Season Prep and Sailing on Memorial Day - May 25-29, 2007

Two weeks ago, we had a terrific turnout for getting Kelly III fully prepared for sailing. Jack vanArsdale, Bob Zimmerman, and Whitney Stewart made the effort necessary to replace the tiller head, only to discover that Catalina Direct provided parts with a hole drilled in the wrong position. Regardless, the crew was terrific and did everything needed to get Kelly Prepped to be splashed. Gerard, harbormaster at Bay Harbor Marina, towed Kelly III to the Travel Lift for putting Kelly III into the water. Once in the water, we carefully turned Kelly III 180 degrees, then motored her out onto the bay, arranged the fenders and lines, then re-entered the marina and docked her smoothly, despite the stiff westerly breeze.

The four of us then enjoyed a nice dinner at Max & Erma's, then each went their separate ways.

On Sunday May 20, Whitney Stewart, Troy Cain, Guy Stewart, Dave (Guy's brother-in-law), Kevin Wells, and Keith Otto all came out for another day of hard work. We motored Kelly III across the bay to the gin pole in the state park. Once there, we lowered the mast, replaced the masthead sheaves and spreader sockets, then re-stepped the mast. While we were replacing mast parts, another small boat stepped her mast and Kevin and Keith, as great crew do, provided the aid necessary to help our fellow sailors step their mast. I kept Whitney, Troy, Guy, and Dave busy on Kelly III. Once we completed the job, we motored through 25 knot winds and short, choppy waves to return to Bay Harbor Marina. Once there, we closed up the boat and all enjoyed a wonderful dinner paid for by Guy and Keith at JR's Sloppy Duck, the restaurant at the marina.

Then just one day later. I got a call from the boat broker that a buyer had made an offer to buy Kelly III. While there are details to resolve, it looks like Kelly III will get a new owner.

My first response was that I was committed to sailing on Memorial Day weekend and so we sailed!

On Saturday, Keith Otto and I bent on the genoa and mainsail, then took Kelly for a brief sail around Presque Isle Bay. Then Amanda and Tom joined us for a Saturday overnight sail to Conneaut, OH. We had a quiet motor for a couple hours, then the wind picked up so we had a wonderful sail into Conneaut, arriving about 7am.

The new owners at the bait shop on the municipal pier were as friendly as could be. We got free cookies and coffee, topped off our gas tank, then moved onto a free slip at the municipal pier.

Keith, Tom, and Amanda took a walk through town to get a nice breakfast and beautiful morning exercise. I caught up on my sleep, then negotiated a shower for the crew. We had a terrific chicken and steak sandwich meal prepared on board by Keith for lunch. Then we cleaned up and took a walk into town for a great Italian meal at the "World Famous" Pizza Café in Conneaut.

About 8:45am on Monday morning, we motored out of Conneaut across calm and very cool waters (54F). After a couple hours of easy motoring, we were able to raise all Kelly III's sails, including her second headsail. Even though the breeze was only 5 knots or so, we were able to make 3 - 4 knots. As the day wore on the wind gradually built to almost 10 knots. This meant we were able to easily sail at 4.5 - 5.5 knots. Finally the wind direction forced us to drop the second headsail and push ahead with genny and main alone. Even so, we made better than 4 knots for the rest of the trip back into Erie. We enjoyed seeing the tall masted brig, Niagara as she was out for a Memorial Day sail as well.

Tom and Amanda has to leave as both had to work on Tuesday, but Keith and I enjoyed another nice dinner at Max & Erma's.