Day 36 - Fayette to Beaver Island
With all the excitement yesterday, the weather has now turned to nearly a week of no wind. So while we worked really hard yesterday the next many days will be long gentle motors. Today Captain and I crossed Lake Michigan for t he 16th time to Beaver Island. All the kids have crossed over 10 times now as well.
We got up early and gave Kona some shore time. She sure loves her Frisbee! We were off the dock by 7:30 after we took the time to take off the working jib and put on our main jib.
Belefonte left early with us and we enjoyed sailing downwind with them until they continued straight to Washington Island and we veered to port to head to Beaver Island.
The day was so relaxing. I set up “office” in the V-Berth for the first time and really enjoyed typing in there for a few hours as I had a lot to say about our big day before. I made brunch around 11am while the crew was still sleeping. Captain had spent his morning making an makeshift wheel lock to help with boring motor sailing. It works really well and now he can walk away from the wheel for a few minutes at a time without the ship steering herself in circles. I did notice that some of our rigging had wiggled free yesterday. Our mast is wedged in the deck with a fitted rubber part. I had noticed last night that one of the zip ties down below that we use to tie around the mast to hold all the electrical coming down had popped off and when I looked up I could see sky through the hole. I took the wheel for a bit so he could work the rigging and hammer the rubber back in and secure the mast. I had been worried that the rigging took a beating yesterday so I’m glad we checked.
I got a little nap in to help with being sleep deprived and still sore from yesterday. Bert found a shady spot up deck and I joined him to read while enjoying the views of Western Michigan come into view. The fire haze is much better than a few weeks ago.
We pulled into St. James Harbor on Beaver Island just shy of 7:30pm. Kona had her nose up as soon as we passed the north side of the island and she could smell land. The kids dropped the anchor and then convinced us they needed ice cream before dinner. They had hoped their favorite flavor was still there, Michigan Pot Hole which is funny and also just a ton of chocolate chunks thrown into chocolate ice cream. What’s not to love? Sadly they were out but we found good alternatives. They had raspberry dole whip and it tasted amazing! I hope we come back because I want more.
We high tailed it back to Ciara so I could make 9pm taps. There were some locals water skiing way to close to our boat, even with the skier passing just 20 feet off our stern! It was a bit rude (and illegal) and made playing a bit harder as they were circling our boat and the wake was being concentrated right to us. I played anyhow in the golden hour and I know some folks and boaters ashore appreciated it over the power boat noise. There is a boat anchored here that was anchored with us just this past Thursday in Egg Harbor.
We made freeze dried pork BBQ sandwiches for dinner and after a quick weather check Captain and I were in bed by 11pm. When you drop anchor at 7:30 the rest of the day goes way to fast. It is compounded by us wanting to make fast time to Little Current. We need to be there by Friday, maybe Sunday if we push our tanks. Thankfully the lack of winds means we will make it, just a few long calm sea days. This will allow us to really enjoy the North channel for a full two weeks before we have to push back home to Cedar River. I dream of the day when the logistics gets better and we can slow down and stay longer. Until then so grateful for this crew and this time and calm days.
