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Port Clinton, Ohio to Erie, PA
Hanging out in Port Clinton
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Good morning from Port Clinton, Ohio. We are in Lake Erie.
We started our journey early Sunday morning. We took the St. Claire River to St. Claire Lake to Jefferson Beach Marina. The marina was huge. We were told that it has 800 slips for boats. It was a little too large for our tastes.
Recently Francie has had severe Costco withdrawal symptoms. As we charted out the course for the next few days, she discovered that there is a Costco only 4 miles from the marina were we are staying. NOAA charts do not include a store finder for Costco, but she was highly motivated.
We were going to ride our bikes to Costco, but Francie’s nephew lives about 40 minutes away and he came to visit. He agreed to take us to the store. We had to run through the store because Mark’s time was limited, but it was still a slice of consumer heaven for Francie. Hopefully it will sustain her for the next few months.
Later in the evening we were invited to celebrate the 69th birthday with the people in the slip next to us. Tom the owner of the boat and the birthday celebrant was a sailor until just this year when he bought a power boat. He had sailed two Mac races, one on a J 105 and one on Pied Piper, a 70 foot boat.
The next morning we left early and started our way to the Detroit River. For Mike it was particularly exciting because when he graduated from high school in Lansing his uncle got him a job at Ford’s steel mill in the River Rouge complex. This Rouge complex is along the river and is a spectacular industrial complex.
We have been switching off driving every hour. The winds were strong but the waves on the river were small and with the current we made good time. Francie was driving when I heard her yell “hold on”. The waves at the mouth of the river entering Lake Erie were 8 to 10 feet and we had to go right into them. The waves in Lake Erie are short, meaning that they come one right after the other. The wave lifts the boat into the air as it reaches the top of the wave and then the boat slams into the next wave, which causes water to come crashing over the bow. The good part is our boat is really clean from the splashing. We battled the waves for at least 3 hours before the lake calmed down.
We arrived at Port Clinton, Ohio about 6:00 PM and plan to stay here for several days. The wind is predicted to become gale force and thunderstorms are supposed to arrive in the afternoon. As we came in the channel several boaters who were relaxing on the dock yelled for us to speed up a bit because the channel was a bit shallow, but “soft” and we would need speed to plow through it! We did touch bottom, but no real harm done.
This will be a good chance to get caught up on our chores. The town is within walking distance so we will explore.
September 8, 2010
Other than a place to sit out the high winds, we came here for two reasons. The “dripless” shaft that we had installed in Charlevoix is dripping. Also the person that sold us the refrigeration for the boat wanted to take a look at it since we have had some frost buildup in the freezer. As of now, the shaft is an ongoing process, but Irish who installed it originally said they would cover any costs. As for the refrigeration, we met with Rick, the tech that was hired to work with us. He spent several hours tuning and checking the refrigeration. It is now working much better.
The winds have been incredible. We are protected but we are still being moved around in our slip. Yesterday on our wind instrument we saw steady winds in the high 20s gusting into the 30s. Today they have been milder but have started to really blow again this evening.
Port Clinton has many Victorian buildings and a downtown that is trying to revitalize itself. Many of the older homes showed a wealthy past. We went to the historical museum. We were greeted by several of the people working there. The curator came out to say hello and explained the changes in the museum in the past couple of years. We felt like visiting dignitaries. Everyone we have met has been very friendly.
September 9, 2010
Here we are “Hanging” out in Port Clinton.
We just brought the boat up to the well were they will lift it out of the water to install the new waterless packing. We were still in the boat when Francie asked if we were moving. Sure enough the boat was going up. We both started to laugh. This is our first time being in the boat while they raised it in the sling! We had lots of time to kill while they worked on the boat. There was a Walmart about 5 miles out of town. We had been out that way the day before going to our bank. It is great having transportation even if it is only a bike. We brought our back packs to pick a few odds and ends.
