NOAA and The Weather Channel forecasted the wind to be out of the northwest all weekend. Sailflow.com projected the wind would shift overnight on Friday to the southeast and blow out of the southwest on Saturday morning. With two being better than one, we left for Schoolhouse Bay off the island of Middle Bass. When we arrived, however, we found the north wind had changed and was now coming from the east. Since the First Mate likes the north bay of Kelley's Island better, we pulled up anchor and motored to Kelley's.
Sunrise on the last day of September. There aren't many days left in the sailing season, period, let alone good ones. Our neighbors, Max and Donna, have already put Sin Sal in her cradle. We skipped work on Friday to get whatever sailing in that we could.
NOAA and The Weather Channel forecasted the wind to be out of the northwest all weekend. Sailflow.com projected the wind would shift overnight on Friday to the southeast and blow out of the southwest on Saturday morning. With two being better than one, we left for Schoolhouse Bay off the island of Middle Bass. When we arrived, however, we found the north wind had changed and was now coming from the east. Since the First Mate likes the north bay of Kelley's Island better, we pulled up anchor and motored to Kelley's.
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The Kettlehakes first trip on Therapy. It's hard to believe that the Kettlehakes had never been to Put-In-Bay. Dave grew up just an hour from here. Dave and Lisa are a lot of fun and asking them to join for a weekend on the lake was a no-brainer. We arrived late Friday night at Herl's and were up until after midnight talking and drinking wine. The cold front had passed and the weather reports were calling for chilly nights and mostly sunny days. They were right on both accounts. With the wind directly out of the north, Saturday morning's sail to PIB was difficult. Dave quickly got the hang of steering the boat and handling the sails. We picked up a mooring and went to Frosty's for some pizza and beer and to watch the Ohio State football game. Dave proves that he will go swimming no matter what the temp is. We did all the things that PIB newbies do. Pizza and beer at Frosty's.... check. Hoot and holler at the Mad Dog show at the Round House Bar... check. Take in the sights from the top of Perry's Monument.... check. We crammed it all into one afternoon. Wanting the escape the lights and noise of the Bay, we left our mooring and motored to Kelley's Island for the night. We joined the eight other sailboats anchored on the north side of the island where a gentle breeze blew from the south. Dave was determined to swim while the sun was still up and before the temperature dripped to the forecasted 48 degrees. A couple bottles of wine and a moonless sky filled with a million stars made for great evening. Morning saw the wind quicken and the gentle breeze turned into a great-sailing 12 knot wind. We tacked a few times that morning as we made our way back to Herl's. Great sailing and sleeping weather all weekend made the Kettlehakes first trip aboard Therapy a good one. Connie by the Vermilion Light Eventhough we hate to admit it, it's a good thing that sailboats also have engines. We left the Port of Vermilion on Thursday morning and found a nice breeze on the Lake. We set our course towards Catawba Island making 5 knots for the first hour and a half. Then, nothing, no wind. Ahhh, we had to turn the engine on. We were headed back to Herl's for a pump out and a repair to our head before heading (ha ha) back out on the water. High pressure had settled over the area, clearing out the clouds and killing our wind. No problem. With a southwest wind expected to return after midnight, we motored to our favorite anchorage on the north side of Kelley's Island. It was an incredibly quiet night at Kelley's but the morning brought a brisk wind out of the southwest. The forecast was 16 knots however once we were out from behind the island, we found that the wind was blowing a steady 20 to 22 knots and the waves were 4 to 5 feet. We kept the sails furled and decided to motor our way to Put In Bay. With the occassional wave breaking over the bow and soaking us in the cockpit, the First Mate broke out the life jackets. I even put on one! Moonrise over Kelley's Island Connie took over the helm at the Bay and we easily picked up a mooring. We used the time to get some lunch at Hooligan's and caught a little bit of Mad Dog's afternoon show at the Round House. Later in the day, the wind had dropped a little and I was itching to take advantage and sail around the islands but Connie was still a little shaken from the morning's battle with the waves and wasn't ready to go back out on the water, so we spent the evening playing Farkle, drinking wine, and talking. Saturday morning came and with it the clouds associated with the remnants of hurricane Issac. The forecast called for rain all weekend, so the time was right to leave early for Herl's. A good 8 knot breeze was blowing out of the east and once we rounded Lighthouse Point, we flew to back to Catawba doing 6.5 to 7 knots. A great sail to end a great vacation. I haven't left yet but I'm already looking forward to coming back. Connie at the helm on the sail to Vermilion