Good news, bad news
05 August 2008 | Cleveland, OH
John and Cheryl
Cheryl's Notes:
We had a great sail from Kelly Island to Cleveland. Lost our wind right out front of the break wall. Furled in sails and motored past the Cleveland sports stadium where the Browns play. Got some great pictures from the water. Right next to the stadium is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It is a huge glass and steel structure with some really weird lines to it. Headed down the channel to the marina that we chose for our stay here. John can give you a description of our latest mishap. We hate the docks in these marinas.
Oh a bright note, we get to spend some time with my sister Barb and Tricia. We are going to take a break from the boat tonight and stay at their house. We are looking forward to catching up with them, doing laundry and sleeping in air conditioning. Trish has to work, but Barb will be taking tomorrow off to run us around town so we can re-provision.
John's Notes:
Just when my confidence begins to build, something happens to dash my spirits. Had another traumatic experience leaving the fuel dock at the East 55th Street Marina. After an uneventful tie off and refueling, we tried leaving with a little cross wind setting us on the dock. These are more of the docks with the high posts on the outboard side, spaced about every 4 feet'. I have never encountered this kind of dock before in all my years of boating. Today, I caught the dingy, davits, and the outboard motor on them. At first glance, all I need is a new prop for the outboard. Bent one of the blades pretty bad. It might be worse. I just haven't looked yet. I really need to know how to get away from a dock under conditions like this. If I were a power boater I might have a clue. Tommy and I have decided that we need to take much more time in planning our departures. We somehow have to get both the bow and stern off the dock and underway. If the bow goes first, to protect the bow pulpit, the stern gets jammed against the dock and the pilings, along with the dingy, davits, and outboard. If we do the stern first, the bow pulpit is in the way. I've worked on some diagrams using various combinations of spring lines and forward/reverse throttle. I don't think I have it down yet. I'm looking for any ideas anyone might have or if they have faced similar problems. Confidence is at a low right now.
Cheryl's take is that a cruising boat has all kinds of dings. If we wanted a Bristol boat, we should have just been weekend cruisers.
On a brighter note, we are spending the night with Cheryl's sister. I just used their super digital scale and weighed in at 173.3lbs., down 28 since January.