Sunday, June 18, 2023

C'bay Cruise with Fleet 10, Day 2

Capt. Sean Stull and his son, Cameron at Lowes Wharf,
Father's Day 2023

Fleet 10 Cruise, Day 2, June 18, 2023

Fleet 10 Cruise Day 2:  We left Bay Bridge Marina at 0900 and motored south across the mouth of the Eastern Bay and through the channel behind Poplar Island.  We decided to cut through Knapps Narrows to save time- at dead low tide. They had been telling people to take the red 4 mark on the wrong side, but then they just changed it to a green mark so you can be on the correct side. The depth kept getting lower and lower until Murph and I saw 4.0 ft on the sounder. South Paw draws 4.5 ft.  We didn't hit bottom, but it had to be close. We were able to sail the leg from east of Kanpps to the entrance of Harris Creek on a starboard broad reach doing a steady, slow 2 knots. We anchored in Waterhole Cove at 1430 after 24 NM, dinghied ashore, and hiked to Lowes Wharf on the west side of Tilghman Island. We met up with Cameron Kasey Stull and Lorenzo at this bar/beach party location.  After a few hours there, we all headed back to the boat to cook up coastal cobb salads that Anita Miller prepared for us. I had my second fly kill of the day with the salt shotgun when I blasted one right off a tomato in my salad.  We visited some other boats in the anchorage and then dinghied Lorenzo back to his car.  It's so nice out that Cam and I are sleeping out in the cockpit under the stars. I couldn't ask for a better Father's Day.

Chuck and Floy as South Paw departs Bay Bridge Marina


Capt. Stull's video for Day 2
Bloody Point Light at the
south end of Kent Island

Capt. Stull notching the
first kill for the
Bug-a-Salt salt shotgun.

Knapp's Narrows Bridge

Chuck enjoying the sail north towards the
Waterhole Cove anchorage.

Other Fleet 10 boats setting their anchors for the night.

Capt. Stull, Cameron, Murph, Chuck, Floy, Lorenzo

Dinner aboard South Paw





South Paw covered the distance from
#21 to #29 under sail!


Saturday, June 17, 2023

C'bay Cruise with Fleet 10, Day 1

Captain Sean Stull at Bay Bridge Marina

Fleet 10 Cruise, Day 1, June 17, 2023

(To see all these posts, Click thru the "Newer Posts" at Bottom)

Owner, Captain and Host, Sean Stull, provides great posts about our sailing aboard his Hunter 34, South Paw.  As posted by Captain Sean: "Saturday was the start of my 6th straight Fleet 10 National Cruise with the group that got me hooked on the bay.  Chuck and Floy Marie Pease arrived Thursday to open up the boat and explore Annapolis. Allen Murphy and I got to the boat Friday night. In the morning, Chuck and Floy had to shuttle their car over the Bay Bridge to Oxford where we will be changing crew.  We left Port A at two and had a great, short sail across the bay in mostly 10-20 knot wind. We started out with full sails until one 20+ knot gust threw all the dishes onto the cabin sole. I furled in some jib and we were good for the 7.7 NM to Bay Bridge Marina at the eastern end of the bridge.  We were doing 5-7 knots through the shipping channel.  This is a beautiful marina, with giant fairways fit for the giant boats in the slips. All floating docks made getting into our slip easy.  We made it around 4p, got cleaned up, cooked up some food, and went to the pot luck opening meeting. Afterwards, we walked in front of Libbey's restaurant to watch the sunset."

Sean Stull, Murph, Floy Marie Pease, and Chuck Pease.


Sean Stull's video of today's sail.
Chuck and Floy Pease
From Capt. Stull:
"This is a sign of a great sailing day -
every single dish on the floor.
Unfortunately we did crack one in half."

Capt. Stull was letting me steer South Paw across the Bay when a wave and wind combo rounded us up and dumped those dishes onto the cabin sole.  Even so, he still had me guide her all the way into her slip.  She's a great boat, Sean's a great Captain, Chuck & Floy are terrific crew.  In fact, Chuck & Floy have excellent experience as they just returned from sailing a 47 ft Saona FP in the USVI with Chuck serving as Captain and they own & sail their own vessel on Lake Arthur in Western PA.

Capt. Stull's hula girl as we approach Bay Bridge Marina, Kent Island.

South Paw at Kent Island.



Per Capt. Stull: 
"The neighbor's boat,
which was three-stories high with
more square footage than our house,
had underwater lights that made this effect.

Sunset over the Bay Bridge seen from Bay Bridge Marina.
This beach ball blew into the marina at sunset.

Our itinerary for the week as planned.
Weather changed this plan, but
you'll get those details in a later post.



South Paw's track today.

Sunday, June 11, 2023

Sail and Biking

Screamin' Eagle
Sailing with Nikki and John Cassano aboard their new-to-them Screamin' Eagle, a Hunter 31, had me excited to be driving Kelly VI, my RV, to Sandusky, Ohio.  I had several days to motor from Indy to Safe Harbor Marina, so I took a few days to visit new Boondockers friends near Celina, Ohio and Grand Lake St. Mary's.  While at Grand Lake St. Mary's I enjoyed several bike rides.

The approximate route followed by Kelly VI.
Kelly VI near Celina, Ohio


Three teenage boys were enjoying fishing at Beaver Creek.




Upon returning to town, I enjoyed a
refreshing beer at this inn, lakeside in Celina.

The stories behind small, local pubs and 
restaurants are often interesting.


My hosts suggested I check out
the county courthouse.

The rotunda in the courthouse is 
quite the dramatic sight.

Mercer County Courthouse, Celina, OH


Sunrise at Safe Harbor Marina, Sandusky, OH


The Canada geese were out this morning!

Captain Cassano at the wheel.  While the day was beautiful,
the operation of the vessel left something to be desired.
Specifically, she wasn't handling normally and
began shaking and vibrating violently when shifted into gear.
Initially we tried to continue with our plans, but
the better decision was to return to the marina so the
mechanics could check it out.
The reult was a two-bladed prop with only one blade!
Fortunately, Captain Cassano had a spare prop, it was
quickly installed and we resumed our sailing the next morning.

We sailed Screamin' Eagle to Kelleys Island,
played tourist, driving a golf cart on a
circumnavigation of the island.

Murph & John at Inspiration Rock

Murph at the Cantina

Nikki & Murph at the Glacial Grooves

While the days was terrific and the sailing exquisite, Captain Cassano decide it was best to return to the marina as the weather was forecasted to turn ugly early on Sunday.




Below are the data for the trails covered this trip.
June 6, 2023

June 6, 2023

June 7, 2023


North Coast Inland Bike Trail
June 8, 2023

North Coast Inland Bike Trail
June 8, 2023

North Coast Inland Bike Trail
June 8, 2023