Day 28 - Additional Crew!
We made it back to Ciara late last night. The car was pretty empty in comparison to the previous trips. The biggest addition was two crew members; our two youngest who had just finished a week at music camp at the university of Wisconsin. We had a lovely Sabbath dinner with my folks on Friday with Dani, enjoyed hot showers and air conditioning and did the little bit of shopping chores and packing.
We have a week here in Door County waters with them before we get one more crew so the plan was to get up this morning and sail to Chamber’s Island. We were expecting rain and storms around 1pm and only had a 2-hour sail. However, around 6:30am I heard pitter patter above my head and felt rain drops down by my feet as the hatches were open. I quickly got up with Cory and we shut the windows and hatches. This pop-up storm came out of nowhere on the forecast so we had slept with windows wide open. The weather forecasts this year have not been very good. My cell service is also at wits end and I don’t fully understand why since the kids have better reception then I do. I may have to bum hot spots off them this summer! With it now storming we went back to bed, no one complained as two tired teenagers never mind sleeping until noon.
We didn’t quick sleep that long. Captain and I got up and headed to the boaters’ lounge for a bit. The weather did clear and after we got Ciara all set for sail, we disembarked around noon. Sadly, the wind was right on our nose and that mean no sailing. We see-sawed back and forth on the waves, and I was grateful for the forward to back motion rather than the side to side tossing. With more crew on hand and a restless night for me I decided to take a short boat nap. It is always a joy to be in the V-berth with direct seas. I was getting air and enjoying feeling my blanket lift off of me and back on. I got up once we were starting to get into the lee of Chambers Island and made some BBQ pork sandwiches for lunch since we all skipped over an official breakfast.
Cory was enthusiastic to drop the anchor so I went forward to walk them through all the steps as review. We were able to get her set with little issues and were all set to take Kona to shore and a hike by 3pm. Those 1pm storms never materialized.
We haven’t been to Chambers Island in many years. The last time I think we were here Kona was a puppy! The time before we were here, we recall one of our favorite pirate stories of getting kicked off this island. Well, technically other boaters got kicked off the island, we just witnessed it and got ourselves off before the locals brought out the pitch forks. The short story is there really are no fires allowed on this island. Locals and tourists alike. There is no town here, no real fire department, nothing. The vegetation is such that the root system underground can catch fire even from your firepit and then set a house on fire a mile away. We were here with friends and there were a few other boaters here that day. The other group was celebrating a birthday and felt very entitled to have a fire. We had just stopped to chat with them when the locals came over and said to extinguish it. Sadly, an entitled drunk birthday girl and an island worth of locals ended with them being driven off the island and heckled from shore all night. When we saw it go down we told the kids (who were much younger then)-“that’s it, time to go.” They were so confused to why we wanted to leave so fast, but as we took our quiet slow dinghy ride back to Ciara we watched as pick up truck after pick up truck came to throw the rest of the boaters off the island and extinguish their fire. The islanders and the drunk birthday girl heckled each other from land/boat all night long. I’m not joking. “Shut up Rachel!” from the birthday girls husband was our favorite line from the night as we could hear it all the way across the bay.
Today however the only thing driving us from the island were the biting flies. Pretty aggressive now. We took Kona and the kids to shore. There were some families enjoying the sandy beach so we decided to walk to the lighthouse. Right at the beach there is mowed landing strip. We have seen planes land here before which is always fun. It is here we would pick up the road to the lighthouse. It was muggy but I was hopeful the shade of the trees would help. About one minute into our walk a side by side pulls up behind us and asked “going to the light house?” Turns out the keepers of the lights gave us a ride! Which was super nice!!!
We found out the nice lady who gave us the tour last time cared for the lighthouse for over 40 years. She had since passed and now friends of hers are taking care of the lighthouse and restoring her even more. It was nice to see new paint being added to match the time period and many more time period pieces inside the lighthouse. We chatted with them for a bit and enjoyed our time at the Lighthouse. Shannon was gracious enough not only to give us a ride back to the beach but to also drive us a bit further so we could see the lake here on Chamber’s Island. It is a neat lake because it is a lake on an island in a lake that has its own lake and island on it. That makes it three sets of Islands with lakes all on top of each other.
We said our thank you’s and returned to Ciara late afternoon. The heat had really gotten to us all. Captain excused himself for a long nap and the kids and I decided it was time for our first swim. I was terribly hot and jumped in first. It felt great! The lakes are always cold; however they are warming a bit and feel soooo good on a day like today. I jumped in and Kona jumped in after me, never one to let us swim unattended. Cory and Bert both dipped their feet and said ‘nah.” Really?? Oh well, I cooled off and it was fantastic. I played fetch with Kona while I air dried. She is my best friend.
The kids enjoyed having some actually internet while I pouted at my lack thereof. The lack of weather forecases and being able to even post my logs bums me out. I tried to read my book that has now been sitting for two weeks. I am afraid I’m not getting into it and I made a call to set it aside a try a new one. Finding books is so hard yet I desperately want to be taken away into others stories.
The afternoon thunderstorms did show up late. We all rested. I reminded myself the kids just got off a week of camp and I remember running at 1000% at that age, so sleeping and chilling out is ok.
Bert got hungry for dinner and I gave him the menu. Rather than discussing what we should make he took the initiative to just make some mac and cheese. So, we had a simple dinner. Both Captain and I have had upset tummy/guts today so that was fine.
Captain and I took Kona to shore for her evening walk and Frisbee time. A very nice sandy beach which cooled my fly bitten ankles as we played. Captain and I talked about how small the boat had gotten overnight. The previous four weeks had spoiled us. I have to hunt for a place to type my log now and that will only get harder next week as I’m taking Dani’s bunk now! The kids have been sailing with us since they were 5,6 and 8. They are now 13, 14 and 16 and their feet reach the end of their bunks. Next summer it is very possible these kids won’t be kids anymore and will have jobs and other things taking their time. They grow so fast and I don’t know how much more big sails we will have with them. I’m sad. We hope they look back at these summers with great memories and growth. It has shaped them in ways they don’t understand. They have experiences that are hard to come by any other way. I mean, who else has swam in the middle of Lake Michigan in 900+ feet of water on the board between Michigan and Wisconsin?
My nostalgia for the kids was only made worse when we got back to Ciara and Bert said that it was almost 9pm and we should play taps. Bert started music about a year and a half ago. His school at the time didn’t have music program so I put him in some piano lessons. When we moved schools, he expressed interest in Bassoon which has been wonderful and he is doing great. This spring he need to march with school and had to pick yet another instrument as those pesky double reeds don’t march. I had an extra cornet lying around so he decided that would do. He has only been playing two months completely self-taught. I had printed him an easy (read lower) version of Taps and at 9pm we played together. It was rough, it was terribly out of tune, but I didn’t care. That is a moment I never thought I would have with my kids and it was incredibly touching.
And that is how our first day as a crew of four went. We think we are clear to sleep with the hatches open tonight but I have my raincoat at the ready if not. We are headed to bed early. It is strange how heat and humidity without a/c relief makes you ready for bed as soon as it gets cool enough to lay down. The winds will shift so we will move tomorrow.
