Mentor OH

 Left Erie before first light to get out onto the lake before wind and waves picked up and the plan was to travel about 30 miles to Geneva State Park Marina and be tied up by noon.  Well, the best laid plans often don't pan out....  Geneva State Park had no openings for boats, so I started working my way along the coastline and looking for dockage.  None to be had in Fairport and finally found 2 spots (for Al and us) in Mentor Ohio and the Mentor Harbor Yacht Club. What started out as a 5 hour trip quickly turned into a 10 hour slog and we were exhausted by the time we arrived here.  Instead of dodging crab pots, we had to dodge fishing nets! Unbelievable! I kept the binoculars and Tom zigged and zagged the boat when we spotted them.

By the time we got here the wind had shifted to behind us and we were rocking and rolling pretty good. The harbor entrance was narrow and had huge swells, so it was a bit like surfing for a couple of minutes there.  I didn't have a lot of time to notice because I was frantically putting out fenders and making sure lines were in the right place.  We pulled up to the fuel dock for a pump out first and had to dodge about 10 small sailboats with kids in them learning to sail.  They had no idea what they were doing and it was a miracle we didn't run over any of them.  Life continues to be exciting without a stern thruster to control the back end of the boat and the kids helping to tie us up were clueless. I have now figured out to hand them the stern line first and tell them to attach the loop end and then Tom can control the bow with that thruster.  Anyway - we got pumped out and into a slip with minimal drama and no boat damage.

The marina has minimal amenities and if you want to get off your boat to go anywhere you have to push a button on a piling and they come pick you up in a small launch.  They have a fancy restaurant here but no reservations available, so we will NOT be eating out.

Funny story from today - I was so tired from my early morning that I fell asleep on the pilot house sofa while underway.  Tom said at one point he heard a horrible grinding noise that he thought was an engine issue and was worried a belt had come off or worse, then realized it was me snoring! Didn't even know I snored, but we got a good laugh out of that one... 😂 

Weather forecast for tomorrow is not good, so we will probably be staying another night.

Comments

ArizonaAuntie said…
Holy mother of God! Well the snoring part gave me a good laugh! But the rest of it sounds absolutely horrible!
Wishing you better sailing days ahead :-)
July 29, 2021 at 8:23 PM
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