Sandusky - Cedar Point
 

We are planning a trip in mid August to Sandusky area and would like some help from those familiar with the area. We will be trailering in with 3 boats 35-43' and would like to know:
Were is a good ramp for these size boats.
Suggested marina to stay at.
Places to run to.
Suggestions for staying w/ boat in Put in Bay.
Anything at Kelly's Island.
Any places to stay away from to keep the props out of the repair shop.

Thanks for the help,
Rick

Definitely hit Kelleys ... Put in Bay is ok too :D

http://www.kelleysislandcasino.com/


Hook up with RHC. He is Mayor of Sandusky Bay .... :cool-smiley-011:

I dock at Cedar Point and will be more than happy to give you the information but I need to know if this is a Family trip or Adult trip and give me an age range. Trust me this info could make or break your vacation.

:DPlease don't hurt the newbies that come to our area! :p

This is the reason for pre-screening:cool-smiley-011:

Scott,
This will be an adult trip, no kids!

Rick

Lots of board members on here than can show you around. All In, Brace Yourself, RHC, ThrillSeeker, Wicked One just to name a few. Lots of cool places. Launch at the public ramp in Sandusky and reserve some docks at Cedar Point Marina. Casino at Kelley's and PIB are always good times. Keep us informed.


RAF

Now you're in for a treat!!!

Scott, show him how we party at the Islands!!!

I would invest in a GPS with charting. There are places you can get out and walk.

PIB is more of a madhouse every year. Dockage on the weekends is a mess. There's still lots of nice family things to see on the island and alot of history. Kelley's is quite nice too. There are two parks- one with the glacial grooves and another in the center- the old quarry. Wineries on both. Great bike riding for families. Really no lodging on Kelley's and SBI is always booked well in advance. With a boat you're probably better off at a mainland hotel anyway.

Should he not reserve his docking space now?

Great lodging on Kellys island. There are quite a few bed and breakfasts that I have stayed at before on the water. Very cool but arrangements would need to be made in advance. Or just reserve a dock at Porside(public marina on the island) Very nice acccomodations with shore power and facilities if you want to stay on your boat. Let us know in advance and we'll hook you up.


RAF

Check this out. All the contact info on ramps is located within the article.

http://www.ci.sandusky.oh.us/documen...skyArticle.pdf

Unless you like sleeping on the boat ... and not drinking and driving... There are public showers available at both islands ... specially if you hook up with some of the regulars up there. :D

O.K.

Cedar Point has transient docking but it's Cedar Point, fun for 1 day and overnight. CP has a couple of decent chain restaurants and of course some of the best coasters period!

Sandusky has a lot of Marinas and a great launch ramp. They don't have convenient docking for night life activities other than Fridays in the back Bay a fantastic lunch or late afternoon food and drink stop.

I would suggest making Kelly's Island and Put-In Bay your overnight choices they without a doubt will offer the most in the night life fun factor. Kelly's Island is the place most of us hang out at since it's a bit more laid back and kind of like the Cheer's (everyone knows your name) type atmosphere. Put-in_Bay will give you the younger crazy fun atmosphere but still a must do!

The Sandusky city ramp would be the best choice and dockage at Kelly's and the Bay will not be a problem. We (other locals) can suggest docks and send you links I'm short on time right now. I would also like to add you have made a great choice and without a doubt will have fun We are very proud of our area and love to show it off. If you are lucky enough to be here on a Sunday we hold church service at the Tiki bar over at Kelly's I can't say enough about standing at the rail bullchiiting with friends and letting the weekend stories turn into laughs!

Let us know the dates and when I or whoever else chimes in here gets a chance we can start giving links and docking suggestions.

Please visit islandpirates.neta lot of us hang out there.

For P-N-B
Dock at the public docks if you want to enjoy the party atmosphere. Check out the pool party during the day.They are first come first serve and mandotory rafting to 4 out. No in out w/ the boats. They fill up on alot of weekends. You will be in the heart of Downtown.
Theres other docks you can reserve in the area.
I never have stayed at these.
Fox's 419-285-4900
Miller Marina 419-285-5902
PNB Yacht Club 419-285-4505
Heres the number for the public docks a&c 419-285-2068
B dock 419-285-2076
Mazuriks in marblehead is a nice public ramp. We have never had any problems there. I have scene some big trailers in the parking lot. Docks might be a tad on the shorter side though for your sizes.
Shallow areas that I know to avoid. Across from Cedar point when heading out on to the lake,as well as in the Bay be carefull and north east corner of PNB.

