Mackinac Island, MI
Morning came early on Tuesday. It's hard to sleep with people walking overhead all morning, the sun pouring through every opening on board, and a restless crew member rustling through a bag for their toothbrush or some other relief from last nights rampage. A few of us walked up to "SeaBiscuit" (or something like that) for breakfast. It was good to get some food in my belly. What to do with a full day on the island?? It started with a swim back at the boat. We were pretty sure that the no swim rule had been dropped on account of enforcement issues. It was so hot, every boat had people in the water, and as long as everyone was staying safe and responsible (which sailors always are) I don't think anyone was going to be able to do anything about the situation. The water felt great and it was just what I needed. The rest of the morning was a bit of a blur, spent wasting it away in the cockpit telling jokes with good company of the crew.
About one o'clock we all walked up to the tea gardens of the Grand Hotel for the trophy ceremony. We were more interested in the free drink tickets being that we weren't going to get a flag this year. If you've ever been to the tea garden of the Grand Hotel you know that it is kind of down in a ditch; the shadows of the hotel so to speak...minus the shadow part. There was absolutely no wind, hardly any shade, and a whole lot of sun and heat. It must have been 110 degrees on the lawn. The party slowly moved into the woods around the lawn as people sought out any relief they could find. I got to see my uncles again, which was great and even had a chance to meet some of the crew of Il Mastro (PUMA!!). No Ken Read, but hey it was still great just to talk to the guys and meet them. Somehow I ended up with more drinks than I had tickets for (always an unfortunate situation!) and the day was turning out to be a good one.
We all met up for dinner at Horn's Bar and the crew was ....well....obnoxious hahaha. We were that group that you just wish would get kicked out. haha. We had a good time and I guess you can be the annoying ones every now and then. The events of weeks past were really starting to wear on me. Bill and I brought the old sails to the boat from the ferry dock for the delivery back to Chicago. After that....well I ran out of wind....and it was time to hit the rack. Packed up and ready to head home for Chicago the following morning I set my alarm and just like that was out cold.
The alarm came early as I had to catch the first ferry to Mackinaw City, then get on a shuttle to Pelston to catch the Lakeshore Express flight back to Midway airport. I hardly remember getting on the airplane I was asleep so fast and before I knew it the wheels touched down in daChi. A shuttle to the train terminal, onto the orange line to downtown, transfer to the red line north, to Belmont stop, a 30 minute walk and back in bed for the rest of the afternoon. And just like that......the 104th Chicago Race to Mackinac was over. My first Mac race officially, and finally, under my belt.
It was a "calm" race, with no crazy weather or circumstances. Even tactically it was basically a drag race. We all knew where we could have made up time, but that's talk for Monday morning quarterbacks... we made the decisions we made and stuck by them. They could have just as easily paid off with how weird the weather forecasting was. We had a cold front push from north to south past us, the wind stalled, then the front stalled, turned stationary and lifted back north to fill the breeze back in from behind and compress the entire fleet. It was an interesting situation and that's the fun part about a race like this. In the Great Lakes you just never know....
We are currently editing all of our GoPro video footage and will be posting it as soon as the entire crew sees it first...so keep checking back!!
I just can't wait for the 105th Mac Race!!
Runaway OUT
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Fudge, Fudgies and horse poop oh my!
Mackinac Island
We barely beat the massive parade of boats coming down the straits and only had to wait about 45 minutes for docking instructions. We later heard that some boats had to wait two hours to get a docking assignment. All of the lines were secure and the boat was de-rigged in no time. We were a well oiled machine.
Now what?
I thought to call all of my friends and family but felt overwhelmed by the task as e-mails and text messages flooded my phone once I turned it back on. I wanted to take a shower, but knew the line was probably already a mile long. I was getting kind of hungry, but there were far more exciting things to do than that. We all had a beer, as we always do when we finish a race, and while it was tempting to continue on with the celebration it was also 9:30 in the morning. Things down below could use some organizing, but there is always time for that later. In the end we all just kind of sat there and took it all in. It was just what everyone needed; to do nothing for a bit and just ...relax.
