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:

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.

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.

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:

Approaching the island:

Island shots:

Guests anchored on the lee side:

Kids enjoying the Maui Pad:

This was really cool. Holds 1200 lbs. of weight.

John grilling some…what’s that…BACON…oh yeah baby!!!:

Left to right…Kate, Jen, John, Allie:

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!!!

9/16/14
Buffalo, NY: Latitude/Longitude 42 56.2N, 78 54.4W
Posted by Bill

Beautiful motor sail to Buffalo today. It took around 4 and 1/2 hours to sail from Dunkirk and it was a day of firsts. First place to sail into with a city skyline…

First passage under a lift bridge (I wasn’t sure it was high enough)…

…and swing bridge

First passage through a lock (pretty uneventful)…

We docked at Rich Marine and will have them take our mast down tomorrow so we can go through the Erie Canal. Sad to see these towns in western New York as they are having troubles in today’s economy. Not good to see them struggle. As we talked to locals we came to feel their plight as manufacturing and jobs in general have left the area for overseas competition.

Sorry for the late posts but every day has been full of activity and work and I have not been able to keep up! It should slow down from here on out so I can keep you up to date!

9/15/14
Dunkirk, NY : Latitude/Longitude 42 29.28N, 79 20.41W
Posted by Bill

The last week has been so crazy trying to ready the boat and house for departure and we did not get everything loaded onto the boat until Sunday, missing our intended departure on Saturday. Not really a problem because just as sailflow.com predicted the winds blew 30+ knots most of the morning and early afternoon.
We finished loading around 9:00 AM Sunday (2 hours behind!!) and left our dock at 9:15, headed for the fuel dock to pump out the holding tank (toilet waste for you non-boaters) and fill up with diesel. As we pull up to the fuel dock the alternator light goes on….crap! We haven’t gone 100 yards and we are already fixing something! This is usually a sign that the alternator belt needs tightened, so before departing the fuel dock I dig the tools out of storage and make the adjustment, start the engine and the light is out. We head out into the West Harbor channel and 200 yards later the light comes on again…crap! We head back to our dock and I make more adjustments. Finally at 10:15 we leave the dock for the second time.

Earlier the marine forecast said “possible morning showers and waterspouts”…sheesh! Great way to start a voyage. Actually the weather was good until about 2 AM Monday and the wind kicked up a typical Lake Erie washing machine effect that threw us around like a cork, forcing me to hand steer until around 6 AM (“Otto”, our autopilot, isn’t good at steering in confusing waves). Then we got swarmed by thousands of little bugs that stuck around for the duration of the trip, still swarming as I type, so it was a typical Lake Erie experience. After 25 hours of passage we arrive at Dunkirk, NY, tired and bug laden.

Dunkirk Yacht Club turned out to be a real hidden gem. The people were so hospitable that I thought we were in a time warp…back 50 years or so. After talking to them on the phone about possible dockage they called me repeatedly to ensure I got the “local knowledge” about how to navigate the harbor entrance. Upon arrival they helped with the docking, gave us the lowdown about the club and the surrounding area, and invited us to all of the amenities that their club had to offer. The facilities were clean and very adequate and the people were exceptional.

This is the Dunkirk Yacht Club:

Here is a pic of the bugs we got swarmed by:
They literally covered the whole boat. We had no idea how many there were.

When we docked in Dunkirk I had to wash the boat because the bugs were so bad, but all in all a good passage, and a first destination on our journey.

Here we are at departure:
Pic courtesy of our friend and dock neighbor Brian Leonard! Thanks Brian.

Great stop Dunkirk. We had dinner at Dimitri’s and it was very good, and at Jenna’s for breakfast…also outstanding!