Chair repair (thanks to Molly Brown crew for this find)

Lake Erie in a mellow mood, which is said to be somewhat rare

Lots of debris, most of it smaller than the boat

Two more logs you wouldn't want to hit at speed

Cleveland TC255 owner Tom, who has 'never seen another Tom Cat up here'

Oasis North marina, in the heart of downtown

Surely one of the lowest air draft bridges just off the Loop

Erie debris had to make three 90-degree turns to get into this marina

Erie, PA to Cleveland, OH

June 25 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 73 °F

We cruised 105 miles of the southern shore of Lake Erie in calm conditions with ony non-whitecapping wavelets, averaging 23-27 MPH. There was an incredible amount of leg size to telephone pole sized logs in the water from recent storms. Also some massive debris fields to avoid. Some were just twigs, but you worry that twig may be6x8 attached to a deadhead tree. If you see a bunch of seagulls standing on the water that is charted as being 43 feet deep, something is just not right. Eileen said it was just not right that those gulls had 43 foot legs. We heard and felt little hull bumps that were TNTC. Lower units never kicked up. We had smooth sailing into the miles long breakwater protecting Cleveland. We again chose a well protected marina with floating docks. Our walk into town was hazy, hot and not humid...53% humidity. We’re at upscale Oasis North marina, which surprisingly does not have AC in the bath house.

What Broke:

A bolt that supports the camp chair back. Eileen managed to thread a zip tie through for a temporary fix.

The 120v helm area GFI outlet that powers all the cooking and coffee went dead. The connectors didn’t look bad (for a 15 year old boat) and the fuse is good. I’ve had to replace it before, but of course the fault could be in the AC panel or wiring. The marina staff said the nearest source would be Home Depot and there isn’t one in downtown Cleveland on the water. Eileen got a Lyft to Home Depot and back with a Leviton GFI just like the old one. It wouldn’t come on either. Eventually, I decided to read the instructions (which I don’t think should be necessary; that’s why I like Garmin stuff). It turns out that the Reset button won’t work unless power is on, and I didn’t have power on in that circuit with exposed terminals while working on it with screwdrivers and pliers. Behold! Powered right up, and we got a $19 GFI installed for $59 if we value my labor at $1.25/hour.

Yesterday the ship VHF refused to power up all day. Fuse good. We weren’t worried since we have three handhelds with us and are staying within a mile of the southern shore. Today it powered right up repeatedly. I suspect it’s been secretly communicating somehow with the truck air conditioner blower.Read more