The Voyage to Home
It was decide to make the voyage back to Sandusky Bay beginning on Friday April9th and ending Saturday April 10th, we calculated we would make Kean's Marina on Friday and then begin again the next morning and go all the way to Sandusky, OH. I made the arrangements to have the boat picked up at the yard where it was sitting and then launched at the mouth of the Clinton River. I talked to the company that was moving the boat and the gentleman told me no problem and the fee was $450 to get the boat to the river. Ok so where we will actually put the boat in the water, who will pick it up and put it in the water. The man said oh no we will trailer it to a ramp and back it in and launch it. Huh, I never heard of launching a 35' 17000 lb boat from a trailer before. Are you sure about this? Of course I'm sure says he, I do it all the time. OK you are the Pro I will let you do your thing. The big day arrives and we drive to Detroit then north to Harrison Twp. and go to the boat. I have with me 3 friends who have foolishly agreed to do this with me, all are boaters and looking forward to a nice leisurely cruise to Ohio from Michigan. As I watched them get the boat on the trailer and assisted with getting the mast and top hardware lowered to make the short trip to the ramp. I really wondered about this whole launch thing from a trailer. Well I shouldn't have worried about that it was the vision of my boat going under the 13' clearance bridge on the way there that scared the dickens out of me. The boat had to have about 12' 9" off the ground when it went under that bridge and I was following in my car behind the rig. That actually turned out to be one of the scariest parts of the entire trip. Well I can now say that I have seen a 35 x 13 foot boat launched from a trailer like an 18 footer. And it was quite a sight to see the driver of the rig did know what he was talking about he backed the boat down and had me climb aboard then backed the boat down the rest of the way into the water. He then did some serious manipulations with the hydraulics of the trailer and I fired the motors. we got the rest of the crew aboard and checked that we had water coming out of the exhaust. the driver made some final adjustments and I backed the boat off the trailer and we headed out to Lake St. Clair. After a few minutes of running I noticed the port motor is overheating, I opened the cabin door to investigate and the cabin is full of smoke and smells like burnt rubber. Shut the port motor down I yelled, and went down below and opened some windows and the motor hatches to let it air out a little. In the process of checking things below before heading out I had stepped on the seacock and closed it to the port motor so we had fried an impeller. We decided we would continue to Kean's as planned and make repairs in the morning.
We continued on down the channel making approximately 10 mph on one engine it was only a 20 mile trip to Kean's but it was one of the longest 20 miles I had ever experienced little did I know. We arrived at Kean's without further incident just as it was getting dark. I now thought about what lay ahead docking a new to me boat on one engine and this being my first boat with twin engines. Well I can truthfully say that all those years of piloting a single I/O paid off big time I actually put the boat right into the slip without problem. We got our lines set and everything hooked up for power and such and proceeded to see about getting some food. We found a security guard at the main gate and he immediately demanded to know what we were doing in the marina. I explained that we had reservations and we wanted to know about how to get back in after getting something to eat, his reply was you are not on my list to be here. After several phone calls to the marina manager office person etc. we did have reservations and he told us we would have to be back at the marina by 1 am to get back in as he would be leaving then. Well by now it is past 9 pm and we need to eat bad. We inquired about the restaurant we could see from the dock called the Rooster Tail, the guard informed us that there was a canal between us and the restaurant and it would be a long walk around. We had him call a cab and get us a ride to the restaurant. The restaurant turned out to be a nice place the owner gave us a tour and explained it had been in his family for several generations, and was named because the hydroplane races on the Detroit River make the turn in front of the place. we enjoyed several cocktails and had dinner and discovered that it was now 1:30 am uh oh. We informed the bartender that we were ready and the owner had promised us a ride in his new van back to the marina. The bartender gave us our tab and one of our group put the money together and put it on the bar to pay the bill, he was distracted by someone saying goodbye to us and he turned back around to leave and the bartender asks what about the bill? We paid it he says, No said the bartender. Well to shorten this up someone had taken the money and we had to pay the bill twice. Our ride came out of the kitchen then and it was the busboy we get in the van and one of my group takes a look at the busboy and he is trashed, apparently he had been drinking all night at work but now we are on our way to the marina. Well we arrived safely but it is now 2am and no security guard. No problem we are all relatively in good shape we will just climb the fence. I go over it no problem, and as I am waiting I hear "give me a boost" then a small cry and the sound of a body hitting the pavement. Matt is on the ground and saying some very nasty things about Vern. Apparently Vern gave Matt a little more boost than Matt anticipated and he lost his grip going over the fence and fell the 8 feet from the top of the fence to the ground. We retire for the evening and hope tomorrow gets better.
