Our usual Fourth of July sailing companions, the Homan's, aren't with us this year, but we tried to make the best of it. The weather hasn't very cooperative this year, but we made the best of it. This year's sailing holiday was scheduled for 5 days, but only lasted 4.
We left Herl's early on July 3rd, hoping to get a good mooring ball at Put In Bay for their annual Fourth of July fireworks shows. They bring a barge into the Bay and launch the blazing inferno from the deck. As we sailed into the Bay, almost every mooring ball was already taken. After talking with the water taxi on the radio, we found the one ball left, Hotel - 1, which is right in front of the Boardwalk. Not where we really wanted to be but at least we had a mooring. Later that evening, we met Greg and Sandy Millat for dinner at the Boardwalk and talked about the week's upcoming festivities.
4th of July parade at PIB We left Herl's early on July 3rd, hoping to get a good mooring ball at Put In Bay for their annual Fourth of July fireworks shows. They bring a barge into the Bay and launch the blazing inferno from the deck. As we sailed into the Bay, almost every mooring ball was already taken. After talking with the water taxi on the radio, we found the one ball left, Hotel - 1, which is right in front of the Boardwalk. Not where we really wanted to be but at least we had a mooring. Later that evening, we met Greg and Sandy Millat for dinner at the Boardwalk and talked about the week's upcoming festivities.
The Fourth started with a parade down the main drag in PIB. People filled the streets to watch the spectacular only to find that the antique cars leading the parade were driving pretty fast. Before we knew it, all the cars drove past and the crowd dispersed. Since we were across the street from the Round House, we decided to get a beer and watch the Mad Dog show. Fifteen minutes later Mad Dog stopped in the middle of his song and said, "Hey! In case you missed the parade, there's a marching band in the middle of the street!". Turns out that the classic cars drove too fast for the rest of the parade and what started out as one parade ended up being two.
Rain came in the afternoon and looked like the holiday would be washed out. Just in time, the rain stopped and the barge was brought into view. The fireworks display that evening did not disappoint. What a show! I can still hear the echoes of the booms as they ring around the Bay. After two days at PIB, I'm ready for a little rest and relaxation. We'll sail to Kelley's Island for the next few days.
Our neighbor for the evening at Kelleys Island. Rain came in the afternoon and looked like the holiday would be washed out. Just in time, the rain stopped and the barge was brought into view. The fireworks display that evening did not disappoint. What a show! I can still hear the echoes of the booms as they ring around the Bay. After two days at PIB, I'm ready for a little rest and relaxation. We'll sail to Kelley's Island for the next few days.
Our sail to Kelleys Island the next day was uneventful. A good thing. The sun was out and the north bay was packed. We had enough wind for a good sail so the Captain was happy, but not enough to heel the boat, so the First Mate was happy.
Shortly after we arrived, the old, tall sailing ship from Canada arrived with 20 or so teenagers on board. They did everything from swabbing the deck to climbing the mast and hanging out on the yardarm to furl the top sail. We had rain throughout the day, but no a complete washout.
Saturday's rain was more intense and whitecaps were now rolling into the north bay of Kelleys. The forecast called for sourtherly winds but obviously Kelleys didn't get the message. While we had cell phone reception, we didn't have any data reception so we couldn't get a good radar image. Tiring of the rain and wind, we decided to pull the anchor around 6pm and head back to Herls. About half way back I could see that this might not have been the best decision as a curtain of horizontal rain descended upon us. Connie turned on the navigation lights so that any oncoming ship might have a chance of seeing us and I steered Therapy using only the chartplotter and the compass as my guide. We couldn't see 10 feet in front of the bow for 20 minutes and the rain pelted us. Finally the rain stopped just in time for us to leave the lake and enter the channel into the West Bay of Catawba Island. Being thoroughly drenched, we dried off and spent the night in our slip at Herls Harbor. Wet, but happy for the time away from the rat race.
Shortly after we arrived, the old, tall sailing ship from Canada arrived with 20 or so teenagers on board. They did everything from swabbing the deck to climbing the mast and hanging out on the yardarm to furl the top sail. We had rain throughout the day, but no a complete washout.
Saturday's rain was more intense and whitecaps were now rolling into the north bay of Kelleys. The forecast called for sourtherly winds but obviously Kelleys didn't get the message. While we had cell phone reception, we didn't have any data reception so we couldn't get a good radar image. Tiring of the rain and wind, we decided to pull the anchor around 6pm and head back to Herls. About half way back I could see that this might not have been the best decision as a curtain of horizontal rain descended upon us. Connie turned on the navigation lights so that any oncoming ship might have a chance of seeing us and I steered Therapy using only the chartplotter and the compass as my guide. We couldn't see 10 feet in front of the bow for 20 minutes and the rain pelted us. Finally the rain stopped just in time for us to leave the lake and enter the channel into the West Bay of Catawba Island. Being thoroughly drenched, we dried off and spent the night in our slip at Herls Harbor. Wet, but happy for the time away from the rat race.