Exhaustion was really starting to kick in with everyone on board, it was easy to see. Dumb jokes (not that we don't have those all the time!!!!), lots of laughs, crazy statements, and clumsy moves all made a cry to us to get some sleep. It was getting hot, and if it were not for the stiff breeze coming through the harbor it would already be unbearable. We all knew we needed food so we walked up to the island and got a bite to eat together. Some pushed to head right to the pink pony after eating but mostly everyone headed for the rack to get some sleep. I set an alarm for 4:30 my eyes closed and before I knew it my alarm was going off again.
Groggy, tired, hot, and thirsty my first thought was to get in the water and wake up. I don't know if swimming was technically allowed or not (it usually isn't in harbors), but we weren't really in "harbor" and every single boat was swimming, going crazy, splashing around and having a good ole time. Everyone's doing it why can't I right? I quietly sank into the cold Lake Huron water and just sat suspended underwater for a bit. Quiet and refreshing; it was what every man needs after an afternoon nap. The line for the showers were still an hour or more wait so we grabbed some Palmolive dish soap and lathered up. Hey mom, at least I gave an effort! It actually freshened you up pretty nicely although I wouldn't suggest using dish soap every time you take a bath.
I made a few phone calls, got some ice for the boat, and got ready for the evening of activities. One of the crew had a hotel at Lakeview and they were all hanging out on the 3rd floor balcony overlooking the harbor and Main Street. Friends and family of the crew had a great setup with tables and appetizers and drinks for all. We all enjoyed sitting around, unwinding from the race and poking fun at the mistakes and "serious" comments that were made during the race. With our crew you have to be, well, secure with yourself. We love to give each other a hard time in a fun-loving manner. It keeps the morale up, and the laughs coming.
Dinner was great and the night went by like a blur, from the pink pony to horn's bar to the harbor to my pillow...well my bunched up blanket that I used as a pillow. I got to see both my Uncle Dave and Uncle Eric quite a bit over the course of the evening which was great. With so much commotion on the island I didn't think I would see them at all, but it was good to hang out and talk for awhile to both of them.
Being that we were rafted off with about 4 other boats you have to remember that morning comes early for some sailors, and unfortunately it always seems to be the heavy walkers that are outside of you on the raft. To say the least, morning came early as giants barreled over our heads on the deck above making their way to the island for breakfast, coffee, newspaper, or whatever it is they do so early in the morning. The first night in was such a great time, and the party was just getting started.
Runaway OUT
We barely beat the massive parade of boats coming down the straits and only had to wait about 45 minutes for docking instructions. We later heard that some boats had to wait two hours to get a docking assignment. All of the lines were secure and the boat was de-rigged in no time. We were a well oiled machine.
Now what?
I thought to call all of my friends and family but felt overwhelmed by the task as e-mails and text messages flooded my phone once I turned it back on. I wanted to take a shower, but knew the line was probably already a mile long. I was getting kind of hungry, but there were far more exciting things to do than that. We all had a beer, as we always do when we finish a race, and while it was tempting to continue on with the celebration it was also 9:30 in the morning. Things down below could use some organizing, but there is always time for that later. In the end we all just kind of sat there and took it all in. It was just what everyone needed; to do nothing for a bit and just ...relax.
Exhaustion was really starting to kick in with everyone on board, it was easy to see. Dumb jokes (not that we don't have those all the time!!!!), lots of laughs, crazy statements, and clumsy moves all made a cry to us to get some sleep. It was getting hot, and if it were not for the stiff breeze coming through the harbor it would already be unbearable. We all knew we needed food so we walked up to the island and got a bite to eat together. Some pushed to head right to the pink pony after eating but mostly everyone headed for the rack to get some sleep. I set an alarm for 4:30 my eyes closed and before I knew it my alarm was going off again.