We stopped at the World Famous Lakes Popcorn where we sampled a multitude of tasty flavors before deciding on the one we wanted.
By the time we returned, the boat was ready and we started planning our next leg of the trip. Brand Marina was fantastic to work with. They went out of their way to not only work with PYI the company whose dripless shaft was dripping but they also coordinated with Irish Marine who paid for all of the new repairs. Every one from the service manager (Tim) to the mechanics was helpful and pleasant. They went way out of their way to fit us into their already busy schedule.
We are feeling anxious about all of the time our boatyard junkie has cost us so we are talking about possibly doing an all night trip to Erie, PA which is about 130 miles from Port Clinton.
September 10, 2010
Once again plans are meant to be altered. Boating is a great reminded that control of our life is just an allusion. We were up at 6:00 so we could make the 7:00 draw bridge. We were both excited about leaving Port Clinton to once again continue our journey. We were both reviewing the good time we had and the wonderful people we had met. We were about an hour from the harbor mouth when I realized something was wrong. We called Tim and told him we were coming back. Since the mechanics work 10 hour days, it was their day off. It is also Tim’s. He called two mechanics and when we arrived, Travis, who worked on the boat yesterday, was waiting for us. David who had worked on the boat originally showed up with his baby and lent expertise and mortal support. A little later everything was fine. We once again said goodbye to Tim, David and Travis.
It is only about 10:30 AM so we are optimistic and on our way. Back under the under the drawbridge, but this time an engine alarm sounded. The engine was overheating. Mike swung the boat around and pulled over to the Port Clinton Yacht Club’s wall. We were just a few feet from it when we went aground. We managed to get a couple of lines on a post and shut off the engine. Once again the best laid plans. We called Tim and he happened to be working on his boat at the yacht club. He came over to help us, so much for his day off. Mike in the meantime discovered Lake Erie grass in the water strainer. We also discovered the impeller had spun off three of its fins which was what was clogging the fresh water intake. Two hour later we were ready to leave after removing several hoses, digging out impeller pieces and replacing the impeller. Both Tim and Mike were covered in sweat as we bid goodbye. The gracious generosity and willingness of people to help is humbling us once again.
It was now 1:00PM as we left Port Clinton for the third time! I think we held our breath for the first hour, but all was going well. Once again we were motoring since the wind was right on the nose. This has happened to us since we left St. Ignace. The amount of time actually sailing was just a fraction of the overall time we are in transit. A little complaining about always heading into the wind was followed by the realization that this is Friday. Mike was missing his friends at Klas and Francie was missing her friends and a glass of Castlerock in front of the fireplace at the “residence previously known as home”. Sigh.
We decided to go all night and head for Erie, Pennsylvania. It seemed like it took us forever to leave Michigan. Now we are in Ohio and tomorrow we will be in Pennsylvania.
This is the first time we have traveled all night by ourselves, and not with a race crew of 8-12. The night sky was littered with stars. We could see the lights of the shore 15 miles in the distance. Our only company was the lake freighters as they lit up the night like a small city. Our new navigation shows them and the course they are going so it takes away the guess work trying to decide if we would be in their path. After all they have tonnage rights. Our navigation plotter looks a bit like a gps in a car, but with detail about depth and navigation markers rather than roads. Francie had the shift watching the sun go down and come up. We arrived in Erie about 10 AM a little weary but delighted that we were able to put so many miles behind us. The marina is tucked in under a 70 foot pedestrian walkway, our mast height is about 60 ft., it was a little spooky. Erie is one stop for the Tall Ships on the Great Lakes, so there is a festival near the marina. We have two days travel to make Buffalo, NY where we will have the mast taken down and begin our trip on the Erie Canal.
Laundry Chronicles: With all this time on our hands and two loads of laundry just begging for attention . . . . Francie packed the laundry in to a large backpack and rode her bike to the laundry mat, about 2 miles away. Nothing like self sufficiency and a reasonable $3.25 charge to warm the cockles of her heart!