Just so you know I assumed this would be a stay on the boat marina trip. One quick look at a chart with RHC, Myself or whoever is around at the time will give you the info to stay out of trouble. I would not consider a Hotel on the mainland during tourist season in Sandusky! It's not relaxing!

Ditto RG! There's no way I'd stay at a hotel if I had a boat! Too much fun to be had at the docks.

There's a lot for you to do in Sandusky. Decide how many days you want to spend at Cedar Point. I'd suggest you do that when you first arrive and get it out of your way personally. Stay at Cedar Point Marina.

After a few days at Cedar Point, decide how crazy you want your vacation to be. Put-in-Bay on the weekends is like Mardi Gras, it's crazy. A younger group, people don't respect boats like they should, they raft out 4 deep at the public docks, etc. I personally don't like PIB on the weekends unless I'm staying at a yacht club or someplace other than the private docks. PIB during the week is great, but not much of a crowd.

Kelley's is great all the time (I'm showng my age here, aren't I?). Not as crazy as PIB (unless Thrill and Donzi are there with Racegirl and our Sandusky mayor shows up:p:D), but it is one hell of a good time.

Portside is a great place to keep your boat. It's quiet in the evenings (Casino next to Portside is a little crazier as they party longer into the night, again, Thrill is there a lot), but you can rent golf carts (um, no open containers please or they will ticket you and they are strict about this), bikes or drive your boat all around the island area. Plenty to do.

OK, I've gone on long enough. I would begin making arrangemnents no later than late April, early May...things book up early in these parts! :evilb:

Wow!
Now that is a response from my OSO brothers/sisters!
Thanks everyone for the info.

Sounds like we will have a great time. We will be staying on our boats as long as we can get shorepower for the a/c.
Seems like we should be able to find some fun boat activities here. I need to read all of the info everyone provided and then get back to you with couple more questions.

Rick

No brainer here - you have to stay on your boat - half the fun is what happens on the docks.

This is a fan. Seems to be where most "go fast" guys hang out.

Would trail behind some people that have been on the lake. You can get into trouble even though you are miles off shore as far water depth.

PIB and Kelley's are awesome. It is the biggest thing I miss about living up north.

Also, one thing to keep in mind is the water can get very rough. I don't know what you are used to but it is by far the roughest water I have ever been on.

yea, the whole western end of lake erie:(

Cedar point on friday and stay there that night. PIB during the day on saturday, then stay on your boat (A or C dock.) Adam is the dockmaster and if you got there at the right time you could all raft off each other. First thing sunday morning head to Kellys and dock at the casino. You will see me at both islands every weekend. Post when it gets closer to the date and I will let you know what my group of friends with go fast are going to be doing. You'd be more then welcome and its always fun running in a larger group. Water can get rough but last summer from april to nov. I ran my boat every weekend and never thought I was over my head. Just pick your route if its blowing a strong Nor easter. My favorite thing to do is BS about boats at the Casino bar and enjoy watching all the boat activity. Great people and a real offshore boat feel.
Anyone taking their boat to Kellys island april 12th for early bird. I will be there with my boat, as long as its not snowing...

Did a three-day weekend at CP several years ago - the CP marina is the way to go. Go to the park for awhile (there's a seperate entrance to the park from the marina - no line, walk right in). Get's too hot, go back to the boat to relax and cool off a bit, back to the park for the evening. Get back to the boat, and watch the fireworks/laser show from the boat.
PIB was always a great time, and pretty crazy. From what I hear, it's gotten even crazier, and I've gotten older.
Never made it to Kelly's - the place was just starting to become a place to "GO TO" when I was up there. This year, I might just skip PIB and go to Kelly's from everything I've heard.

Ya can't beat Kelleys on a Sunday !

If the weather is deccent we may do earlybird.


rv - Check with the Island Pirates crew when it gets closer to the date you are planning, on any given weekend most of us are up there somewhere.

I need to make it a point to get out to the islands more this year!! I was thinking about doing the LEOPA Poker Run. The few times I make it out there it's usually during the week. Unfortunately, something else usually comes up... I just need to plan better.

