same arm. I ended up with almost no pain in my arm. Clark ended up with pains in both arms, a headache that attacked both sides of his head, congestion, and stomach issues. Wow! I got away Scott Free and he got walloped! 

19 September 2026 - Saturday

When I don't feel well (like with the vertigo earlier in the month), I take it easy to try to recover. Clark, sick as he was, decided that because rain was coming on Sunday, we should go to the store, buy bags of dirt, come home and spread the dirt, and plant grass seed. Of course we did it!

I spent the rest of the day sorting through what to bring on the boat from the games and crafts department, which meant I was buried in my sewing room for hours. 

20 September 2026 - Sunday

We had rain over night to water the grass seed, but today we only really had a cloudy sky. I decided that I needed to tackle getting the boat organized. We had things on board we did not need and not enough space for the things I wanted to bring. With the grandkids visiting this summer, we had a stateroom covered in life jackets that needed to be stowed. I spend the full day taking things off and bringing things on the boat.  Since I spent the day before deciding what crafts and games to bring, I now had to make room for all the stuff I identified as coming along for the ride!

22 September 2026 - Tuesday

We decided to change home insurance companies this summer. They sent an inspector out to check out the house. We got a notice today that the bushes around the house need to be trimmed, so as soon as Clark heard that we went outside to trim bushes. He took a hedge trimmer to them. I won't show a picture. I did not take one, but it is not particularly pretty. He was pretty brutal with my blessing. It will either fill in or we can tear it out. I really don't care. I would rather be boating that tending bushes!

Miscellaneous

In between chores and not feeling well, Clark and I have been taking care of doctor's visits and such. We both had reasons to visit the dermatologist. Clark had a few questions for our GP doctor. I went in for annual tests for mammography and bone density. 

There is still a lot that needs to be done before we leave. 

Clark has a recheck at the dentist coming up. 

I may have figured out what art supplies to bring on board, but I have yet to decide what clothes to bring. That is another big deal. As per usual, I will pick out a bunch of clothes, bring them to the boat, decide some are redundant, and take them back to the house all the while hoping I don't forget something critical in the process.

The car will need to go in for an oil change before we leave. It is also time for a car inspection, which in NJ for a car our age is every two years. Clark will put gas in the car with a stabilizer before we get underway. 

We dread to think of the cost, but we will need to get diesel fuel for the boat before we leave NJ. At well over $6.00 a gallon, it's going to be a big bill even though Clark does not plan to fill up to the full line.

One fun thing before we go if the weather cooperates - our street is having a block party the first weekend in October. We went two years ago and had fun. They bring in a food truck to serve dinner. We paid upfront and will only need to bring drinks with us to enjoy the festivities. We will set sail on the boat, weather permitting, shortly after the block party date.

2026 August: Horseshoe Cove NJ

 

Looking towards the Highlands
from Horseshoe Cove, Sandy Hook, NJ

25 August 2026 -- Tuesday

The new shades for the salon windows on the boat arrived earlier than expected, and Clark, anxious to get them installed, asked if I wanted to help. I honestly replied, knowing I truly had no choice in the matter, "Not really!" I knew it would be a difficult and time-consuming job. I just did not realize how totally obnoxious the job would be. Seven hours after we started the project, we finally declared ourselves done. 

The biggest hurdle was getting the shades installed under the permanently installed wooden framework. It looks great, but it makes it a pain to access the shades that lie underneath. I had the easy part - hold one end of shade, aim flashlight, etc. Clark did the engineering and hard work of twisting the shades into place. 

We went from ...

to ...

and finally ...

When we took the shades down, I removed the window treatments, i.e. curtains, that I had in place. I scrubbed them as clean as I could ready to be reinstalled when ready. I made the curtains a few years back. I bought a shower curtain at Marshal's for little cost, chopped it up and turned it into curtains. 

A minimal amount of room exists between the wooden frame work and the housing of the shades. Each of the three windows yielded different amounts of space in which to operate. Clark did the small, stern window first, and that went in the easiest. The wood of the frame is not as thick as the port and starboard windows thus allowing more room to operate and more room for me to get the curtains in place.

The starboard window yielded the least amount of space once the shades were installed. It should have been the same as the port but that was dependent on where Clark placed the screw holes. I could barely get my fingers between the shade and the wooden frame, but I did manage to get the job done as proven by the photo above. 

We had one casualty from the install. One of the fans we use in the salon was clipped onto the wooden trim above the starboard side window. It can sit there no longer. There is no space between the shade and the wood to allow it to be placed there. When I tried, it broke!

Fan operates, but clip has snapped due to age

26 August 2026 - Wednesday

Having worked so hard yesterday on window shades, we decided to take Sunset Delight out for a maintenance run - just a quick trip through Pleasure Bay and back home again. 

Leaving side channel on Pleasure Bay
to enter main channel
running to Shrewsbury River

3 Guys laying traps beside channel

Sandy Beach on Island in Pleasure Bay

Camping equipment left by someone
to be used upon their return

More "stuff" at a different part of the island

An hour or so from when we left our dock, we were coming back in to tie up.

