Cardboard Boat Race - PIB 7/22/12

Sorry this is out of order but I finally downloaded the pictures I need!

We started doing the cardboard boat race at the ILY-A Regatta last year. It was a blast! A very wet blast because we sank both boats we built almost as soon as they got into the water. This year we were determined to build the best boat and win! Alas, the schedule on Saturday 7/21/12 did not allow us to participate in the boat race. But Commodore Paul Bates brought tons of materials so we decided to build it on Sunday. So Maeo and I moved the materials on Saturday morning with some help from South Shore Cruising Club.

Paul Bates had a great design so we built it in less than 2 hours. Here is Paul making final assembly.

The intrepid builders: 

I took the first turn: 

 Maeo provided the motor power (not allowed during the official race but fun for us all during our fake race):

Kermit took the next turn. The boat was still very strong: NOTE: Not sure how I managed to click to black and white - still figuring out the camera!

Motor power care of Maeo Bates: 

Next the Commodore's turn. The boat was still strong: 

He went way out there and around the corner without Maeo power. Boat still strong. 

It was great fun. We proved that Paul's design was strong and could win next year assuming we get participation from the club and the Regatta schedule allows time to participate. 

Rusty Falls In!

Note to all participants in the pool about this trip: yesterday Rusty fell off the dock (Wed PM)!! No pictures since we were scrambling to pull him in. In black water at 11pm at night, it took three of us to pull him on the swim platform. Thank goodness we HAVE a swim platform this year. We didn't last year. Kermit went in with his clothes and phone. Thank goodness Paul Bates made him buy that waterproof phone! It took all night to dry out his money, wallet, and clothes.

So much to be thankful for!!

We left Put-in-Bay at 8:45am Wed 7/25/12 with Paul and Maeo Bates, traveling through choppy water across Lake Erie towards Detroit. Dennis and Kris Cada took pictures of our departure. Maybe they can send those pictures for posting later.

We had 2 to 3 foot waves with rollers. We are meeting 8 other boats for an exploration of Detroit and Windsor for the next week. The Sigmonds, arriving later in the afternoon, reported calm seas. Go figure.

We are at Silver Shores Marina in Wyandotte. The people are super nice and the location is really convenient. We had a great dinner with Sigmonds and Bates at Gregorios Restaurant across the street. Great food.

Thurs 7/26/12  We are waiting for 5 other boats to arrive today. Probably a cookout tonight but in the meantime we are off to find the local Thai restaurant. A nice walk on a drizzly day!
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The Thai restaurant was fabulous! It was owned by a Thai couple with children born in the USA who did not speak Thai. Maeo said hello and practiced her (her words) rusty Thai. We were joined by two more boats, Hawaii with the Steibers and Chaos with the Hoffmans. Later around dinner time Dust Cutter came with our tour guide Ron and Julie Feldner, BillEve with Bill and Eve Gribble, and Summer Place with Tom and Char Houser. We had a great pot luck dinner and lots of laughs!

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Note to followers: I am finding that writing this blog is the easy part. It took me a while to figure out how to really use the looper locator so you find us where we are instead of in a corn field in central Ohio. Then there is the matter of downloading pictures. So there may be a delay in sending the blog while the pictures catch up.

Here is our looper locator for today!!  http://greatloop.org/mod/aglcalocator/membermap.php?id=1001 Let's hope it works this time!

Testing the dinghy at Put-In-Bay

Sometimes you just have to play with the new toy! Here is a series taken by Dan Ruegamer showing us floating away in the new dinghy. Notice the cool doo-hickies to connect the boat to the new swim platform? Very  clever gear - Weaver Davits. You just lean over and click them open or closed. It makes loading and unloading very convenient. Notice the yellow straps in the first pictures? Those are part of the rigging system Paul Bates and Kermit developed to raise and lower the boat while traveling. Very clever!!

We got the dog in the dinghy too! He was thrilled! Ok, not so much... Getting Rusty in the boat involves a ramp and a wet towel so he doesn't slip. Notice that the dinghy is between the dock and Good Karma. In order to leave we have to duck under the dock! There are some mighty annoyed spiders on the end of F dock this week!

Rusty seems ok with it. We got him in and out of the boat today for another ride. Maeo Bates and I took the dinghy out alone. Perhaps  not the smartest thing but I need to learn how to do it. The dog laid at the bottom of the boat white we sputtered around the bay. We only have a few incidents requiring Maeo to get in the water to push us off the rocks and another incident involving a black  mark that mysteriously got onto a boat hanging on a a mooring bouy. But that is a story for another time!! We got home safely and Rusty seemed ok with the whole process!!

Memo from the kids

This note was found indicating that a great time was had by all last weekend at Maumee:

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Captians Log: Maumee Bay, Oregon OH
7-15-12 about 5pm

The young adults have taken over the boat and invaded the bar after their short bike ride. We are discussing plans to crash a wedding that is taking place as I write.

Good times. Good times.

Have a safe trip, Jess

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Thanks Jess and gang!! That would be Bill, Brett, Julie, and everyone else!! We are so proud of our young adults. Such great people!!

Lounging at Put-in-Bay for a week

I understand we had a mess up with the longitude and latitude from the last location. Let's see if this works!
http://greatloop.org/mod/aglcalocator/membermap.php?id=1001

We arrived at Crew's Nest in Put-in-Bay yesterday afternoon with our son Brett and his girlfriend Julie. We love that the kids feel so comfortable with us and on the boat. We had a great time with them.

