Port #1: It's a Regatta Kind of Day....

Great Loop II Date: 7/31/2014

Day #1 (Thursday): 20 total miles (20 miles)

Port #1: Put In Bay, South Bass Island, Ohio

Todd bought a new Magma Grill Wednesday afternoon and intended to install it on the bar in our bridge while I went for my last groceries.  When I came back the grill was in the box and Clay was set up to come Thursday morning.  The bolts were set such that the bar refrigerator would need to be removed.  Once the bolts were in, the heads had to be sawed off to accommodate the drip pan.  Preparing for this trip has sure had its moments!

Our plan was to go to Put In Bay again to make sure all the updated systems were in working order.  We arrived during the beginning of the annual PIB ILYA Sailboat Regatta.

Leaving Bay Point Marina

Passing the ongoing housing development at Bay Point (View from Lake Erie)

Captain maintaining his station

Sailboats racing Thursday afternoon

None of the moorings were marked for the sailboats and we had our pick.  We grabbed I-2 which put us nearest the WiFi offered by Boardwalk Harbor.  We don’t have our old WiFi set up this time (an antenna attached to a signal booster/router and our old Verison 3G card).  We will use WiFi offered by marinas and our own Verison 4G MiFi when necessary.

Perry's Monument

Sunset in the Boardwalk Mooring Field

Cantankerus going for another load of fuel for the island

OB on her mooring

Each morning the call for the races occurred between 7AM and 8AM.  The cluster of sailboats taking up all the dockage at the City Docks and a few slips at the marinas would scamper to attention and march to sites outside of the Bay to race.  Saturday morning, we awoke to thunder and dark skies to the south and west.  The sailors all scampered out to the race call…even amidst the impending electrical storm. About halfway through the race, during the storm’s full fury, the sailors came back in.  Some were able to dock successfully, while others had to ride out the storm keeping their bows to the weather and their engines running high enough to stay in one spot.

The approaching storm Saturday morning

Sailboat racer riding out the storm

All our systems seemed to be working well until our generator overheated and shut down.  Trouble shooting pointed to two possibilities: sea grass could be clogging the sea strainer intake or the hose could be degenerating.  Todd cleaned the strainer to find very little grass.  Sunday morning he dove below the boat and found some grass clogging the exterior of the intake.  Even after clearing that, the water still did not flow into the strainer or into the generator.  Todd contacted Rory, the manager of our maintenance team.  He told us to take the boat out, put it on plane and open the sea strainer canister.  That should work to suck out any clog in the line.  We tried that maneuver with no change.  Rory scheduled Clay to meet us at Anchors Away on Monday morning to diagnose and rectify the problem.

Sunday night was a beautiful evening.  Even with our ongoing setbacks, it was a good time to take a spot up on the bridge, enjoy a pizza from Cameo and a beer.  We watched all of the day boaters and late checkout weekenders leave the Bay one by one.  It made us thankful the work life is behind us and adventure we create is ahead.