It has been a poor summer for sailing, at least for me. In January, I had high expectations that Cerberus would have had its longed-for new engine by spring. The nice-guy Beta Marine diesel rep across the Sound in Connecticut took my deposit, and then I waited. Six months later, the engine "will ship next week." I have heard that several times before in this instance.
Last season was dicey; the ancient Volvo Penta diesel overheated even on short runs inside Three Mile Harbor. I did what was recommended in the manual, but nothing seemed to resolve the problem. The sails worked fine, it was that getting to and from its mooring became something that I dreaded. Nonetheless, I was able to exit Lake Montauk in mid-October for a run to the Connecticut River and, I had hoped, the new engine.
Cerberus and I passed the Old Saybrook Light on a flood tide. Saybrook got its name from Lion Gardiner, he of Gardiner's Island, in the 1630s. Gardiner was an Englishman, his wife, Mary, Dutch, from Woerden, whom he encountered first while in Holland overseeing the construction of fortifications. They spent four years living at the mouth of the Connecticut River, designing and then commanding a fort. In April 1636 they had their first child, a son they named David. Then came Mary in 1638, and Elizabeth, born on what we now know as Gardiner's Island in 1641.
Somewhere to port was the site of Gardiner's fort at Old Saybrook as I started up the river. I made a mental note to visit it someday, but first I had other concerns. I did not start the engine until I needed it briefly to quickly pass a drawbridge and, later, motor into a cove to spend the night.
Getting Cerberus to its winter quarters upriver was just about the Volvo Penta's last gasp, though now, with August looming, I wish I had not removed it so hastily. At the rate my new power plant is moving, it may be next season before my boat has water under its lead-filled keel once again.