Our 20th Crossing of Lake Michigan!
The alarm went off at 5:30am. I really have a hard time remembering what it was like when we used to work. Play hard, sleep little and still get up to a way early alarm every day. Needless to say, the alarm went off too early for my taste.
After Kona had her walk, we undocked and were on our way by 6am. We let Cory sleep through it all as being a teenager the day after camp is really hard! The weather was beautiful and calm, cool and clear. We had watched one of the personal tug boats leave about half an hour before us. He was coming back in the channel as we left. Not sure what happened there. We joked he forgot his wife on shore.
I spent the first part of the day just getting back to our boat routine. Captain was set at the helm so I typed up my blog quick. We had some favorable wind so Captain had me help him raise the sails and we were even able to turn off the engines for a few hours and have a lovely sail. While we sailed, I made breakfast burritos and also did up all the dishes. I woke Cory up to eat. They ate, and went back to bed. By the time dishes were done the wind had died and we were motor sailing along and I was able to read my book for a while. Around 9am I couldn’t resist the gentle boat calling me for a nap so I made sure Captain was all set and then laid myself down for an hour, maybe an hour and half. Two hours I woke up out of a dead sleep. Opps. Yeah, they really are that good.
I haven’t commanded the ship at all this year. Hardly last year either. It’s a not-so-great habit both Captain and I have. He loves it, so I don’t fight to take it away. But today’s sail is over thirteen hours long so I asked if he would like a break and he took it. We took the main sail down since it really wasn’t doing anything anymore and once he got me all settled it was just me, Kona and sun at the helm for about two hours. It was really peaceful to be the only living soul in sight. Captain said he would set an alarm for one hour, but it must have been on silent and sure enough he woke up from the dead as well after two hours. Boat naps are one of my most favorite guilty pleasures. It is a joy to give that to Captain every once and awhile.
Cory woke up just a before Captain around 2pm (now Michigan time). We had some light snacks and Cory and I both enjoyed reading our books up deck a bit. The breeze was better more forward and the sun was starting to beat down finally. Cory lasted maybe an hour and then went back to sleep.
I hadn’t seen any ships all day but as we came up on the shipping lanes, we found one, then two and a third freighter ship on the horizon. We even got our first look at the Fox Islands a little to the south of our destination. Two ships were not an issue but the third one was coming up from behind us and it appeared that we were on a very similar course. We watched intently as both ships got closer and closer to each other on our courses. By the time he was half a mile away we determined that he was going to successfully pass in front of us and there was no collision course to worry about. It was neat to watch him pass about a quarter mile ahead of us. His bulbous bow wake was fun to watch and he left very little wake to toss us around, despite his large size. As he passed, I sat at the bow and could feel the vibrations from his motors on our steel haul, I could hear his engines low rumble. And just like that we were watching his stern fade off into the distance.
Then the sweat bees came out. Those cute little buggers. I was having trouble sitting up deck with either them or too much heat so I came below to read a little more and finally laid down with empty thoughts in my head. I had to put a sheet on me to stop getting eaten alive. I found quite a few welts on my body from those buggers. I guess they don’t bite but the females can sting. It is a very mild sting and only caused me a little discomfort.
As the afternoon slipped in the early evening we could get a nice view of the west coast of High Island. The wind had died so much that we were gliding along on glass water as we passed the south part of the island. Captain pulled out the looking glass and determined which sand dune was the highest as that was our hiking goal for tomorrow. There is a little shoal on the south side of the island that we slowed going over just to be cautious. Plenty of depth, 20 feet, but the clear blue waters of Lake Michigan let us see the bottom as if it was 5 feet deep.
We woke Cory up when we had about half an hour left. They really did sleep most of the day and now with the heat felt sick. I went and readied the anchor while they decided if they were going to be sea sick or not. Cory felt well enough by the time we got to the anchorage that they were able to do the anchoring.
We dropped anchor around 8:15pm, Michigan time. Just over a thirteen-hour day. It was a long semi boring day, but I told Captain I would much rather a sail that long then a flight that long. I got to sleep, eat, do dishes, read, steer the ship and more. We are the only boat here and the remoteness feels amazing after a month around the populated Door County. Also, this was our 20th crossing of Lake Michigan! Mazel Tov! Cory is now at 17! That is no small feat.
As soon as the anchor was secure, we headed to shore with Kona who was very eager to empty her bowels. We took the dinghy to shore and followed our anchor rode to see our anchor dug in really deep. The water is so clear! Kona was so ready to go to shore that Captain just told her “go!” and she happily jumped from the dinghy and swam to shore the last 100 feet or so.
We walked the beach just a bit with Kona. Enough for her to do her business, catch a few sticks and absolutely roll around in the sand, a lot.
Back on Ciara, Cory couldn’t find the BBQ sauce for dinner and was waiting for our return. I couldn’t find it either so we switched menus to spaghetti and salad. Captain took dinner prep time to fly his drone since it was super calm. He flew the drone all over High Island and got some amazing footage. I played Taps at 9pm to nature and our crew. 9pm in Michigan right now feels odd to play as it is very much still light outside.
We closed up the hatches with screen doors and finished up our dishes for the evening. As I did my last deck check before bed I could hear Whip-Poor-Wills on shore. Then I realized! Whip-Poor-Wills were ground nesting birds. When we were here last year Captain got super spooked by a ground bird on our hike. We called it a Pokémon because we never got a good look at the thing and the whole story was hilarious. I bet it was a Whip-Poor-Will! I wonder if we will run into one tomorrow.
Speaking of tomorrow. Captain is determined to literally blaze a trail across this island. The history here is amazing, much like all the islands in the Beaver archipelago. The island is now uninhabited and very over grown and very few people come here. There are stories of hidden treasure and lots of crazy cults. Who knows what we might find! I suspect a lot of bug bites and poison ivy is all we will find, but it will be epic, that, I am sure.