Our Creek

27 - 28 August 2026

We took a couple of days off from working on the boat to relax. Clark took the opportunity to order more parts for our boating pleasure. The biggest, i.e. most-expensive, new toy is to arrive on Monday.

I spent time on my hobbies - drawing, reading, and playing Mah Jongg online. I got involved in playing Mah Jongg with fellow boaters at Marlin Bay this past season. It is a challenging game to play, and I decided I need to practice. 

My friends told me about "Mah Jongg with Friends" that is an online game. At the present time, all my friends are "bots". They play well. They are extremely patient with me. Their only fault is that they don't say a word!

"Mah Jongg For Friends" - online game

Thursday, we had torrential downpours. Roads in local Middletown, New Jersey flooded and left cars stranded on the highways. Some areas reported hail with the heavy rain. At our home we saw heavy rain that brought down twigs and leaves but nothing more serious than that. It was a good day to be indoors.

A week ago, we set up plans to go out to dinner with friends to a nearby restaurant called CJ McCloone's. Fortunately, the rain had mostly stopped by the evening time when we had our reservation. Our long-term friends, the Nicis and the DeMaios, planned to meet us at the restaurant at 6:30. 

Four of us were on time. The other two suffered a flat tire just down the street from the restaurant. Unfortunately, at the time of them getting a flat, the rain had started once more.

Apparently, they drove over something, a spark plug maybe, that put a hole in their tire. It delayed their arrival at the restaurant, which was way better than them not attending at all. They had to work out how and when they could get a non-donut tire installed on the car. It had to be done quickly due to travel plans the next day. Working those logistics took time and delayed their arrival at CJ's. 

When all was said and done, we had managed to get the whole group together. The food was good. The chat we had was great. We enjoyed a great evening getting together with old friends. 

CJ McCloone's Pub

Clark and I rarely eat out, so it was unusual for us to have back-to-back evenings where we dined out. We try to get together during the summer with Clark's guitar buddy, Joe, and his wife (my friend), Diane. Last time we went out, Clark picked the restaurant. This time they picked a restaurant in our home town of Rumson that we did not even know existed, Ristorante Giorgia. 

It was an intimate place. We sat inside. Most folks sat outdoors to dine. Since it was BYOB, Joe thoughtfully remembered that I drink beer on occasion, even knew my preferences, and brought me one. Much appreciated!

Dinner was delicious, but we saved room for dessert at nearby Crazee's.

Crazees - popular ice cream place in Rumson, NJ

29 August 2026 - Saturday

Depart: home 12:20

Arrive: home 6:40

Distance: 7.5 nm round trip

When we took the boat our this past week, Clark thought he heard something that made him want to check the boat props to be sure there were no problems down there. Looking at the weather, today looked to be the better choice for an outing. Since we may have jellyfish in our creek, he suggested a trip to Horseshoe Cove for his dive under the boat. 

Given that plan, after breakfast, I put together a bag of food for a picnic lunch out at the cove and swim bags for jumping in the water. Today's weather was a bit of a surprise as the air felt quite chilly at around 70 degrees. Clark measured the water temperature in the creek to be about 80 degrees. Inspected the water around the boat for jellyfish and decided that he would much rather go in the water here than out at Sandy Hook. 

Getting ready to go under the boat

Luckily, he found no issues with the props and nothing wound around either shaft. Since I had already loaded the boat with our lunch and such, he climbed back on board and we headed out for a relaxing day at Sandy Hook. I saw no reason to cancel our travel plans even though his job was done.

By the time he had completed his prop check, dried off, and started the engines, it was already past noon. We would eat when the anchor was down about 90 minutes from departure.

As we passed through Pleasure Bay, two folks on a dinghy came up to us persistently waving. Clark said, "Do we know those people?" I took a look and said, "It looks like Fisherman Mike from Marlin Bay!" Clark put the engines in neutral and went back to say hello while I kept an eye on the boat and the markers. It turned out to be Mike from "Glory Days" visiting the area. We invited him to join us at Horseshoe Cove. It was a long shot and alas he did not come out to join us. He was with family in Monmouth Beach.

Mike in Dinghy in Pleasure Bay

As we waved goodbye to Mike, I said, "You never know who you'll run into when out on the water!"

As we approached the Shrewsbury River, I spied a black-hulled, rubber boat.  To Clark I said, "Is that a police boat? I can't see anything that says so." He pulled out the binoculars and said, "Yes, State Police!" They were busy watching the boats go by. Clark speculated they were checking registrations. I wondered it they were looking for speeders entering the Shrewsbury. 

Black boat - NJ State Police on duty

Since we normally just travel around Pleasure Bay and then go back home, it felt exciting to travel all the way out to Sandy Hook. It almost felt like we were at the start of a much longer trip, so I had the camera handy for picture taking and a blog update forming in my mind.

I took some pictures of Sea Bright as we passed by.  Up until Superstorm Sandy the bulkheading for the side streets into Sea Bright was very low. Every extra high tide presented flooding. After Sandy, taller bulkheading was put in place to reduce street flooding.

Bulkhead at end of side street in Sea Bright

Homes in Sea Bright on the river come in a variety of styles. Many of them have been here for years.

