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!
Keith Otto and Jack vanArsdale sailed with me this Labor Day Weekend and we took advantage of the easterly breeze to sail north. The winds were forecast to be quite light all weekend, so Keith offered to bring the gennaker from Windwalker, his O'Day 25. On Lake Arthur, we've had many very successful light air sails on Windwalker even though the breeze might be only 3 - 6 knots. Even though the big blue nylon puffer was a little small for Kelly IV, we figured it was worth trying out the half ounce nylon head sail.
On Saturday morning we left Sandusky Bay after topping off our diesel fuel, since we expected the light air might bring extended use of the iron genny. We motored north out of the Bay and ran parallel to the east coast of Kelley's Island. Of course, this meant that Kelly IV would cross through the notorious Kelley's Triangle, the waters off the northeastern corner of Kelley's Island. These are the same waters where Kelly has required a tow on 3 other occasions. Unfortunately, this was no exception. The good news is that we were already discussing whether to try out Keith's light air sail when the motor began to struggle. She quit with a puff of white smoke just a couple minutes later.
We decided to continue underway with the gennaker and rigged a tack line off the bow pulpit and connected the sail on the, until now unused, spinnaker halyard. We stretched the luff of the sail tight, as there were no hanks or other means to connect the sail to a forestay. We ran the long sheets outside of all the shrouds and lines back to the cockpit, raised the spinnaker halyard, and enjoyed the sudden blossoming of the bright blue sail off the port bow as we made our way further north.
The wispy breeze would shift from NE to East so we struggled to make north, given that Kelly IV has trouble pointing close to the wind. In light air, pointing is even trickier. The good news is that in the very minimal wind the benefit of the gennaker was most evident. Kelly's roller furled genoa, with its heavy UV protective cover, would have hung limp under it's own weight. The translucent, paper thin gennaker weighs almost nothing so it stayed full and powered the boat with even the slightest of breezes. Without the motor we were concerned about arriving after dark, but we already knew we were anchoring in a full moon, so that wasn't really any sort of problem. As the morning worked into the afternoon, the breeze gradually built to a mild but stronger breeze. Finally about mid afternoon we deemed the wind to be strong enough to keep the genoa full and drawing, so we lowered the successful gennaker and sailed onward with the unrolled genoa pulling us further north.
It proved to be a very beautiful red and orange sunset as we ghosted into the anchorage just west of the Scudder Marina. We joined about 5 other boats, mostly sail, in the glassy anchorage. We dropped the CQR for our anchor for the first time since I've owned Kelly IV. We read in the Harbor Report from the Great Lakes Cruising Club that the ground below the waters around Pelee Island is mostly limestone. The CQR anchor (vs the Danforth) seemed the better choice for holding in the limestone rocks. It weighs 35 pounds, so it is more difficult to lower and raise, but in certain bottoms it can hold much better than the Danforth.
Keith steers us past West Dock, Pelee Island Ferry aft
As is always the case when sailing with Keith and Jack, our meals were terrific! Since we arrived in the evening just at last light, we enjoyed our stylishly late dinner and slept without going ashore. Once awake in the morning, the weather report confirmed the very light air forecast. Since we were without our motor (we tried on several occasions the entire weekend, but no go) we decided to raise anchor and head back to Kelley's Island so the sail on Monday to Sandusky Harbor Marina would be short and achievable even in light air.
We had another fun sail employing Windwalker's gennaker as we were passed by the Kingsville Ferry as it pulled into the West Dock. Again the breezes increased in the afternoon so we sailed into the anchorage west and south of the old quarry pier on the west side of Kelley's Island using the unfurled genoa. Compared to the Saturday sail of 35 miles, the 15 miles was a short sail, but just as fun. The shorter sail made for an afternoon arrival about 4pm, so we had plenty of time to assemble the port-a-bote and dinghy ashore. After a couple drinks we took a cab into the small town a couple miles away to pick up ice for Kelly's coolers of food and drink.
