LAUNCH 2013: Long Point Bay
Lake Erie
We finally got most of the work done on Sea Sprite. Bottom paint, varnish work and general cleaning.
We launched May 7th. First Mate and I assembled everthing and launched ourselves. It was a long day. We managed it with only a few glitches. The wind came up out of the east making it a bit difficult.
Sea Sprite sitting at her new very well protected dock at Rowan Bluffs.
LEARNING YEAR:
We had never sailed Long Point Bay before and even though we had boated here with our old Crestliner (stinkboat) years ago, a sailboat is quite different.
The inner bay is very shallow in spots and a swing keel becomes your friend in a hurry. The weeds became a challenge later in the season. Larger waves (4-5 foot at times) and stiff winds had us reefing quite often. We even used the second reef on the main once.
We also had to use the GPS (chartplotter) as intended. First Mate became very good at this. Buoys and lights became important aids.
LIGHTS AND MARKERS AROUND THE BAY:
Port Rowan Harbour Light
Port Dover Marina Light
EC 10
channel marker
Long Point Lighthouse
Port Dover Harbour Entrance
We started sailing early in May and as you can see the air was cool.
We really enjoyed the long spinnaker runs. We had some last over two hours without touching anything.
We also enjoyed what the First Mate calls destination sails. We sailed to Ryserson Island, Pottahawk sandbar, Bluffs bar, and to the tip of the point. We also sailed to most of the Towns and Marinas around both the Outer and Inner bays.
Anchored off Ryerson Island
Sailed to Port Rowan for dinner.
Pottahawk Sandbar.
Our two biggest sails were to the tip of the point and a sail to Port Dover.
The trip to Dover and back was done over two days. We rented a transient slip for the night. We sailed a total 36 nautical miles from our dock back to our dock.
The Trip from our dock to the tip of the point and back was done on one day. We sailed\motored a total of 41 nm. It was a long day. Left our dock around 10.am and returned 12 hours later.
FRIENDS and FAMILY:
Several friends and family members came down to check out Rowan Bluffs and the bay. Here are a few pics of some of them.
Even our part time dogs came down.
SUNSETS and WILDLIFE:
SEASONS END:
Sea Sprite was in the water until October 1st. A wonderfull fall day made it hard to take her out.
She was in a total of 147 days.
We slept over 26 nights and sailed a total of 620 nm.
The First Mate and I both consider the season a success and are making plans for Rowan Bluffs again next year.
