June 30, 2026

Testfit New Dodger Windows

78 °F; wind 0-2 mph; ominous skies

My friend Lenny and I got onto Moonstone to test fit the repaired dodger. Over the last 2 months, I've been working on removing the old, faded vinyl windows (5) and replacing them with new 40-mil marine-grade vinyl (from Amazon). My approach was to use a 1-inch-wide HDPE plastic strip (1/8 inch thick to hold the vinyl against the edge of the window and then to drill a 1/4 inch hole through the HDPE, vinyl, and canvas. I then inserted a 1-inch stainless steel bolt through the hole, backed the bolt with a 1-inch-diameter, 1/4-inch-hole fender washer, and then a nylon locknut. The set of five windows used just under 100 such hardware assemblies.

As you can see the new vinyl windows look pretty slick!

Even though it looked like it would rain soon, I still wanted to get a quick sail in. We hoisted the main and got going only to have the drizzle start 4-5 minutes later. We headed back, but not before the drizzle became a drencher. We found a random mooring, dropped the mainsail, started the engine, and made a straight path to our mooring. Securing the sails and boat prior to pickup was a very wet experience. When we were all done, the sun came out!

May 27, 2026

Moonstone Rigging

85 °F; wind 5-15 mph; overcast, occasional cloudy skies

My sister from Israel, Shoshana, her husband, Amnon, and two of their family, Aiden and Keshet, joined me on Moonstone for a "rigging" party. We spent a few hours slowly rigging the boat with its mainsail, jib, and associated lines. It was a great family experience, and we are now ready to go sailing within minutes of our next arrival.

May 19, 2026

Mooring Move

87 °F; wind 0-2 mph; clear skies

With our transient mooring stay at its end, we showed up to move Moonstone from Hawthorne Cove's mooring to our Mid-Harbor Mooring ("J733"). It took a few minutes to find our buoy since there were so few reference boats at their moorings but we quickly located it and attached Moonstone to its home pennants. Now we are all set for the season!

May 13, 2026

Spring Launch

57 °F; wind 0-2 mph; overcast

Time to bring the boat to Salem Harbor for the sailing season. With my season mooring not yet ready, I secured a transient mooring with Safe Harbor Hawthorne Cove Marina using the Dockwa app. We will be there for up to 6 nights and hope to move the boat to our mooring by then. My friend, Lenny Fuld, helped me today!

September 21, 2025

Winter return

67 °F; wind 2-5 mph; blue skies

It is time to bring the boat in for the winter. The schedule is too packed for the rest of September through mid-October to put the return off any longer. One of my grandsons helped me from start to finish, and we arrived safe and sound at Beverly Port Marina.

August 31, 2025

Smooth sailing

74 °F wind 5-10 mph; blue skies

An early afternoon sail with a grandson and a synagogue friend was super-fun. We decided to tack from the mooring to get out of the harbor, taking about 45 minutes. Then, we caught a great, shifting, steady breeze and sailed a mile or so until we could see the entrance to Marblehead harbor. We took a broad reach back to our harbor, and a beam reach right back to the mooring, grabbing it on the second try. What a great day!

August 17, 2025

A beauty

86 °F wind 10-20 mph; clear skies

An afternoon sail with one of my grandsons... We left the mooring under mainsail power and continued towards the harbor exit on a broad reach. The wind started to pick up, so we raised the jib and tacked back to the mooring. As the wind continued to vary with some extended gusts, we found ourselves tacking quite a bit. Within 20 minutes, we were back near J733. My grandson located the mooring, and on the third try we snagged the pendants and hooked up. It was a thrilling 50 minutes or so of sailing, and the rigging seems in great shape. The dodger needs some TLC, as the velcro strapping adhesive has finally aged to the point where it no longer adheres to the tube frame. I plan to get a grommet maker tool to see if I can lash the dodger to the frame.

July 22, 2025

A beauty

76 °F wind 5-10 mph; clear skies

Finally, after bringing Moonstone to her mooring in Mid-May, I have had the chance to sail her. We sailed off the mooring and left the harbor and then tacked eastwards until I could see the towers of Boston in the south horizon (that took about 2 hours since the wind was coming from the east). A broad reach back to the entrance to Salem Harbor and a beam reach right back to the mooring. It was a perfect day. Now, let's hope for more opportunities this season.

September 25, 2024

Heading back...

