Monthly Archives: August 2015

Did this guy gamble and lose

8/25/15
Catawba Island, OH, Lake Erie
Posted by Bill

Well, we are wrapping up our time here at the lake house. The weather has been really nice compared to the heat and humidity we are used to down south. We have been busy getting the yard and house in shape, and have decided to keep it another year, unless someone makes us an offer on Zillow.

We have been getting together with friends on a regular basis and made a couple of trips to Put in Bay in the process, and it has been really nice catching up with everyone.

The other day we were taking the recycling to the collection bins (we are recycling fanatics!), and we saw this guy in front of us:
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Of course my warped mind focuses immediately on the stain on the back of his pants. The question is…did he gamble and lose, or did he just sit on a Clark bar? Leave a comment and tell me what you think…lol!

As I have commented before, we have enjoyed having a real bathroom to our selves and a real kitchen, and especially a car; but we are getting anxious to get back to the boat…especially with a few weather systems brewing in the tropics.

One other thought…I saw this picture and thought it might be a good idea for a dinghy! It might not hang well on the davits though.
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Eight bells for our friend Terri

8/20/15
Catawaba Island, OH, Lake Erie
Posted by Bill

“The sounding of ship’s bell is well rooted in the history and tradition of the maritime industry. The bell marked time onboard and divided the day into shifts or ‘watches’ for the crew. At the end of the last shift, the end of the last watch, eight bells rang out – Eight Bells and All is Well. A sailor’s time for rest.” – Source: Boat US web site.

It is with a sad and heavy heart that I write this post. Today we learned of the passing of one of our close friends, Terri Copeland. She was always fun to be with and she brightened the life of everyone she met. We will cherish the good times we had and will miss her very much.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Bob, Kieth, Kyle, extended family and friends.

A trip to Costco and a visit with our old neighbors

8/17/15
Catawba Island, Ohio, Lake Erie
Posted by Bill

Today we made a run to Costco in Toledo! Those of you who know me, I love Costco, and I needed a fix (actually we did need some stuff that we knew was a lot cheaper there). On the way back we stopped at our friends and previous neighbor’s (George and Nancy) house in Freemont. They lived next to us in Powell and were good neighbors as well and good friends. They sold their house in the spring and moved north to Freemont, close to where George works. They bought a house that was built in 1924 and are re-doing it. The house was very cool and built like a rock. It has many of the original light fixtures in it and it is in amazingly good shape! It was built in the prohibition and has a “speak easy” in it…a party room, with a locked liquor storage area. We drank some wine, went to dinner, and enjoyed catching up with them. We couldn’t believe that it has been a year since we saw them.

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North Harbour Island party

8/16/15
Catawba Island, Lake Erie, Ohio
Posted by Bill

We have settled in to the creature comforts of living on dirt, enjoying our own real bathroom, real kitchen, and having a car especially! This is the first time we have spent more than a weekend at our lake house without having a boat. It is kind of a bummer, but we have enough things to do here at the house to keep us from missing it too bad. The first full day we were here, the weather was fantastic and there was a nice steady breeze out of the SW, perfect for sailing. It really hit me on that day and I wished we were out there!! Many of you know our friends that live here on Catawba, Jen and John. They grew up here and when we met them they were living in Columbus, Jen working with Tricia. We became good friends and did lots of stuff together, including getting married. Yes, you read it right, we had a dual wedding, in the Park of Roses, conducted by the mayor of Hilliard. It goes without saying, but afterwards we had a huge party!! Let me tell you…it is the way to get married. Simple and informal. So Jen and John moved back to Catawba to raise a family and we didn’t see much of them until we started boating here many years ago. We pretty much consider them extended family. So Jen and John, together with some of their family members, own an island in the Canadian waters of Lake Erie – North Harbour Island. It is around 16 nautical miles north of where our house is on Catawba. It is approximately 860 feet long, and 225 feet wide. Every year they throw a big party on the island for all of their family and close friends. For years there was a big pig roast, but now everybody just brings something to grill and a side dish or two. We have been lucky enough to be invited each year, and also lucky that we were here to attend this year. We mixed up some Pain Killers and packed some hard ciders and jumped on their boat. The weather was great this year!! It was really fun, nice to see the usual attendees, and great to spend time with Jen, John and their girls Kate and Allie (both attending OSU this year…GO BUCKS!!).