With a very light breeze things were a little tricky sailing off the anchor, so we raised the trusty gennaker before the foredeck was clear of the anchor. Thankfully the breeze caught, filled and pulled Kelly IV away from the rocks just 20 yards away, as the waves threatened to push us into shore. The big blue sail pulled us out of the anchorage, then we tacked to work our way south into the South passage, then east towards Sandusky Bay. Unfortunately, after 3 hours we covered about 3 miles, but only 1 mile to the good and found ourselves keeping the company of the red buoy, just west of Carpenter Point. It is also the turning point for all the boat and ferry traffic as it flows between Put-in-Bay and Kelley's Island. The breeze gave up so we just rocked-and-rolled for a couple of hours. Even though we were southwest of Kelley's Island, instead of the notorious "Kelley's Triangle", we decided to call TowBoatUS so we could return to the marina in time to head home for work on Tuesday.
Jack enjoys sailing!
We ate very well and enjoyed working Windwalker's nylon gennaker, so the weekend still proved to be a fun time, but the towing is becoming frustrating. After the tow from Leamington in June, Mia gave me the OK to re-power Kelly IV. This winter we're planning to have the service team at Sandusky Harbor Marina rework the electrical system and replace the diesel with a brand new engine (assuming their quote is reasonable). I'm afraid the cost will be huge, but we've decided that Kelly IV is the boat we're going to stick with for the next several years and we need a reliable motor, so we're making the investment. I've thought about overhauling the motor, but it would still be a 30 year old motor requiring 30 year old parts, not always available, let alone a mechanic who knows the old motors.
If the cost to repair the motor is not too much, we'll still sail our last two scheduled sails. If the cost proves too much, we may have to cancel the last scheduled sails and wait for the new motor. Regardless, we have plans for many new improvements for Kelly IV next spring! Just a few things we're thinking of: new commode, new bimini, new 30amp charger, new AC/DC power panel and breakers, and a new diesel engine! That should keep the wallet smokin'! :-)
We've had such a great sailing season so far, this weekend had to happen. Unfortunately, it was Val's first time on Kelly IV.
Val Schwarzmeuller is our latest addition to the Kelly IV Crew. Val spent his early years in the German Navy and Merchant Marine, married an American girl and has been enjoying the USA life for the past 20 years, including his serving as a sailing instructor with our local Moraine Sailing Club on Lake Arthur. Val, Ollie Browne and Guy Stewart joined Kelly & me for a weekend of storms, dead batteries and only a brief sail. The great news is that we all still had a very fun weekend! Ollie continues to become more skilled and comfortable sailing Kelly IV and Guy is his typical fix-it personality. We found ourselves enjoying a newly restored Kelly IV as she was just returned to the water after 3 weeks of being repaired on the hard. The damage from our Put-in-Bay mooring experience was finally repaired and Kelly looked shiny and beautiful again. Our spring waxing and buffing crew would be proud of the work as the yard crew matched their work on the hull. Kelly's blue topsides once again reflected beautifully on the observers, the stainless pulpit and ladder were again shiny, straight and in their original positions.
Val joins Kelly IV crew
Ollie, Val & I had an easy, relaxing drive on Friday evening as we prepared for sailing on Saturday. In the morning, Ollie fired up the new bottle for the propane stove, as Kelly now sports a backup bottle. No french toast on the barbecue, Bill Paviol! With that, Ollie prepared a delicious and filling eggs and bacon breakfast on board Saturday. A last minute check on the NOAA internet site revealed an 8am warning of thunderstorms and waterspouts across the Erie Islands until about Noon. This prompted me to look to the north where the clouds were already billowing into the tall cumulus threats that soon became black and ominous. Fortunately, the weather stayed north of Sandusky Bay as it clobbered the islands. In fact, it gave us the time to bend on the genoa and mainsail as they had been removed for the repair work done these past 3 weeks at the marina shop on shore.
Pulpit before repair
It also meant we did not try to start the engine until almost noon. At that point we discovered that the charger was never turned on, so the batteries were almost dead after 3 weeks of use without any recharging. Of course, we immediately commenced charging of the batteries (or so we thought). Val, Ollie and I found other activities to occupy our time as we waited for the batteries to recharge. When we tried to start the motor after a reasonable time for charging, the starter motor turned the engine as if there was no profit in the effort. In other words, nothing happened. Val has some serious experience with diesel engines so he suggested trying to start things manually. Without his suggestion, I would never have thought about the large crank buried in the lower port storage compartment.
