Day 25 we were setting out to get Dick into Detroit to catch a train into Chicago. As we started out I had trouble starting the engine and after about 30 minutes the engine died in the St. Clair River. We were able to secure the boat in the river and I changed the fuel filters, which cured the problem and the engine once again sounded healthy. We had an intermittent problem with a temporary loss of power on two occasions after Killarney but this was the first time it just died. We motored all day and when we arrived in Detroit found that the harbor we were going into was closed so motored down to Pier 500 in Wyandotte Michigan just south of Detroit on the Detroit River. Dick was able to get a ride to the Amtrak train station the next day. I stayed in Wyandotte another day and did engine maintenance and general cleaning up. Also did some grocery shopping
Day 27 I left for Put-In-Bay on South Bass Island in Lake Erie, which was a motor sail all the
way with little or no wind. I saw a Hallberg Rassy coming up the river from the lake, which was the only boat I saw going in that direction. I picked up a mooring ball in Put-In-Bay harbor and the tender came out and took me into shore where I explored and had dinner. This is a neat stop over which has a lot of places to have a drink and restaurants to eat. I enjoyed staying on the mooring and the weather has been warm after leaving the North Channel.
Day 28 this is Friday and I sailed off the mooring heading to Sandusky where the wind died of the north end of the island so I motor sailed towards Kelly Island where the wind picked up again and I was able to sail the rest of the way to Sandusky. I stayed two nights and did laundry and did some shopping for food and marine supplies.
Day 30 is Sunday and I left for Cleveland in flat seas and no wind so this will be a motoring day. Along the way I passed hundreds of fishing boats, which are all anchored so passing by is easy. I was able to sail when I got closer to Cleveland, which had more of a sea and wind, which was great and docked at the Lakeside Yacht Club. There aren’t too many places to stop along Lake Erie and I am thinking of going direct to Buffalo from here, which will be an all night passage.
Day 31 I left and decided to head to Erie Pennsylvania but as the day went it became apparent that I would not make it there until after dark. So I looked to see where else I could go when I heard another sailboat call Geneva State Park Marina and they could get in and also had room. I decided to try there also which was only three more hours out and I could get in before dark. I ate at the Geneva Spa resort next to the marina and I should have checked out one of their packages because I needed it.
Day 32, it has been on month since I left Chicago, which is hard to believe. I left a little late and was sailing towards Erie Pa. And now there are three of us heading east and I am farther off shore than the other two. The winds became light and now I have started motor sailing again and the engine was loosing power so I changed the Racor filter again. I am starting to run out of the spares. I was able to sail the rest of the way into the harbor at Erie and North Star docked at the same marina, the new Wolverine Marina because several had sold out and closed.
Day 33 started overcast and it rained over night but there is wind so I was able to sail out of the harbor wing and wing doing about 4 knots and North Start was on the horizon because they got away before me. I was getting some good information from a German couple on a catamaran next to me. They had sailed in Central America and were telling me how nice it is. Somewhere along the way I passed North Star and arrived in Dunkirk just ahead of them. We both called ahead and were given slip assignments but the harbor is very shallow and I was skimming me way in the mud at the harbor bottom. You need to stay close to the docks coming in. North Star ran aground in the mud and they were able to get off ok. It started to rain just after we docked.
Day 34 we both started out for Buffalo sailing which the weather forecast said would be out of the southeast, which it was not. We tacked into the direction of Buffalo and matching tack for tack pretty much. We both started to motor sail off Sturgeon Point because it started to rain and also we were not making too much progress in the direction we wanted to go. My knot meter stopped working at Dunkirk and later found out that North Star’s also stopped working. We motored all the way to Wardell’s boat yard and I was told to dock at the gas dock where I was aground in the silt about a foot off the dock and decided to leave the boat there for the night. The water level did rise about six inches over night and I was floating free again in the morning. We are in Tonawanda at the boat yard to get our masts un-stepped for the Erie Canal passage.
Day 27 I left for Put-In-Bay on South Bass Island in Lake Erie, which was a motor sail all the
way with little or no wind. I saw a Hallberg Rassy coming up the river from the lake, which was the only boat I saw going in that direction. I picked up a mooring ball in Put-In-Bay harbor and the tender came out and took me into shore where I explored and had dinner. This is a neat stop over which has a lot of places to have a drink and restaurants to eat. I enjoyed staying on the mooring and the weather has been warm after leaving the North Channel.Day 28 this is Friday and I sailed off the mooring heading to Sandusky where the wind died of the north end of the island so I motor sailed towards Kelly Island where the wind picked up again and I was able to sail the rest of the way to Sandusky. I stayed two nights and did laundry and did some shopping for food and marine supplies.
Day 30 is Sunday and I left for Cleveland in flat seas and no wind so this will be a motoring day. Along the way I passed hundreds of fishing boats, which are all anchored so passing by is easy. I was able to sail when I got closer to Cleveland, which had more of a sea and wind, which was great and docked at the Lakeside Yacht Club. There aren’t too many places to stop along Lake Erie and I am thinking of going direct to Buffalo from here, which will be an all night passage.
Day 31 I left and decided to head to Erie Pennsylvania but as the day went it became apparent that I would not make it there until after dark. So I looked to see where else I could go when I heard another sailboat call Geneva State Park Marina and they could get in and also had room. I decided to try there also which was only three more hours out and I could get in before dark. I ate at the Geneva Spa resort next to the marina and I should have checked out one of their packages because I needed it.
Day 32, it has been on month since I left Chicago, which is hard to believe. I left a little late and was sailing towards Erie Pa. And now there are three of us heading east and I am farther off shore than the other two. The winds became light and now I have started motor sailing again and the engine was loosing power so I changed the Racor filter again. I am starting to run out of the spares. I was able to sail the rest of the way into the harbor at Erie and North Star docked at the same marina, the new Wolverine Marina because several had sold out and closed.
Day 33 started overcast and it rained over night but there is wind so I was able to sail out of the harbor wing and wing doing about 4 knots and North Start was on the horizon because they got away before me. I was getting some good information from a German couple on a catamaran next to me. They had sailed in Central America and were telling me how nice it is. Somewhere along the way I passed North Star and arrived in Dunkirk just ahead of them. We both called ahead and were given slip assignments but the harbor is very shallow and I was skimming me way in the mud at the harbor bottom. You need to stay close to the docks coming in. North Star ran aground in the mud and they were able to get off ok. It started to rain just after we docked.
Day 34 we both started out for Buffalo sailing which the weather forecast said would be out of the southeast, which it was not. We tacked into the direction of Buffalo and matching tack for tack pretty much. We both started to motor sail off Sturgeon Point because it started to rain and also we were not making too much progress in the direction we wanted to go. My knot meter stopped working at Dunkirk and later found out that North Star’s also stopped working. We motored all the way to Wardell’s boat yard and I was told to dock at the gas dock where I was aground in the silt about a foot off the dock and decided to leave the boat there for the night. The water level did rise about six inches over night and I was floating free again in the morning. We are in Tonawanda at the boat yard to get our masts un-stepped for the Erie Canal passage.
It is Friday 19th of October and I am now in Atlantic City New Jersey doing this up date waiting for the weather to break so I will get all the updates finished and up loaded while here.
1 comment:
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you, Skip! Hope you are somewhere warm by now! Nora
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