Sailing is Enticing

May 26, 2006

Here we go...me, Mike and the Ford Dually laden with sails, bottom paint, respirator, boat wash and cleaner, boat wax, buffer, linens, groceries and Beefeaters gin for our martinis. Mike keeps telling me this is fun. We live in Chillicothe Ohio and our 36 Morgan (one of three sailboats) is docked on Lake Erie at Anchor Point Marina, a mere 3½ hour drive.


Our launch date is May 28 and we are hopeful the new heat exchanger and cutlass bearing as well as prop and shaft balancing and alignment were successful after last years fiasco. We plan to sail western Lake Erie until we head out to Buffalo, New York in July in preparation for our big adventure, cruising the great loop this fall. This is the second year we have planned to cruise the Great Circle. Cruising the Great Loop and the Carribean has been a dream of Mikes' and I must admit I have found sailing to be quite enticing. He dreams of the solitude of sunset at sea and I require internet access and a high end mall but somehow, it has all come together.

Last year (July 2005) we headed out of Anchor Point Marina in Curtice, Ohio toward Buffalo with the intent of gaining experience before attempting the great circle. We set sail for Buffalo mid-June and stopped first at the Lorain Harbor. We stayed at Spitzer Lakeside Marina. The next night we anchored out at Fairport and started sailing toward Erie around 6:00 AM. We sailed for a while and lost the wind. While motoring we heard a noise coming from the engine area. Mike investigated; found we sheared a bolt holding the bracket to the alternator. It cracked the aluminum timing gear cover. But my CPA spouse was convinced he could fix it well enough to get us to Erie. The last thing he fixed successfully was his bike when he was 7 years old. Shortly after his temporary fix was completed we heard another noise emanating from the engine area, louder and more violent than the previous one. So here we are …no engine and no wind. But not to worry, we have USBoat Towing Insurance. We called the 1-800 number and thus the saga continues. It was 2:00 PM, we were 25 miles away from Erie and Mike asked the towing attendant how many miles our $350.00 towing package would cover and or how much towing time would be covered and their reply was always the same: “KEEP SAILING”. He was unable to get an answer to that question. The wind was off the beam, very light, 2 to 4 miles and constantly changing. Everyone we spoke with said wind on land was 10 to 15 miles an hour. We sailed for 5 hours and averaged 3 to 4 miles an hour and covered around 20 miles. At this point BoatUS decided to come out for us. They arrived around 8:00 PM; the captain seemed competent and in charge, perhaps even inspirational. He proceeded to back up to our forward quarter with his swim deck and put two holes, two inches wide, 2 inches above the water with two projectiles off the swim deck of the tow boat. We reminded him we wanted to be saved not sunk. He pulled us for five very peaceful, scenic miles until we turned to go into Presque Isle Bay in a dark dusk while the cowboys in powerboats tried to figure out if there really was a 200 foot tow line. We turned into the rumored 18-20 mile an hour winds. Between the music from local bands and the wind we couldn’t hear the tow operator shouting instructions to us as we headed toward Lund Boat Works. They are reputed to be the best in the city dock area for a sailor according to F.L. Davis Cruising Guide to Lake Erie. The towboat tow rope became entangled and both boats veered to the right barely avoiding a collision with boats docked in a Marina next to Lunds. We all decided it was prudent to stay right where we were as the winds continued. Next morning the owner of Bay Shore Marina where we docked was most gracious when he heard our tale of woe and USBoat towed us to Lund. The Bay Harbor Marina management(they provide the USBoat Towing) were very accomodating and provided us with access to their facilities.

Two weeks later we left letting the wind determine our direction. The wind was blowing out of the East so we headed home to Ohio.