Pulpit after repair
A mechanic had told me that the crank was there for manually starting the iron genny, but I had hoped it would never be needed. After Val broke into a substantial sweat resulting from his vigorous efforts to crank the high compression engine, he asked about a way to relieve the compression until he had the RPMs up to a respectable level. That request sparked another revelation as I recalled our Canadian mechanic in Leamington showing me how to ease the compressions for easy turning of the motor. Now Val and I worked as a team, Val doing the heavy labor of rapidly cranking the engine, then I would flip the compression on. Unfortunately, the motor merely stopped, instead of kicking back to life. Val lost 5 pounds as he performed this high-test manual labor. But to no avail. We kept checking the batteries, but the charging seemed to be very minimal, so the starter just never had the juice to work properly. This activity, though non-productive, occupied us all afternoon.
(Trumpet fanfare here!)
Guy Saves the Day!
Guy Stewart arrives at the marina, calmly assesses the info we shared with him, checks the battery charger and cables, identifies the loose terminal connections and corroded charger clips, and describes the needed remedies. Yes, in less than 15 minutes, Guy solves our weak battery issue and illuminates the end of our tunnel. After some wing nut tightening and soldering of wires and clips, our charger is now performing at its top level. Of course, this was all too late for us to go sailing Saturday evening, so we made plans for dinner and left the charger to do its work.
Since our initial goal was to go to the islands, we decided to grab the Marblehead ferry and enjoy a dinner on Kelley's Island. After a fun dinner enjoying the tunes and tiger-swim suited clientele at "The Casino", we grabbed a nightcap and Steeler game across the street at the "Captain's Corner". Aside from a few jibes traded with Brownie fans (their team won, our Steelers lost - hey, it's only pre-season), the big fun was the conversation with some young crew from a Bristol 28 that raced to Kelley's that day from Lorain, OH. The told their stories of waterspouts and 2nd place finish, while we retold our ancient history of FJ and 470 races in college and at the Moraine Sailing Club. We wrapped up the evening with a late night ride on the last ferry back to Marblehead.
Sunday morning was a bit cool, rainy and blustery, so we had a hot breakfast at the "Better Half", well known to most crew of Kelly IV. Then we decided to throw on our foul weather gear, brave the wet and cool weather, ignore the warnings for more waterspouts, and motor out of the marina. The exit from the marina proved to be a challenge as the bow blew around differently than I expected. Thanks to encouragement from nearby skippers and handy boat hook handling by our intrepid crew, I finally maneuvered Kelly IV into the bay. Thanks to the blustery breeze, we immediately set sail with the second reef and deeply furled jib and sailed out of the bay. Soon we had partly sunny skies, with no rain at all.
Val collected a good bit of video as we bashed through the wakes of the consistently inconsiderate trawler captains as they "blessed” us with washing machine wakes 2 - 4 feet high. Once free of the bay confines, Val sailed us north on a close reach keeping Kelley's Island to our port. Later Ollie took his hand steering us back to the Bay's entrance. As our return sail took less time than anticipated, we had some time to sail in the bay, north and east of the marina. Val took the wheel for a final hour of sailing in the 8 to 12 foot shallows.
Mead's "Blue Horizon"
Thankfully, the moderate breeze and flat water on both the lake and bay made for very enjoyable sailing to make up for the lost Saturday, fiddling with the battery and manual engine starting effort. Guy pulled us into the slip with our trusty spring line and we discovered that the company of a terrific crew made for a fun weekend, despite less than perfect weather and a reluctant battery charger.
To round things out, our Great Lakes Cruising Club (GLCC) friends, Chuck and Joanne Mead of "Blue Horizon", returned from their 7 week cruise of the St. Lawrence Seaway's 30,000 islands, east of Lake Ontario. We had a chance to chat, help them move their dinghy from deck to water, and discuss anchors, windlasses, and old ketch designs.
It turns out that when you have a great crew like Val, Ollie and Guy, even a weekend that most would describe as "bad" turns out to be a lot of fun! I have been most fortunate, that everyone on Kelly's crew has proved to be great company!
Sean and Cameron Stull of "Hakuna Matata", Lake Arthur, Moraine State Park, and Bill & Sarah Paviol, of the Snark, also of Lake Arthur, Moraine State Park, joined Kelly IV and I for a terrific weekend of sailing, July 31 - Aug 2. We drove to Sandusky Friday night and set up our berths for sleeping on Kelly IV after a late night of "Texas Hold 'em" as taught by Cameron Stull. We used peanuts and Combos for chips, which made it hard to keep from munching our winnings!
