Monthly Archives: August 2024

Northern Lights

August 31 at 3:45am I got up to do an anchor check and I looked out and saw stars, so I unzipped the enclosure and noticed rhythmic and shimmering light coming from our starboard side. I woke up Mary and Harold and we sat out on deck an watched the aurora for a half hour until it started to fade. The Milky Way was out in all it's brilliance and so many stars. I even spotted a meteor. Nearly every night I've look up into the night sky looking for the lights and today we enjoyed them from the middle of the Beaver Island Harbor. Tonight we are tying up a the marina because winds are going to be gusting 30mph! Yesterday at 24 mph, we dragged anchor halfway through our first cup of coffee and had to spring into action. When we…

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Night Noises

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…

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Rose and Dave

We bought our first ‘big’ sailboat (27 feet) in 2000. It was named Arcturus when we bought it, and we kept the name. The year 2000 was a bit of a blur. We would drive about a hundred miles to the boat on Friday after an early dinner, get to the boat, go out and sail until about 10pm. Racing to get back before Demond’s grocery closed, in order to get 3 pints of ice cream. Most of the time we needed to get back to Lansing for Sunday morning church. On the center dock, there were four or five really active sailing couples. Bill and his wife were right next to us on Airwaves, Brian and Lynn on Re-Run, Al and Nancy on Desire, and Rose and Dave on Windswept. At the marina, Tower Harbor in Douglas, Michigan, was the Tower Harbour…

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August 31 – 0245

Marcia woke up to check on our anchor - we dragged anchor yesterday morning. Beaver Island is quite dark. She called out, "Stars, northern lights!" And so I went out dressed in a hoodie. Then went below to get the camera - the boat swings at anchor, but the northern lights were awesome.

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Acing the Anchor and …

I have developed an effective strategy for dealing with Anchor Anxiety. Don't look down into the water! Problem solved. The last two nights we anchored out in Lake Charlevoix. The first night in East Jordan, close to the RV park off the beach, next to the road - but free WiFi. Then we sailed up the arm to Oyster Bay where we spent a lovely afternoon and evening in a quiet bay with a few other sailboats. It was peaceful, calm, and delightful, until the thunder started around 4:30 and wok me out of a deep sleep and an interesting dream. It was the day before I start my around the world solo sailing adventure. Clearly, I had reservations. I had deep reservations, but everyone assume I knew what I was was doing. I was woefully unprepared to sail solo around the world.…

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Anchoring

Northport Apparently, I have anchor anxiety! I'm not used to being able to see the bottom where we put down the anchor. I am really afraid of hitting bottom. When I'm standing on the bow ready to lower the anchor and can see the bottom - it looks like its about 4 feet deep. We draw 4'6". Harold is calm at the wheel monitoring the depth and easing us into shore, I'm ready to hit the button and put the anchor down. I wait, and wait, I look back we are still motoring ahead, I wait some more and more. Now I'm looking back urgently, I think we should drop anchor. But I wait for the signal. When it finally comes I am so relieved. Down goes the anchor, I can see it land, I let out some chain, hook on the preventer,…

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Island

On a morning such as this, before the world begins anew, the water like a mirror, mist gently floating across the bay, life is overwhelmingly wonderful. Soon the parade of cormorants start dotting the horizon and flying north over the bay. Single lines of birds stretch 40-50 bird lengths in each congregation. We soon see that the point turned from a pale sand color to black with a cormorant convention. The crows start squawking, seagulls move in searching for breakfast. The gulls have a loud disagreement over who gets first dibs on the catch of the day. We are anchored off South Manitou Island the furthest north we've ever sailed. Yesterday we motor sailed from Frankfort in light winds, bright sun, and sky blue waters. We dropped anchor near the beach between two other sail boats, turned the engine off and enjoyed the…

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Carousel Ride

After I finished the dishes last night, following a dinner of fresh green beans, steak and fingerling potatoes, I started to feel a bit unwell. We were confined to the boat most of the afternoon after a lovely walk to the beach. We had hoped to tie up at the Frankfort Municipal Marina, but it was full. A fishing tournament - a big one- is scheduled for this week, So we were left "blowin' in the wind". It was pretty blustery mostly 18 with some 25's and perhaps more thrown in for excitement. Our boat was swinging faster that a carnival carousel first one way and then the other. The shoreline behind us swept across our stern - not in the gentle slightly revolving restaurant but like speeding along in semi circles on a motorcycle (without the engine noise!) I had to lie…

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Cruisers

We’ve made a transition this week from sailors to cruisers. Something happens to you when the motion of the boat is barely noticed, but standing on land seems that you are moving. We met a couple at the dinghy dock, invited them over at cocktail time (anytime after 4:30pm), and you spend a bit of time talking about ground tackle (anchors, and such). Roger and Michelle are on the Great Loop. That’s a loop that goes down the Mississippi River, around Florida, north along the ICW (Inter-Coastal Waterway), west along the canals to Lake Ontario or Lake Erie, more canals if you are going through Canada, or through Lake St. Clair, Lake Huron, through the Straits, and into Lake Michigan to Chicago and then down the river again. Start anywhere, end anywhere, but if you cross your wake and complete the 6000 mile…

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Upon Reflection

"You deserve it" the words are meant to encourage, affirm and congratulate rang hollow in my ears. In 2023, "out of the blue" we purchased the sailboat of our dreams a Catalina 350. The boat that will serve us well and safely for our "senior years" afloat. The truth is we've gotten older and we realize that Arcturus a 1976 Cal 2-27 no longer is a vessel we can take on our next sailing adventures. Arcturus has given us so many great sails and good times. She is sturdy, reliable and seaworthy. We are the ones who have changed. We recognize we will soon need good modern systems and modern comforts to do the type of sailing we want to do in the future. I do not believe "we deserve this". So many good kind hearted people live lives of desperation and they…

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