9/12/2014
Catawba Island Ohio
Posted by Bill
We have been working non-stop (and I mean it!) for almost a month now. Frantic pace to get the house sold, frantic pace to move, and frantic pace to get the boat ready and leave. Trust me…that’s a lot of frantic pace. For the last week we have been dis-positioning stuff at the house and hauling it to the boat, and stuffing it away in what ever hidey-hole we can find on the boat. Every day I look at the waterline (how low in the water the boat sits a dock) and it keeps getting lower and lower. We haven’t even loaded the really heavy stuff yet, which is fresh water and fuel. Our Island Packet holds 170 gallons of water and 90 gallons of fuel. Right now we have 1/4 tank of water and 2/3 tank of fuel. When we load it up it will probably sink another inch, which is a lot for a 42′ boat!
That is really not a big deal except that the water line is demarcated by the top of the antifouling paint on the hull. You need anti-fouling paint so that the marine growth doesn’t stick to the hull, build up and slow you down. In the tropics it looks like a beard around your boat and it needs to be scraped off on a regular basis. We use Petitt Trinidad SR bottom paint and it is pretty good a keeping the growth at bay for at least 2 years. But, if the water line rises above the anti-foul you are going to have more of a mess to attend to than you want.
So….we are loading and watching the weather. Right now sailflow.com is showing gusts up to 30 knots out of the north from 10 AM to 2 PM. That will mean 5 foot waves of significant steepness and a very uncomfortable ride to Vermilion. Due to our conservative nature, we will wait another day for better weather. The boat can handle much more severe weather than that but the crew doesn’t want to endure more than they have to…lol (see Dan and Mary Jane, you don’t have to worry!). Right now it is blowing 15 knots in the harbor (which is always less than on the lake). Deadlines and cruising don’t mix, and usually makes sailors make bad decisions to meet a date versus using prudent judgement. We will make the final call tomorrow and will err on the side of safe passage.
Lesson of the day: If you have been drinking and can carry a 40 lb bin out from the back seat of a Jeep Wrangler, down a 50′ dock, onto a boat, under the bimini cover, and not drop anything in the water…including yourself…you can have another martini!
Found and old folk song to help pass the time during your next 6 days
The Erie Canal Song Lyrics
I’ve got an old mule and her name is Sal
Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
She’s a good old worker and a good old pal
Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
We’ve hauled some barges in our day
Filled with lumber, coal, and hay
And every inch of the way we know
From Albany to Buffalo
Chorus:
Low bridge, everybody down
Low bridge for we’re coming to a town
And you’ll always know your neighbor
And you’ll always know your pal
If you’ve ever navigated on the Erie Canal
We’d better look ’round for a job old gal
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal
‘Cause you bet your life I’d never part with Sal
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal
Git up there mule, here comes a lock
We’ll make Rome ’bout six o’clock
One more trip and back we’ll go
Right back home to Buffalo
Chorus
Oh, where would I be if I lost my pal?
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal
Oh, I’d like to see a mule as good as Sal
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal
A friend of mine once got her sore
Now he’s got a busted jaw,
‘Cause she let fly with her iron toe,
And kicked him in to Buffalo.
Chorus
Don’t have to call when I want my Sal
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal
She trots from her stall like a good old gal
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal
I eat my meals with Sal each day
I eat beef and she eats hay
And she ain’t so slow if you want to know
She put the “Buff” in Buffalo
I can almost hear you sing…only problem is this is a west bound song….we are headed east bound. What else you got?