Soaking up every last minute of summer
I didn’t write an individual blog for the 18th and 19th. Mostly because both days were so similar; full and empty of the same things. Both mornings we slept in. The cooler temps making our sleep very sound. The fisherman start setting wake to rock us awake around 4am so we just lay in bed and enjoy the rocking. We got coffee both mornings. Kona got her pup cups before we headed to the beach. We spent both late mornings playing endlessly with Kona and keeping our eyes on the sand for fun rocks. Cory did some shopping, Captain and I relaxed. It has been a pretty fast summer, and as I add up the days it is shorter then last, although having this really long stretch where we didn’t have to go back to home port has been quite wonderful.
Tuesday night we had our new friends over for dinner. They are vegetarian and Cory made a new curry dish from scratch with some help from Jeb’s supply of curry leaves. It was really good. While they were on board, we had a storm come upon us. We sat on deck and watched the clouds build until the wind took over and brought rain. We were down below waiting for dinner to be done when it really started to blow. Oh my! We probably had 60 knot winds! Thank goodness Captain let out some extra anchor rode and we closed all our hatches! Our life ring which hangs behind the captain on our flag pole got blown off. It has come close in the past but never succeeded until that storm. We had joked that we had never actually tested it and we weren’t sure if it even floated (like Captain Ron!). Sure enough, it floated! We watched as it went on its own little excursion down Betsie Lake. When the storm passed Captain hopped in the dinghy and rescued our newly christened life buoy. We were invited to go out after dinner with Jed and Andy Lee but the storms were lingering and I had overeaten and wasn’t in the mood to leave the ship. Captain took them and Kona to shore to say goodnight. Yesterday we went out for dinner. Turns out most of Frankfort is closed on Wednesday’s but we found a nice Italian restaurant and left Kona on board. I got a dirty martini and forgot how much I like those. I hope to make my own blue cheese infused vodka this winter and perfect my own recipe because they are yummy.
After dinner we took a one last beach walk with Kona. Instead of walking to the beach we actually took the dinghy out the channel and beached it right at the start of our walk saving us the extra walk-through town. The walk was peaceful. The water was warmer than the air and the fishermen off shore dotted the horizon as far as we could see. Captain and I both have been rather pensive and soaking up every last moment of the last two days. We head home to Cedar River tomorrow as the weather Friday-Sunday is not great so it seems best to make the 12-hour run all at once. The summer seems anti-climatic and maybe that is okay. We had injuries this summer. We had some boat issues (Any boat always has something going on right??). We had a really special time with Cory and missed my kids. We made new friends and re-connected with old ones. We noticed how comfortable we are living aboard. The idea of going back to a big house and all the chores and clutter and day to day tasks seems too much to think about. The magic of the summer keeps us warm all winter. Endless projects and day dreaming. I have goals I hope to meet and not fall into being too lazy. We look forward to a full kitchen and all the ice we could possibly want. Showers and laundry. We will miss sand in our sheets, quite anchorages and the gentle rocking beneath our feet. I will hold Frankfort close for quite awhile. Until then, we hope for an uneventful 21st crossing tomorrow. We have never taken this path before and will go through Death’s door at the top of Door County. The weather looks fine, it should be a lot of motor sailing with hopefully some sailing mixed in.
