Don't know yet, but we're on the East side and could go anywhere between Mentor and downtown. I know there are a number of yacht/sailing clubs in the area, but I don't know about public access ramps yet. Any suggestions?

I am from the Greater Cleveland Area originally, and Rick and I now spend summers at Put-in-Bay at the western end of Lake Erie. I know about public launching areas in our area but not in the Cleveland Area.

I would think the first thing on your list would be figuring out how and where you are going to get your boat to the water.

Maybe Jake will have some suggestions (he used to sail out of Cleveland), but he is probably not going to be back on the forum until after the Steeplechase this weekend. Or maybe one of the OCRA (Ohio Catamaran Racing Association) people will have ideas.

Never been out to the Lake Erie islands, but have been across to Point Pelee on the Canada side (great for birding). It looks like they'd be a doable sail from Marblehead, weather permitting.

I'm sure there are public launches we'll be able to use, I just need to pickup a fishing map for the lake. If not, it'll be beach wheels and a whole lot of pushing and shoving.

A Boat US membership, don't leave shore without it.....

I'd also reccomend both a knife and whistle attached to your PFD, VHF radio, and drybags for cell phone and any other important items. Having a small parts bag with shackles, rings, etc.. is also reccomended. Make sure you also have a righting line on the boat too!

OK...to sum up, besides boat & trailer we have:

PFDs (with attached knife & whistle)
rash guards
wet suits
sail box
beach wheels (if trailer launching not an option)
righting line
harnesses
gloves
footwear
Boat US membership
cellular phone
VHF radio
dry bag(s)
spare parts (shackles, rings, wire, duct tape, etc.)

...and beer.

Probably better also include:

multi-tool
flashlight
batteries

Anything else?

Quote:

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Anything else?

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Yes. Probably the most important thing to have with you is lots of small pieces of line of various diameters and lengths. When something goes wrong and you need to jerry-rig something, rope is what you need.

anchor

My favorite piece of advice is to carry lots of small line and rope. I have personal experience with this. Somehow the pin that hold my tiller extension on feel out while 10 miles from where we had put in and the wind was giving it hell. We were able to rig up a new connection with some small line.

Also lots of pins shackles and bolts. If you see something that you can think of a way to use it, have it in the car. It will make sailing much more fun when you can just fix it and head on your way rather than cancle the whole day.

A roll of Duct Tape.


That thing kept me afloat when I was learning to sail Lasers.