Saturday proved to be a great day for sailing as Bill prepared a super breakfast (so what else is new!?!, Bill ALWAYS does great meals!!) and we motored out of the marina. With the 12 knot breeze coming out of the SW we had perfect conditions for sailing all the way out of the Bay, so we raised sails and shut down the motor almost immediately after exiting the marina. We sailed through the channel, north along the east coast of Kelley's Island, then turned northwest to close on the anchorage on the east of Middle Bass Island. While I sailed a good bit of this distance, Sean Stull and Bill Paviol both took some long turns at the wheel as we all enjoyed the broad and beam reaches to Middle Bass. It was just a terrific sail as we had enough breeze to sail at a comfortable heel and speed but without needing to reef. The only reason we turned on the motor was to turn upwind into the SW breeze to buy some ice at Put-In-Bay, a couple miles southwest of our anchorage. We also motored through the new marina at the State Park in Middle Bass Island, so we got to see the new setting from the water. It looks like a very nice marina, although they have no electric, water, showers or ice for the 2009 season, only slips.
Cameron and Sean assemble the Port-A-Bote with Murph
Once back in the anchorage, we tried to drop anchor near a small, but very busy, pebbled beach tucked into the northwest corner of the anchorage, well north of the airstrip. After 3 tries with a dragging anchor we finally moved Kelly IV to the same spot we occupied in early July, just barely north of the airstrip. We found the good holding we recalled from a few weeks before and made our preparation to row the Port-a-bote dinghy over to the beach. Even though we had only spent about 90 minutes since entering the anchorage, almost all the powerboats had vacated the area, leaving the small beach to us alone! With 5 of us on board we decided to row the crew in 2 trips to the beach. While Bill enjoyed his cigar on board, I rowed Cameron, Sarah, and Sean the 150 yards to the beach. Once they disembarked, I returned to Kelly IV and Bill treated me to a ride as he pulled the oars and sent the 2 of us flying across the anchorage. Once all of us were on the beach we enjoyed swimming and wading in the shallow water, cooling off after a very sunny day. We met Tom of a Morgan 29, "Timeless". Tom was "walking" his dog, "Morgan", and stopped by to chat with us. I say "walking" in quotes, as Morgan was wearing a doggie PFD as was swimming more than walking! We learned from Tom that the entire northwest corner of the anchorage was hard rocky soil that resisted anchors digging in, hence our dragging experience. He pointed out where the thick clay-like mud begins so we'll know in the future where best to drop our hook.
While at the beach, Cameron took his hand at rowing and did very well for a 10 year old! In fact he did well compared to Bill & me! He's a natural born boatman! Upon our return to Kelly IV, Bill prepared a wonderful dinner and we enjoyed more card games. This night we were taught Gin Rummy as played by Sarah and her Grammy.
The sky clouded over as the evening progressed so we rigged the awning to keep any night rain from reaching the cabin or cockpit. Bill chose to sleep in the cockpit, but a light shower chased me back into the cabin. Later, maybe about 5am, a more insistent rain chased even the persistent Bill down below. After we all slept in a bit late, Bill cooked our French toast on the barbecue grill as the propane for the stove gave out. No problem and we ate well once more. Given the NW wind, we easily sailed off the anchor as Bill did the heavy work and explained the workings on the foredeck to Cameron and Sarah. For variety's sake we sailed south along the west coast of Kelley's then turned more easterly towards Marblehead as the wavering breeze blew from the west to northwest and back again, changing directions several times. Even so we had a good breeze to keep us sailing with no thought of firing up the motor. We gibed our way into the entrance of the bay, then sailed through the channel until just 50 yards from the marina. Finally we dropped our sails and motored into the marina for a near perfect landing into the slip, with Sean and Bill pulling us neatly away from our neighbor and alongside our pier, without any excitement. Docking is always great when there is no excitement!
It proved to be a wonderful 2 days of sailing with no need to motor except in/out of the marinas at Sandusky and Put-in-Bay. The company was a blast as Sarah & Cameron added a terrific perspective on how great life is when viewed through younger eyes! Bill and Sean were excellent crew as both bring significant experience to sailing Kelly IV. All maneuvers went smoothly and with easy fun.
This past weekend Kelly hosted a full crew of 5 people, but much younger than last week's crew! While Ollie Browne provided the experience (he's my age or so), Smithy, Adam and Paul are all about 19 years old.