Good morning from Port Clinton, Ohio. We are in Lake Erie.
We started our journey early Sunday morning. We took the St. Claire River to St. Claire Lake to Jefferson Beach Marina. The marina was huge. We were told that it has 800 slips for boats. It was a little too large for our tastes.
Recently Francie has had severe Costco withdrawal symptoms. As we charted out the course for the next few days, she discovered that there is a Costco only 4 miles from the marina were we are staying. NOAA charts do not include a store finder for Costco, but she was highly motivated.
We were going to ride our bikes to Costco, but Francie’s nephew lives about 40 minutes away and he came to visit. He agreed to take us to the store. We had to run through the store because Mark’s time was limited, but it was still a slice of consumer heaven for Francie. Hopefully it will sustain her for the next few months.
Later in the evening we were invited to celebrate the 69th birthday with the people in the slip next to us. Tom the owner of the boat and the birthday celebrant was a sailor until just this year when he bought a power boat. He had sailed two Mac races, one on a J 105 and one on Pied Piper, a 70 foot boat.
The next morning we left early and started our way to the Detroit River. For Mike it was particularly exciting because when he graduated from high school in Lansing his uncle got him a job at Ford’s steel mill in the River Rouge complex. This Rouge complex is along the river and is a spectacular industrial complex.
We have been switching off driving every hour. The winds were strong but the waves on the river were small and with the current we made good time. Francie was driving when I heard her yell “hold on”. The waves at the mouth of the river entering Lake Erie were 8 to 10 feet and we had to go right into them. The waves in Lake Erie are short, meaning that they come one right after the other. The wave lifts the boat into the air as it reaches the top of the wave and then the boat slams into the next wave, which causes water to come crashing over the bow. The good part is our boat is really clean from the splashing. We battled the waves for at least 3 hours before the lake calmed down.
We arrived at Port Clinton, Ohio about 6:00 PM and plan to stay here for several days. The wind is predicted to become gale force and thunderstorms are supposed to arrive in the afternoon. As we came in the channel several boaters who were relaxing on the dock yelled for us to speed up a bit because the channel was a bit shallow, but “soft” and we would need speed to plow through it! We did touch bottom, but no real harm done.
This will be a good chance to get caught up on our chores. The town is within walking distance so we will explore.
September 8, 2010
Other than a place to sit out the high winds, we came here for two reasons. The “dripless” shaft that we had installed in Charlevoix is dripping. Also the person that sold us the refrigeration for the boat wanted to take a look at it since we have had some frost buildup in the freezer. As of now, the shaft is an ongoing process, but Irish who installed it originally said they would cover any costs. As for the refrigeration, we met with Rick, the tech that was hired to work with us. He spent several hours tuning and checking the refrigeration. It is now working much better.
The winds have been incredible. We are protected but we are still being moved around in our slip. Yesterday on our wind instrument we saw steady winds in the high 20s gusting into the 30s. Today they have been milder but have started to really blow again this evening.
Port Clinton has many Victorian buildings and a downtown that is trying to revitalize itself. Many of the older homes showed a wealthy past. We went to the historical museum. We were greeted by several of the people working there. The curator came out to say hello and explained the changes in the museum in the past couple of years. We felt like visiting dignitaries. Everyone we have met has been very friendly.
September 9, 2010
Here we are “Hanging” out in Port Clinton.
We just brought the boat up to the well were they will lift it out of the water to install the new waterless packing. We were still in the boat when Francie asked if we were moving. Sure enough the boat was going up. We both started to laugh. This is our first time being in the boat while they raised it in the sling! We had lots of time to kill while they worked on the boat. There was a Walmart about 5 miles out of town. We had been out that way the day before going to our bank. It is great having transportation even if it is only a bike. We brought our back packs to pick a few odds and ends.
We stopped at the World Famous Lakes Popcorn where we sampled a multitude of tasty flavors before deciding on the one we wanted.
