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Showing posts from July, 2021

July 27, 2021, Monday, VYC

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I had planned to leave for Lorain by 7:00 today but I noticed at 6:10 that it was light enough to start the undocking process. So I got up and at 'em and quickly got Kerry up and involved. We pulled out right at 6:30. Leaving the dock was a little tricky because of a cross wind and narrow channel. We used our marriage savers to communicate and had a perfect un-docking maneuver.  The trip to Parker Marine in Lorain was very pleasant. We had a following sea with 1-2 foot waves and just putted along at about 8 knots. Because we had to go no wake in the Black River our overall speed for the 29 mile trip was 7.4 knots. We arrived at 10:30.  Dick Parker was there to help us dock.  Dick offered to drive us to Vermilion but once he said they were going to work on Annie right away we said we would be happy to just wait. Dick assigned Mark Thomas to the job. Mark is our favorite repair technician. He is so good and treats Annie like his own boat. It is no understatement to say he h...

July 26, 2021, Monday, Kelley's Island

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I had a fair night's sleep last night. I was awake a couple of times I know, thinking about what to do about the hatch. At first I thought I should be sure to tie it on so it would not slide off while running. Then I though it might be better to leave it off and just tape a plastic bag over the opening. I haven't decided for sure, but will discuss it with Kerry who often has good thoughts about such issues. We do have at least 2 days of good weather ahead. I realized that if I do go home tomorrow it will be the second time we have cut our two cruises short this year for boat issues. Kerry was up for 9:00 coffee and tea with the group. She took her fancy teapot and two china cups to the shelter where we met for breakfast. The rooibos tea was a hit. Afterwards about 6 people came back for a tour of Annie. They were very complimentarily which we ate up, of course.   We decided to go in on a six person golf cart rental with Kevin and Alice and Mark and Linda. This was in lieu of r...

July 25, 2021, Sunday, Kelley's Island

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What a crappy night! It rained like crazy and our hatch leak was back. About midnight the water started coming in directly over my pillow. I put down a pan to catch the water and moved to the sofa in the main cabin. It was really uncomfortable because I did not pull it out to make it into a bed and was trying to sleep on the narrow seat. Later the hatch started leaking on Kerry's side too. We screwed around until about 2;00 AM when the rain and leak stopped and I moved back to the bed. I was not sure what we are going to do about the hatch. In the short run, it looks like taping a bag to the ceiling when rain is forecast will be the new standard procedure until we figure it out. My Fitbit gave me a poor sleep score of 64 for the evening. No surprise there. I woke up at 6:00 AM when a couple of leftover drips hit my pillow. I went for a shower at 7:00. The scene on the river was rather pretty with herons standing on logs that had washed down the river during the evening rains. Later...

July 24, 2021, Saturday, Huron Boat Basin

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We had a nice night with just a little rain and importantly, no hatch leaks. I was up a little after 7 to update the blog and start my day with some delicious coffee. Big Jim was on me about getting it posted late. I took a little walk to the marina store gift shop after the posting. Kerry was up about 10:00. I made a big pot of tea for her. We decided we might as well leave for Huron sooner rather than later. The ASPS group had a walking tour of historic Huron homes and we wanted to be there of that. We putted along leisurely just enjoying the pleasant voyage. It took us about 1 1/2 hours to cover the 12.1 miles. We left at 10:30 and arrived at noon. For years there was a big Con Agra cement plant in Huron that always provided a thick plume of white smoke that marked the entrance. It is gone now, so we spot the harbor using this modest marker. Greg Arnold, the cruise organizer, welcomed us to Huron once we docked. He said they waited for us to arrive and planned to start the home tour...

