Thursday, August 21, 2008

Sailing Away







We left home last Thursday morning on the sailboat--there were 4 of us, Erika, Toby, Bill and me. We had a bit of a rocky start, but managed to get down to Put-in-Bay by the middle of the afternoon with a lot of help from the motor. We were none too happy about that!




We had dinner, slept on the boat and then walked around the island in the morning before setting sail for Kelleys Island. About three quarters of the way to Kelleys we ran out of air and had to motor in. We pulled into the Seaway Marina, thinking it would be quieter than the city dock. After we walked downtown for dinner we knew we'd made the right decision! It was hopping down there! We had ice cream and played a round of mini golf for entertainment.




Saturday morning we set sail for Sandusky and a promised berth at Sandusky Sail Club. It was a pretty good deal--the boat that was out of town was also a trimaran, so we could just pull right in and dock! (A lot of places have trouble accomodating a boat that's 20 feet wide). We docked, set up some shade with a tarp, and settled in to relax, when someone called out our boat name asking if anyone was home... It was the people who we were told would be gone another couple of days, and they wanted their boat slip!




We moved our boat and then had the pleasure of seeing them set up their trimaran (Irrational Exuberance) off the trailer. It was interesting because it was so different from the way we set up--we put up the mast while still on the trailer, and they put the boat in the water and then raise the mast. We greatly enjoyed meeting Pru and Bert, and went to dinner with them after all the work was done.




In the morning we walked downtown for breakfast and saw some of the sights, including decorated lighthouse sculptures all over town. I took photos of some of the more interesting ones. When we left Sandusky we headed back to Kelleys. This time we sailed all the way there--great air! We got there early enough that Erika and Toby and I rented a gold cart and rode out to the Glacial Grooves park and saw the sights. Then we drove over and picked up Bill and went to town for dinner at the Pump, a well-known local haunt that is famous for its Brandy Alexanders. Of course we had one! We swam in the lake for awhile, took our showers and went to bed... woke up in the middle of the night when the wind changed--it was blowing the mainsail cover, flapping it all over the place. Bill fixed it up and we next woke to the sound of birds, really LOUD birds! They were roosted on the screecher sheet right above our heads!




After breakfast we took off right away, and it was plenty windy! The waves were pretty impressive--we were tossed all over the place on a very wet ride! We made very good time with just jib and main most of the way home. Bill drove the first (really rough) couple of hours, then Erika took a turn and then I was up. When we ran into a little different air on my turn we put up the screecher... did not have to start the motor until we were in the Detroit River and almost home! What a great weekend! I didn't take any new photos of the boat, so the ones above are from our files: Linda and Bill after the Snow Flurries race, and us flying the spinnaker in a race on Lake Erie.




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