To be sure, a Great Lakes passage is short. You’ll only make a multi-day passage if you sail the lake in the long way. Ocean passages can be measured in weeks.
As I write, the nearest land is 18 miles away or about three and half hours at our current speed.
A look in any direction, as far as you can see, is water.
I’m on watch. With 9 knots of wind from the north, we’re making 5.4 knots on the rhumb line (93º True) to the tip of the Leelanau peninsula. We left Pedersen Bay around 5:30am CDT. It’s about 35 miles or seven-ish hours until we get to Leelanau. We’ve come about 25 miles in the five hours since we weighed anchor.
The wind was light at first, so we had the sails up, and the motor running at 1700rpm. That made sure we were above 5 knots. We’ve been on this course since we left the Porte des Morts passage.
The wind hasn’t changed much in the past three hours, so the sails are trimmed just so and left alone. The autopilot is locked on a course of 91º True, and allowing for leeway our course over ground is 93º True.
We have a compass but really don’t bother with it – just let the GPS and the computers drive the boat.
So what do I do?
The marine radio is set to channel 9, and also monitoring channel 16 (hailing and distress frequencies respectively for the Great Lakes) and there’s little traffic. I read a chapter in my book, ‘The Cornish Village Murder’ by Fiona Leitch (a fun series). Put the book down, and have a look around. Make sure we are still on course.
Pull up the AIS list to see if there is any ships near us, as we will cross seven shipping lanes today. Note that the wind speed has dropped and so our boat speed. I’ll let it be for a half-hour, and if it hasn’t changed, we may need to motor for a while.
Then it’s back to the book for another chapter. Repeat.
Of course, I’ve written this – so it’s time to take another look around. Waves are one foot or less. The wind has slowed and we were down to 4 knots. Switch on the motor, 1800 revs, making six knots.
The sounds of the water now have a bass note thrum of the motor accompaniment. If the wind picks up, we will switch it off.
Land-ho. North Manitou and South Manitou are off the starboard bow. We are in the deep part of Lake Michigan, over six hundred feet deep and the depth sounder doesn’t measure it.
The elevensies scones were eaten at around 9. It’s 11am now, lunch time, and then I turn Reflection over to Marcia for three or four hours.