Ashta-beeeaauutiful

We had such a great time in Ashtabula, Ohio on Lake Erie. After a long crossing from Middle Bass Island, we finally made the midnight bridge into Ashtabula Yacht Club, where our friend John had rounded up the usual suspects to light up our landing strip, catch our lines and welcome us in. It was really nice to be back at the AYC and get some much needed R&R in a welcoming, friendly place for the holiday weekend. Among John's many talents is cooking, and cook he did. He cooked up a great bbq the following day for the AYC members and us, followed by Sunday morning pancake breakfast on the grill!! With our bellies full, and feeling rested, we got to work on Monday. Among other odds and ends, I did an oil change and the dreaded laundry task, and Nick ran a new power cable to our chart plotter, which had pooped out on us on Lake Huron. While we were grateful to have Navionics and Active Captain on the iPad, along with our trusty compass as a suitable backup, I really like having the plotter, with its additional information like AIS, particularly at night.

We had caught up with old friends and met some new ones, but it was finally time to move on. The commodore and his wife Theta helped us cast off our lines and waved goodbye on Tuesday morning. This is one of the beautiful parts of cruising, meeting interesting people, kindred spirits. Beauty is in the slowing down, the conversations, the genuine connections we make with other people which for some reason seem easier to do in our community on the water.

We said goodbye to Ashtabula and carried on 74nm to Dunkirk, NY, crossing state lines once again and putting the boat on the dock around 8:30 pm. I will save the story of that passage for the next post, but suffice it to say that the old saying that sailing is hours of sheer boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror is an accurate description.