As you may recall from a few weeks ago, Ollie was born & bred in Ireland, then became a US Citizen after working here for several years. To enhance the international flavor of the weekend, Paul (my youngest son) brought his friend from the 2007 World Scout Jamboree, Smithy of the UK. To round out the crew with a local flavor (flavour?) Adam Bartos, Eagle Scout and Paul's friend from Troop 360, joined the sailing on Kelly IV.
We cooked breakfast while still in the marina and took our time in leaving as the forecast said higher winds in the morning, then reducing to 15 - 20 knots in the afternoon. It turned out to be a terrific sail! We were able to set our sails to take advantage of the 15 knot westerlies almost immediately out of the marina. We sailed all the way out of the bay and headed north along the east coast of Kelley's Island all on a wonderful beam reach. We were sailing at about 6 knots in almost flat water the entire way! The sailing was every bit as good as the trips to and from Huron last week, but with more breeze so the sail was much more exhilarating. Ollie, Paul and Adam all took turns at the wheel and enjoyed the wonderful breeze.
Once we turned northwest to turn towards Middle Bass Island, our anchorage for the night, our trim became close hauled as we found ourselves beating into the wind. Unfortunately, Kelly IV does not point as well as she might so we were tacking through 120 degrees. After four tacks we had sailed twice the distance from northeastern Kelley's Island to Middle Bass and were still a couple miles short of the anchorage. In the midst of our tacking we found ourselves very close to the international border with Canada. Being that close it just seemed appropriate that our international crew should nose over the line and we took Kelly IV 300 feet into Canada before tacking. While the sailing was terrific thanks to flat water and continued fine breeze, we decided to motor that last couple miles and dropped anchor just a hundred yards south of the spot where we dropped the hook a week and a half earlier. This time the breeze had much more of a westerly component, so anywhere along the eastern shore of Middle Bass was a great anchorage. We weren't the only boat to think so as we were the 11th boat there and 2 more anchored after us. With 3 strapping young men on board it was no trouble to assemble the port-a-bote and row ashore. What I had not thought about until we were somewhere north of Kelley's is that the dinghy only holds 4 adults. With 5 people on board we couldn't take everyone ashore in a single trip. Paul decided he wanted to swim and as we were only 150 yards from shore it seemed quite reasonable. We paced alongside Paul as we rowed so we arrived on the beach at the same time. Our explorations ashore led us to St. Hazards, this time for a full meal. For the return trip to Kelly IV, Paul decided not to swim, but instead made two rowing trips. For the first trip Ollie and Adam were rowed by Paul, then Smithy and I got the second ride with Paul providing the muscle.
When we checked the weather on Saturday morning the Sunday forecast called for a slightly milder breeze of 10-15 knots out of the WNW. That would make the return trip across the north shore of Kelley's a broad reach, followed by a beam reach south along the east of Kelley's all the way into the bay. When we checked the weather on Saturday night we discovered a significant change. Now the forecast predicted winds of 5-9 knots and less than 5 knots in the afternoon. As a result we changed our plans to sail away as soon as we got up Sunday morning. After a few minutes to let everyone wake up, Paul and Smithy retrieved the hook as we sailed up to the anchor. No motoring required! Ollie volunteered to serve the hot oatmeal breakfast while we were underway and Smithy took the wheel as we enjoyed a sedate, but fun, broad reach. The reach kept threatening to become a slower run as the wind flickered between a westerly and northwesterly. We decided the westerly seemed more prominent, so we kept south along the west coast of Kelley's trying to maintain a broad reach. The breeze lasted until about 11:30am as we passed the southern coast of Kelley's and turned east towards Marblehead and Sandusky Bay. We kicked the motor into gear and used the iron genny until we reached a point about a mile east of the coal pier. The breeze picked up again and we sailed the last mile or so past the pier and all the way to the marina. The motor was running great and we pulled into the slip wrapping up a terrific weekend.
Kelly IV's intrepid crew spent the week cruising the Erie Islands north of Sandusky Bay, Ohio. Bob Zimmerman, Keith Otto, and Jack VanArsdale joined me for a week of sailing Kelly IV from July 4 - 10. The service team at Sandusky Harbor Marina had replaced the jury-rigged fuel pump with the proper part and also spent a few hours poring over the engine to make certain that there was nothing wrong and all needed maintenance was completed. The engine passed muster with a clean bill of health and was running perfectly.