July 23, 2021, Friday, Cedar Point

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The plan for today was to officially start it with coffee at 8:30 with Jimbo. I was up a little earlier than that so I went to the car and got our bikes and went through the dock box to get fenders and extra dock lines. Today is the start of our mini cruise. It was going to be the start of a month long cruise with the VYC, ASPS and the Orros, but we had trouble getting the reservations when and where we wanted. So, we will return home next Wednesday and start out again sometime over the weekend with the Orros.  I had coffee ready for Jimbo when he arrived. He's doing a big project for Annie's rear transom door. The door was damaged at one time and has never looked good. Jim is making two teak pieces to cover both sides of it, and also varnishing them for me. He's the best man with a varnish brush. He even donated the teak, a former hatch board, that I sent to Jack who sliced it in half lengthwise and then planed it down to 1/4". The boards looked great in his test fitt...

More Pictures from Cedar Point

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July 18, 2021, Sunday, Vermilion Yacht Club

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We really had a good day with Anne and the kids yesterday. I woke up thinking about how much fun it was. That was at 5;20 this morning. Way to early to get up. I did not turn NPR on as I usually do because of the sleeping crew in the main cabin. I dozed on and off until about 7:45 when Kerry threatened me with my life if I woke up all the sleeping babies. I promised to be quiet.  Of course I could not get to my coffee pot or computer to blog as both were in the main cabin. So I got the mop and cleaned spider webs and green bug poo off Annie. I could not believe the number of spider webs we had. I resolved to go on a spider hunt tonight. About 8:45 everyone got up and at 'em. I started cooking bacon once we had cleared the cabin of bed clothes and such. We have a tiny microwave on Annie so it took almost an hour to cook  1 1/2 pounds of bacon. Kerry toasted bagels, sliced fruit and made breakfast tacos which is what the kids wanted. So with that and coffee, tea, milk and fruit ...

July 17, 2021, Saturday, Cedar Point with the Clarks

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This is the big Cedar Point Weekend with Anne and the grand kids on Annie. We planned to meet at Cedar Point. We came up yesterday so we could get Annie ready for a quick departure after the Trustee Meeting. I should have known things would not go according to plan when water dripped on my pillow at 4:00 AM. Kerry and I taped up a garbage bag with masking tape and all was well until 5:30 when the masking tape let go and water started falling again on the pillow. This time I went out in the rain to my back locker and got a roll of Gorilla tape which ended the taping problem with the bag. Our plan was to attend the meeting and sell items from the Ship's Store before and afterwards. Kerry set the store up last night. I got up at 7:30 to shower, but first a weather check. I did not like what I saw. Winds were now forecast to be 18 to 20 knots from the NE. Where did the 5-15 forecast go? The winds were forecast to start building at 8:00. The were calm now. Time for a quick decision. I f...

Lee Shore Blues

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I've been reading a book that Big Jim gave me in Florida, called "Lee Shore Blues." I've really enjoyed it and have read some parts of it twice. It's not for everyone I am sure. The subtitle is "Sex, Drugs and Blue Water sailing". But it does have some fun quotes I wanted to share. "As the old joke goes, with seasickness the first day you are afraid you are going to die, and the second day you are afraid you are not going to die." "Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement." "Never be afraid to be terrified" and "If it breaks, it's not strong enough." "There is an inviolable rule of sailing that you will never make a complete fool of yourself until every person whose opinion you value is watching." "If you spend the night in an open boat in a thunderstorm, it will bring you closer to God than going to church forty Sundays." "I should explain that I am...

July 5, 2021, Monday, VYC Last Day of Cruise

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I woke about 5:20 and listened to NPR for about an hour. I thought about making the 6:30 bridge but decided that 7:00 was early enough. I noticed that there was a fair breeze coming from the south and wondered if I should back into it and go straight out of the channel or back away from it and back down the channel to the river. Since I don't like backing Annie, I decided to do the former. The only issue was that Annie will be perpendicular to the breeze will backing out of the dock and would that prevent me from turning into the wind. It proved not to be a problem. Kerry and I wore our headsets in case an issue developed and we needed to communicate.  We saw Herb and Sandy before we left. We were docked next to them at AYC. Herb said we were the nicest transient people that ever docked here and that we were welcome anytime. We told him how much we appreciated all the hospitality they showed us. They were making the 7:00 bridge to go fishing. There was quite a lineup of boats waiti...