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We survived! It was big, it was scary, and it was necessary. I'm happy to report that Harold's heart surgery went "according to plan" and after a short stay in the hospital, he is home. I'm not gonna lie, this was hard. I listened to his heart and following the surgery, it sounds like lub dub, lub dub, lub dub rather than whoosh whoosh, whoosh whoosh, whoosh whoosh. We are looking forward to returning to Reflection. We'll be back on board when Harold can walk 30 minutes and be able to "hang on" and gets the Dr. permission. Initially we will need some extra hands on deck to help with sailing. Shoot us a message if you'd like to join us for a gentle sail on Lake Muskegon or Lake Michigan later this summer. Harold celebrating a week out of surgery with a…

That's what we are learning about. Most of our previous repair experiences have been - and no great surprise - on sailboats. From bilge pumps to wind vanes, hoses to prop shafts, and everything in between. And if you know Harold, he can repair anything! “If you can’t repair it, maybe it shouldn’t be on board.” —Lin and Larry Pardey Unfortunately, the mitral valve is not a DIY project. We have done our research and have found the best team to work on the repair. We met with Dr. Romano at Cardiac Center in Ann Arbor yesterday and have set the ball rolling to get Harold's mitral valve repaired or replaced.  We are very pleased with the team who will guide us through the surgery and recovery. He had a blood draw yesterday and scheduled a Cardiac Cath on Monday, June 30.  This will…

May 20, 2025 Over the last month, we have done a lot of routine maintenance and some upgrades to Reflection so that we could cruise all summer. I retired from the Southside Community Kitchen as of April 1 and we had plans to sail unhindered by a schedule and to go where the wind and weather were favorable. Our hope was to explore the North Channel, anchoring out, hiking, and enjoying the wilderness. We especially wanted to revisit South Manitou Island and to spend more time enjoying the beautiful anchorage and hiking the island. One of the things we loved last year was visiting all of the amazing farmer's markets - Frankfort and Northport provided most of our produce. Our dreams for this summer did not include finding out last week that Harold has a severely prolapsed mitral valve with regurgitation that requires…

Sleeping aboard a boat comes with unique night noises depending on wind, waves, and swing of the boat. During the day we don't notice the various creaking lines, slapping halyards, tapping snap fasteners, and squawking squeaks. Apparently the cue for these unsettling noises to start, is the moment you turn off the lights and start to nod off. "What's that sound?" is the predominate conversation, quickly followed by an anchor check to make sure no dragging is happening. Then settling down again, starting to nod off there is a tap tap tapping sound followed by a thump thump thumping sound, then a swing of the boat followed by a moan of the snubber line. On a calm night in a protected anchorage the noises are much less, maybe a lapping of a wave against the hull. The noises once identified are something we…