Great Loop II Date: 3 Days and Counting !!!

Day #-3 (Monday): 0 total miles (0 miles)

Port #0: Marblehead, Ohio

Some things just don’t change.  Prepping for the Loop is one.  Just as before, the beginning of the prep was slow and steady.  These last ten days have brought it to a roaring crescendo.  Woven in and around the prepping has been some wonderful moments spent will good friends over some great food and drink. 

OB (short for Ocean Breeze) has gone from organized to completely disorganized to darn near new again.  All her life blood has been changed (oil and filters, transmission fluids and filters, fuel filters, antifreeze exchange, and new fuel filters as well as a fill up with $1000 of diesel).  Our 7 year old Dometic refrigerator was changed out for a new Norcold.  Two days later our stove died and a new Princess electric with cooktop installed.  We had a new 1000 Watt inverter installed in a cabinet in my galley so I can use my crockpot underway.  It will also operate our TV and coffeepot.  Our port valance in the salon needed replacing.  The new valance will be installed tomorrow.  We always save the carpet cleaning to just before departure and that will occur tomorrow, as well.  Currently, our maintenance man (Clay from Mike’s Dockside) is calking everything in the upper station and bridge that looks like it might leak into our lower living quarters.  Our generator just received a face lift and the new panels were put in place today complete with new sound proofing.  Genny will never go unnoticed when she’s running but she sure looks a heck of a lot better!

Valance out for refurb...searching and finding the illusive leaks!

OB's repaired valance back in place!

New Norcold refrigerator...dead stove removed.

New Princess stove....

...with a cooktop

Generator panels removed, new insulation added and new paint.

Clay caulking OBs areas for water leaks.

Todd and I have been busy with trip planning, watching all of the problem zones in the early part of the Cal-Sag and Illinois Rivers and estimating destinations with calendar dates.  The current weather fronts are bringing to mind the possibilities of weather days.

We’ve enjoyed some great food and conversation with our long time friends here at Bay Point as well as Rory and Laurel Peram (Mike’s Dockside) and our friends in Findlay.  Food and libation is a way of life here at Bay Point combined with a lot of laughter and good times.  With their help I have successfully started my onboard herb garden.

Rory and Laurel at their home away from home...Mike's Dockside.

This is what was smoking away at home!

Rory has one big smoker...and that Boston Butt was AMAZING.

The Broken Oar Bar...at Rory and Laurel's home.

Lunch with our wonderful neighbors from Findlay.

Gotta love our wait-staff at Bay Point!

My new herb garden.

We have some new blog followers from docks throughout Bay Point, as well as Cape Coral and Findlay.  I will make an honest effort not to let any of you down.

A New Season With New Goals...

Ocean Breeze hit the water for the 2014 season on May 22nd.  We had just returned from Cape Coral four days earlier.  In that time, we had met with a contractor to assess repairs that would need to be made on our home in Findlay, we met with our realtor to discuss the two offers on our home, and I listed all our furniture on Craigslist.  We took the four days over Memorial Day to catch our breath on Ocean Breeze and get her ready for us to move aboard in the weeks ahead.

Who knew our furniture would be gone by the end of the next week?

Sleeping on a blow up bed

Eating on a card table borrowed from our neighbors

Using our patio set in the Great Room

Who knew we'd close on the sale of our house 10 days later?  Who knew we'd be heading back to Cape Coral with the Corvette and the SRX hauling a UHaul trailer less than two weeks after closing?

Familiar places with friends in the Cape helped ease the stress.

A few nights sitting on our dock in the Cape helped too.

AND who knew Ocean Breeze would have us back aboard with a few possessions from our 44 years of marriage less than a week later?

Todd still keeps up with daily life on the computer.

This is my galley (kitchen)

 When we came aboard from the Cape, I had stowed 8 bags of groceries and kitchen stuff from home in that space.  I couldn't get through there!

We could get to our bed in the Master Stateroom

 We were able to sleep in our bed when we got back, however we had to step over two suitcases and three duffle bags.