The past week has been very stressful. Ally left for college on Thursday...and wanted to come home on Monday, the family descended throughout the week... then left on Sunday, and Katy was married on Friday. Whew! We need a vacation. We left for the Lake on Tuesday morning and before long were off for a quick sail to Put In Bay. The wind was slack as we made our way north. In an effort to avoid turning to the iron sail, I brought out the patented "wind dance" and we were immediately rewarded with 20 knot winds. We reefed the main and continued into the Bay. Quite a different place during the week without all the traffic. On Wednesday we decided to try a new destination... Vermilion. Vermilion is a small town east of Sandusky and Huron and about a 28 nm sail from the Bay... a five hour trip with good wind. We left Put In Bay around 9:40am with a north wind about 6 knots. We made slow progress towards Kelley's Island averaging just 3.5 knots. This trip was going to take all day! Time for another "wind dance" and, you guessed it, the wind immediately picked up to 12 to 15 knots. We rounded Carpenter's Point with a bearing of 300 degrees. With the balance of our trip averaging 6 knots, we arrived at Vermilion around 4pm. View from Vermilion Public Dock We radioed Eddie the Dockmaster on our approach. He told us to enter the Vermilion River from the east side of the breakwater as the west side is unusually shallow. The town is truly remarkable. Incredible houses line the banks of the small river with canals behind each street. The Venice of Erie is truly a boating town. We spent the night at the very nice public dock ($49) and enjoyed walking the downtown and having dinner on the balcony of the famous Ches Francoise restaurant right next door. After an early dinner, a parade of sailboats made their way out, then back in, after the local sailing races. Parasailing off South Bass Island Great weather requires another trip to the Lake. With Katy's approaching wedding, the invasion of the relatives, and Ally's departure to college, the First Mate and I decided to spend a relaxing weekend.... sailing (duh!). We spent Friday night at Herl's waiting out the reported high winds and had pizza at Bruno's in Marblehead. The wind was steady out of the northwest on Saturday as we made our way to Middle Bass Island and our anchorage for the weekend, for the second week in a row, Schoolhouse Bay. We called Greg and Sandy Millat and invited them to stop by the boat for a beverage or two and enjoy the view of their island from a different perspective. They, in turn, invited us to an impromptu beach party on a small beach/sandbar near the end of the concrete airport runway. We've seen stinkpotters gather like this before, often congregating near the shallows where sailboaters dare not sail. We decided to give it a try, going in Greg's small Chris Craft. We had a good time with the other side of boating life. Good company and good times. Amanda, Joe, First Mate Connie and Captain Mike in Marblehead. This summer has been the hottest on record and, as luck would have it, our trip brought cold, windy and rainy weather to the North Shore. We arrived at Herl's Harbor on Friday after a long drive and got ready for our weekend sail. Amanda and Joe were at his Grandparent's cabin in Marblehead for a little R&R when we stopped by on Saturday morning. Truth be told, we were waiting for the 25 knot winds to die down a little. NOAA was forecasting 3 to 5 foot waves and the high temperature for the day was only 65. We left Amanda and Joe and traveled through Marblehead looking for an antique car show. Instead, we happened into the annual Humane Society's Cardboard Boat Race at Anchors Away Marina. Another ill-fated entrant of the Cardboard Boat Race. The Race had twelve entrants, each of whom built their own boat made entirely of cardboard. The objective was to be the fastest across the finish line... about 50 feet. Most didn't make it. At 2pm on Saturday, we decided to venture out. The channel out of the West Harbor is being dredged so it's temporarily narrow and the water level of the Lake is down about 2 feet. On our way out, a stinkpot (noun: a not so affectionate name for a motor boat) was on its way in, coming right at us, on the wrong side of the channel. I moved after as I could and narrowly missed the channel marker by a foot and he still almost hit us. At that instant I felt the sickening feeling of our forward motion coming to an abrupt stop. Our keel was stuck in the mud. I goosed the throtle and managed to slowly get the boat moving again, freeing ourselves from the mud after 30 seconds which seemed like 30 minutes. We were now on the Lake and the 15 knot wind became 20 which then became 23. With full sails, we were flying averaging 7 to 7.5 knots on our way along the eastern side of South Bass Island to our anchorage at School House Bay on Middle Bass Island. Suddenly a large wave and a gust of wind heeled the boat at a 45 degree angle. The First Mate was not happy. We reefed the main and continued on. Once we were on lee side of Ballast Island, we furled our sails, turn on the engine and motored to safety. We dropped on anchor in 19 feet of water, opened a bottle of wine, watched the stars, and waited for what tomorrow would bring.
