Summer 2014 Summer Boat Trip -

This year for our annual vacation we decided to keep it a bit local. Our plan was to have our boat in Sturgeon Bay for the remainder of the season starting at the beginning of August. In the past few years we have left our boat in Sturgeon Bay for an extended time after our trip due to the water conditions on Winnebago after the end of July. 

Our destination was our favorite marina in Sturgeon Bay, Centerpointe Marina. The boat had been there for a couple of weeks prior to our trip. When we arrived at Centerpointe around 10am Thursday Morning we had to do some last min provisioning. Along with that the canvas had a few bad seams so I had it fixed at one of the local shops that morning as well. 

After last years big water trip where the family swore not to do another trip due to the wind and weather, we were tweaking our plan. For the first night the plan was to go stay on the hook at Nicolet Bay or Horseshoe island. Our friends the Derosier's went with us up to our first spot. We swam at Nicolet Bay and took t he dinghy to the beach and enjoyed the afternoon. Weather and waves were not an issue on this day it was beautiful. 

As the day was winding down Peyton and Grace swam to the boat and got some money to buy all the kids ice cream from the beach concession stand. After that we all went back to the boat and went across the bay to horseshoe island for the night. 

The kids gathered wood while the adults made a nice dock side steak dinner. During that time both Peyton and Pierce walked all over the island and had a great little adventure in the woods on their own. 

Making the best of a rainy day... Day 8

Although we were stuck in Leland, MI for a couple of nights we made the best of it.  After all, I could think of worse places to be stuck.  Leland is a beautiful little town with infamously named “Fishtown” due to the history of the quaint fishing village that borders the shore of Lake Michigan.  The weather was quite windy so we decided we would find a bike trail and try to make our way to Sleeping Bear Dunes, recently named the most scenic area in the United States.   According to Paul’s calculation the park entrance was a short 4 mile jaunt.  So on our way we went…unfortunately the path took us on M22, a very busy highway with barely any shoulder for riding a bike.  After 4 miles Paul “recalculated” and found we were still a couple of miles out, and I was getting nervous with the 55 mph traffic zooming by.   We decided to scratch the bike ride and turned around. 

Due to the fun looking waves crashing on the beach, we decided to pack lunch and make it a beach day for the kids.  The town has a beautiful beach that is not too rocky yet has some decent depth to it for swimming.   The kids had a blast chasing the waves and it gave Paul and I an opportunity to relax a bit and strategize on how we were going to get home with Mother Nature not cooperating. 

Mother Nature continued putting a damper on our vacation by sending rain on our beach day.  We quickly had to pack up the kids and make our way back to the boat.  Paul took the kids to the boat while I stopped by the local store to pick up a few needed items.  Paul was able to beat the rain, I however, was not so lucky.  On my 2 block walk back, it down poured, causing me to resemble a drenched rat...

We dried off, pulled out the rain gear and decided to have dinner at the Blue Pelican.  Paul and I enjoyed some pecan encrusted walleye and a nice glass of wine prior to heading back to the boat and turning in.  We decided before bed that we were going to try to make our way to Frankfort in the morning.  Hopefully the waves won't be too bad!!

[Paul edits] after dinner we did not turn in right away.  We all went the the boater lounge and attempted to download a movie that we were going to watch after the kids went to bed. While the movie was downloading we did a puzzle that was there. 

The bike ride was also the day before. When on vacation the days tend to blend together....

Small Craft Advisory, Day 5

The first lesson in boating is safety, the second lesson is safety and the third..... well you get the point.  Boating really is about safety first and fun only after you ensure you are having fun safely.  I learned a great lesson on Day 5 of our trip, make sure that you check the forecast for wave heights BEFORE you leave to your next destination. 

We were scheduled to leave to go to Elk Rapids, where a slip reservation was awaiting.  It was windy in the morning and we knew the waves would be building and thought we would be ok if we left early enough.  And needless to say, we were ok, but WOW, did I gain more respect for this lake.  When leaving Suttons Bay I checked out the wave forecast on my phone and saw that the Grand Traverse Bay was under a small craft advisory, with 4-6 foot waves.  Paul assured me that there was no need to worry, as the waves would be at our back once we rounded the center.  I thought, how bad could they be after all, we were in the bay not in the middle of the lake, and we have hit some pretty bad waves on Lake Winnebago (our home lake) so I felt we could handle it.  Well, in the end we were able to handle it, thanks to Paul's patience and skill driving the boat, but oh man I will say I was praying along the way.  Once we reached Elk Rapids and was comfortably in our slip, Paul learned from the Harbormaster that they were watching us come in to the harbor through binoculars.  They said that at some points while coming in the hull of our boat was at a 45 degree angle, and that they were surprised to "see the captain smiling."   All, I can say to that is ugh!!!

Once situated we walked around the town and stopped for lunch at the Liquor Club, which actually does serve food.  It was a fairly interesting place with an old fashioned bowling game. Throughout our walk around town Peyton was taking pictures with his camera (thank you Grandma and Grandpa) and I let Pierce take pictures with mine.  The shot to the left is from Pierce.  Once we were back to the boat we took a look at all the kids pictures and they are actually pretty good and interesting.  Their perspective definitely gives you appreciation for what they see.  We continued our trek through downtown just to check it out and then went back to the boat.   The day was exceptionally windy and cool, so we took the opportunity to do some laundry, clean the boat and just hang out.   Paul took the boys fishing and made some very interesting catches. 

