Great Sailing with Stull's & Paviol's - July 31 - Aug 2 , 2009

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.