Island Bound 2007 !
Hello everyone ! Thanks for reading my blogs about the trip. Its been quite boring lately the past couple of days we have been held up here by Toledo with 30 mph winds. The sun has been out and it has been nice but just very windy. We attempted to go out Yesterday with small craft advisory’s but we turned around and headed back in to the marina it was just to windy we had 3-5 foot waves and they were breaking over the bow of the boat. So here we are cleaning the boat up doing laundry stocking up on supplies and just trying to keep busy. Last night was quite and experience we woke up to some noise of the bumper grinding on the dock. As we tried to rearrange the boat we realized that the water level according to the depth finder we dropped 1.5 feet the boat was on the bottom due to the winds pushing the water out of the marina, remember Lake Erie is shallow anyway. So in the morning all was back to normal the water had come back up and we were back to 5 feet of water the boat was moving freely again. That was a little nerve-racking.
The weather looks good for Sunday so we will run Sunday and sail 24 hours to make up the time. If we do this for two days we can be back on track. The weather is suppose to be ok the next 3-4 days. The winds will be only 10 mph to 12 mph. I have become use to traveling to new locations every other day so this stationary thing for more than two days is becoming annoying.
The trip has been so much fun so far Its hard to describe. I think you have to be somewhat of a loner slash adventurer to fully get the idea of traveling all the time and sacrificing that feel of security in your life. I love the idea of meeting new people each day and getting somewhere different every other day. The goal of course is to get to the Islands safe and the boat in one piece. So far that we have accomplished up to this point. Well keep posting comments on the site and keep reading there will be more to come with more personnel sides to me as the trip continues. I will try to get a video out here as soon as I get some more time to put it together. Live life like a pirate LIVE HARD LIVE STRONG ARRRRRRRRR!
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Island Bound 2007-2008 - Blog 2
Island Bound 2007 !
Well the parts came in and I proceeded to install the head gasket and the new thermostat with a new set of plug wires. The parts didn’t get in till 2:30 in the afternoon so by the time I got everything in it was to late in the day to get started. I did try to fire the engine up it sputtered but came to life and we let tit run for about an hour to test it out. The engine seemed to be cured it run like a top after starting and the temp was great 160 the oil pressure was 30 PSI and no smell of oil fumes or smoking of any kind. We hit the sack with everything ready for the early morning sail. Morning came with a strong wind and very cold temps around 40 degrees. We set out under power to test the engine and make up some time we lost with the engine repairs. The winds were very strong and the air was cold we had on all the clothing we could find to keep warm. I headed for port Salinas 32 miles away. We came to the harbor entrance around 4pm cold and just plain exhausted. As I tied up to the dock we seen the sailboat that sat with us in Harbor Beach parked also they took off at 6am two hours before us. The engine ran fantastic and I believe I cured that problem finally. All that was on my mind was some hot food and a hot shower. I was so stressed out from the engine and no sleep the past few nights because of the wind and cold temps with no heater on board. I cooked up some chicken sandwiches took a hot shower then I crashed for the night. The next day was nice and warm with sunshine and blue sky. We headed out for Port Huron. We again used the engine since there was just no wind this day stopping at Lexington 12 miles away to have some lunch. As we were tying up to the docks I stepped off the bow only to miss the dock and ended up in the lake it was cold and not very graceful. Well I cooked up some soup and we got off the head for Port Huron 22 miles away. Still no wind so we just motored since the engine was still running great. Coming to Port Huron you could see the Blue Water Bridge and some other sail boats out so we caught up with two sailboats and followed them into the river just 20 feet apart talking about sailing and our trip down to the Virgin Islands. The river was very cool beautiful homes and the freighters were right next to us it was very cool. We entered down the Black River went under a draw bridge to the down town marina. After tying up I went to get some fuel and some sodas to quench our thirst. The night was great with 70 degrees out and clear sky’s. The next morning it was time to head down the river and get to Detroit City. The river went fast as the current was strong and we made tracks. Coming into Lake St. Claire we had to stay in the shipping lane cause the lake was so shallow we hit bottom twice and just stayed in the channel heading for Detroit. Coming into the Detroit river was the same as St. Claire River we only went a little into the river and stayed downtown Detroit it was awesome to see the city all lit up for the night. We did almost 54 miles that day do to the current in the river. The next day we headed down the river to get to Lake Erie and then we would go hard to New Buffalo to catch the Erie Canal to New York City. The international bridge was like the Mackinaw bridge except there were all kinds of police boats around for security I guess we counted I believe 12 boats out. There were Canadian police, border patrol, coast guard and sheriff boats patrolling the river. We took pictures of the city and the Joe Louise arena. We arrived in Lake Erie late in the evening and stayed at Boles Boat Club. The weather was rain and windy.
Well the parts came in and I proceeded to install the head gasket and the new thermostat with a new set of plug wires. The parts didn’t get in till 2:30 in the afternoon so by the time I got everything in it was to late in the day to get started. I did try to fire the engine up it sputtered but came to life and we let tit run for about an hour to test it out. The engine seemed to be cured it run like a top after starting and the temp was great 160 the oil pressure was 30 PSI and no smell of oil fumes or smoking of any kind. We hit the sack with everything ready for the early morning sail. Morning came with a strong wind and very cold temps around 40 degrees. We set out under power to test the engine and make up some time we lost with the engine repairs. The winds were very strong and the air was cold we had on all the clothing we could find to keep warm. I headed for port Salinas 32 miles away. We came to the harbor entrance around 4pm cold and just plain exhausted. As I tied up to the dock we seen the sailboat that sat with us in Harbor Beach parked also they took off at 6am two hours before us. The engine ran fantastic and I believe I cured that problem finally. All that was on my mind was some hot food and a hot shower. I was so stressed out from the engine and no sleep the past few nights because of the wind and cold temps with no heater on board. I cooked up some chicken sandwiches took a hot shower then I crashed for the night. The next day was nice and warm with sunshine and blue sky. We headed out for Port Huron. We again used the engine since there was just no wind this day stopping at Lexington 12 miles away to have some lunch. As we were tying up to the docks I stepped off the bow only to miss the dock and ended up in the lake it was cold and not very graceful. Well I cooked up some soup and we got off the head for Port Huron 22 miles away. Still no wind so we just motored since the engine was still running great. Coming to Port Huron you could see the Blue Water Bridge and some other sail boats out so we caught up with two sailboats and followed them into the river just 20 feet apart talking about sailing and our trip down to the Virgin Islands. The river was very cool beautiful homes and the freighters were right next to us it was very cool. We entered down the Black River went under a draw bridge to the down town marina. After tying up I went to get some fuel and some sodas to quench our thirst. The night was great with 70 degrees out and clear sky’s. The next morning it was time to head down the river and get to Detroit City. The river went fast as the current was strong and we made tracks. Coming into Lake St. Claire we had to stay in the shipping lane cause the lake was so shallow we hit bottom twice and just stayed in the channel heading for Detroit. Coming into the Detroit river was the same as St. Claire River we only went a little into the river and stayed downtown Detroit it was awesome to see the city all lit up for the night. We did almost 54 miles that day do to the current in the river. The next day we headed down the river to get to Lake Erie and then we would go hard to New Buffalo to catch the Erie Canal to New York City. The international bridge was like the Mackinaw bridge except there were all kinds of police boats around for security I guess we counted I believe 12 boats out. There were Canadian police, border patrol, coast guard and sheriff boats patrolling the river. We took pictures of the city and the Joe Louise arena. We arrived in Lake Erie late in the evening and stayed at Boles Boat Club. The weather was rain and windy.
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