Kelly IV Sails into the Slip - June 18-21, 2009

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.

Families Sail Kelly IV - June 12 – 14, 2009

Guy, Murph, Whitney, Sarah, photo by Bill

The Stewart and Paviol families sailed Kelly IV June 12 - 14, with Bill and Sarah Paviol enjoying Cedar Point on Friday before "Guy" and Whitney Stewart came on board Friday evening.  Bill & Sarah drove to Sandusky on Thursday night and opened up Kelly IV for a night's sleep before the excitement of Cedar Point all day Friday.  I joined Bill and Sarah at the marina where we cooked burgers and dogs and watched the Penguins win the Stanley Cup beating the very tough Detroit Red Wings in the 7th game of the finals.  Guy and Whitney joined us in time for the final period and the ensuing celebration afterward.

Sarah and Murph

On Saturday morning we motored out of Sandusky Bay and found enough wind to raise the sails.  The wind was just westerly enough that we had to tack to clear Marblehead, so just settled back and enjoyed the sailing as we were only making our way as far as Kelleys Island, a relatively short trip.  We tacked all the way back to a spot northeast of Cedar Point so Bill and Sarah could point out the various rides and describe the scenes and excitement they enjoyed on Friday.  After the return tack, we trimmed our sails to close hauled on the starboard tack and covered the last few miles to a point just southwest of Seaway Marina.  We dropped our sails into the lazy jacks and motored into the channel.  The marina staff called to us as we entered and directed us to the seawall on the west side of the marina.  As there was an open space on the seawall, we didn't have to raft up like we did last year.  The crew did it's typical, professional duty and pulled Kelly IV neatly into the space between two other boats.  Just like parallel parking a car!

Of course, there are always jobs we can work on with Kelly being 30 years old!  Being the consummate handyman, Guy disassembled the non-working fan that would be so important to any cook in the hot galley.  After a brief inspection, he determined the problem was some loose wires so he quickly reconnected and assembled the now working fan!  The galley fan now works and our cooks will be better able to keep their cool!  :-)

For our afternoon adventure we rented a golf cart and the 5 of us did a riding tour of the Island.  Since we had 5 people in a 6 person cart, we took Guy's advice and brought the cooler!  Good thing as the tour took us long enough that each of us replenished their drinks at least once.  We saw any number of summer homes and cottages, a couple of nice anchorages, the small airfield and ended up going around most of the island, including a walk on the beach on the east coast of Kelleys.  We have frequently sailed past the east coast, so it was quite fun to view the water from the beach we've often passed on the water.

As always, we ate like royalty as Guy provided the provisions and we had hot breakfasts and dinners with handy, easy to eat lunches while under sail.  Thanks to the great meals we ate on board we did nothing to stimulate the economy at the local restaurants.

Kelly IV Struck by Loose Boat in 30 knots - June 6-7, 2009

The bent steel on the starboard side, pic by Bill

Ollie Browne and I sailed a wonderful trip up the east side of Kelley's Island, then across the north of Kelley's into the channel between Middle Bass, Ballast, and South Bass Islands.  The breeze was a very nice 10 - 15 knots with very small waves (1 -2 feet) through most of the day.  Ollie was new to Kelly IV but he brought his experience sailing Flying Scots at Lake Arthur and sailing with a friend on a 36 footer out of Barcelona, NY, so he was a quick study learning to steer, trim sails, tie in reefs and shake them out on Kelly IV.  We picked up a mooring at Put-In-Bay and wandered through the small town on a relaxing walk.  After a dinner in the brewpub, we caught the 1st game of the Penguins series with the Red Wings at the Boardwalk before taking the water taxi back to Kelly IV, calmly waiting for us at her mooring.

