Memories and Cold Winters

Today we have had record low temperatures...Susan and I are relaxing next to the fire; Christmas tree and decor are all aglow as our light source for the evening. Tonight we decided to update the screen saver on our Apple TV. We changed it from our RV trip we took with my parents in 2008 to our pictures from our most current summer boating trip. For the last 4 hours we have been watching our photos stream by. Actually, there are a lot! 537 pictures were taken between the four of us! As we sat all night watching them go by laughing an commenting on them, we really were taken aback. (Pierce even got into determining what picture he took and Peyton took.)

We have sat here and contemplated our life and how blessed we are. So many photos and so many memories. We now look back and really love the memories and think about how frustrating the time was and blame ourselves for a lot of the frustration, we both need to relax and enjoy. The pictures are moments in time that always seem so fun and relaxing. Tonight we are both planning the cities and marinas we want to got back to. Even though it was such a rough trip last year it was worth it as we suspected. There would be much regret if we did not take the risk in going. Yeah, we kind of got screwed by the weather and the this caused so much stress, but in the end we love it.  The best is when while watching the pictures stream by Pierce says "I love the boat". When a 5 year old is in love with our passion we know we are doing the right stuff.

A little update on life...As I feared after our trip I did end up losing my job. However, because of my wonderful, beautiful, intelligent wife and her stable job and income we were able to survive without a hiccup. It took about nine weeks for me to find employment. I was off for the end of August through October. During that time I was able to get the boat waxed and ready for storage along with a long list of honey do's. We have been blessed and are able to continue with our lifestyle. My job is perfect and I look forward to the future. We can't wait for April to get the boat out and enjoy her for another season. Once again making these wonderful family memories! (sweatshirts in late July should not be a thing!!!)

Crossing Back Home, day 10 & 11

The near shore forecast for the day was wave 2-3 feet and winds at times 20kts. Susan got up early and went for a walk down to the beach to look at the lake. When she returned she said it is time to go. She said the waves were not as bad as the day before, so I agreed lets go for it. After getting out on the lake I asked her if she really thought this was better.  In my estimation the wave heights were more like 3-5 feet. She then told me that the open water forecast was for 3-5 footers with occasional 6 to 8 foot waves. Yup it was all of that. Again these waves were coming at us so again it was a long ride. There were larger swells that were fairly steep that were quartering our bow and causing me to drive the boat more north then I would have liked. We ended up going off course by 5-6 miles to accommodate the wave and swell action. Luckily, this time we thought ahead and before we left the boys both took motion sickness pills so they did not get sea sick as yesterday they both were vomiting when we arrived in Frankfort. The crossing took us over 3 hrs due to having to go slow and steady due to the seas.

When we where about 20 miles out it began to settle down. By 5 miles out we were able to run the boat at our normal cruising speed. We were so glad to see the big red buoy at the entrance to Sturgeon Bay and were greeted by a large rain cloud when we finally tied up at Centerpointe Marina. The intention was to get the boat on the trailer and go home, but the rain stopped us from doing that. It was actually a good thing as we were all just exhausted from the ride and needed some time to relax. The plan was now to relax and pull the boat in the morning and go home.  It was a good feeling once we got home to unpack get everything put away and take the boat down to the launch to put it back in it home port slip in Neenah. When I came under the bridge and saw our little city and the docks it was almost a sigh of relief to be done with this vacation.

Susan and I both discussed if this was going to be our last trip across the lake for awhile. Although the adventure is fun and exhilarating we just were unable to enjoy it. There was only one day that we "enjoyed" ourselves. It was the day in Suttons Bay when we road from Frankfort to Suttons bay. We did not get a good week of weather and when we can not get the boys off the boat for that long of a period it is just not that enjoyable.

Next years plan is to just put the boat in Door County for a month and take some long weekends rather than push for a big trip.

Frankfort, Day 9

On Saturday we decided to try to get home to Sturgeon Bay. The forecast again was not great. We ended up making our way down to Frankfort and the waves were again brutal. With the exception of Mondays ride we have had wind and waves directly on our bow. We left Leland with the waves at our bow and when we went south to Frankfort they were quartering us. About 10 minutes from the break wall both Pierce and Peyton were vomiting from sea sickness. These can be the toughest waves as they are steep and pound the nose of the boat repeatedly. Then when we went south they still pounded us but also were rolling us. All you can do is go slow and make your way trough them. After about 3 hours we were again back at Jacobson Marina in Frankfort. They accommodated us with a slip and we were greeted with a rainy day.

Once we were situated I got the kids off the boat and went up to there boaters lounge. They have a big screen television, pool table, books and board games to relax and rejuvenate. We played a game of Sorry with Pierce and Peyton watched a Harry Potter marathon that was playing on ABC Family. The staff also made us a nice breakfast from the leftovers they had from the Grand Banks Lake MI Rendezvous that was at the Marina the last few days.

After Breakfast Susan did some shopping as they were having a sidewalk sale and bought Peyton a raincoat and some other items that caught her eye. When she returned we were all still relaxing up in the lounge when we saw some bigger Sea Rays coming into the harbor. Susan and I were both wondering if these boats possibly came across the lake from Sturgeon Bay and wanted to see if they had a report on how the lake was. I guess the day before this area saw 12-14 foot waves and said it was more like October weather than late July weather.

Turns out the boats were from Sturgeon Bay and we actually knew them. I stopped to talk to them and they said the waves were OK as they had following seas and it did not get really bad until they were about 15-20 miles out. With this news Susan and I figured tomorrow would be the day to attempt to go back.

Later in the afternoon I went to the downtown to get some tools at the hardware store to replace some allen wrenches that were dropped in the lake on accident. When walking downtown I noticed their little theater in town was playing the Despicable Me II movie, so when I returned to the boat I told everyone that I had a plan. We did dinner at a brew pub next to the movie theater and went to the show at 8 pm. This was the best thing we could do on such a rainy crumby day. The rain clouds ended up lifting in the afternoon and we did actually see some sun but for the most part it was still too cold to go to the beach and spend the day on the water. While at the brew pub the boys decided to play a game of tag while waiting for the food.