Kelley's Island, A Great Destination! - September 19-20, 2009

The weather forecast called for rain early on Saturday, so we just slept in, then grabbed a quick breakfast at "The Better Half", a great restaurant for breakfast in Sandusky.  By Noon we were on our way, but the breeze was much lighter than forecast and we motored most of the way to Kelley's Island.  We missed the terrific benefit of Keith's spinnaker in the light air.  Frequently I could be heard saying, "I got to get a light air sail!"  Kevin manned the helm for most of the trip, enjoying his first trip sailing Kelly IV.  Since the trip to Kelley's is rather short, we were mostly willing to just drift along, but as the afternoon wore on, the clouds over the island threatened to storm on us, so we motored our way into the marina.  Once we made Kelley's Island, we rented a golf cart and made the grand tour, including the famous "Glacial Grooves".

After a fun evening at the "Casino" (merely a restaurant and pub, no gambling at all!) we got another great evening's rest and cooked our breakfast on board in the morning.  The breeze was Much better on Sunday and we had an exhilarating sail immediately upon departing the quiet marina.  Kevin raised the sails.  After I enjoyed some time steering Kelly, Kevin took the helm and demonstrated his expertise and experience as a most competent pilot and sailing master.  As we approached Sandusky Bay, Kevin relinquished the helm, so I could enjoy the experience of competing with a large freighter for the space in the channel.  

Freighter sighted

Since it looked very much like we would end up side by side with the 600 foot freighter, we followed the "Mack Truck" Rules of the Road.  In other words, the big guy gets the right of way, period.  We did a brief circle to delay our approach into the channel, allowing the freighter to move ahead of Kelly IV.  Then we merely sailed in the freighter's wake, very smooth water, as it turned out.  Each time we ran the motor, I became concerned with the reliability of the iron monster.  Especially as the time wore on and the exhaust spewed increasing amounts of white within the transparent fumes.  The bottom line is that with the nice breeze, Kevin and I decided to only use the motor to enter the slip.  We delayed turning on the engine until all the duties of furling the jib, rigging the fenders, and dropping the main were accomplished.  Then we used the iron genny to moor Kelly into her slip with nothing going awry.  Chuck and Joanne Mead, our Great lakes Cruising Club friends, helped us tie up, so I got to introduce Kevin and the Blue Horizon crew to each other.

And thus ended another wonderful weekend on Kelly IV!