We awoke the following morning with one of us having a severe hangover and one with a rather sore body the other two are just fine. So Vern and I went to the office to inquire about an impeller for the port motor. After a few hours we secure an impeller and I get to work changing it out. The impellers been changed we have full fuel tanks and we are ready to get going. We set out from Kean's and head down the Detroit River, the boat is making good time now running at approximately 19 mph and turning 3200 rpms. It looks like a good day the sun is out the wind is only blowing about 10 mph and it is 65 degrees, not a bad day for April 10th. We are following a Sea Ray down the river and at right around Wyandotte Yacht Club he pulls a crazy Ivan move suddenly stopping the boat in a narrow part of the channel and I pull the throttles back to neutral, the port motor quits right then. I reach for the key and the motor won't turn over. I get Matt to drive moving on one motor again and I head below. I check the batteries etc. looking for the problem finally I pull the dipstick on the motor and I have a chocolate milkshake in the oil pan. The wake coming over the transom had washed all the way to the motor when I pulled the throttles back like I did. Great we are back to one motor, now what do we do? After some discussion and consultation with Chris Craft owner Tim Toth (a commander guy) we decide to continue on as we all need to get back to Ohio. It is now about 2 pm and we are just past Wyandotte Michigan, we have about 65 miles to go and we are only moving at 12 mph (the river current was adding 3 mph to our speed) that means we are looking at about 6 to 7 hours to go. That will put us at the marina at around 8 or 9 pm not good that means darkness going in. We proceed down the river and into Lake Erie checking weather constantly on the VHF as the last thing we need is one of Erie's sudden storms we are in luck the good weather is going to hold all day. We exit the river and head across lake Erie. Middle Sister Island is our steering mark and it seems really far away even though it is actually only about 15 miles or half way to Put in Bay. we see 1 freighter on the lake and he is headed to Toledo so we are out here all alone. I make a few phone calls and find out that we have friends out on Kelley's Island which is near Put In Bay and also makes us feel better incase something happens. Needless to say we continue on and Middle Sister Island doesn't seem to get any closer I look behind and the shoreline is getting smaller but the island isn't getting bigger, it is just an illusion as Middle Sister isn't that big to begin with. Just for information we are actually in Canada until we pass Middle Sister Island. As we motor our way across the lake I keep trying to get a little more speed out of the boat and I find that 3200 rpms and some trim tabs I can get 12 mph out of her so we are doing a little better. We finally pass Sister island and continue on to South Bass island we are island hopping just in case we have a problem we can possibly beach the boat or at South Bass we can go to one of the docks as there are plenty there. So far so good as we approach South Bass Island the starboard motor coughs once or twice then picks up again. Oh NO not now not here I think and go below (Matt has been piloting as to relieve stress on me and leave me free for any mechanical issues.) I check everything I can think of and the only thing I can come up with is the fuel filter is getting clogged. We decide to keep on going and hope the filter doesn't get too bad we have spares on hand if necessary but the waves are running about 4 foot and it is not fun down below for very long.
We finally round Marble Head point at about 7:30 pm and it is fast getting dark. But that's ok we are in home waters and have navigated these waters many times in the dark. I leave Matt at the helm and there is on more minor problem Vern is out of beer and he gets cranky when he runs out of beer. We only have 2 beers left and Matt and Vern are looking like they might mutiny. I tell them to take the last two beers I'll go without. That keeps them happy for the moment. We enter Sandusky Bay and are almost home only a few miles to go. Vern makes a phone call and gets his wife to go out on the dock and see if there are any people around to help us into the slip. She finds a few people to help and we come into the marina pull down the channel and get the boat into the slip. I have never felt that much relief before or since. Everyone was home and safe after a long and adventurous journey which everyone will remember for a long time.