Onward and Upward

Out of nowhere our week at the cottage came to a halting end. Family sent us off with farewells from paddle boards and bags of food.  Zephyrus once again a home to us at the peak of all her cluttered chaos.  Funny how much your boat begins to become a part of you.

So Northward we go, final destination this time: Traverse City. Another warm family cottage awaits us on the other side of the state. After spending about half the day at the cottage, we left for Presque Isle harbor. There was a perfect constant breeze from the South which made for a splendid trip up to around Alpena and then on to Presque Isle. We entered the marina in late evening. We anchored and took a much needed dip in the water and went to bed. Megan seemingly jumps from a dead sleep fight or flight adrenaline mode at about 1am. The water is blown flat by wind. Our boat is swinging nearly 180 degrees. Our surroundings are heavy downpour and very heavy thunder and lightning. The storm is right over us. It is hot and muggy and nerve racking. Soon the storm that we later heard was moving at nearly 50 mph quickly pasts. Although it has happened quite a few times this summer, my stomach still turns unpleasantly violent when I am torn out of a deep sleep because of a storm or wind or anything. Even if everything is safe, waking in the night causes such a disorientation that what is simply a rain or the wake of a passing ore boat sets off the same defensive instincts that being tied to railroad tracks or falling from a building does. Anyways, everything was fine. We spent the next two days in Presque Isle due to very dense fog and rain. It really felt great to spent some time thinking learning guitar and swimming. We also had some time to look into plane tickets and places to stay while in the virgin Islands this winter. We plan to leave with one way tickets somewhere around September 20-25th. From Presque Isle, we left for Hammond Bay.

We had another incredible sail most of the way there. The South wind continued until Rogers City. As we continued Northward, heavy clouds developed. the forecast had called for a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Well the rain hit. It felt kind of cozy to be able to wear our trusty ole rain jackets for once. This time around, we had lowered our sails well in advance of the clouds. As the rain picked up, Megan asked me to close up the hatches and secure some things in case it became gusty. Fortunately for me, just as I entered the cabin, the rain increased to a torrential downpour. Then one minute later, back to a slight drizzle. I snapped this picture just after Megan had been absolutely drenched. Lucky for me, I had avoided almost all the rain. As the rain subsided. the wind turned Westerly as we were on our last stretch across Hammond Bay. the wind picked up like crazy. For some time, Io managed to luff the sails enough to continue, but due to fact that we only have a genoa head sail (the biggest type used for light breezes), we lowered the sails and motored the last mile or so to the marina. The marina was well shielded but very modestly equipped. We decided to anchor in some space alongside another sail boat. the other sailboat turned out to be manned by a very nice Englishman named Ian. We spent a great evening with him eating spaghetti with falafel, carmelized onions, and garlic , talking American history and Economics, and slapping mosquitos. We agreed to sail to Cheboygan together the next day.

As we left Hammond Bay, the wind was very strong. We were both impressed with his ability to sail his 31' boat single-handed... although we motored the entire way. Shortly after leaving, we had reached the part where we head almost due West instead of North. The wind was very strong through the Straits of Mackinac.  We had a great time with the waves. Who ever was not at the helm would stand on the bow of the boat holding the headstay, and when a big wave hit us, they would jump at the right moment and seemingly float in the air for a moment. I was surprised by the magnitude of the waves. Being from Lake Superior, I often joke with Megan about how wimpy Lake Huron is compared to Superior. But today I couldn't say anything. It was a bit sobering entering the Strait because just the previous weekend, two sailors lost their lives in the annual Chicago to Mackinac Island. According to the race website, the boat capsized in 50 mph winds; 6 were saved while two drowned. The sister race: Port Huron to Mackinac Island is planned for this upcoming weekend. We arrived in Cheboygan about noon time and decided to dock up at a marina right down town. Cheboygan is a city surrounding the navigable Black River. So we are docked up about 3/4 of a mile down this river. Ian's boat is docked right next to ours. We have had a pleasant day in Cheboygan. We took a walk through town and had some ice cream. The extreme heat has drained all three of us. This evening we plan to maybe take another walk through town or just simply sit in one of our cockpits and have some rum on the rocks. Ian swears that his gin and tonic is better is better because the quinine in tonic water repels them.

Tomorrow we plan to head to Mackinac City, then Alpena to see Tony and pehaps a few of Megan's friends.