Boat ride over:
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Approaching the island:
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Island shots:
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Guests anchored on the lee side:
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Kids enjoying the Maui Pad:
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This was really cool. Holds 1200 lbs. of weight.

John grilling some…what’s that…BACON…oh yeah baby!!!:
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Left to right…Kate, Jen, John, Allie:
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Week one in the “real world”

8/14/15
Catawba Island, Lake Erie, Ohio
Posted by Bill

Well…we’ve been back in the real world for a week now, and some times the real world ain’t so bad. As in previous visits, we can’t believe we ever dealt with the rushing around, the traffic, the road construction and living with appointments, without even a thought. It was the norm, but now the contrast with our cruising life style is striking.

We spent a few days in Columbus, having several visits with kids and grandkids…that was awesome!! We miss them terribly, and we feel being away from them is the “true cost” of cruising. Tricia’s sister and her husband offered us a place to stay (for which we are grateful) and we got to spend some time with them, which was very nice. We are fortunate to have many friends in the area, and we had several happy hours of 10 or so people to catch up. We miss them as well and it is always fun to get back together. We had several appointments with our doctors as they are also still here in Columbus. On top of that we did some shopping at places we know we can get bargains, and stocked up on a few things. We don’t usually have a car, so we took advantage of having the rental. The time in Columbus was pretty busy with all of the above and the time went fast.

Then we made our way up to Lake Erie. We still have a house there that has been sitting empty for almost a year, and I was anxious about what we were going to find there. Other than being a little musty, everything was good! We got it cleaned up, ran to the store for a few things, and settled in, cocktails on the front porch looking out at the lake…all is good! Tried to start our Jeep Wrangler in the garage and could not get it to turn over. The battery was purchased in 2007 and sure enough, after having it tested, we needed a new one. It is running pretty good now. Now we will begin working on the yard (which has been neglected), and will spend time with our many friends here. Ultimately, we need to decide if we are keeping this house, or put it up for sale. We were hoping that our kids would use it more and that we would spend part of the summer here, which would justify keeping it. The weather is great in the summer, much more comfortable than in North Carolina where the boat is, and it is nice to have a real bathroom, kitchen, and a washer and dryer for a few weeks!!

While we are here we will need to start ordering the stuff we need to get the boat ready to head south again. The planning process begins! In retrospect, I guess the “real world” isn’t so bad…it is really great to spend time with family and friends!!!

Back to the real world again, and a trip up north

8/6/15
We finally got off our butts and made the decision to go north to Ohio. It was pretty much a last minute decision and we rented a car for 3 weeks, leaving on the 6th. If you follow the blog you know how I feel about coming back into the “real world”. Crazy pace, crazy people…where the hell is everyone going so fast to? It used to be a normal everyday thing that we were a part of without any thought to the contrary, but now I just hate it.

We survived a 12 hour drive and stopped at our friends, Kurt and Sharon (from Byrd Ketcher), northern base camp along the Ohio River in Kentucky. We traveled the Bahamas with them and Sofia Jeanne, and then came back up to Southport where they rented a car and drove north to this spot for the summer. Here they have some property on a small lake off of the Ohio River, with a dock, a pole barn and a small building they call the Crab Shack. They live on a 60 something foot boat tied to the dock and have set the Crab Shack up to be a great guest quarters with a full bath, bed, and small kitchen set up. It is perfect for guests!

Crab Shack:
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Boat:
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We did some catching up, had a great dinner in town, and of course did some partying while we watched the Republican candidate debate. The next day we took a ride on their pontoon boat, took their 4-wheeler on a ride through the logging trails nearby, and then had a major party until 3 AM outside the crab shack with their friends Jack and Laurie. A good time was had by all!

Pontoon ride:
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On the Ohio River:
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The 4-wheeler:
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Next is a drive to Columbus for a few days, and then up to our house at Lake Erie. We still have that place and we need to decide if we are going to keep it or get it ready to sell.

Cooling off at the sand bar

08/03/15
Southport NC
Posted by Bill

It has been so damn hot here with a heat index of over 95 for an extended period lately. Some days we can borrow a car and go to the beach, but today we took the dinghy to the sand bar in the Cape Fear River. If you follow the blog you may remember a previous post that talks about where it is.

We grabbed our beach chairs and motored over, cooling off in the water and just chillin’.

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Before we left to go back to the marina, we waited for some “big boys” like this one to pass.
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They can generate a pretty good sized wake that could flip our dinghy!

Welcome relief from the heat!