DAYS 50-53: Cleveland to Put-In-Bay, OH

Cleveland to Put In Bay Island OH: 11.1 mph; 58.2 miles; 5:18 hours


IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE MICHIGAN & GREAT LAKES: 

Michigan Harbors are operated by the state: midnrreservations.com the site includes information for the Ohio area as well.


The site has a sliding scale with set prices. It was pretty helpful when we planned our next stop. I decided to download the pdf Michigan.gov/Harbors and have all the marina numbers with amenities in one place. If you are making a last minute reservation, ditch the app and call the marina directly.




Put-In-Bay, OH

B Dock is the place to stay, during the week: $2.00/ft with electric and water. The bathrooms are free to the community in the downtown area but the showers are, wait for it, bought with tokens. A $3.00 token will get you 8 minutes in the shower. You could buy two tokens for $5.00/20 minutes. I have no idea if the water is instantly hot or not. I was of the mindset - boat hair don’t care.


This island is so different. It has a Key West vibe spring and summer but when winter comes, the bars shutter for the winter and everyone heads to Key West - bars owners and staff. I guess that's a good way to keep a solid staff happy. PIB has a ton of restaurants and little shops. You might want to rent a golf cart, you see them for rent everywhere, it's a good way to see the island. One of the highlights is the 'Boat House'. It’s part of a boat turned into a house - the idea and design was decided one night on a bar stool with a dare. 


The island's motto Don’t Give Up the Ship is a quote from a military hero, Commodore Perry, and has a strong influence among the islands. The 'Boat House' homeowner take the motto seriously.


The Perry Monument is something to see. It is a little shorter than the Washington Monument and you can see everything. We were lucky enough to meet the right people and enjoy the view during sunset with a few drinks - what a treat! 

Put-in-Bay, OH - House That Was a Ship

The BoatHouse; picture by RoadSideAmerica


ALTERNATIVE TO PUT-IN-BAY: You could moor or dock/anchor across the lake at Catawba and catch the ferry over for a day trip. This wasn’t an option for us because we had friends meeting us on the island. John and Monica Zorich, along with Scott and Kim Smith, were camping on the island. How fun was that! Seeing ‘our people’ after 50 days and fall back into step. I can’t wait to meet up with them again in Key West!

Mid America Boat Show Opens January 18th w/ Put-in-Bay Night - News

Picture from ohio-put-in-bay.com

IMPORTANT TO NOTE ABOUT B DOCK: 

B dock is a little quirky. You need the boater mentality to dock here. Remember the guy I wrote about who wanted us to move our boat off the dock so he could dock? He would not do well here. 

B Dock reserves the right to move your boat up or back in order to make space for other boaters and we saw them raft boats of similar size (everyone is charged the same price - electric or not). We are 38 feet and only staying a few days so they left our boat out of the raft ups - plus we left on a Thursday before the real party started. The dock masters are professional and know what they are doing so moving us up and back wasn’t an issue. 

If I was staying for a longer period of time, I would select a different dock/marina or even the anchorage. I'm not real comfortable with the responsibility of other boaters passing along my swim deck (no matter their sobriety level). It seemed as though, the local boaters travel in packs and were well aware how this all worked. They look forward to it and watching them was so much fun - free entertainment.

Remember the round Oriental Rug we found ... you can see it for yourself at B Dock in PIB!


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