Yearly Archives: 2026

Stormy Weather!

We left Sturgeon Bay just after lunch and dropped anchor in Egg Harbor around 4pm. It was a relaxing sail that got a little zesty as we turned into the harbor but with Mr. Westerbeke's assistance (our iron sail) we had little problem getting settled in. We love our new "Big Mama" Anchor and thankfully there was very good holding in the bay. During our two night stay we had some pretty big winds associated with thunderstorms bear down on us. I'm glad we were in a "protected" harbor! During the day, there were a lot of folks enjoying the beach and some PWC - Jet Skis charging around the harbor but the evenings and nights were quiet and peaceful - just us and the pelicans. The full moon rose over the Door Peninsula the first evening and was a lovely melon color…

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Sunday, June 28 – Sturgeon Bay

We left Frankfort on Friday the 26th. Motored away from shore and had enough wind to have the sails and the motor on. We had to keep a 5 knot average to cross in less than 10 hours. The wind dwindled down to only a couple of knots so we rolled up the sails and motored on. You cross a number of shipping lanes crossing the lake, and we had a chance to meet a thousand foot laker. He shifted a little bit to the right, and we slowed to cross his wake about one mile astern. That was arranged over the marine radio as a sailboat has the right of way, we were also motoring. So I thought it best that he carry on. Even a mile away, these boats are huge. Shortly after meeting the freighter, the fog set in. At…

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June 24 – Frankfort

We went for a quick dinghy ride Sunday night, as we noticed that ‘Arcturus’, our first ‘big’ sailboat was on the move. We caught up with Mike and Ella as they were moving to a mooring ball. The cost of a slip has gotten too high for them. We get that - we actually have budgeted what would have gone into a slip in one place - into the cost for all of the slips we might take for the summer. I got a photo of Reflection and Arcturus, both on Betsie Lake together. We owned Arcturus from June 2000 until May 2023, and we have owned Reflection since March of 2023. Thus far, as we complete the third week: four nights in a slip in Douglas, three nights in Pentwater, one night in Ludington. We have paid for five, as we got…

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Life is Good

Frankfort - June 22 We spent the Solstice at anchor in Frankfort. We've enjoyed exploring the beach, the Betsie River Trail, and of course the Library. We are anchored right in front of it and have good free wifi. There is a nice dinghy dock, the Saturday farmers market (strawberries and asparagus), Family Fare Grocery Store, and a laundry a short walk across the street from the boat launch. Best of all Frankfort is very walkable and filled with people walking, biking, walking their dog - and a nice dog park nearby. We saw an elderly couple with their black and white dog yesterday afternoon. Their granddaughter was on a scooter riding back and forth on the trail next to the dog park fence and the dog was racing up and down chasing after her. We've had mostly blue skies with the fluffiest…

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Realm

Thursday, June 18, 2026 So much of this spring flew by with preparing our ship, our home, our lives for four months away and aboard Reflection. As the preparations came to a close, we stepped off the dock and onto the deck to begin our summer. After planning for that moment for so long it felt surreal. Even before we got Reflection in 2023, we had talked about, researched, and refined the type of boat we would need to move on board for a summer and have sailing adventures on the Great Lakes. We talked about where we'd like to sail, places we'd like to visit. And then when found our Catalina 350, we set right to work getting it ready to sail away. This is our 4th season with Reflection and we feel we know her well. We know the sound of…

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Thursday June 11

We stayed in Muskegon until Wednesday morning. Tuesday was mostly foggy, and we stayed put, as the anchor held us tight. You learn a lot about the bottom when you weigh anchor. We were in black mud and silt. Excellent holding, but you need to go over top of the anchor to break it free. The flukes of the anchor hold onto a pretty big blob of the mud.  Easiest way to remove the mud is to bring the anchor up near the surface of the water, and gently motor forward. The moving water will rinse it clean, and then we pull it up tight with the anchor windlass, attach the chain hook to take the load off of the windlass and ease it back out a few inches.  This is a similar technique used in anchoring. The windlass is designed to move…

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Monday, June 8

Sailed from Holland to Muskegon. First part, wind was perfect. Waves could be measured in inches. We went fast for almost an hour. And then we slowed as the wind dropped. The black flies found us, even three miles off shore. Smooth sail, only saw three boats in thirty miles from Holland, and two came out of the channel with us. Such a smooth sail, Marcia went down to the V-berth and had a nap. Timed it perfectly, arriving two miles behind the Lake Express - the cross-lake ferry from Milwaukee that makes the almost seventy mile crossing in two and a half hours. It’s a big catamaran, over 190’ feet (58.4 meters) long and nearly 60 feet wide (17.6 meters). The channel narrows to about 200 feet, so it’ll take up about half of the channel if you allow some safe distance.…

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Sunday June 7

Our time was up at Tower Marine, and we had to move on. Yesterday was the Pride Parade in Douglas, and a six hour celebration in Beery Field. Everything was done up in rainbow colors and more. Having lived in Holland for about a year after I retired from MSU, we know how the towns of Saugatuck and Douglas change when the tourists go home. But in high season, it is a wonder-filled accepting community of delightful people. (Let’s just say that the blue wave when the tourists are here fades to a reddish hue in the fall) Saturday was so much fun, we watched the parade at the very end of the route, snatching a bit of shade that we shared with a woman and her little white and grey Havanese. The celebration had about 70 vendors marketing their products and services,…

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Blessing of the Fleet

We had a grand reunion on Thursday at the Tower Harbour Yacht Club. That was part of the point to take a slip in Douglas at Tower Marine. We had to meet up with Rose and Dave, as we had the PFD rearm kits sent to their house. Rose and Dave invited Brian and Lynn along as it has been years since we’ve seen them. Al and Nancy from Desire are fixtures at THYC. Nan and John from Blaisen rounded out the group. Of course, as I write this, it would have been great to get a photo of our group. Sadly, we only have memories of round table with snacks and ten chairs in a circle as we shared stories of sailing in bad weather, sailboat races and parties at the yacht club. As it has been a decade since we were…

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Lovely Day

We had nice weather for our first day. Tiny waves, our wake was actually larger, and winds mostly from astern. Not super fast as the apparent wind is lessened by the forward motion. We resorted to the engine for about an hour. The full enclosure kept most of the black flies out of our personal space. But the flyswatter was broken from the workout. By the way, why is it called a fly swatter and not just a swatter? We don’t have a wasp swatter, as the flyswatter isn’t species exclusive. Ah, the things you think about when you are sailing. We left Muskegon at 9:40am, and didn’t see another boat until we neared Holland around 5:30pm. Somewhere near Grand Haven, we looked towards the east and saw this amazing outline of a heart in the sky.  Have you ever seen anything like…

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