Oh! Oh! Oh! Ohio

Ashtabula light

Sunset at Geneva State Park

We left Erie, PA after spending the Fourth of July there. We had hoped to see some fireworks, but we were told that with the budget cutbacks Erie could only afford one fireworks display and this was reserved for the Erie Days festival held in August. So the next morning we eased out of the harbor and headed for Geneva State Park. We had really good weather for this run and the lake was calm. So calm, in fact, that we toyed with the idea of pushing on to Cleveland. However, after we had done the 50 miles to Geneva State Park, we decided to pull in and spend the night. This is a nice marina, but the transients were placed on a wall at the far end of the marina and we literally had an approximate one-half mile walk to the showers and restrooms. To make the transients feel better, we guess, there was a portable toilet next to us, but Jane said it was one that only men would use! Since the marina was less accommodating than others we had used, we didn't spend any money here and turned in early for a long run to Vermilion, OH the next morning.

Sunrise at Geneva State Park

Cleveland at a distance

At McGarvey's Landing

Lots of boats & condos

Vermilion Yacht Club

We left Geneva State Park around 0600 the next morning for a 70+ mile run to Vermilion. Overnight the wind kicked up some and the lake was rougher than the previous two legs. We decided to bypass Cleveland, since we would only get to spend one night there, and try and come back and visit by car. Our goal was to get to Marblehead, OH on Thursday, July 7, so we could rest up and organize the boat for the party that was being planned for us by family members on July 9. We hit Cleveland around noon and rolled into Vermilion around 1500. Vermilion really impressed us. There are several lagoons that have been dredged along with a river and boats are everywhere. The river is wall-to-wall boats for over a mile from its mouth and there are several yacht clubs and marinas along the way. The guide said that reservations are recommended for weekends and it is not hard to imagine why. In fact, this is one place that we probably wouldn't want to visit on a weekend due to the congestion. We tied up to a wall at McGarvey's Landing and paid our $1.50/foot dock fee to the Vermilion Port Authority. Jane took off to do some shopping while Capt. Larry did some boat chores. We decided to go to the Quaker Steak & Lube restaurant for some beers and appetizers and then finish some leftovers we had on the boat. It was bike night at the restaurant and we viewed the motorcycles and some TV while we ate some not-so-interesting food.

Cedar Point amusement park

Marblehead lighthouse

The next day we had some time to kill. We called our Marblehead Lakeside hosts, Pam & Kevin Vogel, who said that they would be available around mid-afternoon to guide us into our dockage that they had arranged for us. Since it was only a 20 mile run from Vermilion to Marblehead, we went shopping for souvenirs in the morning. We visited with some other boaters and had lunch, then decided to head out for a slow ride to Marblehead, arriving around 1500. We no sooner cleared the Vermilion breakwater when we got a call from Kevin & Pam that they we on their boat and getting ready to meet us. We didn't want them to have to wait a long time for our arrival, so we put the boat up on plane and scooted over to Marblehead. This actually worked out better as going faster reduced the choppiness of the waves that were on our starboard beam. We got to our slip and secured the boat then had some cold ones with Kevin & Pam. It was really great to seem them again.

Kevin & Pam on Slow Ride