Groggy, tired, hot, and thirsty my first thought was to get in the water and wake up. I don't know if swimming was technically allowed or not (it usually isn't in harbors), but we weren't really in "harbor" and every single boat was swimming, going crazy, splashing around and having a good ole time. Everyone's doing it why can't I right? I quietly sank into the cold Lake Huron water and just sat suspended underwater for a bit. Quiet and refreshing; it was what every man needs after an afternoon nap. The line for the showers were still an hour or more wait so we grabbed some Palmolive dish soap and lathered up. Hey mom, at least I gave an effort! It actually freshened you up pretty nicely although I wouldn't suggest using dish soap every time you take a bath.
I made a few phone calls, got some ice for the boat, and got ready for the evening of activities. One of the crew had a hotel at Lakeview and they were all hanging out on the 3rd floor balcony overlooking the harbor and Main Street. Friends and family of the crew had a great setup with tables and appetizers and drinks for all. We all enjoyed sitting around, unwinding from the race and poking fun at the mistakes and "serious" comments that were made during the race. With our crew you have to be, well, secure with yourself. We love to give each other a hard time in a fun-loving manner. It keeps the morale up, and the laughs coming.
Dinner was great and the night went by like a blur, from the pink pony to horn's bar to the harbor to my pillow...well my bunched up blanket that I used as a pillow. I got to see both my Uncle Dave and Uncle Eric quite a bit over the course of the evening which was great. With so much commotion on the island I didn't think I would see them at all, but it was good to hang out and talk for awhile to both of them.
Being that we were rafted off with about 4 other boats you have to remember that morning comes early for some sailors, and unfortunately it always seems to be the heavy walkers that are outside of you on the raft. To say the least, morning came early as giants barreled over our heads on the deck above making their way to the island for breakfast, coffee, newspaper, or whatever it is they do so early in the morning. The first night in was such a great time, and the party was just getting started.
Runaway OUT
Friday, July 27, 2012
Day 3 and just like that.....
GREYS REEF -> MACKINAC ISLAND
The wind had been building throughout the night. I came up on deck, feeling refreshed from my watch break. The sun was already above the horizon and temporarily hiding behind a batch of cumulus clouds. There was still a bite in the air from the cool evening before as the sun's heat had not yet kicked in. Maybe it was my morning shivers I get while my body works to wake up and jump right into sailing. The seas were building but still tolerable. The wind appeared that it shifted a little but was still dominant out of the south/southwest. I looked around, easily spotting other section five boats as the bottle neck of Grey's Reef was only a few miles ahead. Paradigm Shift gybed back to the west astern to us. What I thought was Maskwa also astern turned out to be Quicksilver; their spinnaker's were very similar. Maskwa must be up on the horizon in front of us. Bravo still appeared to be astern to us as well. Roxy was right where they always seemed to be, just in our back pocket threatening to pass on any small mistake we made. Conversation was being held in the cockpit about when to gybe and how we wanted to approach the reef. The wind seemed to favor a gut shot and we decided to stay on starboard tack until we had the angle to fly right through. It happened fast and just like that we flipped over and found that Karma, a 36.7 section boat, and Paradigm Shift were within ear shot of us. Karma's skipper said good morning to Tom, our skipper, as we blasted north for Grey's Reef. We wanted to stay out of Karma's way and they the same considering we were not in each others section. Karma is a well raced boat and we kept the thought on the back burner to shadow any tactics they carry out for the remainder of the race.
Grey's Reef was uneventful but buoy number 3 on the north side of Grey's, our only turning mark on the course, was setting up to be more like a buoy race mark with three boats all in the same area. Then there were four. Another boat (name slipping my mind) came out of no where and suddenly we were making the decision on who to stay up on.
"I don't want to pass Karma, we are going to get pinched"
"Stay right here."
"We can't, we're faster, we're going to get pinched, I'm coming down"
"I think we can stay."
"We can't stay let's get between the two of them, coming down"
We made sure we were clear to Karma and the bow came down and then back on course in one swift movement. In throwing a wall of bad air down and coming back up hard we we passed the other boat in no time and also passed Karma. Paradigm Shift went wide up ahead and was already flipped over and heading for the mark, on starboard none the less (rights). Karma called for room, Paradigm shift came down, and everyone played fair. The gybe could have been cleaner, but we were around it and the next stop was Mackinac Island.
