Cruise to South Haven

Okay, so we took our first distance cruise. We joined our friends Tim & Julie on a trip to South Haven which is 25 nautical miles from pierhead to pierhead. On our trip down, we beat against a fresh South-Westerly breeze in heavy seas and registered 40 nautical miles. It took a while, but we made it! It started to rain once we arrived in South Haven. Eileen took Shiloh for a much needed walk as I was preparing to get Jamie off of the boat, hurrying as it was starting to rain. Here is where I get the “Bonehead of the Year” award. I stepped off the dock, my foot slipped, and I smacked my knees on the toe rail on my way into the drink, cell phone and wallet in pockets of course. Tim had the presence of mind to lower my swim ladder so I could get out of the water! Thanks Tim!!
We enjoyed our time in South Haven and headed home on Sunday. We had West-Southwest winds and reached all the way back to Holland on one leg (no pun intended)! It was a very nice sail at impressive speeds! All-in-all, it was a great trip. Here are some photos of our adventure!

Jamie hanging out in the cabin on Saturday

Julianna headed south

The captain icing his knees and bruised ego!

The port at South Haven (facing west)

South Haven facing East

Tim & Julie, Chris & Eileen with our boats in the background

Another shot of our boats

Tim cooking bratwurst on the trip home!

Shiloh trying on my racing shoes!

The best wife in the world. She puts up with my desire for adventure!

Pictures from Tim and Julie

Pictures from last Sunday afternoon taken from Julianna.

Sailing South, sand dunes to port

We are looking forward to this weekend, 6/28 - 6/29 as we are sailing with our friends about 30 miles to South Haven and spending our first night aboard! What fun!!

Teresa, our neighbor 6-22-08

Eileen and Shiloh on the foredeck on our way 0ut. The clouds to the west were several miles away. We kept a close eye on them!

Teresa and Jamie

We only sailed 5 nautical miles on this outing as the storm clouds continued their trek eastward.

We had to wait for this ship to clear the channel before we could head back to Lake Mac. If you look closely, you will see a sailboat just off the port stern of this freighter. That is Tim and Julie's Benetau 36.

Our Neighbors 6-20-08

The Snooks joined us for a nice evening cruise on Lake Michigan. We had nice south-westerlies that calmed as we approached sunset. We ended up sailing over 10 nautical miles. Greg and Gesa brought dinner which we enjoyed while under full sail. We got attacked by houseflies that bite. They came out of nowhere 2-3 miles offshore.

Here is a pic of another boat to the west of us as we were preparing to drop our rags. Consider it a postcard to you!

This ship comes by our marina often. There is some industry on Lake Macatawa (errrr.....Lake Macatoilet). This shot is from our dock and the ship is at the mouth of the channel on its way out to Lake Michigan.

Just the three of us 6-14-08

Here we are under full sail (last weekend). Our friends Kevin and Deb shared these shots with us. Eileen, Jamie and I sailed today in 20+ kts and 2'-4' waves. She handled well under reefed main and genoa. Plenty of speed and clean air!

Sue, Gene and Bri Visit 6-10-08

Sue and Gene in the galley

Well Bri...you made the blog! What fun we had with you! Thanks for visiting us so much!

Group shot at the Piper Restaurant. Thanks again Sue and Gene!

Me and my mate!

Of course, we saved room for ice cream. Eileen and Bri getting cozy with Captain Sundae!

Saturday Daysail 6-7-08

What a day on the lake! Strong, steady winds out of the south, under full sail. Eileen, Jamie and I sailed on this tack for about an hour and a half. We could have sailed to Chicago without tacking!!!

Okay Steve, we are cutting loose at 6.2 kts! Had her up to 7.1 kts!

This is Kevin and Deb's boat "Grace" a Capri 26. They are also on D-Dock.

Dinner at the base of Z-dock. Clockwise: Loraine (Tim's mom), Missy, Eileen, Tim, Julie, Deb, Kevin and Jamie. If you look real close, you will see the reflection in my wine glass of me taking the picture...NOT! Kevin's homemade wine was very good.

Sailing with Hal & Sarah 6-1-08

Sarah, an accoplished sailor is at the helm under full sail. Winds were light out of the NW. It was actually warm on the lake today! Lake temp is still in the 40's, but headed in the right direction!

Hal takes a turn at the wheel. We had to wipe the bugs off of his teeth!

Jamie endures yet another sailing adventure!

Ahh, what a way to cap off an afternoon out on the lake! This is the smaller of two hot tubs at our marina (right next to the heated pool).