Erie PA to Huron OH

The marina in Erie was inside this walkway between
 the hotel & convention center. Even sailboats
made it under.

After retrieving (“I before E, except after C”) our “stuff” from Waterford NY, we took a couple “down days” where we did basically nothing.  All this cruising can be fun, and seeing the different places can be exciting, but at some point, it can also be exhausting.

Sue thought the seagulls on the pilings were
all statues!  I gotta keep her out of that hot sun!

While in Erie, we did drive around to find a couple beer pubs, so the Admiral could sample the local brews.  We also learned a bit of local history, especially as it relates to the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812, and Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry (what kind of mother names her son Ollie Hazard?!?).  He built most of his fleet at Erie, and used it as his base after the battle.  The state of PA has constructed a full-scale replica of his second flagship “Niagara”, which sails regularly around the lakes.  We went aboard for a tour & also visited the museum associated with the ship.

We're sitting at a waterside bar when the "Niagara"
passes by on her way out into the lake.  Not every day
you see an old sailing ship sailing by!

OK Mouseketeers, your history trivia for today is the fact that during the Battle of Lake Erie on Sept 13, 1813, Commodore Ollie had his little brother on the ship with him.  His little brother Matthew would eventually create his own place in history when he becomes Commodore of a fleet of ships in 1853-1854 to sail to Japan to open the country to US trade, ending Japan’s 200+ years of isolation.  You’ll have to read the “fine print” in the history books to learn about all this.

Our maintenance on the boat included hiring a diver to inspect the hull and water inlet strainers.  One of my “girls” had been running hot since Kingston.  (My engines are my “girls”, so when we’re cruising, I tell Sue that I’m going below to see my girls, because they get me all hot & sweaty).  It turns out that the external hull strainer was plugged with weeds that we “inhaled” during our anchorages in the 1000 Islands.  I also had to remove the hose from the internal sea cock & flush the system to remove the rest of the weeds.  So, all this clear clean fresh water seems refreshing (how’s that for a play on words?), but it can create new maintenance problems.

And did I tell you that the spiders thrive around this fresh water?  They have taken over our boat!  At least in the salt water, only the very hardy spiders can survive.  Now, we have a floating hotel full of spiders!

We departed Erie for the 160 mile trip to Huron OH.  The weather looked good (doesn’t it always when you leave port?), but this time the Lake actually obeyed the weather forecast.  We made it a two-day trip, rather than three, but they were 8+ hour days (it takes a while when you crawl along at 10 mph).  Water was calm enough that we let “Otto the Pilot” a.k.a. autopilot, drive most of the day.  Huron has a nice small municipal marina that can just barely handle a 48’ boat, and charges only $25/night during the week.  And the first of all our relatives lives only 4 miles from the marina.



This is Perry's Monument in Erie PA.  All you folks
at Put-In-Bay should be jealous!

We’ll keep the boat here for about 10 days while we visit all the relatives, and drive to Mansfield OH to visit Sue’s uncle, and then to Chattanooga to care for Sue’s mother.  Yes, there are mornings when we wake up & can’t remember what town we’re in!