It's a Sad Day 10-13-08

Well, Latigo is on the hard for the winter. She came out of the water today and I was able to watch it on the Eldean Webcam. It was pretty cool...sad, but cool. I called the guy in charge of hauling boats and he let me know that they were going to pull the boat at 9:30 this morning. So, I left work and went down to the marina and drove the boat over to the haul out dock. One last time on the boat that I really have bonded with. I headed back to work and watched her come out over the internet. I was able to see the guys power washing her bottom! Well, I needed pictures so I went back to the marina at lunch time. Here she sits, on her cradle. Lots of work still remains.

Dinner at Z Dock 9-28-08

We met our friends at the base of Z dock for dinner tonight. It was good catching up with them. Tim and Julie sailed to Grand Haven this weekend with their friends Mark and Sally, so we didn't get a chance to hang out before Sunday night. Eileen had the idea to prepare dinner and have it ready for when they got back from their trip. It was a great time and much appreciated by the hungry crew! I made baked ziti, tossed salad, and garlic bread.

I plan to teach Shiloh how to read over the winter!

This is the picnic area at the base of Z dock

Tim, Julie, and Jamie playing Bananagrams after dinner, Eileen, Mark and Sally looking on. That's me behind the camera!

House Church 9-23-08

We invited our house church for a sail instead of meeting at our house tonight. The weather was a bonus as it was North of 80 degrees today. It turned into a balmy evening as well. We left the dock just before sunset, not a whisper of wind. We watched the sun melt into Lake Michigan on our way out of the channel. The wind began to fill in and I unfurled the genoa. No waves and building wind made for night sailing at its finest. We sailed in flat seas for a couple of hours under a star-filled moonless sky.

Jen and Jeremy...before their camera went overboard!

My girl...

Dave and Kathy hustling up the dock

The sun setting while we motored out Bow riders...Jen, Jeremy, Erin, and Kathy
Not pictured (Jamie, Dave, Tyler, and the Captain)!

Mark & Kathy 9-21-08

Mark and Kathy, our daughter-in-law's relatives from Grand Rapids joined us for a sail today, along with their kids, Sadie and Keesen. What a blast! Great to have kids on board! It was a beautiful fall day with light East winds and flat seas.

We proudly flew the colors of the Poor Man's Yacht Club off the backstay. We also had a rendezvous out on Lake Michigan with Juliana, our friend's from Porter, Indiana. When we got back to port, we finally got the flag halyard strung through the block on the spreader, so I can now fly the colors properly! We took tons of pictures and here are the best of them...

Sadie and Keesen on the bow

An action shot of all three ladies on board!

Not sure, but I think Mark is enjoying this!

Jamie celebrating Octoberfest a tad early! NOT.

Keesen at the helm...how cool is this?

The PMYC colors

On a run back to Holland, Mark is using a boat hook as a whisker pole as we sail wing & wing! Juliana off of our port bow.

Sadie thinking...dude, you are pretty high up!

Keesen thinking this is high enough...I was just kidding about going up to the spreaders...I want down!

Sadie giving it a shot

Strike two

Yes! We have a flag halyard!

Hoisting the burgee flag for the first time, Mark supervising

The finished product

This is the sign on one of the pilings on our finger dock. Jamie bought this for me a few weeks back.

Joe & Sally 9-20-08

My workmate Sally, and her husband Joe joined us for a visit aboard Latigo. We shared some tasty treats and then took a walk out to the south pierhead.

Two great people!

The four of us in front of our lighthouse (BigRed)

Sunset Cruise 9-18-08

I blew out of work just after 4:00 today and headed to the marina. I had to change the secondary fuel filter on the boat. That took all of a half hour. So, Eileen and I decided to take a sunset cruise. We picked up a couple of pizzas from the Piper and headed out to the big lake. Winds were out of the East at 6 to 8 knots. That means flat seas on Lake Michigan. We unfurled the genoa and headed South along the beach. What a wonderful quiet time. A couple of rum and cokes later, the sun was setting and it was B E A utiful.

After two rum and cokes!

Shiloh on watch

Eileen on watch!

The sun melting into Lake Michigan The dune just to the south of the channel taken from Lake Macatawa

Sunday Sail 9-7-08

The day after the race, there was wind to spare! Where was this wind yesterday? We went out on the big lake for a couple of hours. There were solid 4 footers and a stiff West breeze. We tacked back to the Holland pierhead and sailed on Lake Mac for a while in flat seas. Steve got a better flavor for how Latigo sails!

Steve at the helm with a little bit of heel

Another crossword puzzle for Jamie

Brotherhood! How sweet it is!

Jamie holding on...we must be getting ready to tack

My best girl