Connie at the helm on the sail to Vermilion
The past week has been very stressful. Ally left for college on Thursday...and wanted to come home on Monday, the family descended throughout the week... then left on Sunday, and Katy was married on Friday. Whew! We need a vacation.
We left for the Lake on Tuesday morning and before long were off for a quick sail to Put In Bay. The wind was slack as we made our way north. In an effort to avoid turning to the iron sail, I brought out the patented "wind dance" and we were immediately rewarded with 20 knot winds. We reefed the main and continued into the Bay. Quite a different place during the week without all the traffic.
On Wednesday we decided to try a new destination... Vermilion. Vermilion is a small town east of Sandusky and Huron and about a 28 nm sail from the Bay... a five hour trip with good wind. We left Put In Bay around 9:40am with a north wind about 6 knots. We made slow progress towards Kelley's Island averaging just 3.5 knots. This trip was going to take all day! Time for another "wind dance" and, you guessed it, the wind immediately picked up to 12 to 15 knots. We rounded Carpenter's Point with a bearing of 300 degrees. With the balance of our trip averaging 6 knots, we arrived at Vermilion around 4pm.
We left for the Lake on Tuesday morning and before long were off for a quick sail to Put In Bay. The wind was slack as we made our way north. In an effort to avoid turning to the iron sail, I brought out the patented "wind dance" and we were immediately rewarded with 20 knot winds. We reefed the main and continued into the Bay. Quite a different place during the week without all the traffic.
On Wednesday we decided to try a new destination... Vermilion. Vermilion is a small town east of Sandusky and Huron and about a 28 nm sail from the Bay... a five hour trip with good wind. We left Put In Bay around 9:40am with a north wind about 6 knots. We made slow progress towards Kelley's Island averaging just 3.5 knots. This trip was going to take all day! Time for another "wind dance" and, you guessed it, the wind immediately picked up to 12 to 15 knots. We rounded Carpenter's Point with a bearing of 300 degrees. With the balance of our trip averaging 6 knots, we arrived at Vermilion around 4pm.
View from Vermilion Public Dock
We radioed Eddie the Dockmaster on our approach. He told us to enter the Vermilion River from the east side of the breakwater as the west side is unusually shallow. The town is truly remarkable. Incredible houses line the banks of the small river with canals behind each street. The Venice of Erie is truly a boating town.
We spent the night at the very nice public dock ($49) and enjoyed walking the downtown and having dinner on the balcony of the famous Ches Francoise restaurant right next door. After an early dinner, a parade of sailboats made their way out, then back in, after the local sailing races.
We spent the night at the very nice public dock ($49) and enjoyed walking the downtown and having dinner on the balcony of the famous Ches Francoise restaurant right next door. After an early dinner, a parade of sailboats made their way out, then back in, after the local sailing races.