July 23, 2021, Friday, Cedar Point

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 fitting. He is using "sex bolts" to attached the teak. He'll have to explain that!

Today's plan was to cruise to Cedar Point for cocktails, dinner and an overnight with the VYC. Jim and Jola rode over with us and will ride back to Vermilion with the Ellen's. It was a lovely trip with smooth seas and cool temperatures. It was 18 miles and took us about 2 1/2 hours. We chatted the entire voyage.

Once we were docked and signed in we enjoyed fresh cherries and pistachio nuts on the top deck.

Pre-Cocktail Cocktail Party

Cocktails officially started about 5:30 on the dock. It was the first time that Kerry and I participated in the time honored powerboat tradition of blocking the dock with chairs, tables, food and booze. It turns out that there is something to say for that after all!  We gave an Annie boat tour to some of our friends who were curious about her, and also took a tour of a new 38' Island Packet sailboat.

Dinner was at the Tomo Hibachi restaurant in the Breakers Hotel. All 14 of us rode over in a CP shuttle. The dinner was one that is cooked at your table with lots of showmanship. It was fun, but the food got a mixed rating from the diners and a definite thumbs down from Kerry, who did not enjoy either the scallops or shrimp that was in our dinner. 

We were back at the boats a little after 9:00. Everyone retreated into their boats. We stayed up for awhile waiting for fireworks and a big light show like we saw last week, but it did not happen so we were in bed by 10:00 PM. It rained overnight, hard at times. We did not have a hatch leak, although usually it is after several hours of rain that it leaks. I really re-glued the hatch gasket last week and am anxious to know if the problem has been solved. Tomorrow we go to Huron to join the Akron Sail and Power Squadron for a few days.