Reflections

It's amazing to me how sounds are amplified across water. That private conversation you are having on your boat or on shore, or at the cottage, may not be as private as you think! Add a little alcohol and amp up the volume and the whole harbor can hear you. When we are sailing, we often hear the grinding of motors long before we see any boats. This is especially true for the freighters. We are aware of their low throbbing engines long before we can see any sign of a ship. Airplanes and helicopters are also amplified. We will hear them long before they appear on the horizon. The same is true for shorebirds and waterfowl. Just over the point, there is a large meeting ground full of pelican, gulls, and cormorants. Last night as dusk was settling in, we could hear…

We are anchored in Detroit Harbor on Washington Island. Washington Island is the northernmost point of the Door Peninsula and is accessed by a 30 minute ferry ride from Northport. Unless you are sailing in! We arrived yesterday afternoon from Sister Bay. It was a pleasant motor/sail under sunny skies and light wind "on the nose" which means it's not great for where we wanted to head - thus the motor sail. At one point yesterday, we both heard a metallic ping and couldn't figure out what had happened. We looked around and hadn't lost anything overboard. and didn't find anything amiss. After dropping anchor, we usually lower the dinghy for a better view out the back and Harold noticed a bolt in the dinghy - along with a washer and a nut. Apparently it worked it's way out of the davit support.…

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…

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…

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.…

Thursday May 28: Four dock cart loads. Three backpacks of clothes - everything from 40ºF to 90ºF - flannel lined jeans and long underwear, to swimsuit and t-shirts. Provisioned with shelf stable and canned goods, to fresh vegetables and meat. We’ll have to hand carry everything when we restock. Half the boat lockers have been rearranged. I even made an interior plan, gave each locker and cubby a letter from A to N, made a spreadsheet for an inventory of everything that isn’t clothes or food. It all fit. Mostly. Sent the electric coffee pot and power washer home with Tim. There he goes, we’re on our own now.  No car in the parking lot for us. What’s left to do: Wash, polish and wax the cockpit. Keep stowing stuff into the aft lockers. Go aloft to check the rig. Check the shroud…

Well, that was a different sailing season than we expected. It all started with getting some maintenance done on various boat systems. Every system had something that needed to be done. All in anticipation of the great sailing adventure of 2025, and while all of the work on the boat was completed, our plans quickly changed. When it became clear that I needed to have surgery, we quickly had to obtain a slip for the summer, as we had planned to launch and sail away without need for a ‘permanent’ slip for the season. Marcia did a great job of keeping you informed, and on my side, it just seemed like a long ‘No, wait, hold my beer’. First, the abdominal aortic aneurysm freaked me out. I had heard about them, and they’re not good news. Next came the flailing mitral valve, and…