Kellys is the place to be any given weekend......... Great people and great sites..........
Jr.

I have always enjoyed staying at the Crews Nest on Put-In-Bay they will take reservations for non members coming in mid Sunday leaving by mid
Friday. If you are there before the weekend and you want to stay Friday and Saturday night and there not full with there members they will let you stay over. You have your own well with water and electric plus clean showers & restrooms,hot tub, swimming pool etc. If you go there with a
group of boaters during the week it can be a great time without the crowds and waiting to get in somewhere.

Actaully, I was down in Newport, MI the other day practicing my beer drinking (gotta start training for summer!) and water was up several feet over last fall. Granted there was a pretty stiff Nor'easter coming in off the lake, but the locals said it's up a good foot over last year. Take whatever we can get! :D

We did this trip in 2005. RHC (in the Apache), Scott, and the LEOPA locals took great care of us. RHC even met us at the Sandusky ramp when we launched, went with me on a tour of Sandusky Bay, and helped us get a primo dock spot at the Casino!

Don't forget the Brandy Alexanders across the street from the Casino on Kelley's Island....

Thanks everyone for the input. We will be staying on the boat and coming in on Thur Aug 14 and leaving Sun Aug 17.
We boat on Lake Michigan so we have seen some steep rough water before (we try to avoid if possible). I understand Erie can be as bad and maybe steeper due to water depth.

Based on everyones response I was thinking of staying Thur at Cedar point, Friday night PutinBay and Saturday night at Kelly's. I would like to reserve a spot for all 3 boats at each of these locations (I called Cedar Point, no problem). I would prefer a pier with shorepower and water for each of the 3 boats. If we have to raft, it would be good if our 3 boats can raft together and still have 3 sets of power. We will be partying but I don't want some young drunk punk that doesn't give a sh** about boats stumbling across our boats with shoes on. From all of the suggestions which locations would you suggest we contact?

I will definately post on this thread when we get closer and maybe we can hook up with some of you and run a little or meet somewhere for a drink (if you know of any of those....:drink:).

By the way the pictures of the area and boats look great!
Rick

WHOOHOOO.. it is up a foot, that means we will have 14 insches of water this year

a few buddies and I took our kids to the park a few years ago..good time for all..especially the adult swim-up bar!

enjoy!

:drink:

They don't call him The Mayor for nuthin !!! :cool-smiley-011:

I called Sandusky about their ramp, they indicated boats 26 to maybe 30' max at the ramp. This ramp is located at 101 Shelby St (Shelby and Water). Is this the ramp some of you mentioned for our boats or did I get the wrong ramp? I see some have 42' Cig, 41' Apache do these go in at that ramp. We have a 43' Nortech in the group and don't want to drop axles off end of ramp in a hole.

Thanks for the help,
Rick

Yes this is the ramp we all use it will be o.k.! They have special large rig trailer parking for us up top making this a great place to launch and leave the rig in tact for a few days. The docks could be a bit longer but they will be fine for what your using them for.

It's a bit too early yet so I doubt if they have the docks in or a person that knows what they are talking about.

"Located on Sandusky Bay at Shelby and Water Streets, this nicely landscaped, hidden treasure seems like a tropical getaway. You can bask in the sun, grab a snack (and bait), drop your boat in the water, and enjoy a relaxing day of fishing. Call 419.621.1059 for more information."

O.K. I think "Tropical getaway" may be a huge stretch of someones imagination! You must of talked to the author!

There are other choices but Sandusky will be the best ramp to get you into CP for your first day. If it's blowing a Northeaster it wont effect you. Same with bad weather or coming in at night. Plus chances are very strong that one of us will be able to meet you there and point you in the right direction.:D

CP - you're making Thrill and I sound bad!

If you want to make reservations for the group at Kelly's - Portside is the way to go. I doubt that the Casino would have trouble fitting you in though

Ladd's marina is good marina at PIB but I'm not sure of their dock length. I know it's over 35. Someone else can probably give you better info about a marina to reserve at PIB

Not at all.....just want him to know he's in for a memorable weekend sweetie:-) ;)

Thanks Scott, that is the one. Sounds like we are good to go in/out there and trailer parking for weekend is good.
Come on summer!!!