Life on a sailboat....

Life on a sailboat slows down to the basic necessary elements. With no car, no landline phone, and no TV what does one do? We spend our time when there is no wind and the motor runs all day by:



*wishing we had Rich's and Diane's big engines but not their big fuel bills.



*cleaning the cabin ----everything has a place, but it's usually not in it.



*scrubbing the bugs off the deck and out of the cockpit - those pesky flies!



*doing projects - hanging up towel hooks in the head, sanding the deck wood, coating the deck
wood with Sikkins, calibrating the instruments, etc.



*practicing with the remote wireless, the radar, the navigation program.



*listening to music on the Serius radio (thank you Scott and Cheryl)



*reading, reading, reading (Donna) and doing Sudoku puzzles (Lou).



*thinking about doing some exercises.



*drinking a beer now and then.



*killing flies!!!!!



On windy days the fine adjustments of the sails requires a lot of attention and "tweaking" by Lou. I'm kept busy bracing myself and navigating the companionway steps. It's on the day's when the boat is heeled over that we discover all the items that haven't been stowed in their proper place (see item #2 on the previous list) as they fly across the cabin.



Our immediate daily concerns are:



*Do we need to get fuel?



*Is the holding tank needing a pump out?



*How much water do we have on board?



*Is the navigation correct to get to the next port?



*What's the next meal?



Pretty simple isn't it?



Rainy days add some new elements to the daily concerns list:

*Is the plastic under the dripping ports?



*Where can we hang our foul weather gear when we come below into the cabin?



*How do we get things dry?



*What can we do for entertainment?



Think of everything you "NEED" and we've managed to fit it on the boat (not an easy task.)



We are making good time down the eastern side of Michigan in Lake Huron. This side of the state is marketed as "The Sunrise Side", but there's nothing as spectacular as the sunsets on the Lake Michigan side. On Wednesday we went into a port that I've never been in before - Harbor Beach. There is a shipping channel from the entrance to a Detroit Edison plant which allows the freighters a deep channel to deliver coal. We've always avoided this stop because the water isn't deep enough for us to dock. We "draw" 7.5 feet of water which means we always have to be aware of water depth AND rocks.



This was our first attempt at anchoring, and it couldn't have gone any better. The anchor held on the first try, and it was early enough for us to sit on deck and make sure it wasn't dragging. I love to anchor. The boat swings and bobs and rocks me to sleep. The captain, on the other hand, is completely vigilant and on guard for any difficulties with the anchor. I felt him scramble out of bed (pretty agile for a 73 year old!) at 4 am when there was a wind shift. The boat did a 180 degree swing on the line. I don't think he ever relaxed after that, so I can sense a nap on this day's program.



Now we're headed to Bayview Yacht Club in Detroit and as we approached the Detroit skyline, we passed through at least a hundred "go fast" boats on their way to A PARTY. When we turned to look at the meeting spot, we couldn't begin to "guest-a-mate" how many boats were already there. It looked like bees returning to the hive.



This is total togetherness in 550 square feet! What a life.


Charlevoix - Cheboygan - Presque Isle - Harrisville - East Tawas - Harbor Beach - Pt. Huron - Detroit