Ready for an Adventure

We motored into St. Clair Shores, Michigan, just ahead of a squall.  We got the boat all secured before the rain came, and I enjoyed a rain shower on the afterdeck, managing to get all the shampoo out of my hair with rainwater.  Nice!  We had dinner plans with Randy’s sister and her husband, Judy and Don.  We had a lovely dinner at the Beach Grill, and another farewell . The next day, Monday, we visited my Mom and brother George, with more leavetaking to tug at the heartstrings.  By Tuesday, we were ready to head downriver and across Lake Erie to Put  In Bay, a lively little harbor in the Lake Erie Islands of Ohio we were looking forward to visiting as our first stop outside our home waters.  I told Randy that I was ready for an adventure to clear out the cobwebs.

We motored in sunny, hot, calm conditions until around 1:30, when the engine changed pitch and then stopped.  Randy went below into the engine room and for the next five hours he sweated and labored, huffed and puffed, cussed and swore.  After checking fuel filters , etc. he replaced  the fuel lift pump, but to no avail.  I stood watch throughout the airless afternoon, hand steering and working every faint puff of wind to make our way toward Put in Bay.  I managed to gain three miles in 5 hours.  The sun was going down, and the Chief Engineer was exhausted and discouraged, so we lowered the outboard motor down to the dinghy and tugboated Mighty Sinbad into the harbor, arriving well after dark. We prepared for all the possibilities (anchoring, docking, running into things) and managed to snag one of the mooring balls. Then, exhausted, went to sleep.  In the morning, Randy declared “it’s gonna run”..  he forgot to bleed the  injector pump.  Once done, the motor fired right up!

The Chief Engineer has requested that in the future I be careful when wishing for an adventure!!

Here's the Rennaissance Center in Detroit...

And downriver Zug Island, looking like The Dark Lord Sauron's Workshop

and here's Randy in Put-In Bay, OH, enjoying liberty after his engine room marathon.

Please excuse the long delays between postings...we have found wifi to be much less "accessible" than we expected.   All the Best, Di