Perfect Sailing with UK, Irish, & Troop 360 - July 18-19, 2009

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's Week in the Islands! - July 4-10, 2009

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!

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.

Rockin’ and Rollin’ - May 23-25, 2009

Keith Otto and I sailed from Sandusky Harbor Marina on Saturday morning of the Memorial Day weekend and found ourselves motoring directly into the NE breeze to clear Sandusky Bay.  Even though we turned to the NW when we left the Bay, the leeway carried us far enough downwind, that we fired up the motor again to be sure we cleared Marblehead Point.  Even though the waves were only 1-3 feet, they were choppy enough to test the new dodger!  The spray stayed out of the cockpit, so we declared the dodger fully operational!

Once we cleared Marblehead, we shut off the engine and sailed under a single reef past Kelley's Island, Mouse Island, and South Bass Island.  We did attempt to point closer to the wind and sail up the west side of South Bass Island, but the wind had too much north in it.  Our solution was to continue sailing past Green Island.  This means Keith and I have now added a circumnavigation of Green Island to our list of sailing accomplishments!  Actually, it is not a major one, but it is now checked off the list!  😃

We still needed to make a couple tacks to achieve the anchorage at the SE of Middle Bass Island.  You'll recall that this is the same anchorage described in my earlier article about "Easy Sailing, Tough Rowing".  This time Keith steered Kelly IV to a position just off the public area where we landed our dinghy, so our row to/from Kelly IV would be much shorter.  We also hoped that the brief distance would make it easier to find Kelly IV on our return trip.

Mr. Otto and I did a small walking tour of southern Middle Bass Island to  review the newly reconstructed state park marina, the Middle Bass - Put In Bay ferry landing (passengers only, no cars), and returned to the pub we located for last year's adventure, J. Walleye's.  We began our dinner at poolside (J. Walleye's has a beautiful little pool landscaped with rocks and fountains for the kids wading pool), but the cool weather forced us indoors so we could better enjoy our entrees.

Apparently, J. Walleye's still has the same terrific variety of family entertainment, including their version of "Deal/No Deal", Dueling Pianos", DJ Music, and "Lobster Grab".  The Lobster Grab was a new activity to us, as we had not noticed it last season.  The pub has set up a lobster tank full of the requisite live lobsters.  Positioned over the tank is the 3 pronged claw you've seen in the arcade for grabbing a gift out of the glass bin.  It turns out that you can (for a $2 fee) attempt to use the remotely controlled claw to grab your lobster for dinner!

After a terrific dinner of sautéed fresh Walleye and juicy grilled burger, Keith & I decided to row our way back to Kelly IV.  This time there was no adventure as the wind had calmed and the sun was still setting so Kelly IV was easily seen and identified.  The close distance made the rowing routine and successful!

The next day we decided to motor into the wind as we left the anchorage and made our way through the channel between South Bass and Middle Bass Islands.  We did this brief push into the wind and waves in hopes that the NE winds would enable us to sail across the northern shore of Kelley's Island, then fall off to the southern course direct into Sandusky Bay.  The wind had more Easting in it than we cared for, so while we were able to shut off the motor and enjoy a boisterous sail across Kelley's Island, we were required to tack twice to clear the NE corner of the island.  Keith and traded turns at the helm for the easterly sail across northern Kelley's Island, but then Keith took over for a rollicking battle with the 3 - 5 foot rollers pushing Kelly IV around from the NE.  Keith had a great time and managed the pushy waves so well that I took a rocking nap with only occasional wake-ups.

I didn't take the helm back until we were ready to dock Kelly IV.  With roughly 20 knots of breeze blowing from the ENE, it proved to be both a challenging, yet exhilarating effort to dock Kelly IV.  With the mainsail down and the jib entirely furled, we were still making 3-4 knots of boat speed!  Were sailing at double my preferred docking/marina speed under bare poles!  While Keith prepared the starboard aft spring line to stop Kelly IV (assuming I could get him to the dock) I planned my approach.  Instead of the usual method of putting the motor into forward gear, then returning the shift to neutral as a way to maintain steerageway, I actually sailed under bare poles through the marina, with occasional shifts into Reverse to slow us down!  Knowing the wind would blow the bow quickly, once I began the turn into our slip, I made the turn, the wind pushed the boat rapidly into the slip, I shifted into reverse and slowed the boat to a crawl, then Keith merely stepped onto the pier and hooked the spring line to secure Kelly IV safely.  Given the stiff breeze, we had to spend significant effort to get all the lines tied correctly to Kelly IV, but it was all done very smoothly and professionally!  Keith was perfect crew and I actually had a very successful docking in highly challenging circumstances!

The Finishers! May 17, 2009

Notice the gleam on the starboard hull and the fresh bottom paint!

Keith Otto, Bill Paviol and daughter Sarah Paviol came to Sandusky on Saturday evening and worked all day Sunday to complete the work needed to get Kelly IV ready to splash!

Keith removed the starboard side adhesive left from the removed boot stripe, then washed, waxed, and buffed the lower starboard topsides to match the gleaming work from Jack vanArsdale the week before.  Keith had a high standard to match, but he was more than up to it as Kelly IV now glows from all sides!

Sarah took to the woodwork like the old hand she is and applied teak oil to all the cockpit wood, leaving the wood (and there is a lot as it surrounds the entire cockpit!) in beautiful and functional shape to serve the crew all summer.  Actually a lot of work executed very well by a diligent and beautiful 11 year old!

Bill added serious sanding efforts as he sanded the entire area below the waterline that had previously be hidden by the boot stripe.  In fact, his sanding was made especially challenging because it was his sanding effort that removed the boot stripe that is now below the waterline!  The area Bill attacked with his whirring power tool nearly surrounded the boat!

The new dodger, photo by Bill

The above finished everything needed for launching Kelly IV for the 2009 season! 

The entire team then picked up rollers and brushes to apply 3 coats of bottom paint to all the needed areas.  Last year, you may recall that we sanded the entire bottom, painted the first coat blue, then added 2 more coats of black bottom paint.  The idea is to make it easy to see where new bottom paint is needed.  If any blue is showing, then we add bottom paint there.  By changing the water line, we had to paint the newly sanded area as well as the blue spots that showed here and there around the hull.  Bill, Sarah and Keith located all the blue spots, sanded then painted them blue again.  As the blue paint dried, we followed with first one coat of black, then as that dried we added the 3rd coat of black bottom paint.

BTW, I had completed the new dodger on Saturday so Keith, Bill, Sarah and I celebrated by playing several hands of Gin Rummy.  As usual, Sarah beat the three adults handily!

The new dodger means no more wet t-shirt contests while beating to windward!  :-)