012 First Solo Anchorage in Sandusky Bay
Great Loop Prologue. Cedar Point Marina, June, 2016
(Note: I wrote this in June 2016, two months before the end of my August departure on the first solo anchorage at Bay Point near Johnson Island in Sandusky Bay. Mickey, my reluctant sea cat was not with me on this trip.)
Finally, after months of working on Sea Marie, I got her where she belongs. Safely anchored in a quiet bay with no one around.
Earlier yesterday afternoon I drove myself to Menards in Sandusky for dinghy bridle hooks and a look-see as this was the first time I was at Menards (The place is huge! and found boat batteries I'll get later at a good price) and Aldi for some provisions. I had this craving for a real salad and they were out of the regular salad in a bag. So I grabbed a head of lettuce and decided to cut up my own. Tried a new salad dressing Spicy Ranch. Not a big fan of ranch dressing but add a little spice and I'll try it. Not bad. Aldi's was out of hot chocolate as well. Oh No! Got to find a substitute. Ah, there it is… French Vanilla Cappuccino.
Before I left the dock for the anchorage I had 2 hot dogs on my son Greg's boat that Jen fixed up for me. She asked if I ever had Sriracha sauce. No, let's try it and found it is not so hot, I give it a 5/10. The spicy ranch hit a 6 but was short-lived.
So I finally anchor at sunset having motored on a flat lake from Cedar Point Marina towing the inflatable dinghy behind me. The new claw anchor I bought worked well on this hard sand bottom but I was getting a backwind every now and then that made Sea Marie ride up the anchor rode. Way too much anchor dancing for me so I backed up on the motor and threw out my 4.4 lbs claw lunch anchor off the stern. Now I have 2 anchors out, bow and stern. The depth was only three feet. I could have gone in closer to 2 feet but the trees blocked the wind and I wanted the breeze from the north to blow away any insects that got curious. Happy to say no significant flying bug life. Checked the marine forecast and it called for calm winds with no storms.
Got the screen up in the forward hatch and in the companionway just in case of a midnight insect rave onboard. Once the screens were up I turned on the lanterns for light and got to work on cutting up that head of lettuce for dinner and bagging the rest for later. You get a lot of iceberg lettuce for 99 cents. So the spicy ranch salad, cappuccino, and a cinnamon raisin bagel complete the ensemble. Sea Marie was gently swaying in the breeze and the winds in the trees on shore were singing a one-note melody. Skies clear with a waning quarter moon and Jupiter keeping us company. No Milky Way tonight. Missed the International Space Station flyby scheduled at 10:40 pm. Tried some night shots with the point and shoot and it is not good in low light and a swaying boat. One thing that really caught my eye was the moonlight on the water. Photos don't do it justice, just captivatingly mystical.
One of a number of firsts on this trip was towing the dinghy along. What a joy it was getting up at sunrise and setting out in the dinghy to explore the shoreline. Make no mistake, next time I'll take my Canon camera with the zoom lens. I noticed numerous fish carcasses and a good number of snake skins in the reeds. Saw something odd among the reeds, a busted mylar balloon fragment with a ribbon tied to a ziplock baggie. On retrieval, I found the baggie with water in it and a shred of waterlogged paper. Someone sent this balloon with a message that will never be read.
Rowed the dinghy a couple of miles and got a fairly good workout in. Inspected the outer hull before getting back on, secured all below, weighed both anchors, and motored south to avoid the sand bar then east back to Cedar Point Marina and my home dock. Still need more practice on Lowrance Hook 4 chart plotter/fishfinder and the Garmin GPS but that will come.
All in all, was a perfect 10 for the first night out, and hoping for many more of the same. Fair winds and gentle seas.
Comments from 2016:
Joyce Bailey Sounds like a perfectly beautiful and peaceful night. Feel sad that the message will never be read.
Ellen Perme, So peaceful!!
Sherry Thaler What a wonderful picture your words "paint" of the night out in the quiet waters. Loved the moon by the boat mast. The last picture almost reminds me of what a trip down a river in the Amazon might be like:-)
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