Saturday the winds were light and from the northwest on July 4, so we decided to motor north to Scudder Marina on the north bay of Pelee Island, Ontario, 23 miles north of Sandusky bay and just 12 miles south of Leamington, Ontario. We took our time since the miles were relatively short and explored the dock (southern) channel from the coal pier up to Battery Park marina, where we topped off our diesel. With the very light breeze, it was necessary to motor our way north. About 2 hours into the trip we found ourselves just northeast of Kelleys Island, just a few hundred yards north of the green "C1" can, marking the shoal extending northeast of the northeastern peninsula. It was then the motor gave up the ghost. It sounded like we ran out of fuel, so we confirmed that the tank was indeed full, having just filled it. Then we tried bleeding the fuel lines thinking some air may have found its way into the system. It was then we discovered that no fuel would pump through the lines. Despite our best efforts, checking the engine manual, discussing and trying different ideas, the engine stubbornly sat quiet. Meanwhile, since we were at the mercy of the very light northwesterly, we tried sailing, but the breeze was only enough to effect a drift, not a forward sail. Of course, our first rate crew kept a close watch due to our proximity to the extensive shoals northeast of Kelleys. We slowly drifted back through the break in the shoal, finding ourselves southeast of our position when the motor decided to end its efforts. From there we put our unlimited BoatUS Towing package to work and were towed back into Sandusky Harbor Marina. The forecast for Sunday was more of the same light air, so we felt we were better off getting into the marina where we could have the mechanic check the engine first thing Monday morning.
Glacial Grooves, photo by John Stahl
We were on vacation, so we spent Sunday as tourists! The hull of the small car & passenger ferry out of Marblehead is painted a distinctive bright orange with a clean white bridge rising above the deck. From Kelly IV we have seen these ferries many times, commenting that they look like small aircraft carriers, the way the bridge looks like the "island" of a carrier with the long, flat deck appearing like the flight deck. Well, this time we were the ferry passengers enjoying the view of the many private craft making their way amongst the islands. The ferry dropped us at the Seaway Marina, right where we had docked Kelly IV just a couple weeks before! Bob, Keith, Jack and I commandeered a golf cart for our tourist excursion around the green isle of Kelleys. It was quite fun to explore the island as we located the dock for the Jet Express and Good Time ferries that serve Kelleys. We wound our way to the west then north finding ourselves trekking around the world famous "Glacial Grooves"! In fact these were quite fascinating as they seemed like a giant had dragged his fingers through the stone as if it were merely icing on a cake. We also spent time hiking around "Horseshoe Lake", a leftover from an old quarry, no longer in operation. After a late lunch at the Kelleys Island Brew Pub we returned the golf cart and joined the ferry back to Marblehead.
First thing Monday morning the mechanic was back into the engine, and of course, all was fine. He was able to quickly bleed the fuel line as the new pump worked as it was supposed to and the fuel was flowing as designed. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the motor and it once again ran perfectly.
Middle Bass Island Anchorage, photo by Jack
Our crew began referring to the northeast corner of Kelleys Island as "Kelleys Triangle", the spot where Mia and I connected with the towboat on our return from Leamington, the point where the motor died on Saturday and the towboat once again picked us up. This impression of the northeast of Kelleys was reinforced when 2 hours later the motor once again died at about the same point on the chart! Since there was wind on Monday, we decided to ignore the motor and sailed the rest of the way to our anchorage on the eastern edge of Middle Bass Island, just north of the airport runway. After the 5 mile sail across from Kelleys Island, the wind died as we were pulling into the anchorage, so we decided to try the engine and it ran just fine! There were 2 other sailboats in the anchorage so we seemed in good company.
St. Hazard's Resort, Middle Bass Island
With the anchor down, we assembled the port-a-bote and rowed into the stony beach at the end of the runway. Our walk on shore led us south to a small resort where we enjoyed some adult beverages then returned to Kelly IV at her anchor.
The wind had picked up some on Tuesday morning, but the forecast said only 1 foot waves, so I made the mistake of deciding to tow the dinghy instead of disassembling and stowing on deck. With our experienced crew it was no big deal to sail off our anchor and ignore the motor entirely. Once we cleared into the open water and faced the northerly breeze it was clear that Kelly was not going to weather very well and that the dinghy was gulping in the water rather than floating over it.