After Sandy, many homes were destroyed, and most homes, when replaced / repaired, were raised up on stilts.  One of the houses shown in the picture below is on stilts over the river water and not over land. After seeing the devastation of Sandy, I am not sure I would feel safe in this home.

Houses on stilts

I expect a number of residents in Sea Bright are unhappy with some current construction underway. The new buildings going up will block the view for many existing homeowners in the area.

New Construction ... Condos?

More Sea Bright homes on the river

On weekends the Sea Bright Bridge only opens on the hour. We arrived shortly before 1:00 and Clark decided, since it was near high tide, to wait for the opening with about four other boats. As the bridge opened, we started our "parade".

Slipaway and Dreamcape 
ahead of us heading for bridge opening

We were about an hour off high tide, so Clark wanted to know the bridge clearance. I snapped a picture as we went by.

Just about 16'

We can add some height at the center of the bridge, but sometimes it is just too close for comfort. Since I did not have to drive the boat through the bridge (as I do when we go through without an opening), I was able to see the sights. 

As we approached the bridge, Clark noticed something shining in a gold display. I took note as we went by to see what they had that was so glittery.

Once through the bridge, I turned my attention to views on the opposite shore, i.e. Rumson and the Highlands.

Big house with a big flag in Rumson, NJ

After passing the Navesink River entrance, we could see boats anchored off Hartshorne Woods park. We have dropped anchor here in the past and found it to be well protected but buggy.

Popular Anchorage at the 
entrance to the Navesink River

Entrance to the Navesink River

Once passed the Navesink, the Highlands sat to our port side.

Since today was a Saturday, we saw some tourist boats giving boat rides. 

Historic Yacht Charter
"Naval War College"
Boat Tours

As we approached the Highlands Bridge, Clark haled the Navesink Queen to determine where he planned to go. Clark wanted to crossover towards the bridge but was concerned that would be across the path of the riverboat. The captain told Clark to proceed on our desired path.

Navesink Queen

From the river,  we could see just the tops of the Twin Lights lighthouse.

Several places on the Highlands side of the river have established beaches for sunbathing. Some are open to the public; some are not.

Highlands beach 

with roped off area for swimmers

and includes a place to climb onto and jump off

Beach with a lifeguard on duty
(we've been here with grandkids)

We passed by the Seastreak dock area.

Seastreak docks

Then, further along, we saw folks enjoying the beach near the Henry Hudson Trail that connects the Highlands with the Atlantic Highlands.

Swimmers

Kayakers

On the opposite side of the river, we saw folks enjoying a Sandy Hook beach.

Sandy Hook Fort Handcock was important during World War II as a lookout for the enemy approaching New York. The picture below shows bunkers left over from the war and now fully exposed where once they were hidden. When we hiked around Hartshorne Woods last year, we saw preserved bunkers from that side of the river.

WWII bunkers at Sandy Hook

As we exited the Shrewsbury River and made our turn towards Horseshoe Cove, we passed a number of boats of a variety of styles and sizes. Seastreak passed by us.

Wake coming! Be prepared to rock!

From a distance, we could see sailboats and other boats already anchored at Horseshoe Cove.

Coming in to anchor, we passed a noisy boat with lots of folks have a good time,

and a tiny little boat with an umbrella for sunshade.

Definitely, no wake please!

We easily found a place to drop anchor for the afternoon, and these were the views that surrounded us.

Tiki Boat at Sandy Hook

Dock and beach access at Sandy Hook

Anchored Sailboats with view
of Highlands in background

Same as above

Once anchored, we pulled out the lunch I had made earlier. I was hungry! Then I enjoyed my lunch and later my book while enjoying a breeze in the cockpit / stern of the boat. Sadly, as the afternoon wore on, it came time to leave paradise and head back home. We pulled up anchor just after 5:00 and were on our way. 

With it being a Saturday evening, we saw that folks were still out enjoying the beaches and the local restaurants along the river.

Beach lovers in the Highlands

As we passed by Bahrs Dock and Dine restaurant on the river, Clark wanted to know the price of diesel fuel. At some point at some place, we will need to bring on diesel fuel for our trip south. 

Bahrs - Diesel Fuel $6.25 per gallon
(Gas $5.00 per gallon)

As we crossed Pleasure Bay to head home, we were blinded by the sun that shone directly into our eyes. 

Clark was in the channel, trying to see with the sun in his eyes, and wondering why the boat was behaving sluggishly. I looked at the depth finder and noticed it showed only one foot of water under the keel. I mentioned that to Clark, and he said that explained the sluggishness of the boat. We slowed down and shifted slightly to starboard and managed to find 1.5 feet of water. 

Closer to home, in Little Silver Creek, the depth jumped up to 3 to 4 feet below the keel. This area was dredged during the winter. It's surprising that the creek would be deeper than the channel through Pleasure Bay. Folks with more than a 4-foot draft like our boat would have to watch the tides to determine when to pass through this area. Low tide could be tough.

We docked and put the boat to bed at 6:40. Fortunately, I had a fridge full of leftovers from our two nights eating out, so dinner was pretty fast. From our brief outing, Clark came home with a list of boat repairs to be worked on. It never ends!