Lincoln's Log

Last fall, someone stole an 8-horsepower Honda four-stroke outboard right off my sailboat only a few days after I had pulled it out of the water and put it on stands at Greenwich Point. Boatowners being not the most sensible creatures to begin with are amazingly resilient to all sorts of unexpected woes. We have a special gene that inures us to a variety of pain – particularly pain of the pocketbook type. Only a week after I bought my boat in 2006 I lost the forward sail in a storm with gusts that exceeded 50 mph. In the summer of 2007 the mast almost came down when the forward stay snapped. Only the roller furling held it up and prevented total catastrophe on the high seas (well, medium seas given that it’s Long Island Sound).

But the theft was different. It was a personal violation. I had lulled myself into thinking that Greenwich point offered a sense of security because access to the Point required an ID. The warm bath of that protective aura turned into a cold shower.

The worst is that they no longer make a motor of similar specifications. I loved my Honda because it had an extra long shaft and weighed only about 80 pounds. My son and I could lift it onto the transom bracket with ease. They have since replaced that motor with one that weighs nearly 120 pounds and with a head the size of a riding lawn mower.

Now, with the nice weather coming I will embark on a serious search for a replacement motor (My kingdom for an 8 hp extra-long shaft outboard weighing 80 pounds!)

By July all will be back to normal.

But I doubt that I will ever regain the innocence for Greenwich Point that I once felt.