Today Dan Ruegamer arrives with his girlfriend Julia and a bunch of stuff we forgot, of course. Dan had to do a bunch of logistical gymnastics to get this all sorted out so we are very grateful.

Observations so far. Kermit has a goal of learning two things a day or completing two projects a day. Today he put up the mirror in the aft head so now he doesn't have to squat to shave. Later today after we load up the stuff Dan is bringing on the Jet Express he plans to charge our life vests with CO2. I will report on any explosions so those of you with "boat damage" in the pool can get your points!

I forgot a meeting this morning, something I hope will not be par for the course. But I am catching up on Interview Doctor stuff. It will all get done!

On the road... at last!

Friday, July 13, 2012

We did it! We started our great adventure! On Friday at 1:45pm we finally left the dock.
The morning was a blur of last minute craziness. I figured out I had no underwear. Problem. We haggled over the last minute stowage and fit everything in. Not a problem. Leave the big white cooler (oops, we left water and pop inside, oh well). After some last minute trips to the store (buy underwear!) we untied the lines and left to cheers from our friends!

Lots of cameras popping means lots of photos to come of the boat leaving the dock. We cut the last line because it was wrapped around a dinghy line. Arlene will send that photo. Arlene and Roger sent a video that I need to figure out how to forward to this site (but I will figure it out!) so you can see us in all our glory!! How exciting!

We topped off the fuel tanks, departing for real at 2:30. The trip to Maumee was uneventful, thank goodness. The boat rides low and slow due to the heavier than usual weight. It took a bit of time for Kermit to figure out how to set the trim tabs to accomodate the load. We traveled between 17 and 23 mph, slower than usual, but it made for a comfortable trip.

That is Cedar Point out the back window













Here is the Marblehead Lighthouse as we passed by:

Things we forgot, even after several trips to the store on Friday morning: the charts - hard to imagine after all the work we put into sorting them and ensure we had everything we needed, paper plates, c-cards if we want to dive, and more we can't think of yet.

Click on the Looper Locator to see where we are today:
http://greatloop.org/mod/aglcalocator/membermap.php?id=1001

An update from the home front:

Jack the cat is not going on the trip. I just told him. He doesn't look happy. Mmmmmm.....

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

It is 4:52 pm and we just pulled out of the driveway. The house is semi-clean, just enough dirty dishes for Dan to feel comfortable house sitting while we are gone. The truck is so full we can't see out the back window. And we thought we loaded up the boat LAST week.
We both feel a little quesy. I guess that is to be expected. We have a few errands tomorrow including finally getting that I68. Then we leave on Friday.
Tomorrow I will share pictures of the cool wenching system Kermit and Paul rigged for the dinghy. It is way cool.

Thank you's are in order as we make the final countdown!

This was a big weekend for us. Almost everything is done! Kermit is so tired. It has been a long road, one we could not have taken without a lot of help. Kermit and I wish to specifically thank a few people:

Brad and Jen from Pfleger Marine have been invaluable. Brad was on the boat this week with final adjustments to the generator which runs great now and powers everything it is supposed to power smoothly and quietly as promised. He also adjusted and changed out toilets, a job no one ever wants to do but everyone wants to use. Jen is working on a spare parts kit we can stow below deck for those problems we know will come up on short notice. Thank you so much for your support!

Bill and Eve Gribble from PlasTEAK have done a great job with the swim platform. This weekend they came out twice to install the hardware to attach the dinghy to the swim platform and reinforce the back of the boat to carry the weight. What a job that was in 100+ degree heat!! They were totally dripping wet. Check out Kermit and Bill (or at least the back of Bill's head) working on the second latch - you can see the Weaver davit right by Kermit's foot.

 

Thanks also to the gang of guys on the back of the boat all day yesterday figuring out a better way to lift the boat out of the water. I know Tom Houser and Paul Bates were there most of the day and we also had help from Tom Steiber, even though he has engine problems of his own, and Kevin Hoffman. There might have been other guys but I was banished to the salon so I can't be sure. It was truly a group effort. I am sure the solution will come from the good suggestions out of this group.

Tom and Char Houser also helped a lot moving furniture around on the back of the boat as we figured out a better solution to dock box storage. What a mess that was. I think we ended up using a tall white container for boat cleaning stuff, using the wicker box for miscellaneous storage, and hanging the lines on the railing. But it took all day and we couldn't have done it alone.

Char Houser was on the boat all day yesterday helping me put stuff away and figure out a better storage system. I can't tell you how much better it feels to have a neat boat. They gave us this neat propane grill for the trip! I assembled it last night and it fits perfectly in the space below the couch in the salon. Thank you!!

Finally, there are no words sufficient to properly thank Paul and Maeo Bates for their help and support over the last months. Paul especially has been on our boat more than his own, even rewiring the boat last week because the original wiring was insufficient for our purposes. Today Paul and Kermit are shopping to create a winch system to hoist the dinghy and hold it in place while we travel. I am sure they will come up with the best solution, together. We really owe you tons. Perhaps we can begin to repay you with a smooth ride from Mobile to the Keys in the fall!


I am sure Kermit will have more "thank you"s when he comes up for air. In the meantime let me say again, thank you to everyone who is behind us in the adventure. We couldn't do it without you!! And we want to travel with you so watch the blog and check out our latest adventures!!!