Sunday Boat Ride

We finally took our inaugural ride on Ron's boat last Sunday!

The morning was beautiful, so we grabbed our friends, Larry and Linda, and headed to the marina. Luckily, Larry and Linda were better prepared than we were. I worried about getting to Dick's Sporting Goods the day before to get me a life preserver (I wanted to make sure we had one that FIT me!) while Larry and Linda thought to bring a cooler of ice and soda. That was a darn good idea as it turned out!

Note to self: Make sure WE think to carry beverages on to the boat on a hot summer day!

Anyway, I tried to take some pictures to capture our first journey. And, since I'm blogging about it, we made it back in one piece!

Here is Captain Ron and First Mate Larry, taking the boat out of the slip. I was so proud of Ron! It looked like a tough job to maneuver that big boat through the tight marina but he handled it like a champ going out and coming back in! Way to go, honey!


When we were out of the slip, I turned backwards to show where we came from. Ron's slip is on the near right, between that boat and the blue dock. I'm telling you, it's tight in there! It was even more amazing watching Ron bring the boat back in and back it into the slip! But, I'm getting ahead of myself here.


It seemed to be a long ride going from the slip, through the marina, through the river, before we got out onto Lake Erie. The part I really liked about this long drive to the Lake is I was really terrified, and, this gave me about 10 minutes or so in a no wake zone to try to get my sea legs under me. A no wake zone means you have to go really slow so that you don't produce a wake behind your boat. I was A-OK with the grandpa speed to start out with! And, it was a beautiful drive along the way.

We had to go under a couple of bridges, which felt kind of weird. One of the bridges we went under had a bunch of swallows and their nests under the bridges. Even at no wake speed, we went through too fast for me to get any good pictures. I just wasn't prepared because when I first saw all of the nests under the bridge, I thought they were hornet's nests! Shows you what I know! But, they set me straight and seeing all of the birds down there as well, it sure made sense that I was seeing their nests. Oh well, next time I'll try to get better pictures.

Here is one of the bridges, a railroad trestle over the water. I got one picture as we were coming up to the bridge and I tried to get one as we were under the bridge, but you know, I suck at photography!



The next bridge is Liberty Avenue in Vermilion. I think this is also Route 6 but I'm not sure. I still get confused between the roads here and the roads in Erie! Route 6 runs along the Lake in Erie so I assume it does here too! No wonder I'm always lost!


After this bridge, we were on our way through the channel to get out of the Vermilion River and out onto Lake Erie.


Now I was starting to get REALLY nervous! I tightened my life preserver and hung on tight!


Before I knew it, Ron hit the gas and away we went! It was a picture perfect day with blue skies, moderate temperatures and pretty calm waters!


Anyone that knows me, knows I am afraid of everything. Once we were out on the water, I about freaked! Where are the lanes? Where are we supposed to be? Does he see the other boats out there? Does he realize that we are on a collision course with about ten different boats? Aargh! Who in the hell has the right of way out there?

All in all, I think I did well. I only screamed once and didn't badger Ron at all (at least not that he could hear!) about slowing down or watching for that boat or whatever. It was a scary experience, but yes, in spite of it all, I had fun.

We headed over to Huron to a place that they heard was good for swimming. There was only one guy there enjoying the water, and I think the water was a little shallower than we bargained for so we didn't stay. Besides, none of us had suits with us but luckily, we did have a cooler of iced cold soda! We did sit there and drift around for a bit, just enjoying the scenery while we cracked open a couple of Frescas. MMMM.

Here is a shot of Linda, cool as a cucumber, with a life preserver on, just enjoying the ride.

And then there's me! Pay no attention to that death grip I have on the boat! I really was enjoying myself, most of the time!


The morning was beautiful, but the afternoon was getting pretty damn hot. We were out for about three hours and by the end of that, I was absolutely done. We packed up our stuff, zipped and snapped the covers back on the boat and we all headed home. I for one, enjoyed a nice long nap on our couch in the air conditioning back home! Now that's a way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Thanks for the ride, honey! You really did a great job with the boat!!