An eventful week for sure. Isaias hit us on Tuesday as a tropical storm. Initially, I was happy to see that the storm was veering to the west and was likely to miss Connecticut. But it turns out, that just put the stronger winds right on us.

When I left the boat last Saturday, I had folded up the bimini in preparation for the storm. As the track became clearer and it was certain we were going to get hit at least somewhat, I decided to go down to the boat and secure her more. B&J had sent an email to us recommending just that.

So I wrapped the main sail cover, wrapped the genny, put more slack in the power cord, put more wraps on the bimini, doubled the dock lines and left extra lines in the cockpit in case of an emergency so the marina people would be able to get them.

Turns out that was enough to see us through: there was some water in the bilge (where is it coming from?), but no damage at all. The only impact seemed to be that one of the fancy fenders had come undone. When I saw the bare line dangling from the lifeline, I thought it was gone (along with the fancy fender cover), but someone had apparently picked it up and put it in the cockpit.

This was good news for a number of reasons, not the least of which is because Saturday was Lily's birthday, and I had promised her a day of sailing and swimming. She's moving this week, so she needs some stress relief.

And even better, Dan was a surprise guest. Patti and I took the day off on Friday and drove to NY to pick him up. We surprised Lily at her hotel room (she was staying there while our power was out so she could get wifi and AC) on Friday night with Dan.

Saturday was a beautiful day: sunny and hot. And humid. Ok, maybe not beautiful, but a typical summer day. We set out at about 1 for a sail. A little trouble undocking, but we made it through. Out in the Sound, there wasn't much wind, but we raised sail and shaped a course to the east, then to the west. We weren't going fast, maybe 2, 2.5 knots; Dan was clearly getting a bit queasy but toughed it out for a bit; but since the sailing wasn't really all that thrilling, it wasn't a big sacrifice to fire up the engine and head into the harbor for some swimming.

Surprisingly, ol' #210 was available again. Patti picked up the pennant line easily, and we were all overboard in a heartbeat. The water was beautiful and refreshing. After a long swim, we hung out, read, relaxed, had some drinks and talked.

Soon enough, Dan was getting queasy again, so at about 530 we headed back to the dock. No problems docking.

We ordered some takeout from Pasta Cozi and had dinner with Mom and Dad so they could say happy birthday to Lily.

One big note: the marine toilet is on the fritz. It won't pump in the "open" position. Do I rebuild it or replace? Do I do the work myself or let the marina handle it? Hmmmm.