Day 24 - Beating the heat in the Upper Peninsula
We were welcomed back to Ciara yesterday afternoon with pretty extreme heat. South bound to Green Bay at one point had to detour because we saw where the road had completely buckled all the way across and thrown small 1-foot boulders feet in each direction. The welcome at the boat wasn’t much better. Provisioning is really my gig and any more people trying to load the boat is attune to “to many cooks in the kitchen.” I got to work and quickly I had completely sweat through my clothes in five minutes. I am absolutely certain I have packed too much. With Ciara mostly all put away, and the evening quickly getting away from us, Captain took me out to dinner. I didn’t complain much as turning on the stove seemed like a nightmare in the heat.
We enjoyed our dinners at the Halfway and the bartender gave us a list of things to do and see up here in the Upper Peninsula. The wind on Monday was high so we were pretty sure we weren’t setting out anyhow.
We made reservations and were up at 5:30am on Monday to drive to Munising, MI to go on a glass bottom boat tour. The tour started at 10am and only an hour and a half away but we lost an hour to the time zone. Thankfully I figured that out the night before and not when we missed out boat by an hour.
The drive was nice. As we turned off the main highway and headed north out of Gladstone the UP got more and more hilly. I was in awe of the beauty and was sold on having to explore more up here immediately.
The thermometer in the car said it was 94 outside and it felt every bit of it when we stepped out of our air-conditioned car. We had booked shipwreck tour that also included viewings of a lighthouse and some of the rocks near Pictured Rocks National Lake shore. I was slightly bummed to see the National Park right there and not go. We decided for sure it was a tease and to come back with the kids. We had only planned a half day here as Kona girl was in the hot (still dog safe) boat. After the cruise we grabbed some obligatory Pasties and then stopped and did a quick .2 mile round trip (in the shade!) hike to Wagner Waterfall which was very cute and the temp drop welcome.
We got back to Ciara about 1:30pm. The temps had dropped into the high 80’s but we still could hardly move. The wind was still hollowing and all we could think was to lay down and wait out the heat a bit. I managed to lay down for about five minutes as I had dosed in the car. I got up and set up our shade outside for the first time this year and settled into a book and a big jug of water. Our friend, Brett, had gone out on Altair over the weekend and was expected back around 3pm. I was keeping an ear on the radio and an eye on my phone to help bring him in. Around 2:45pm I got a text saying he was an hour out so I made a note to start heading over to his slip 3:30ish. At 2:55 I look up and Brett is gliding past the hull of Ciara ready to dock. Apparently, his text was an hour late. Opps. Thankfully the staff was there to help and by the time Captain and I had scootered over there with Kona he was all set. He was going to drive home tonight but was riding a high from a sporty sail and was craving a burger. While Brett got his boat all tucked away, we decided to at least get one big chore done and then I wanted a shower. The packing that I had tightened last week was too tight. The bilge hasn’t gone off once since last Thursday. Down I went again in the the bowels of the ship to loosen some bolts. This is a very fine adjustment and even after you make it the drip can take a while to regulate as it is like squeezing a washcloth. Hopefully we will get a better drip rate now. The shower felt wonderful after being down there again and I was ready for dinner!
The Halfway and just about every restaurant in the UP is closed on Monday nights. We could have driven to Escanaba or Menominee and had fast food options. In the end we opted for a charcuterie board. I was very proud how the plating worked out and since Bloody’s go well with that, I had that as my drink of choice while the guys stuck with refreshing beer.
The wind died around 9pm so we never really regretted not leaving this afternoon. We hope to maybe go out tomorrow and yet we are still weighing our options. We must be back here by Thursday night or early Friday for another turn around. There used to be a time where the only time we got to sail was quick one-night overnights. Quick out Friday night, back Sunday morning kind of thing. The shift of retirement and the gift of time has made us less likely to just sail out for the sake of sailing. We have fallen into the live aboard lifestyle much faster then anticipated and now we are learning to accept all facets of the game. Sometimes that means weeks just living “at home” at the boat. We have showers here. Power to help the fridge which is barely keeping up in this heat. We have chores. We can relax. We can play land tourist and take our land dinghy to see new places like we did today. Even Brett noticed how much the sailor mindset spoils us. The reaction to pout when your life and plans are still very much good (and lucky and awesome) is still natural. It takes a bit of mind power to say “hey, we are going to enjoy this even if the winds (plans) we had hoped for didn’t come to fruition.” Life is good. Good friends. Good family. Best love. Best dog. Amazing opportunities.
The heat is supposed to drop a little. There are some boat chores that need doing before anything. There are good winds. I guess we will see tomorrow!
