Days Events:

Left the Mentor Harbor Yachting Club at 07:30, travelled 45 miles to the Oasis at Port Lorain, Lorain, OH, for 4.7hr, at mostly 10.8mph. Water was terrific - ripples with sometimes a few 1' but often like glass! Winds SW 6-10, partial cloudy.

Could see clouds building along the shoreline horizon [see photo], predicting possible TSM, which were in the wx forecast, so were glad to get tied up before the TSM hit around 14:00/2pm.


Oasis [big corporation managing many] is an older marina, power pedestals really need maintenance, but docks are floating concrete squares. Large - estimated 500 slips; pleasant staff; 10' depth. We docked w/o any help and with ease - slight wind helped push us into the dock. There is really attractive paving stone walkway running the length of the marina [see photos]; nice office and grill/bar/lounge area. Docs are all locked gates, 60-100 slips per dock.


Marg made lunch while I adjusted lines, etc. - had something new and very delicious - a grilled butter sandwich with Havarti cheese. Really good, but will look forward now to a Tilapia and veg. roasted tin foil wrap with a creamy pea salad to offset the lunch!


Big News: checked engines as usual - NO COOLANT LEAKAGE. The catch pan under the engine remained dry, the pad was dry, no diluted coolant in bilge, and there was about an inch of coolant in the recovery tank - same as yesterday. Couldn't find any leakage on the coolant hoses/fittings either. Will leave well enough alone for now and monitor. Maybe the presence of the pan scared the crap out of the system so it would behave itself; and maybe tightening those ring clamps sufficed, [for now] but will order replacement coolant hoses for the 'Coolant to Manifold Return' section as it has been painted [none of the other hoses have been painted], meaning it is OEM and 15yrs old, and more likely to be ready to fail soon [same for the port engine]. Will also order a replacement Coolant Fill Cap, 15psi, for having on-hand [as recommended by an advisor I know :) ].

The engines ran well; little if any smoke staying at 1800rpm.


Here are links to webcams situated on the Great Lakes:

http://www.lakerart.com/links.htm

It's amazing what is now available, in real time. From the index of cams, just click on the one you might be interested in; this one is specific to Port Lorain, and shows our marina with L.Erie behind it!

https://www.erieshoreohio.com/live


Photos: see above. Marg grabbed a nice sunset - look closely and see the 'lighthouse' just beside the boat; the house is lite by flood lights and shows up nicely.


From Desk of Admiral:

About those fried butter sandwiches. They were meant to be grilled cheese but I got a bit too generous with the butter so they were soggy , fried, dripping butter with Havarti between the bread slices. Not very gourmet. Will avoid butter at supper. Need to give the arteries time to recover. [capt.note - but, they sure smelled good and tasted even better!! :) ]

We rarely if ever dock without someone around to catch a line. We managed a very nice docking on our own today. Too bad there was no one around to witness our skill! It seems the bigger the crowd on the dock the more entertaining our skills are.

We've had some Tstorms and rain since tying up here. We were glad to be off the lake before they started. So far there hasn't been much wind with the storms to kick up the waves on the lake. Heavy rain/flash flooding seemed more a concern off the lake.

Nothing else to add for tonight.


Planning:

Have confirmed reservations at Portside Marina on Kelley I., 30miles tomorrow, for 2 nights; then at Safe Harbor Toledo Beach, at the west end of the lake, another 41 miles, for Fri., Sat, and Sun. Trying to avoid travel on weekends - and TSMs.


Comments:

Ernie R  •  09 Jun, 2021 - Not much leaks at 10 mph! So proud of you all eating like the rest of us! Hope it was Land of Lakes butter with sea salt! Ummm good!