This is usually a couch but transforms to a closet

 I had hung so much on this travel rod in our rush to leave for the Cape, I feared I'd see it on the floor when I got back.  Oh yeah, for those who remember our last Loop, there's Charlies bed.

The wash has to be done

 Thank God I have a washing machine!

Charlie always finds his place

 He's so much happier.  He was a nervous wreck for a while.

This is the Guest Stateroom

 Anyone who has stayed in our Guest Stateroom knows what it's supposed to look like.  We are listing a bit to port these days.  I think we will be taking some more stuff to the storage locker.

We do have facilities

 This is our Master Head.  We were able to access it, however....

Yes, it's a two bathroom boat

....my head (which is the Guest head), was stacked with three bags of towels and linens.

It took me the first week to compress everything into the stowage I used during the last Loop.  What didn't make it into stowage was organized into the guest stateroom.  I did manage to take three more bags of stuff to Good Will.

Next up is the laundry list that went to our crew that maintains everything mechanical on Ocean Breeze.  That work will start this coming week.  So in the meantime, we enjoyed the 4th of July holiday at our home port...Bay Point.

One of may beaches at Bay Point.  This one is closest to Ocean Breeze.

 We sipped a few cold ones on the deck near the beach.

This is our channel leading to Lake Erie.

 That's Lake Erie out there.  Unfortunately we're too tall to go under the bridge we were standing on when I took this picture.  We have to go through the Sandusky Bay to get to Lake Erie.

Looking west toward Ocean Breeze.

This was taken from the same bridge but looking west toward 1/3 of the marina.  We go to the Tiki Hut by the swimming pool (left side of the picture above) for a cool one once in a while too.

The pool...the Tiki Hut is hidden behind the bathrooms on the right.

Ocean Breeze is below the arrow on the right side of the picture.

We had a nice breather this weekend.  Tomorrow we continue to prepare for the trip ahead.  Our current date for departure is July 31st.  Stay tuned...

*For those of you new to the blog, you can click on each picture to get a better view.  To come back to the blog without losing your place, click the white X in the upper right corner.

...And That's a Wrap (2013)

October 7th, 2013...probably the earliest we've ever pulled OB out of the water.  We decided on the date when we knew taking her to Florida was out of the picture.  Finishing the boating season early would give us time to close our summer digs and leave for our winter digs by the end of October.

Our last morning dawned beautiful after a couple of days of flooding rains ahead of an enormous cold front.  The temperatures were chilly and the wind was blowing around 12 MPH.  Not a big deal for OB since we were only going to the lift well and there would be a big crew to help us.

We always have early morning fishermen cruising by us in our canal that connects Sandusky Bay to Lake Erie.  This morning started out quiet.  We still had fishermen...only of Nature's variety.

So much goes into getting OB ready for her long winter's nap.  This season's closing routine went better than usual.  I started packing, cleaning and winterizing two weekends before our 'pulling' date.  By this morning, all I had left was turn off the icemaker, put boxes of baking soda in both refrigerators and the icemaker, strip the master stateroom bed, hang mothballs in the closets, put softener sheets under cushions and mattresses and in all the drawers and cabinets, and finally hang Mildew Gas throughout the boat.

Todd pulled OB away from the dock 30 minutes before our 'lift' time so we could have our final holding tank pumpout and rinsing.  The winds had picked up to 18 MPH but we had no trouble coming alongside the gas dock.  Pumpout completed, the gas dock crew called the lift crew to meet us at the 'well'.

This last cruise is short...and always bittersweet.

Todd did a great job handling OB in the strong winds and getting her into the well where the marina crew could take over getting her up and out of the water.  We get off the boat during lift out.  The crew had to work hard to keep OB off the cement wall during pull out because of the wind.

Up she comes...

Time to wash OB's bottom.