The harbor at Put-in-Bay. Finally.... we got a nice weekend. Maybe its the Fisher's, maybe its the odds. We met the Fisher's, who drove over from Pittsburgh on Friday night, at Herl's Harbor. Friday night was actually chilly with a 15 knot wind blowing out of the north. We drank wine and talked at the marina, our plan was to leave for PIB early in the morning. The forecast was great... not too hot and hopefully a little wind for sailing. We got an early start on Saturday and caught a steady breeze out of the north. We sailed west around the south tip of South Bass Island, tacking back and forth towards Put-in-Bay. The last leg of our trip saw speeds of over 6 knots. Lots of fun and no motoring! Connie with Brad and Lisa Fisher at the Round House Bar. We partied like rockstars on Saturday with Mad Dog Adams at the RHB during the afternoon and the Menus playing at the Beer Barrel that evening. The weather was perfect with temps in the low 80's and wind 10 to 15 knots. We stayed that evening tethered to a mooring ball. The 40 foot Catalina moored next to us had Christmas lights all the way up the mast and down the fore and back stays. What a sight it was at night. On Sunday, the wind shifted to the southwest but strengthened to 15 to 20 knots. From that direction, the wave heights remained 1 to 2 feet and made for perfect sailing. We sailed to the north bay of Kelley's Island for an afternoon of swimming before heading back to Catawba that afternoon. Perfect sailing weather all weekend! We reached speeds over 7 knots on the way home. What fun! Thanks Fisher's... you can bring the good weather with you any time. Beating the heat at the West Bay in Kelley's Island. After spending the Fifth of July going nowhere with the threat of storms all around us, we decided to see the Menus at the Beer Barrel Saloon. These guys were good and their lead singer was great entertainment. Too good, in fact, because we didn't leave the pub until 12:30am. Forget the fact that its more than two hours past my bedtime, it was also 30 minutes past the last running of the water taxi. With no taxi, our only choice was to swim out to the boat or sleep on a picnic table in the park. Thank goodness we found the water taxi manager in his office doing some late night paperwork. He was very understanding and gave us a ride back to Therapy. Dave tells another talking dog joke. Friday broke with no wind, no clouds, and an excessive heat warning. Temperatures were forecasted to be in the mid-90's with the heat index near 108, and today, the forecast was right on target. We motored to Kelley's Island for an early afternoon of swimming. We were joined by a number of boats with the same idea. It was really the only way to beat the heat. Later, we motored to Seaway Marina on the south side of Kelley's in order to rent a golf cart and tour some of the island. Dave and Michelle had never been on the island. To beat the heat, we quickly beat a path to the West Bay Bar for a round of frozen drinks from Corinne, the bartender. The rest of our tour didn't last long. We were drenched with sweat and not even the talking dog joke could lift our weary spirits. With the conditions as they were, we decided to head back to Herl's, pack the car, and head back home. We were looking forward to being in the air conditioning for the first time in three days. We had a great time with the Homan's and look forward to their next visit with a trip to ports yet explored. Another satisfied "Therapy" customer. The Fourth wouldn't be the Fourth without the Homan's making their annual visit to Therapy. We got our start by arriving Tuesday, July 3rd, at Herl's Harbor. Our plan was to sail early the next morning in order to arrive at Put-In-Bay early and make sure we had a good mooring for the fireworks show. The heat had been oppressive all week and as we arrived at Herl's, the remnant of a thunderstorm blew through, dropping the temperature twenty degrees and almost putting a chill in the air.... almost. According to plan, we got our mooring in the morning and had time for a nice sail out past Middle Bass Island and back before enjoying an afternoon swim. The heat was back and the water felt great. For dinner, we decided to take advantage of the air conditioning and go to the Top of the Boardwalk. Just after dinner, however, the skies darkened and we hurried back to Therapy. A line of thunderstorms had developed over the Lake and descended upon us with fierce winds, rain and lightning. It was quite a show as the boats bounced about tethered to their moorings. Put-In-Bay from atop Perry's Monument. Luckily, the storms ended just in time for the fireworks to take place. As always, PIB puts on a good show with the rockets fired from a barge afloat in the Bay. The next morning, storms again developed with a constant 35 to 40 gale out of the north. Heavy rain poured down as three foot waves funnelled their way into the bay, rocking even the heaviest boats from side to side. With the clouds heavy and the humidity as high as it could be, we decided to stay another day in PIB. The sailing weather for the Father's Day weekend was supposed to be good. The First Mate and I got an early start for the islands and wound up at a mooring at Put-in-Bay Friday evening. The winds were a good 15 knots but unpredictable. Since our last trip to Kelley's had ended so poorly, we had hoped to drop the hook off the north side on Saturday.
We had trouble pulling out the main sail again this year and Friday's sail to PIB was made purely under the power of our genoa. Since the First Mate sleeps late, I decide to use the time to take the boom car off its track and clean the ball bearings that were obviously clogged with dirt or grime. Here's where a good idea took a turn for the worse. Evidently, everybody in North America... except me.... knows that you aren't supposed to take the boom car off its track or else ball bearing will fall out and rain down over the deck, bouncing into the water. Even with this minor mechanical faux pa, we were able to still sail over the north side of Kelley's. Unfortunately, again, the winds didn't cooperate. The once full bay slowly emptied as the wind, which was supposed to be from the south, blew stronger from the northeast. With 15 to 20 knots expected throughout the night and whitecaps already building with a 60 percent chance of thunderstorms in the morning, we again decided to cut our stay at Kelley's short and head back to Herl's Harbor. Not sure why, but it usually seems that I have to break something in order to learn how it works. Now that I have a good understanding of the inner workings of the boom car, I'm sure that I can have it fixed in time for our next sailing adventure. |
AuthorCaptain Mike enjoys sharing his experiences on Lake Erie as well as a beer or two with his friends. Archives
October 2012
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