Might sailing and I don’t seem to get along!

[rfrance0718]

Tami and I are taking a week for a Lake Erie cruise. The first leg was to be a 110 mile overnighter to Ashtabula. I wanted Tami to have the experience and I wanted to get pretty far east so that we could sail across the lake to Port Stanley Ontario.

The forecast called for about 10-12 mph right behind us until dark and then dropping off to 6 or 7 through the night. We left at 2:30 pm and the wind was a bit spicier than predicted. We whiskered out the Genoa and made a pretty easy 6 knots until dark. By that point the wind had picked up some and I actually furled the jib in some and put the pole away. From 9:00 until midnight the velocity increased and there was considerable whistling in the rigging. The idea was to have a nice easy run under the full moon where Tami could take watches while the auto helm did its work. With the wind up as it was, I was now stuck on the tiller. The auto helm was working so hard in the 6 foot rollers that the battery was dropping. I also looked at the radar and discovered why the wind was up. A storm had popped up and passed by to the south of us. It stormed hard on Cleveland and sucked all of the wind that way.

I was thinking that I wasn't going to be able to steer all night and I could see Cleveland off of the starboard  bow so I started angling that way. As it turns out, angling  wasn't great a concept, where a beeline would have been more appropriate. When we got up by Cleveland at  2 AM, and I committed to ducking in, we were 10 miles out! So 2 more hours in to Edgewater YC. Luckily I know the harbor well, so getting into the basin and docking was easy enough. It was 4:30 when we climbed into the birth. It could have been 2:30 if I would have headed straight there at midnight. Oh well, we did sleep well.

We spent the day there while it continued to rip on the lake. My son picked us up and we got to hang out with grandkids and watch the Browns find another way to loose. All good.

Today we are heading just 25 miles east to Mentor Harbor. Tomorrow we'll try to sail the 45 miles across the lake to Rondeau Bay. Port Stanley will have to wait for another trip.

[Brian N.]

Not the "Ideal" sail that you wanted, but you made it and played the hand you were dealt fairly well. Glad you got to enjoy the visit with your son and grandchildren. Sorry about the Browns (but I'm a Giants fan).

[rfrance0718]

Yesterday sailed 25 mi east to Mentor harbor. Wind at 10-12 right out of the east. Supposed to be North. Great night at Mentor Harbor YC. Left this morning for 45 mile sail across the lake to Rondeau Bay, in Ontario. Wind actually behaving. Kind of light out of the South. Motor sailing jib alone. Making 5.5 mph. Sunny and a bit warmer.

[rfrance0718]

45 miles from Mentor Harbor to Erieau Ontario was very pleasant. Calm for 25 miles, motoring at 5 plus. When you are half way across the lake you can still see some Ohio ridges and the tops of two skyscrapers in Cleveland. It's another 5 miles or so before you can see the Canadian shore. At that point the wind had freshened and we were motor sailing on a close reach. Made about 6.5 the rest of the way and arrived at 5:30. Erieau and Rondeau Bay are beautiful. Riding bikes around today. Heading for Pelee Island on Thursday. 50 miles to the West.