Day 8 - Our 14th Crossing of Lake Michigan
We decided after all that wind that we were going to weigh anchor and head to Michigan today. It was going to be a long motor sail with a reward of well over a week in this area before we need to start thinking of heading back towards the waters of Green Bay.
Sun is up around 4 these days, but we didn’t rise until 6. Took Kona for shore and were sad to find my coffee truck wasn’t open yet. The nice gentleman in the kayak from yesterday saw us and offered coffee at his campsite. Captain accepted and I had to politely say I only drink super high maintenance coffee. He walked us back to the dinghy with fresh coffee in hand. He told us he was there with his two adult kids. His wife had passed just earlier this year. We felt a lot of empathy for them as we remember all too well what it’s like to loose a mom in a family.
Anchor was up about a quarter to 8. A littler later then I had hoped as sunset is at 9:30pm in Michigan and we had a 12+ hour day (with loosing an hour time change). The may files are in full swarm mode and are everywhere. I’m pretty sure our deck is now black and not the beautiful off white of the new paint. We so desperately want to wash the decks but we fear it will be in vain. Will someone please tell these guys it is June already??
The haze is really much worse than we thought. This isn’t fog. We ghosted up the Door Peninsula and about two hours later we met the waters of Death’s Door. I think this is our second time actually passing through here. Death’s Door has earned it’s name but today it was vary calm. We saw the Washington Island Ferries and picked up a little swell action as the two bodies of water met.
Once clear of the Door we hoisted the jib. She gave us just a small boost for the day as the winds were nearly non-existent. Captain donned his sailing bibs, hat and gloves as it was quite chilly still on the lake. Strange to have a warm sun on you and feel the cold air of the cold water come up and bite you.
I made some left over tacos for breakfast and settled in for a quick nap (I can’t help it!). The rest of the day I relived Captain for potty breaks, cooked him food and read most of my book.
Normally when we cross Lake Michigan headed east we can see the dunes of the islands and mainland more then 20 miles off shore. Today we looked and looked for land and it never came. Turns out the haze has visibility to 3 miles. We were practically on top of High Island before we saw it.
No worries though! The wind tonight is perfect for this anchorage. We dropped anchor just shy of 9pm Michigan time. It was calm so I quickly played taps. We then loaded Kona’s boat and took her to shore. She was such a good girl today and we could tell she was excited to get to shore. We told her she could jump in and swim the rest of the way and she did. She continued to prance and enjoy the beach thoroughly. Kona gives it a 4 paw beach rating. We have never been here before although have passed by many times. Conditions have to be just right. We hope to hike a bit tomorrow and not get eaten up too much by bugs. This island is uninhabited and we haven’t seen a sole since we left Death’s Door. By the time we headed back to Ciara we could hear the birds on shore. They sound like a bunch of quiet car alarms.
Dinner was my freeze-dried homemade Cheese, Bacon and Potato soup. There was nothing wrong with that. Captain was rightly tired after being in the cold all day so we called it a night around 11pm. That was our 14th crossing of Lake Michigan. Wow!