64 °F; wind 5-10 mph; clear skies

Time to bring the boat back for the end of the season! We'll hope for a longer season in 2025...

September 11, 2024

Heading back...

74 °F wind 5-10 mph; clear skies

Had the opportunity to take my good friend, Lenny, sailing with me. Hopefully, we'll get another chance to get out on the boat before the end of the season!

October 4, 2023

Another return

67 °F wind 0-2 mph; clear skies

The time has come to return the boat to Beverly Port Marine for the winter. With the absence of any breeze, I motored the whole way (about 75 min)... See ya next season.

August 27, 2023

Beautiful day

75 °F wind 5-10 mph; clear skies

A gorgeous sailing day with my niece, Yasmin, from Israel.

July 30, 2023

Pretty nice day

82 °F wind 10-15 mph; partly cloudy skies

A short sail to check water ingress after the stanchion repair (far less water in the bilge and cabin floor) and to check the new jib (works really well).

July 24, 2023

Stanchion repair

68 °F wind 5-8 mph; cloudy skies

Repair of stanchion on starboard rail. Prepared oak replacement part and secured to deck with 3.5 in stainless steel hardware. Bedded the stanchion with exterior silicone caulk and sealed around all edges after the hardware was installed with additional caulk.

May 14, 2023

New tiller

82 °F wind 5-10 mph; bright skies

Repair of stanchion on starboard rail. Prepared oak replacement part and secured to the deck with 3.5 in stainless steel hardware. Bedded the stanchion with exterior silicone caulk and sealed around all edges after the hardware was installed with additional caulk.

Fuel line to the engine cracked after starting the engine and lowering it to the bottom position on its bracket. Glad I was still at the slip. Replaced the line and hose clamps. Need to replace with a better tube line or fitting so that the tubing doesn't crimp when bent during use. Moved boat from Beverly Port Marina to my mooring in Salem/Marblehead harbor

July 31, 2022

Findings

Found tiller laminate severely separated in bolted area, found replacement in stock at Catalina Direct and ordered.

Jib sail fabric found to be in a fragile state, more areas of splitting sail material, later contacted Catalina Direct for placing an order for a new jib (12-week production time).

May 15, 2022

Moving the boat...

Had the pleasure of moving the boat from Beverly to Salem Harbor with the assistance of my brother-in-law from Israel, Amnon. As he lives on a kibbutz in the southern part of his country, he doesn't often get the chance to get out in the open water. We had a great time even though it was a more-cloud-than-sun kind of day and there was some wind against us. We motored most of the way and all went well.

September 30, 2021

Returning the boat...

Had the pleasure of enlisting a grandson to help in returning the boat from Salem Harbor to Beverly Port Marine. Given the short time window that day, we motored the couple of miles rather than sail. We had a nice time together!

July 22, 2021

Great sailing

Grabbed a grandson for a lovely afternoon sail. We had a nice time together!

June 20, 2021

Boat visit

Our son Jonathan, his wife Sefi, and the kids enjoyed a relaxing afternoon visit to the boat.

June 17, 2021

Saba and grandson

Grabbed a grandson for a lovely afternoon sail. We had a nice time together!

October 6, 2020

End-of-season haulout

Returning the boat from the mooring to haulout - no sailing happened due to COVID

July 10, 2018

Captain and a friend

Took our friend Nomi out for a pleasant afternoon sail.

September 4, 2017

Boating Buddies

Mom and Dad joined us for a long weekend in Brookline, followed by our traditional, annual sail. They love this trip every year!

October 11, 2015

Boating Buddies

Took my nephew from Israel out for a pleasant afternoon sail.

July 20, 2014

Annual Sail

Mom and Dad joined me for their annual summer visit sail!

October 13, 2013

Haulout

Haul out day for the season!

August 8, 2006

Boat trip to Gloucester

My daughter, Sheera, and I took a trip from our home port in Salem Harbor to Gloucester Harbor, about 3 hours away by sail. We reserved a transient slip at a marina in the inner harbor in Gloucester, had dinner on the boat, took an evening walk around Gloucester, and returned to the boat to get some sleep. At dawn the next morning, we motored out of the harbor and, in the absence of much breeze, motored all the way to Beverly Port Marine and soon afterward sailed back to the mooring in Salem Harbor. It was a real fun two-day adventure.

September 5, 2005

Out with Friends

A lovely sail with our friends, the Polens.