While the wind had fallen to almost nothing when we returned to the boat, we knew that possible thunderstorms were forecast for the wee hours.  I awoke twice as the wind picked up and began howling at 30+ knots.  Each time I checked our tie off to the mooring ball and confirmed that the cleats were holding the line without any chafing.  I had just dropped off to sleep about 3:30am when I was shocked back awake by a loud bang and bright white lights flashing through our cabin portlights.  I dashed onto the deck without even grabbing my glasses.  I was faced with the shocking view of a brand new Beneteau 40 with 3 frightened crew yelling questions at me, "what should we do?!", "what do you want us to do?!".  Their anchor line was bar-taught across Kelly's bow, forcing their anchor roller to bash horrifically into Kelly's bow pulpit.  I yelled for their skipper to ease out the anchor line so his boat would drift aft of Kelly and stop the terrible banging and crunching.  As the Beneteau slid aft, it crushed a huge, tube-flattening bend into the starboard bow pulpit.  After crunching, gouging and scratching down the starboard side, we got a line tied off from their bow to Kelly's stern cleat.  The line was too short as the Beneteau's anchor roller gouged the transom and bent and twisted Kelly's stern stainless steel ladder.  We rigged 2 longer lines from Kelly's stern to keep the Beneteau's bow clear of Kelly's stern.  I cut the anchor line free, so the Beneteau would stop pulling its anchor line across Kelly's bow, possibly damaging the forestay or roller furler.  Tied off to Kelly's stern the Beneteau stopped its wild ride through the mooring field and ended the onslaught of damage.  While the Beneteau swung very close to a small power boat at its mooring, there was enough distance to keep both boats safe from each other.  Ollie was a terrific help to me as he dug lines out of our rope locker so I could tie off the broken ladder as well as the drifting Beneteau.  It was comforting for all of us on both boats to learn that no one was injured.  Given the wild swinging and banging of the boats as they crunched together, it is a miracle that no one lost a finger or endured a deep cut.

As things calmed down, I went below to get my glasses and watch, only to discover the whole event lasted less than 30 minutes.  Ollie was free to return to his bunk while I dressed in my foul weather gear.  This let me be warm enough to sleep in the cockpit, as I wanted to continue to check our mooring as it now held both Kelly IV and the Beneteau on the single mooring.  In an hour or so the winds dropped off to less than 12 knots, so I went below to catch some warmer and more comfortable shut-eye.  In the morning I met our new friends and swapped contact info so we can resolve the repairs over the next few weeks.  Fortunately, Ollie and I had no trouble with the forestay or the roller furling as it seems there was no damage there.  However the damage to the starboard side, bow, and transom, are extensive.  I'll be talking with the service manager at our marina tomorrow to begin the process of repairing Kelly IV.  Other good news is that Kelly IV sailed and motored without any problems as Ollie skippered much of the return trip.  I suffered a short bout of seasickness, but Ollie worked the helm as if he'd been doing it all his life.  I'd expected nothing less of an Irishman who began his sea career fishing in the bay at Dublin, Ireland.  That's right, Ollie was born and raised in Ireland, coming to this country with his wife to enjoy a successful career at Westinghouse.  Now he's a US Citizen, enjoying the pleasure of paying his taxes with the rest of us!  Somehow, Kelly IV seems to sail with a special feeling when the cockpit conversation is lit up with an Irish tongue.

It may have been the comforting company of an Irishman with me, but I decided to try my hand at docking singlehanded.  Ollie did set up the fenders and spring line for me before we entered the marina, so I was ready to go.  The breeze had picked up and was blowing from the north, so it would push Kelly IV away from her finger pier when I tried to dock her.  Knowing this, I pointed her close in to the pier, then quickly threw a loop of the spring line around the post which brought Kelly back close to the pier.  Ollie stood by to help if needed and he did step to the bow to help keep the bow near the finger pier while I put the lines onto Kelly.  Although I needed Ollie's help with the final detail on the bow, I was pleased that I was able to do much of the docking singlehandedly.  I feel confidant that next time, I may be able to dock 100% on my own, a skill I've been striving for.