At 5am, before first light we left our anchorage at
Middle Percy for the 14 hour trip south to Port Clinton (and internet
coverage). All started as planned. An hour into the trip and the winds swirled
in the wrong direction and the swell rose way above that predicted.
We had waves crashing over the front of our bow and
coming in through the hatches. We were
thrown about and lost quite a few things overboard. The inside of the boat was a mess. Everything we owned had been thrown around
inside the cabin. Outside, we were at an
angle of about 20 degrees and our gunnels were in the water. At one point, Michael was trying to save our
canopy from going overboad and we almost lost him overboard. I was holding on to the top of his shorts. If he was going overboard, he was going
without pants!!!
There is no doubt the boat can handle it… but the
inexperienced crew are another matter completely (namely me). The kids handled it quite well but the dog
and I came apart at the seams. Whilst
questioning my sanity (and coming up with no answers), I decided we couldn’t
continue in this vein and as navigator, looked to the maps for inspiration and
answers. I saw Duke Islands were the
closest islands to us and the easiest to get to with the weather conditions in
favour of that heading. Three hours (and
a very puckered sphincter) later we were dropping our anchor at Marble
Island. The anchorage was not great and
it was a lumpy old time there but it was better than losing our pants-less skipper
overboard. We decided we’d sit until the
conditions improved before heading further south. The location was actually beautiful but undertaking
repairs was a priority.
The island is part of a cattle station and we could
see cows as well as deer showing up on the beach in the morning.
We got our repairs out of the way on Wednesday and
just “sat” on Thursday waiting for better conditions for our trip down
south. Again, it was lumpy and the dog
knows this can be fixed purely by running up and down the centre isle of the
boat continuously. You’d think after 3
hours and no change to the conditions, he’d give up. But no!
He’s a true professional and continued on for at least 15 hours. The occasional ripping of my skin in blind
panic broke the monotony every now and then and kept him focussed.
Late Thursday, the swell died down and whilst
sitting on deck, Michael and I witness mating turtles! I got a pic of it but you can only see the
top turtle as the other is underwater.
Just remember, I’m the place for all of your turtle porn (although
obviously not good quality turtle porn).
Friday morning we had decent conditions and set out
for Port Clinton. Most of the 10 hour
trip was uneventful but 2 hours out from
Port Clinton, we started getting hit with a swell from the side which made the
end of our day another gunnel submerged, “dog pacing” event. We anchored at Port Clinton and managed to
get the much sought after internet access I was looking for… for about 30 mins
until the tide dropped and my internet connection was severed.
5.00am Saturday morning saw us lift the anchor
again and head for Great Keppel Island.
Familiar territory with friendly faces!
We had a slight wind and a helpful tide on our side. 8 hours and we were dropping our anchor at
Long Beach. My much sought internet
access and a drink with our dear friend Pete was just what the doctor ordered!
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