Bob, Keith, Murph, photo by Jack
A significant effort on the part of the crew enabled the bailing of most of the water so we left the dinghy trailing behind Kelly IV. We also confirmed that our crew were "gentleman". At least in the sense that "Gentleman never sail to weather!" We were first planning to sail to Put-in-Bay by way of North Bass Island, just to put a few sailing miles under the keel. With the northerly breeze and dinghy issues, we decided to turn around and head downwind towards the Seaway Marina on Kelleys Island. It became the theme for the week, as we were mostly successful in avoiding to sail upwind. Once checked into the marina, we walked with Bob to the Casino (it is a restaurant, not a gambling venue) as he waited to catch a ferry back to Sandusky. Unfortunately, Bob had to return home for the funeral service honoring and remembering his aunt, leaving Jack, Keith and I to enjoy the rest of the sailing week without Bob.
Wednesday morning found the moderate breeze coming from the NNE, so we headed SSE to Huron, Ohio. A wonderful beam reach all the way! This time the motor worked flawlessly, albeit for less than 20 minutes as we were able to quickly raise sail once clear of the marina. It was the first time Kelly IV had sailed to Huron, so we were eagerly peering through the binoculars in search of the marks for the harbor entrance. The large, white 80 foot tower supporting the Huron Harbor light was easy to spot, but the standard red/green buoys at the entrance proved more challenging. About a mile from the entrance, the 2 marks became evident and we easily turned into the river entrance. With the breeze at our backs, we decided to trust the engine for the short trip upriver.
Our slip in Huron, Ohio, photo by Jack
The dock for Kelly IV was just as described on the phone by the folks at Harbor North, so we just pulled in and tied up. No big deal. Well, there was a bit of water bouncing Kelly slightly, as we were on the edge of the marina facing the incoming wind, so our new friend from Harbor North, TJ, offered us a slip inside the small marina. The only problem was that I'd have to back in, if I wanted an easy exit in the morning. Thankfully the breeze was minimal at our point in the river, and Keith and TJ were on the pier to catch us as Jack and I slowly nosed up into the corner of the marina, then backed around into the slip, easily missing the brand new Hanse 31, just as we intended! It was one of the more challenging docking maneuvers I've ever faced and it went extremely well!
Keith prepares dinner, photo by Jack
It was certainly the first time I've backed Kelly IV into a slip, so I was quite happy with the result. Jack, Keith and I had fun poking around the dockyard with its many sailboats of various vintages. It is a favorite pastime to comment and kibitz about the various boats and what ideas we might adopt for Kelly IV or Jack's Cape Dory, or Keith's "Windwalker".
The breeze on Thursday was coming from the ENE, so we went back on a beam reach to Kelleys Island, but this time we sailed to the northeast, challenging "Kelleys Triangle". Since the breeze allowed us to enjoy another terrific sail without the motor running, we think we broke the curse as we blasted past the shoal and cut across the north bay of Kelleys. Given the fair wind, we easily sailed west, then south into West Bay, just south of the quarry pier and dropped anchor, never turning on the motor once we cleared the Huron Harbor Light. The beautiful summer day left the crew in a lazy mood as we napped, read and puttered around the boat for the balance of the afternoon. All week we had been eating like kings on board as Bob, Jack and Keith slaved over the small 2-burner galley stove and stern-rail-mounted barbecue grill. This evening, being our last in the islands, we decided to eat at the West Bay Inn, so we assembled the port-a-bote dinghy and rowed against the breeze into the rough gravel beach. After our meal watching the sunset, we enjoyed several games of "Cornhole" the bean bag toss game that seems to be sweeping the islands. This is the same game we played in the Seaway Marina, just a few weeks earlier.