Bottom washing is a process and the Bay Point crew does an excellent job!  It also gives us a chance to examine OB's undersides.  This year she was missing a zinc on her port shaft.  We'll need a new one for next season's adventures.

After she's washed, OB is moved to her winter parking spot and blocked in place.

We have another great team that takes care of Ocean Breeze's maintenance.  Rory and Clay at Mike's Dockside make sure OB has antifreeze throughout her fresh and raw water systems.  They go through the boat and close her down for her long winter's nap.

When Mother Nature provides a calm day, Rory, Clay and their crew head for OB to wrap her in a large plastic sheet.  Because of her size, any other day would send that plastic flying!  They use heat guns to shrink the plastic down against OB's beautiful body.  All this work will keep snow and ice out of nooks and crannies.  Left without covering, ice and snow would work deep into OB's fiberglass and cause cracks.

As luck would have it, calm and clear skies appeared the day after OB was lifted from the water.  Thank you, Laurel, Rory and Clay...for all your hard work and dedication to OB and all the other boats you maintain.  You are THE BEST !!!

...and THAT'S A WRAP!

Now for our adventures in Florida...see you in the spring, Ocean Breeze.

And Sometimes Things Just Go Wrong...

How Todd and I spent most of our summer.

On June 8th, Todd and I were washing Ocean Breeze.  I was standing on the gunnel in the cockpit (the side of the boat at the end of the boat).  I wasn't watching what I was doing, took a step and ended up in mid-air.  The next thing I knew, I was laying on the cockpit floor looking up at Todd.  Not good!

The summer began...and ended in less than 10 days.  I tore my right rotator cuff along with the supraspinatus and bicep tendons.  I had surgery to repair all the damage the first of July and spent the rest of the summer in an immobilization sling and making friends with the Physical Therapy Department.

Day of surgery...July 11th, 2013.  I didn't see the boat for another 2 weeks.

We did get over to Put in Bay on South Bass Island while our son and daughter in law visited in August.  Ocean Breeze stayed at Bay Point and we took the Jet Express (fast ferry service).

Todd, David, Brigette and Paula Sue at the Northern Most Point (The Keys at Put in Bay, Ohio)

I was finally able to work the right arm pretty well, to we took Ocean Breeze to Put in Bay over Historic Weekend, September 5th through the 9th.

Ocean Breeze moored just off Gibraltar Island.

The HMS Denis Sullivan.

The Re-enactment area during Historic Weekend is huge.

Perry's Monument, a declaration of peace after the bloody battle of Lake Erie during the Battle of 1812.

We heard musket and cannon blasts all weekend.

Sunsets were quiet and beautiful.

  We've tried to come up with a way to get Ocean Breeze to Cape Coral this fall.  The timing is too short to get her prepared mechanically and my shoulder is still healing.  So we've scuttled the idea for this year.

Our plan is to do Great Loop #2 beginning the end of July 2014.  Until then, I will try to blog intermittantly through our fall, winter and spring adventures.

Some Weekends are Quiet...

Todd and I haven't had a weekend in Findlay since early December 2012.  The weather looked iffy and we decided it would be more fun to spend time with our friends.

We had a burger bash at our house Thursday evening (oops, no pictures!).

We went wine tasting Friday evening at our local wine shop...

...the Wine Merchant...

...followed by the specialty at the W.E.T...

...the Queen Veal sandwich with beer.

Saturday we were back at the Wine Merchant for beer tasting followed by dinner at Cheddar's.  We finished off the evening with wine and a picture tour of Ireland with good friends at their home.

Sunday began with services at Trinity Episcopal Church...

...our long time church here in Findlay.

So good to see our church family again.  Good friends had us over to their home for breakfast after services.

Todd and I looked at each other this afternoon and felt so blessed...

• with our wonderful neighbors and friends here in Findlay
• our good friends at Bay Point on Lake Erie
• and now our new friends in Cape Coral

We keep questioning if we can physically manage going between all three places. However we don't want to give up all who are close to us.  Looks like we'll just keep wandering between the three.