Through the Welland Canal

Well I can now say that I've sailed in all 5 great lakes!  We made it through the Welland Canal yesterday, but it was a long day.  We woke up at 5 in the morning (not so unusual) and didn't get into port until 8 at night.  It took 5 hours for us to get in the first lock and we ended up waiting another 3 hours for 3 lakers to pass.  Despite the rain and the hold ups, it was still a fun experience.  Each lock dropped us 45 feet and left the mast about even with the lock walls.

 We didn't really know what to expect in the locks, but everything went well.  Each of the 8 locks took about 15 minutes.

 Here's what breakfast looks like when your milk freezes overnight.

One of the powerboaters that came through the locks with us was nice enough to give me a lesson on his segways.  I ended up running around town with him trying to find safety pins.  I felt so rediculous that I couldn't quit grinning.  They're pretty easy once you get the hang of them.  Max speed is about 12mph.  We'll probably run into this guy again in Oswego so I'm hoping I'll get to ride them again  :)

More Wind

We're now in Dunkirk New York, which is basically our last stop before we get to the Welland Canal which takes us from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario.  We woke up around 5 yesterday and listened to the forecast only to go back to bed.  They were calling for winds in the thirties with gusts up to 57 mph and 6-9 foot waves.  We decided to stay in our anchoring one more day which was probably a good decision.  It was actually a very warm day and the water was warm enough to swim comfortably. 

Today, the winds had settled down to 20-25 knots but the waves were still 6-9.  We were going downwind so the boat would surf with the waves.  Made for a quick day and we arrived in Dunkirk shortly after noon.  The temperatures are dropping quickly though and we're back in our winter gear.

 The drier quit on me the other day so I had to hang them all out to dry.  I think it adds a nice touch to our boat  :)

Coming into Erie we crossed paths with Niagra.  It was pretty cool seeing this thing up close as they were putting up sails.

Only one more lake to go and then it's on to the Erie Canal.

It's warming up!

We're in Geneva State Park tonight and I'm happy to be in shorts and a T-shirt.  Up until this point, I've been layered under my winter coat or rain gear every day.  It's been surprisingly chilly out on the lake especially with some of the nice wind we've had.  Coming out of Detroit, we came down the Detroit River through the shipping lanes and into Lake Erie. 

View of Detroit beneath the Ambassador Bridge

After Detroit, we headed to Kelly's Island.  It's part of a group of islands near the south shore of Lake Erie.  I rented a bike here and headed across the island to Glacial Grooves State Park. 

We had our first lazy day in Cleveland.  It was close to 90 degrees and Jim and I walked about three miles from our harbor to downtown Cleveland.  Pretty cool town (big step up from Detroit).  I was too cheap to check out the Rock and Roll hall of fame or the science museum, but I enjoyed being a tourist for the day.  Then I made the three mile hike back.  I guess it wasn't much of a lazy day after all.

I keep telling myself I'm gonna stop taking so many pictures of sunrises/sunsets, but I can't help myself.

2 down, 2 to go

Day 11 of the trip and we're still on schedule.  We've made it down Lake Huron, through the St. Claire River and are now in the city of Detroit.  Pretty big change from most of the ports we've been in.  Most of the Ports coming down the East side of michigan weren't too exciting, but we have found some ways to have fun.

In Harbor Beach we used some of the bikes from the marina and headed into town (less than a mile).  We went to a local bar for food and got a free game of pool on a newly finished table.

We've had a couple days where the waves have gotten pretty big.  One morning in particular, we headed out into 5-8 foot waves.  We couldn't go straight into them because the bow would slam into them, so we were tacking (under motor) into the waves.  Eventually they settled down a bit which was good, because we weren't making much ground.

This picture doesn't do justice to this rainbow.  It came out with sunrise and was picture perfect with both sides landing on the beach.  We hardly even noticed the sunrise behind us.



We probably passed 10-15 of these guys coming down the St Claire River today.  The first one caught me off guard.  I was up at the bow taking a picture when we hit it's wake.  There was plenty of water over the front of the boat and needless to say, I got a little wet. 



I met up with my friend Mary in Detroit.  Actually she and her folks made the 40 minute drive from ann arbor to pay a visit.  Great to see a familiar face(thanks Mary!)  We went to some sort of art fair and then stopped to get some great Lebanese food.  I've even got leftover lamb and chicken to get me through a few more lunches  :) 

On to Lake Huron

The days seem to be flying by now and we're already a week into the trip.  Some highlights up to this point:

The Mackinac Bridge! It was blowing 20 knots when we came under the bridge and switched lakes.  We came through at the same time as a big laker.  They seem to be our only company on the trip besides power boats.

Slacklining!  We're usually in port by three or four so I've set a line in most every town.  It's funny the people that come talk to you.  The first day I had a few 5th and 6th graders that wanted to try it so I set a low line for them and helped them across.  Yesterday, I had a couple in their 80's that got a pretty big kick out of it (they wouldn't try it).  It's been my source of excercise since I spend most of the day sitting on the boat.

Stary Mornings!  No pictures to back it up, but we're up at 5 every morning and so I get to enjoy them for a while before the sun starts coming up.  Here's this morning's sunrise.

And here are a couple shots of the inside of the boat.  Jim's got the room up front, Dave's in the back, and I get the middle area (I think I'm getting the best deal here)





A little side note... the boat is never this cluttered.  We had all the tools out to replace a mast light.  We usually keep a pretty tight ship.  I just realized I don't really have any pics of Dave or Jim up.  I'll try to get some up soon so you can see who I'm hanging out with.  They're both really good guys, which is good since I'm spending 2 months on a 36 foot boat with them  :)

First days

Well our trip began early on Wednesday. We planned on leaving at 3 am so that we could finish our 90 mile trip across lake michigan and get in to port in daylight. We were all ready to drop lines but the motor wouldn't start. Apparently our charger wasn't working so we'd been draining our batteries. An hour and a half later we were finally able to get it started with a backup battery and some putsing with the engine (dave plans to pick up another charger in one of the towns along the way). The first hour of sailing has been the highlight of the trip so far. We left in the dark with the lights of chicago to the south and the sky lit up with stars. It got me excited for the night sailing to come. The rest of the day brought great wind and choppy water. Once we got away from shore, we were in 4-6 foot waves. It was a blast until about half way across when I started getting a little seasick. That only lasted a couple hours though and the last leg of the trip I was feeling much better (i blame it on the lack of sleep). We got in to port around 5:30 and got some lunch and had a shower.

The next couple of days the wind wasn't as strong so we've been motoring and motor sailing.  We've been getting up around five every morning and although it is a little tough to get out of bed, it pays off with some amazing sunrises.

Time to Leave

Well I thought I'd try this blog thing out before I take off on my trip.   For those of you who don't know, I'm heading out this coming Wednesday (sept 8) on a sailing trip from Chicago to the US Virgin Islands.  It should take 2-3 months if all goes well.  I posted a schedule on the main page.  The boat owner posted an ad online a couple of months ago and, for lack of a better plan, I jumped at the opportunity.    I'm pretty excited though  :)   The two guys I'm sailing with are both retired so I'll be the young guy onboard.     Anyways, I've been packing over the last few weeks so I thought I'd snap a shot of some of my gear.  Notice the stack of books and yes I even brought yarn to perfect my crocheting skills (I'll have a lot of time to kill).

We'll be stopping in ports every night for the beginning of the trip so I'll try to post at least once a week if I can.  Should be a fun trip!