Friday's forecast was for very light SSE to ESE winds, so our expectations for good sailing were kept to a minimum. The breeze was sufficient to sail off the anchor, but after turning to the SE, there was not enough breeze to tack our way towards Sandusky. We fired up the motor and pushed our way east to a point just off Marblehead. Now that I am leery of trusting the motor for more than 2 hours of operation, I thought it best to give it a break. After 30 minutes of aimless drifting, we once again powered our way using the engine. As we made our way into the channel heading towards the coal pier, the breeze seemed to be on our port beam so we cut the motor and sailed. It was very nice sailing but short-lived. With only 10 minutes of quiet behind us, the little wind we had began a crazy dance around Kelly IV's masthead. At one point I looked up at the wind indicator to see the wind had moved to the north, so I glanced down at the main sheet to see where I might adjust it. Almost immediately, I looked back at the masthead, only to see the Windex showing a southerly breeze! Since the light, crazy breeze seemed to be the standard for the foreseeable future, we trusted the motor to return us to our slip. She came through! But I did not. :-( Although the docking should have been easy, since the breeze was light, I still turned too early and had to back off, turnaround and try again. The second time worked and Kelly IV returned to her slip after a week of fun sailing, great meals, and terrific friends!
This past weekend, June 18 - 21, Mia and I sailed to our first Great Lakes Cruising Club (GLCC) event in Leamington, Ontario. It was a terrific time! The forecast called for light winds on Thursday and Sunday, with lots of storms of Friday and Saturday. As a result, we hurried to Sandusky Thursday morning and prepped Kelly IV so we could leave on Thursday afternoon and still make Leamington in the daylight. We just barely made it arriving in Leamington about 8pm. It was a minor adventure though since we needed the engine to motor through the calm and make our destination before dark. As a sailor's take on Murphy's Law would dictate, since the engine was needed, it would fail. The good news is rampant though! Just moments before the engine failed, Mia and I were saying we should consider sailing as the breeze seemed to be picking up a little. Thankfully there was some breeze, so we sailed the last few miles into Leamington doing about 4 knots. As we contemplated sailing Kelly IV into the slip, the wonderful sail at 4 knots gradually began to worry us as we pictured the possibility of a hot landing and frightening crash into a marina dock! Four knots is way too fast for trying to dock a boat! As luck would have it, the breeze dropped so much as we entered the marina, that my new concern was to keep on going, rather than going too fast. We had to tack Kelly IV to turn her into her slip, but I was concerned that with the now very light wisp of wind, that we'd stall in irons, then drift onto the rocks at the edge of the marina. To avert this calamity, Mia turned on the non-functioning motor, I engaged the starter motor with the gearshift in forward to turn the prop with the batteries, and pushed our way through the tack and glided cleanly into the slip. The marina staff had given us the endmost slip with no other boats around, so the landing was easy and uneventful. Later a GLCC member, who had watched our entrance from a distant dock, commented that when he saw Mia toss the dock line so professionally, he knew that Kelly IV would land neatly into her slip.
Mia and I had a great time meeting our new friends in the Great Lakes Cruising Club. Many have cruised the North Channel of Lake Huron, an activity we plan to do more of upon our retirement. It turns out that a Director of the Club and Port Captain keeps his boat at Sandusky Harbor Marina, just a few slips down from ours on "B" dock! Chuck and Joann Mead of Cincinnati, Ohio, keep their Tartan 37, Blue Horizon, in Sandusky Harbor Marina when they are not cruising the North Channel or some other portion of the Great Lakes. Their boat also has a beautiful deep blue hull, so she looks like Kelly IV's big sister!
We also had some time between meals and club functions, to walk about Leamington, eat at a couple fun restaurants, and just relax on board and read our books. In addition, I installed the port and starboard leecloths, so we are prepared to sail overnight!
We found an excellent mechanic who tracked down a new fuel pump to install, but Murphy's Law still prevailed. The only pump he could find was for a newer engine. Of course, this meant it almost, but not quite, fit our engine. The mechanic had to disassemble both pumps and build a pump from the parts to make it fit our engine. This jury rig did work for a few hours, but I believe the older diaphragm, still in the jury-rigged pump, must have failed as the engine died in the light winds just south of Pelee Passage. We thought we saw Blue Horizon motoring southward behind us, so we hailed and reached them via VHF. They offered their assistance and towed us all the way (roughly 15 miles) to northeast of Kelleys Island where we connected with the Boat/US Towboat. I saw Joann tie our towline off on their stern cleat, so I know she's every bit a sailor herself. The towboat returned us to our slip in plenty of time to get home and get ready for work on Monday. Chuck even kept watch for us as the towboat brought us into the marina. He ran down the pier to Kelly IV's slip to help guide us into the slip without mishap. Chuck and Joann were absolutely terrific and most kind to us as they exemplified the best of sailors helping each other.
