We left Fairport around 8 am in the morning. Kathy & Dan were on the stern of their boat waving good-bye and wishing us a safe passage. (It's so much fun meeting new people...and everyone is so friendly!) The winds were 18 - 20 knots with 4 -5 foot waves on the stern AGAIN...but not as bad as our trip from Cleveland to Fairport. It was a nice relaxing ride.
Bill stands watch on the deck.
Boop contemplating life from the stern.
Surfin' down a wave.
Ok, this is to give you an idea of the setting. Our boat is at dock here. In the background you can see the causeway.
This is the view from the deck of the boat, looking up to the causeway. Are we going to make it? The folks in the causeway looking down at us, look skeptical. We'd checked out the depth and it said we had 63 feet and our mast is 58. OK, anyone who knows me, knows that numbers are not my friend. But even I could do the math on that one. We SHOULD have enough room, right?
At this point, I'm saying, "I don't know Bill...maybe we shouldn't try this." I know according to the math, we had 5 feet, but it sure didn't look like it. My heart was beating a mile a minute. I just sat there waiting for the crash.
But look, the math won out in the end! I guess numbers COULD be my friend. But I tell you, I'm not going to enjoy going under bridges on the Intercoastal at all!
Perry's Monument was near our dock. It has a lookout area at the top. Very popular with tourists. The maritime museum was also near the pier. It's the home port of the Niagra...Oliver Perry's flagship in the battle of Lake Erie (war of 1812).
This is the outside patio area of a place called Smuggler's Wharf. It was absolutely beautiful and had wonderful food! We had lunch there then went back to the boat. I did laundry while Bill took the bike to try to find a grocery. THIS time I did get directions, but Bill said it was in a crummy part of town and was really more like just a convenience store. Seems like that's the only kind of provisioning we can find. Ugh! At night, we celebrated Bill's birthday at another place nearby called Rum Runners...looked a lot like an Indian Lake honky tonk...with Tiki umbrellas. Then we stopped in Smuggler's again for a late night snack.
Boop contemplating life from the stern.
Surfin' down a wave.
The lake was FULL of white caps. It was really deceiving...sometimes I'd think I saw a boat on the horizon, but it dissipated and was just another white cap from the waves. One thing that really surprised me was that we were about 6 - 7 miles off shore and STILL came across fishing boats out there fishing. Their boats had to be rolling like crazy! I tell ya, those fishermen are a hardy lot!
We were going to go to Ashtabula but made such great time that we decided to pass it by and head on to Erie, PA. We crossed the PA border at 3:10 pm. We got into Erie close to 8 pm by the time we anchored in the Presque Isle State Park. We were really worn out from all the sun and wind. Although I must confess, we made "Otto" do most of the steering on the way over. The state park is really pretty and VERY well protected. Kinda reminded us of Buck Creek days.
In the morning, we pulled anchor to head over to the Moorings at Wolverine Park marina. We wanted to go over there because they had laundry facilities and, (ahem), it was definitely time to do laundry. Oh, and before I forget, it was also Bill's BIRTHDAY!!!! He claims he's only 28....right, and I'm Marilyn Monroe. Oh well, gotta keep the boy happy. To get to the marina, we had to go under a causeway between the Sheraton hotel and the Erie convention center. I'm going to show you a series of photos so you can see how incredibly heart-stopping it is to go under ANYTHING with a 58 foot mast.
This is the view from the deck of the boat, looking up to the causeway. Are we going to make it? The folks in the causeway looking down at us, look skeptical. We'd checked out the depth and it said we had 63 feet and our mast is 58. OK, anyone who knows me, knows that numbers are not my friend. But even I could do the math on that one. We SHOULD have enough room, right?
But look, the math won out in the end! I guess numbers COULD be my friend. But I tell you, I'm not going to enjoy going under bridges on the Intercoastal at all!
Perry's Monument was near our dock. It has a lookout area at the top. Very popular with tourists. The maritime museum was also near the pier. It's the home port of the Niagra...Oliver Perry's flagship in the battle of Lake Erie (war of 1812).
This is the outside patio area of a place called Smuggler's Wharf. It was absolutely beautiful and had wonderful food! We had lunch there then went back to the boat. I did laundry while Bill took the bike to try to find a grocery. THIS time I did get directions, but Bill said it was in a crummy part of town and was really more like just a convenience store. Seems like that's the only kind of provisioning we can find. Ugh! At night, we celebrated Bill's birthday at another place nearby called Rum Runners...looked a lot like an Indian Lake honky tonk...with Tiki umbrellas. Then we stopped in Smuggler's again for a late night snack.
Couple observations I've noticed so far....almost all marinas are near a kind of crummy part of town and they all have railroad tracks nearby. Hmmmm. Glad we endured getting the air conditioning installed. It not only keeps the cabin cool at night...it blocks out the noise!
Tomorrow, it's on to New York.
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