The Smiths 8-26-08

On my first day back to work after having the previous 11 days off, I just had to go sailing. Eileen arranged for our friends Greg, Linda, and Maggie to join us on short notice. We had a rare East wind at 10 to 12 knots and very flat seas. We sailed North toward Port Sheldon at speeds of 6 - 7.5 knots under full sail. We reached for about an hour and a half and then came about and reached back to the Holland pier head, watching the sun melt into the sea on the way! It was one of those real nice sails. Everyone seemed to be hitting the chianti but I was happy with my blue light specials! I always am!!

Greg at the helm, Maggie and Eileen

Jamie and Maggie working on a crossword puzzle

Jack...I'm flying!

Just after sunset

Heading back to Lake Mac

The Maxson's Visit 8-24-08

The Maxson family is currently living in Ann Arbor, MI and they came to visit us this past weekend. They were fellow members of Bethel Grove, our church in Ithaca NY. They have quite a clan. Only seven of their nine kids were with them! The two oldest were overseas. We sailed Lake Macatawa as the winds were north of 20 knots on Lake Michigan and the waves were approaching 8 feet (small craft advisory)! Here are some shots of sailing Lake Mac under genoa only.

Yes, all of these people were on board. I had to borrow two life jackets!

Five of the kids on the rail

Jamie hanging with Joel...impressive speed for the genoa

Another shot of the crew

Captain and First Mate!

Maiden Voyage of "The B" 8-21-08

The "B" is Matthew and Leah's new-to-them Tanzer 14. They named it the "B" because it looks like a bumble bee. It is a cute little vessel that sails very well. Eileen and I spend part of our vacation in NC, helping Leah get her room ready for her third graders and teaching Matthew and Leah how to rig and sail their boat! We sailed two days on Falls Lake, home of the Redneck Yacht Club!

Here is Matthew prior to the first rigging lesson

Leah and the "B"
Look at the confidence...she makes me proud!

The naming ceremony

The mainsail on a reach

Matthew on day two

Leah sailing the "B" back to the beach, near the launch at Falls Lake

Chicago Trip 8/15 - 8/17

Eileen and I met our friends, Tim and Julie in Chicago to watch the air and water show and sail Julianna back to Holland. We hung out with fellow members of PMYC (Poor Man's Yacht Club) along the North wall of Monroe Harbor. We had such a good time! The air show was fantastic, but very loud, and the weather was perfect! We anchored just North of Monroe Harbor and had front row seats, along with others from PMYC that anchored nearby. There were literally thousands of boats in the anchorage. It was nice to sit back and relax prior to setting sail for Holland, an 85 nautical mile journey. For the trip home, we had favorable winds out of the West and South West with following 2-4 foot waves. We made the trip in one leg on a broad reach. Not one tack! It was Eileen's first crossing of Lake Michigan and a very pleasant one at that. We set sail after sunset and sailed all night, taking 2-hour shifts on watch during our 14 1/2 hour trip. We encountered on freighter and had to alter course a few degrees to pass to his stern.

Heading out to the air and water show

It was good to see Sandy and Mitch again, owners of Snafu, a Pearson 34, and fellow members of PMYC. We met them in Holland on their way back to Chicago after the 320 nautical mile race from Chicago to Mackinac. Don't ask me what they are passing...I really don't know!

Julie delivering coffee to Eileen in the v-berth of Julianna
Tim, Sailing Master of PMYC at the helm of Julianna
The Chicago lighthouse


Joey K, owner of Bare Bum, an Irwin 34, and Commodore of PMYC
A Stealth Bomber above Julianna's rigging
The Blue Angels were another one of the show's highlights
Another shot of the Blue Angels
Heading back to Monroe Harbor after the show

The Clipper Cup 8-8-08

The Clipper Cup is a 68 nautical mile cross-lake race from Muskegon, MI to Port Washington, WI. This was my first crossing of Lake Michigan! It was an experience I won't soon forget. We did well in the race, finishing 1st in our division, and 4th overall (out of 31 boats). Our time was a couple minutes shy of 11.5 hours. We had steady NW winds around 14 knots for the first half of the race, with waves around 2-4 feet. The winds clocked around to the SW but died for about an hour during the windshift. Winds freshened to 17-18 knots and we flew the code zero to the finish. Our trip home is another story! We started out on a very lesiurly sail with 6-8 knot winds out of the West in flat seas. The forecast called for 20-30 knots out of the North, 5-8 foot waves, and a chance of T-storms later in the day. It was difficult to believe as the sky was sapphire blue with a few fair weather clouds and no fronts in sight. Well, we got everything except the T-storms! What a challenge! Waves were crashing and spraying which called for foul weather gear. We sailed from Port Washington to Holland which was 81 nautical miles. Another first for me was seeing a sunrise and sunset on the same lake on the same day! Here are some pics of this adventure...

Our crew (clockwise) Rubin, Alun, Jerry, Sheldon, Gordy, and me!

Leaving the Muskegon channel, facing West

The Muskegon channel facing East

A shot up the mainsail of Alun's J/100

Port Washington, WI harbor at dusk

Port Washington municipal marina at sunrise

A freighter (Canadian Navigator) we had to alter course for as we were in a crossing situation in the middle of Lake Michigan. The wake of this boat was the biggest I had ever seen. We also saw the Lake Express ferry on our trip home but I didn't take a picture of it. It is a huge catamaran.

Sunset about 5 nautical miles off the Holland pierhead. The wind settled down to 15-20 knots at this point and the waves settled a bit. Still a respectable 5 footer to our stern!

Commodore's Cup - Day 2

Go figure...18 knots of wind yesterday, today...nothing! We waited for the race committee to make a decision and they cancelled the races at Noon.

Commodore's Cup - Day 1

The Commodore's Cup is a weekend race; 3 races on Saturday, August 2nd, and 3 races on Sunday, August 3rd. The wind was a strong 18 knots out of the North. Our regular crew was not with us today and we had 3 inexperienced racers aboard. We started race 1 in waves 2 feet or less. Half way through the first race, one of the guys was hurling over the port rail. Not a good thing! We got concerned about him and opted out of the second race to bring him back to port. We made a quick headsail change and headed back out for the third race. Waves continued to build and were 4-6 feet for the start of the third race. We just made it back to the fleet in time for our sequence. We had 6 minutes to spare, so it we headed right to the starting box.

The crew from bow to stern; Jerry (a regular), Sheldon, George, Steve, me and Alun, the owner of the J/100.

Here we are on the way back to the fleet after dropping Steve off

Headed back to the fleet

This is the last downwind leg of the third race. A very comfortable point of sail after beating to windward