On August 29, we left Grand River and headed up the lake to Conneaut, Ohio. There is not much in Conneaut, except, "that restaurant, but it's closed and a couple of bars up the hill and the Subway." This, according to the guy at the docks. Rather than tie up to the wall we decided to anchor out in the harbor. The wind came up strong in the night, which made for a restless night's sleep.
We hauled anchor in the morning and had a great downwind sail to Erie. The wind was a steady 20k, with gusts to 30k and the waves building to 6-7 feet.
When we got to Erie, we furled the sail, turned up wind and motored into channel which leads into Presque Isle Bay. In the bay it was blowing close to 30k with two foot waves. As we pushed on toward the anchorage, the engine started to lose power and then stopped. We jumped into action and got the headsail out and started sailing up the bay looking for a marina to sail into.
I radioed the Erie City Marina and got a suggestion from the manager at Wolverine Park that we come in there. The only problem is, Wolverine Park is behind the Sheraton Conference Center and is completely hidden from the bay. PLUS, "you will need to sail up the channel and go under the walkway." We managed to navigate the channel with swirling, shifting winds, push off the wall and turn downwind to a waiting dock.
We had a couple drinks (which we needed) walked around Erie a little and tackled the engine problem in the morning. The rough conditions had stirred up some sludge from the bottom of the fuel tank which had clogged the filters and burned out the lift pump. Luckily I had a spare pump and filters was able to change things out. I also pumped the bad fuel out of the bottom of the tank and disposed of it. After several hours and a minimum of swearing, the engine fired up and we were on our way.
The view of the hotel and conference from our dock
This is the view of our mast as we go under the walkway as we leave.
We crossed Presque Isle Bay and we are now sitting in a pretty anchorage at the State Park.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Presque Isle State Park, Erie PA, September 1, 2012
Hi Dan and Laurie, just catching up on your blog. What an adventure! I cannot think of a better way to spend two years.
ReplyDeleteWe plan to buy our sailboat next year. In the meantime we bought a 21' center console. (Yes, a power boat, but it takes us to all the neat places one can go on a boat. And on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, there are many--bayous, rivers, MS Sound, gulf islands...).
You sailors will appreciate the name we gave this boat: Knot a Clew. I finally came up with a boat name Ben likes!
Thanks for sharing stories and pictures of your voyage. I look forward to the vicarious adventure!
Safe travels.
Debbie Young
Thanks Debbie! Like your boat name. Let us know about your sailboat when you get one.
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