Join us from land or sea to participate in this time honored tradition to protect the vessels that travel on our rivers and lake. This historic event has been occurring in the Ashtabula Harbor for 69 years. -An informal blessing on boaters in the 1930s began when a priest at Mother of Sorrows Church decided to give some local sailors a special blessing before they set sail for a season of shipping on the Great Lakes. In 1949 the blessing of the boats was added and in the 1970’s.