By the time we returned, the boat was ready and we started planning our next leg of the trip. Brand Marina was fantastic to work with. They went out of their way to not only work with PYI the company whose dripless shaft was dripping but they also coordinated with Irish Marine who paid for all of the new repairs. Every one from the service manager (Tim) to the mechanics was helpful and pleasant. They went way out of their way to fit us into their already busy schedule.
We are feeling anxious about all of the time our boatyard junkie has cost us so we are talking about possibly doing an all night trip to Erie, PA which is about 130 miles from Port Clinton.
September 10, 2010
Once again plans are meant to be altered. Boating is a great reminded that control of our life is just an allusion. We were up at 6:00 so we could make the 7:00 draw bridge. We were both excited about leaving Port Clinton to once again continue our journey. We were both reviewing the good time we had and the wonderful people we had met. We were about an hour from the harbor mouth when I realized something was wrong. We called Tim and told him we were coming back. Since the mechanics work 10 hour days, it was their day off. It is also Tim’s. He called two mechanics and when we arrived, Travis, who worked on the boat yesterday, was waiting for us. David who had worked on the boat originally showed up with his baby and lent expertise and mortal support. A little later everything was fine. We once again said goodbye to Tim, David and Travis.
It is only about 10:30 AM so we are optimistic and on our way. Back under the under the drawbridge, but this time an engine alarm sounded. The engine was overheating. Mike swung the boat around and pulled over to the Port Clinton Yacht Club’s wall. We were just a few feet from it when we went aground. We managed to get a couple of lines on a post and shut off the engine. Once again the best laid plans. We called Tim and he happened to be working on his boat at the yacht club. He came over to help us, so much for his day off. Mike in the meantime discovered Lake Erie grass in the water strainer. We also discovered the impeller had spun off three of its fins which was what was clogging the fresh water intake. Two hour later we were ready to leave after removing several hoses, digging out impeller pieces and replacing the impeller. Both Tim and Mike were covered in sweat as we bid goodbye. The gracious generosity and willingness of people to help is humbling us once again.
It was now 1:00PM as we left Port Clinton for the third time! I think we held our breath for the first hour, but all was going well. Once again we were motoring since the wind was right on the nose. This has happened to us since we left St. Ignace. The amount of time actually sailing was just a fraction of the overall time we are in transit. A little complaining about always heading into the wind was followed by the realization that this is Friday. Mike was missing his friends at Klas and Francie was missing her friends and a glass of Castlerock in front of the fireplace at the “residence previously known as home”. Sigh.
We decided to go all night and head for Erie, Pennsylvania. It seemed like it took us forever to leave Michigan. Now we are in Ohio and tomorrow we will be in Pennsylvania.
This is the first time we have traveled all night by ourselves, and not with a race crew of 8-12. The night sky was littered with stars. We could see the lights of the shore 15 miles in the distance. Our only company was the lake freighters as they lit up the night like a small city. Our new navigation shows them and the course they are going so it takes away the guess work trying to decide if we would be in their path. After all they have tonnage rights. Our navigation plotter looks a bit like a gps in a car, but with detail about depth and navigation markers rather than roads. Francie had the shift watching the sun go down and come up. We arrived in Erie about 10 AM a little weary but delighted that we were able to put so many miles behind us. The marina is tucked in under a 70 foot pedestrian walkway, our mast height is about 60 ft., it was a little spooky. Erie is one stop for the Tall Ships on the Great Lakes, so there is a festival near the marina. We have two days travel to make Buffalo, NY where we will have the mast taken down and begin our trip on the Erie Canal.
Laundry Chronicles: With all this time on our hands and two loads of laundry just begging for attention . . . . Francie packed the laundry in to a large backpack and rode her bike to the laundry mat, about 2 miles away. Nothing like self sufficiency and a reasonable $3.25 charge to warm the cockles of her heart!