Now more on the beam, the wind was up to 23 knots and the seas had more effect on our course. Paradigm Shift struggled hard with their overpowered A-kite and eventually changed sail. We were in Karma's back pocket, and passing would be hard. We knew we would end up there after the rounding mark, but we really had no choice. Suddenly 9 knots was our average boat speed. We started seeing 10, then 10.5 then 11. Waves curled in on the stern, lifted us up and shot us forward, like a wild river crashing over a falls the waves grabbed a hold of Runaway and took her for a ride.
Mackinac bridge came out of the haze, the sun lifted higher in to a clearing sky and suddenly we realized that it wouldn't be long before we would be throwing dock lines on Mackinac Island. Focus was key here. All hands were on deck as the excitement was too much to sleep. Exhaustion started to kick in, a gybe here and a gybe there became a bit more sloppy every time. On the last gybe before the finish we lost the kite around the forestay and I was thrown across the cockpit by a mainsheet that I couldn't get away from fast enough. No injuries, just a little upset as we were starting to take pride in how clean of a race we had been sailing. Only a mile to go now. The Grand Hotel dominated the hillside of Mackinac Island as another huge freighter came barreling for the bridge from the east. Boats scattered one last time in their last ditch effort to gain a tactical advantage, but for the most part the drag race for the finish line started well back in the Manitou's, some may argue Chicago. We heard our section boats calling in at the finish and at the bridge. We knew exactly where everyone was around us. Just a little further now. Then the cannon came into range. Boom.............Boom, Boom.....Boom.............Boom, as boats in front of us finished. Two more blasts and that should be us. Boom...........................................................................where is it????..................Is that our cannon??? .................................We're still racing!!!.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................BOOM!
And just like that, it was over. 45 hours 21 minutes and 2 seconds.
I've sailed many miles before, and many places, but before we could even get the sails down I found myself choking up a bit. I've always wanted to do a Chicago to Mackinac race. I grew up watching my uncles race, like they were hero's, and despite going offshore and straight into the Bermuda triangle it still didn't satisfy the goal of one day sailing in The Mac. Everyone was shaking hands while I just stared out back towards the bridge in silence. What was there to say, what could I say? It was such a team effort, but right now, it was my moment. Of all the times I've gone under that bridge, up that lake, and to this island, this time was different. It was another accomplishment that I will never forget. Truly a team effort, you can't explain it unless you do it. You get caught in the moment out there. 20 miles to the Manitou's. Only 10 more til Grey's Reef. We should gybe in an hour. Let's get around this mark. Mackinac Bridge Dead ahead.....then it's over. Why were we in such a hurry?? Oh yeah we were racing! We immediately knew we were probably going to miss a flag and get 7th place but right then, I didn't care. I didn't care if we got last at that moment, what I just did, with this team, was enough for me. (That later changed as all we talked about was getting a flag and what we needed to do next year!! haha)
The 2012 Chicago Race to Mackinac was coming to a close, but the fun was just beginning..............
Runaway...OUT
The wind had been building throughout the night. I came up on deck, feeling refreshed from my watch break. The sun was already above the horizon and temporarily hiding behind a batch of cumulus clouds. There was still a bite in the air from the cool evening before as the sun's heat had not yet kicked in. Maybe it was my morning shivers I get while my body works to wake up and jump right into sailing. The seas were building but still tolerable. The wind appeared that it shifted a little but was still dominant out of the south/southwest. I looked around, easily spotting other section five boats as the bottle neck of Grey's Reef was only a few miles ahead. Paradigm Shift gybed back to the west astern to us. What I thought was Maskwa also astern turned out to be Quicksilver; their spinnaker's were very similar. Maskwa must be up on the horizon in front of us. Bravo still appeared to be astern to us as well. Roxy was right where they always seemed to be, just in our back pocket threatening to pass on any small mistake we made. Conversation was being held in the cockpit about when to gybe and how we wanted to approach the reef. The wind seemed to favor a gut shot and we decided to stay on starboard tack until we had the angle to fly right through. It happened fast and just like that we flipped over and found that Karma, a 36.7 section boat, and Paradigm Shift were within ear shot of us. Karma's skipper said good morning to Tom, our skipper, as we blasted north for Grey's Reef. We wanted to stay out of Karma's way and they the same considering we were not in each others section. Karma is a well raced boat and we kept the thought on the back burner to shadow any tactics they carry out for the remainder of the race.
