That's How We Reul

 We're just about to turn into White Lake...almost home. This has been a great week- a great adventure. We've learned a lot about sailing and had good time to unwind and reconnect.  We started out this morning in the rain. We went to breakfast at Brenda's Harbor Cafe and rested a bit while the lightening passed. Then, since we had nearly 7 hours ahead of us with the potential for more storms this evening, we gave Chad's foul weather gear a try. Since I don't have gear yet, I stayed below watching Master Chef (so good!).  Weather cleared by noon and has been great all day. We had some motoring but lots of sailing, too. A great way to close out the week. We ate a fraction of what we brought, since we ate out a lot...so I guess we can provision for two weeks! Next year, we're hoping to get up to Mackinac but we're happy with the progress we've made this year...and glad to be home. Cheers to new adventures and dreams!

 This has been a really great trip but we are starting to miss our bed, our dog, and the kids. It'll be good to be home.  We left Leland on Wednesday and headed back to Frankfort. About 7 hours with a mix of sailing and motoring.  We anchored in Frankfort and had a nice walk around and dinner at Papano's Pizza . We discovered that our fridge wasn't working - not sure why - so we loaded up on ice. After breakfast on Thursday morning, we headed out again. It was a super calm day so we motored to Ludington. After a couple hours, we were hot and sticky so we rolled out the foam mat to cool off. I scoffed at this purchase but am glad that Chad insisted!  We were greeted at the Ludington harbor entrance by a sailing race (not sure wht they decided 2 knots of wind was good for a race...). We weaved our way in and came into Harbor View Marina for the night.  After showers, we headed out for a walk and then to the Timbers Steakhouse for dinner. The food was good but th...

 Yesterday we had a nice little hike around South Manitou Island but quickly realized that we'd forgotten our bugspray. Without a little DEET, we weren't going to make it very far. I was mostly using my big camera so more pics to come. Heading back to the beach, we got the call that we had a slip in Leland Marina for the night. We took a quick dip and then started packing up to head inland. It was a really calm day (our flag wasn't even flying) so we motored again. We saw one freighter- amazing how big those ships are! Once checked in, we walked around Leland's Fishersman's Village. It's super quaint with little shops and lots of historical information about the fishing industry of the late 1800's -1950's. Finally got some icecream, too- first of the trip! Back at the dock, we made some frieds who were mid-way through the Great Loop on their 44' cruiser Happines Is.  Last year, Chad and I were conflicted on whether to go for a sailboat or powerboat...

 It's hard to believe we only left for this trip 5 days ago...time seems to pass differently on the water. Yesterday was a super calm day. We left Frankfort around noon, having stayed to get our GPS maps working (finally!). We motor sailed for a while but the wind didn't last too long. Finally, we pulled in the sail and enjoyed watching Sleeping Bear dunes go by. We got into South Manitou Island about 5pm,  anchored in the cove, and enjoyed a relaxing evening.  We're heading to the Island for some hiking and swimming while we wait to hear if we got a slip in Leland tonight.

 What a night! Not much sleep, even on this little lake. As we were winding down for the night, we watched a larger sailboat drag its anchor and collide with another boat.  Our anchor dragged once, right before I was about to turn in. But we reset, watched for a while, and went back to bed.  It was tough getting to sleep- the wedding across the lake was getting going. I finally fell asleep around 11:30pm. I woke up at 1:30am to the anchor alarm- we were dragging again, this time into the shallows.  I got Chad up and we looked around for a bit at our options. We decided to move inland more, between two other boats. The wind was gusting between 20-25 mph, so it was difficult to hear Chad's directions. But the next time we dropped anchor, it held. 3rd time's the charm.  We both sat up for a while to make sure we wouldn't drift. We watched another boat get lose and have to reset closer to shore, as well. I wondered what would happen if we just tied up at the gas doc...

 What a day! After over 13 hours of sailing, with much stronger wind and 3-6 ft. chop, we have anchored in Frankfort.  So far, we've traveled 87 nautical miles in the last two days. Lots of beautiful dunes today. There were a couple points today that made my heart race but Blue Jay is pretty solid and built for heavy weather. I was glad for life jackets, especially as Chad was reefing the mainsail (while I wS praying and mentally reviewing Man Over Board recovery procedures). We hit our speed records of over 7.3 knots, though we stayed pretty steady around 6 knots throughout the day. Wind was ranging anywhere from 6-13 mph, gusting to 17 mph as we were coming into Frankfort's channel...while trying to avoid a bunch of kite surfers! Another first was using our gimbled stove for breakfast coffee and prepping dinner. Nice to have some amenities.  After dinner, we took our dinghy (Little Bird) to the beach for a refreshing swim. Chad went for an early bed and I'm reading and ...

 About 2am the wind started picking up to around 12mph. Our anchor was holding really well but we had a rare east wind and Chad was ready for adventuring. I was awake anyways, so we hauled up the anchor (can't wait until the windless is installed!) and continued our treck north. Now that I've enjoyed the warm breezes and nearly full moon, I'm heading back to bed.

 What a beautiful day! We didn't leave our harbor home until 3:30pm due to some technical difficulties (grr...our maps haven't correctly downloaded onto our GPS). But it gave us the opportunity to have a farewell lunch at one of our favorite local places, Oh Brothers (amazing!). Winds were super light and the big lake was amazingly calm. We turned on the autopilot (so great to have!) and enjoyed cruising north. After we were out on Lake Michigan, we stopped for a swim. The water was perfect (and how often do I say that?!). We rolled out the foam floating mat and relaxed for a while in the clear, blue water, washing away all the stress of the start and getting into vacation mode. When we were ready, we packed up and continued motoring north. Beautiful water, very few boats, a mediocre book, good company, lots of food...what more can we ask for?! We made it up to the Crystal Lake dunes at sunset and called it good...at anchor tonight.  The wind is supposed to pick up around 4am...

 We're (finally) almost ready to head out! Bags are packed, dry ice is bought, and food is ready. Just buying some cases of drinking water and then we'll be heading out.  What we've learned already is that nothing goes according to plan. We've noticed how easy going sailors tend to be - timelines are fluid, we're at the mercy of the winds.  When telling people we were heading out for two weeks of sailing, we kept getting the questions - When do you leave? Where will you go? We shrugged and said, we'll see what the weather brings. We have hopes and plans, but no real idea what's about to happen. A couple weeks ago, we decided that we were foolish to leave without upgrading some of our gear. The wind instruments were frozen, the water system wasn't working, the GPS was from 2008, and there was no auto-pilot. Standing at the helm for 6-8 hours each day was not going to be fun. So, while I headed back to MN to celebrate my goddaughter's 4th birthday, Cha...

The Covid-19 pandemic messed up a lot of plans. I'd been waiting for 2020 for a long time. It was going to be a big year: mine & Chad's 10th anniversary, both boys graduating (college and high school), a milestone birthday for Chad. I was planning a big party for this epic year...then came the lock-downs.  Being a meeting planner focusing on international work, I was furloughed most of the year leaving me a lot of time to think and dream about what might be ahead. As an essential worker, Chad was never off work but it slowed down quite a bit in the early months of the lock-down.  Like many people, we took advantage of crazy low interest rates and refinanced the house - planning to finally finish our basement...but then we spent a day on Lake MI with our brother and sister in law on their boat.  Despite growing up in the land of 10,000 lakes, I wasn't familiar with power boats (more canoes). I had no idea that boats outside cruise ships had AC! We had a delightful day ...