GLCC Rendezvous, Sturgeon Bay, WI - July 5-15, 2017

The RV took us from Sandusky to Kewaunee, Wisconsin by way of Toledo, Elkhart, Chicago and Milwaukee.  Although traffic was occasionally heavy it was never unbearable.  As I drove more miles per day than originally planned, we decided to spend a couple nights relaxing in a quiet campground in Kewaunee.

Our track from Sandusky to Sturgeon Bay

In Kewaunee we just wandered around the campground, enjoyed playing horseshoes, and found a game that was both fun and new-to-us: ladderball.

Karen scored a ringer

Murph's high score in ladderball

We even set up the grill for a nice cookout.

The weather for the GLCC Rendezvous was nice for the first couple days, then turned a bit wet and cold, but we enjoyed the activities including a firstimers gathering, welcome reception, opening ceremony, commercial tug and museum tour, maritime seminars, a play at the Penninsula Players, and the Commodore's Dinner and Finale.

We decided to avoid Chicago and enjoy a boat trip for part of our trip to Pittsburgh, our next planned destination.  We booked passage for ourselves and the RV aboard the ferry, S.S. Badger, to cross Lake Michigan from Manitowoc, WI to Ludington, MI.

Karen had an airline ticket from Pittsburgh to Florida to fly home to supervise installation of hurricane shutters so we drove her to Pittsburgh and parted ways on July 15.

The RV track to Pittsburgh includes the crossing of Lake Michigan

It is WARMER in Sandusky, Ohio! June 25 - July 5, 2017

Wow, what a difference a few degrees in latitude makes!

We took a couple days to make our way south including a nice stop in Goderich, Ontario.  We were impressed with the Caribbean hue of the Lake Huron waters at Goderich.  I should have taken photos to show how clear and blue the lake was that day.

Karen served as photographer for a family enjoying the sun and view

The campground at Huron River Valley Resort, Huron, Ohio hosted us for a couple nights.

Our site overlooked the campground marina

Karen peeks out of the coach with Irish Rover still behind us in the campsite.

We found new friends at the Sandusky Sailing Club (SSC) in Sandusky, Ohio.  As a Great Lakes Cruising Club member and fellow ILYA member, the SSC welcomed Irish Rover and helped us launch and raise her mast.  We were able to return the favor by retrieving their lost block and tackle tail from the top of their mast hoist.  The climb to my masthead enable the photos below. 

The Flying Scott fleet returns from their North American championship races.

Irish Rover aft of the mast

  

Irish Rover foredeck

The next day we had a wonderful sail from Sandusky to Kelleys Island, Karen's first visit to the fresh water isles in western Lake Erie.

Irish Rover in her slip at Portside Marina, Kelleys Island while Karen & I enjoyed a lakeside lunch

The next few days were forecasted to be cool and rainy, so we set up camp at East Harbor State Park on Catawba Island, Ohio and visited South Bass Island via Miller's Ferry.

The ship Benson Ford, formerly a laker on the freshwater shipping lanes,
now fitted as a home on South Bass Island,
overlooking Lake Erie from the west side of the island.

At our Catawba Island campground, we met a couple who shipped their RV from Austria to the USA via freighter!  They've spent the past year touring all over our grand country.

Very unique RV sight for US campers

The European Union license plate and Austrian flag caught our eye, as well

We enjoyed a game of disc golf on the wooded course at the state park.  My son, Allen IV, introduced us to this game, so we had to try it for ourselves.

We finally did a short cruise with Irish Rover, sailing to Middle Bass Island from the Sandusky Sailing Club.

Irish Rover's track to Kelleys and Middle Bass Islands.

The marina was very nice and the walk around the newly refurbished Lonz Winery and state park was wonderful as was breakfast at the new cafe north of Hazard's Resort.  Sadly, the dock neighbors were less than ideal so we sailed to the anchorage on the west of Kelleys Island, just south of the old quarry pier for some quiet time.

Once anchored we noticed Irish Rover was rolling more than usual as the waves were coming from offshore at a widely different angle than the wind, we rigged a "bridle" to pull the bow around as Irish Rover rides the small waves more calmly with the bow into the waves.

Irish Rover riding her "bridle," bow into the waves

The sunset view from our anchorage looking over South Bass Island was gorgeous.

We returned to the Sandusky Sailing Club with a brisk breeze on our beam and enjoyed a terrifc sail, never using the motor until we dropped our sails just off the club marina.  Staying in the channel was a bit challenging but mastering that was a good feeling!  We cleaned up Irish Rover as we'd be leaving her in Sandusky while we drove the RV to the Great Lakes Cruising Club Rendezvous in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.