For dinner we grilled out and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.  Tomorrow is scheduled to be less windy.... thank you Jesus!

What is in a Name - Always Starboard

A greeting card we found shortly after naming our boat

Susan and I struggled naming our first boat. It was a 2000 Fourwinns 248. This pocket cruiser had everything the big ones did except the generator. As one good friend described it, "the biggest little boat on the lake". It was probably the most spacious boat of its size at the time. Our first season we learned a lot about the boat and about each other. Boating has a way of bringing out the best in people. In that first season we fell in love with each other, and the boating lifestyle. When we decided to name it, we were actually thinking about upgrading. The 2 footitis, as I recall our boating friends called it. Ours ended up being a severe case of 10 footitis. We end up settling on a 2000 Sea Ray 340 Sundancer.

The name came to me as we were having an argument. The argument was so insignificant I could not tell you what we were arguing about the next day, much less know today. Although, while writing this story a thought came to me. I think it probably involved me looking for our next boat and not agreeing on what we were going to be looking at getting. I just remember the feeling of anger coming over me and needing to contain myself. I have little self restraint when I believe I am right and so does Susan.

To put the moment it in perspective, we were dating at the time, probably had know each other about a year. Susan was actually the owner of the boat and I was her Captain. We had both just been through divorce and like I did when going through the end of my practice marriage, I bought something for myself, (Harley Davidson Road King) she bought a boat. During the honeymoon of any relationship you attempt to control your emotions and not get upset with the other. You may filter yourself as to not scare off the other during an argument. It seems once you've been together long enough that filter comes off. I am sure you can relate. I digress, but it paints the picture.

Anyway, back to the argument...again reminding myself to not sweat the small stuff I backed off and sat in silence for a moment. Then it hit me...I blurted out, "I got it!"

She gave me a look that said you are about to step into that grave you've been digging with your words and then barked "What!?.."

I said, "I know what we are going to name the boat....Always Starboard" and there was a another quick moment of silence, and then a smile began to appear on the corners of her face. While noticing I was not going to be pushed into that grave I was digging, I followed up with "Because you always have to be frick'n right.". This almost started another argument, but instead both just started laughing and poking fun at each other.

At this moment I knew this was for sure the name of our boat, as it describes both of our stubborn tendencies. Susan did have her reservations about it, but I said we can always say it is "Always the Right place to be." and she agreed.

Day 4 & 5 - Indecision!

As the title says, day's 4 and 5 of vacation were definitely the most indecisive of any of our vacations.   Monday was a scorching hot day with the winds all over the place on the lake.  Our largest concern was not necessarily getting over to Grand Haven, it was in fact to get back.  I absolutely need to return home by Monday and it looks like wind and wave forecast continue their strength through the week.  Normally, we would target to come back on Saturday, but 3-6 foot waves are not something that we would cross in.   If we were alone it would be different and we would risk something like that, but with 2 small boys and 2 dogs, one of which doesn't necessarily like boating all that much, 6 foot waves on Michigan would be treacherous.

So what to do???   After much deliberation, and due to the extreme heat we decided that Monday would be a day at the pool and that bright and early Tuesday we would head to Milwaukee.   Once there we could find plenty to do, such as a Milwaukee Brewer game, the children's museum or just hanging out at their beach and enjoying their parks and restaurants.  At 3AM Paul woke me up and told me that he was putting the canvas on the back due to rain, at 5AM, like clockwork the dogs woke me up for their morning potty break, then at 6AM it was a wake up call from Paul.   Apparently huge storms were due to go through Milwaukee, it was either leave now or never.  After much review of the various weather stations we monitor, it looked like that if we went to Milwaukee that we would spend the day in rain, with additional rain scheduled for the remainder of the week.  




So we did what we seem to do best, chase the sunshine!   We loaded up the trailer and headed north, up to Sturgeon Bay where we decided that if we couldn't cross then why not go to a place that had more options where at least we would be less dependant on the wind.    We packed up the boat in record time and were off, trying to beat the rain that was on it's way to Sheboygan.   In a few short hours we arrived in Sturgeon Bay and then quickly put the boat back together.  We called around to see if we could get a deal for keeping our boat somewhere for the remainder of July/August, and yet to find a place that is cost effective for us.  

For those of you that know me, I am a control freak and not having a plan is quite challenging for me, however, I woke this morning and decided that whatever the day would bring I would just go with it.   One thing that Paul always wanted to do was stay on the hook.   Since we didn't have a plan, or a slip at this point, we decided that we would head to horseshoe island and try our first night without being in a marina.  Once we arrived, we looked at the wind forecast and found yet again it was not in our favor.   Horseshoe island is protected by all winds except for from the south east.  You guessed it, winds were scheduled out of the east south east, and rain was scheduled.  After enjoying some time swimming and soaking up some sun at Nicolet Bay we decided we would have to wait staying on the hook due to the wind and rain.  We called and found a slip at Alibi Marina in Fish Creek.  

After what seemed like a completely exhausting day, I would have never guessed that I would be blogging from Fish Creek, but alas it was a beautiful day and I am always happiest when with my family!