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: