14 days on lake Erie
The farthest distance was about 70 miles to Pelee Island, but I spent a great two weeks cruising west from Mentor Lagoons starting in late June. The first week was a first - my Dad, and two brothers joined my for our first ever Foster men's cruise. We left Mentor and sailed across the Lake to Erieau at Rondeau Bay. Then it was on to Pelee Island. Our cruising spinnaker kept us sailing half of both days in light winds. The mayfly hatch was amazing. We sailed thorugh a cloud of them on the first day, and then saw great orange bands of their last molts stretching for miles across the lake on the second. From Pelee Island, we sailed to a mooring in Put-in-Bay. With a prompt taxi service covered by the mooring fee, this remains the best stop in the Islands. On our second day there, we picked up a "road ding," hitting a rock while sailing to an anchorage to swim and relax. Because the run was so short, we had not done a thorough navigating job, and a trough dropped our 3 1/4 foot draft on a lonely (and charted) rock! Dove to check the keel, and observed no leaking in the bilge. Then it was off to Kelly Island, where we stretched our endurance walking to the glacial grooves. On Saturday, we had a great sail into the Cedar Point Marina. We spent a night there, and my wife, mother, and nieces arrived to replace the Foster men crew wife my wife and Admiral, Joanne. It was a wonderful week. It's true that four large men tested the limit of Lady Lillie, our '77 h27, but we all slept in comfort, and enjoyed the trip, especially with shore showers and toilets available at every stop. Joanne and I departed Cedar Point in a stiff norwester the next day. We had a great sail, exceeding hull speed, and tacking toward Put-in-bay. As we were clearing Kelley Island, Joanne looked below, and saw several inches of water sloshing in the cabin below. We hove to, bailed out, and sailed a relaxed run into Kelley Island. We dried out the boat, put dry paper towels in suspicious spots, and spent a great stay at Kelley's. Our folding bikes got us around the island without problem. Next day, we set sail to Put-in-Bay in a great southwest wind. Not a drop of leakage! We spent three nights cruising the islands from our mooring oin the bay. A great 4th of July, good restraurants, and fun touring on the bikes (and not too crowded.) We hired an escort for the trip back to the mainland. We finally found the source of water. At hull speed, the wake builds up on the transom. It flows into the cockpit drain tubes, and the port tube had fallen off the drain. With relief, we said good-by to the escort, and completed a beautiful sail into Huron. We had Lilley hauled out to replace the drain tubes, and inspect the keel. No problem, so we continued back east to Edgewater in Cleveland. The day started and ended with decent wind, but we motor-sailed through light winds for most of the day. The last day was a beautiful reach by Cleveland, and through the Saturday races back to Mentor Lagoons on a stong south wind. So it was only 70 miles from home, but two relaxed weeks of sailing, and enjoying the people I love in beautiful waters. David Foster Lady Lillie
