Week 7: July 18- July 24

We left Cleveland and the weather looked good. Some wind so there were a few options of where to stop depending on the wind/waves the rest of the day. Two possibilities were Lorain and Vermilion. The preference was for Vermilion since we would be able to cross more of Lake Erie. One problem we have been facing is the availability of docks – that are not under water. The wind/waves cooperated so we continued to travel. Bahama Voyager made some phone calls and was able to secure spots for us in Vermilion but at different marinas. Their beam is 17.5′ so that presents issues for a number of marinas – either they don’t have slips wide enough or it means using two slips to accommodate the boat. As it turned out, the spot they secured for themselves was partially underwater so that meant no power for the night. Vermilion has many small marinas in this harbor, up until the fixed bridge. The bridge has a low clearance of 10′ and it was right before this bridge that Bahama Voyager secured a place to tie up for the night.

We met up a little later in town to have dinner and stroll through the Vermilion 3rd Thursday festivities. The town sponsors musical performances on the 3rd Thursday of the month. There were 24 different musical performances – in the park, open-air gazebos, local restaurants, and street corners. The music was varied and we enjoyed strolling along with the crowd to listen to a wide range of genres and talent. It was great to see a town so vibrant with loads of people enjoying the activities and boosting the local economy.

While Vermilion was a cute town, it didn’t have enough of a draw for us to stay another day especially considering the accommodations. We dabbled with traveling to Sandusky, Port Clinton, Toledo Beach or heading north (over open water) to Put-In-Bay. So much depended on the wind, once again. Since we were also trying to locate a mechanic and thought our best option was on the Detroit River, we decided that we would start hugging the shore to test the waters first and if all was fine, we would head north to Put-In-Bay.

Conditions weren’t optimal but they were doable. We headed across Lake Erie to Put-In-Bay. Slips were not readily available and we were not interested in going to South Bass Island and have to raft to four other boats. Sent a few emails, made a number of calls but by mid-day still no luck. Tried to contact the Ohio municipal dock on Middle Bass Island but their phone was busy consistently since 9 am when they opened. At a certain point, I contacted their non-emergency number and was advised that there were phone issues and was given an email address. Never received a response but we all decided that if there had been phone issues for a number of days, that also meant that others could not get through so we would go and hail them on the radio once we were close enough. That worked and we were able to get slips for two nights. If that hadn’t worked, we always had the option of a mooring ball on South Bass Island.

Middle Bass Island was a clean, quiet marina and practically half empty. We decided to take the ferry over to South Bass the next day since that is the “tourist” island and the “party place”. There is a boardwalk, many restaurants and bars, lots of the typical tourist attractions. We rented a golf cart and toured around the entire island. One of the stops we made was to visit Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial that commemorates the Battle of Lake Erie that took place near Ohio’s South Bass Island. We  went up to the observation deck and the viewed the sights and enjoyed watching part of a reenactment of one of Perry’s sea battles. Although we had fun on the island, we were very happy that we opted to stay on Middle Bass.

After spending two nights on Middle Bass Island it was time to head for the Detroit River and hopefully find a mechanic for a permanent fix to our leaky seal. The water was high on the river as we tried to locate a place to stay. I was impressed with the color of the water, especially when compared to our home water, the Hudson River. Seeing the water color as we travel highlights nature’s vast differences.

Once again, lots of phone calls, few available spaces for our size boats. One marina indicated that there were two slips at the end of the dock, with electric but no one would be there when we arrived – he would be there later in the day. We stopped for fuel and someone advised that they believed that the marina we were heading to had docks under water. It was only a few miles away and sure enough, the dock for “us” was under water and that meant not only no services but pretty impossible to get Kodey off the boat for a walk. I called the contact and left a message that we were passing on the slips but thanked him for at least returning my call. We pushed on and that meant a longer day but we felt it best to find a place to tie up. We were fortunate to find room at the Milliken State Park & Harbor just outside the city of Detroit. An additional bonus once we checked in was the availability of free laundry that was open 24 hours onsite.

The next day was spent touring and making phone calls to mechanics. Even with the help of Harbor Hosts, we were having a tough time. Mechanics were booked for three-four weeks before even looking at our boat. There was one possibility of only a week but that was before he could even look at it. It’s one thing to have to wait to have the work completed but another to wait to even have them look especially if you were not in a place where you want to stay.

The next strategy was to look further into the future and find a mechanic further north, probably on Lake Huron where we could schedule an appointment in advance for two weeks out and not lose time and make progress, even slow, towards the next leg of the journey.

We located a marina in East Tawas on Lake Huron and made an appointment to meet with a mechanic on July 31. In addition, contact was made with the manufacturer of the shaft/seal to ship a replacement seal directly to the marina.

After we left Detroit, we traveled across Lake St. Clair and then up the St. Clair River to the St. Clair Boat Harbor, a marina recommended by a boater in Detroit. The place was nice, close to town, and had a courtesy van to transport us within the city limits. We took advantage of this to have dinner in a local restaurant in the pouring rain and then again, the next day to go to a supermarket for provisions. This was the first real shopping trip since Fairport, NY. The town was very active as they were preparing for their annual boat race on the weekend. Slips were at a premium for this event so we were scheduled to leave on Thursday for our next stop, Port Huron. We were advised that slips could be difficult to obtain in Port Huron as there were many sailboats returning from the Port Huron to Mackinac Island race. The Port Huron Yacht Club has a few transient slips on a first-come basis so we decided to leave even earlier than usual to secure a spot.

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