between a rock and a hard place. That was our story for August 1, 2011. We left Erie, PA, early to try to get a jump on some predicted high winds for the day. As we left the dock, Lou and I were extra cautious because we had been told that there was a shale ridge and approximately where it was. You guessed it......we found it. As we sat perched on this piece of rock, we pondered what to do. "Call Boat U S and get a tow." The tow guy's boat was on the same dock as we were on and he met us in less than 10 minutes. It didn't take much to move us forward, but we couldn't do it ourselves. The guy laughed about it being the shortest tow he had ever done - about 11 feet.
Now comes the "hard place" part of the saying. We headed west in 8, 10, 14, 20, 23 knot winds directly on the "nose." That means that the boat was like a bucking bull. After about 7 hours of battling the wind Lou decided that we should get off Lake Erie and finish the trip tomorrow. But, we certainly didn't want to go back to the rock place. So, we nipped into the next port on the chart. Unfortunately, their docks didn't have deep enough water for us, so we started trolling for a safe place to tie up for the night. With winds this high, Lou did not want to put down the anchor. U S Steel had a canal that was deep enough , but the concrete sides were going to be a problem. Before we could get a line attached the trucks started patrolling the banks and watching us. This was not going to be an option. So, back out into Lake Erie for the extra two hours of getting bounced around to reach Ashtabula.
This is a cute port and the Ashtabula Yacht Club has the friendliest members we have ever met.
They could set the standards on how to make a transient feel welcome.
The weather is a bit iffy for the next few days, but we are pushing to get to Detroit and familiar waters of Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. I didn't have a good picture to add to this post so I used one taken in the cold months. Maybe it will cool us down!
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