Grey's Reef was uneventful but buoy number 3 on the north side of Grey's, our only turning mark on the course, was setting up to be more like a buoy race mark with three boats all in the same area. Then there were four. Another boat (name slipping my mind) came out of no where and suddenly we were making the decision on who to stay up on.
"I don't want to pass Karma, we are going to get pinched"
"Stay right here."
"We can't, we're faster, we're going to get pinched, I'm coming down"
"I think we can stay."
"We can't stay let's get between the two of them, coming down"
We made sure we were clear to Karma and the bow came down and then back on course in one swift movement. In throwing a wall of bad air down and coming back up hard we we passed the other boat in no time and also passed Karma. Paradigm Shift went wide up ahead and was already flipped over and heading for the mark, on starboard none the less (rights). Karma called for room, Paradigm shift came down, and everyone played fair. The gybe could have been cleaner, but we were around it and the next stop was Mackinac Island.
Now more on the beam, the wind was up to 23 knots and the seas had more effect on our course. Paradigm Shift struggled hard with their overpowered A-kite and eventually changed sail. We were in Karma's back pocket, and passing would be hard. We knew we would end up there after the rounding mark, but we really had no choice. Suddenly 9 knots was our average boat speed. We started seeing 10, then 10.5 then 11. Waves curled in on the stern, lifted us up and shot us forward, like a wild river crashing over a falls the waves grabbed a hold of Runaway and took her for a ride.
Mackinac bridge came out of the haze, the sun lifted higher in to a clearing sky and suddenly we realized that it wouldn't be long before we would be throwing dock lines on Mackinac Island. Focus was key here. All hands were on deck as the excitement was too much to sleep. Exhaustion started to kick in, a gybe here and a gybe there became a bit more sloppy every time. On the last gybe before the finish we lost the kite around the forestay and I was thrown across the cockpit by a mainsheet that I couldn't get away from fast enough. No injuries, just a little upset as we were starting to take pride in how clean of a race we had been sailing. Only a mile to go now. The Grand Hotel dominated the hillside of Mackinac Island as another huge freighter came barreling for the bridge from the east. Boats scattered one last time in their last ditch effort to gain a tactical advantage, but for the most part the drag race for the finish line started well back in the Manitou's, some may argue Chicago. We heard our section boats calling in at the finish and at the bridge. We knew exactly where everyone was around us. Just a little further now. Then the cannon came into range. Boom.............Boom, Boom.....Boom.............Boom, as boats in front of us finished. Two more blasts and that should be us. Boom...........................................................................where is it????..................Is that our cannon??? .................................We're still racing!!!.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................BOOM!
And just like that, it was over. 45 hours 21 minutes and 2 seconds.
I've sailed many miles before, and many places, but before we could even get the sails down I found myself choking up a bit. I've always wanted to do a Chicago to Mackinac race. I grew up watching my uncles race, like they were hero's, and despite going offshore and straight into the Bermuda triangle it still didn't satisfy the goal of one day sailing in The Mac. Everyone was shaking hands while I just stared out back towards the bridge in silence. What was there to say, what could I say? It was such a team effort, but right now, it was my moment. Of all the times I've gone under that bridge, up that lake, and to this island, this time was different. It was another accomplishment that I will never forget. Truly a team effort, you can't explain it unless you do it. You get caught in the moment out there. 20 miles to the Manitou's. Only 10 more til Grey's Reef. We should gybe in an hour. Let's get around this mark. Mackinac Bridge Dead ahead.....then it's over. Why were we in such a hurry?? Oh yeah we were racing! We immediately knew we were probably going to miss a flag and get 7th place but right then, I didn't care. I didn't care if we got last at that moment, what I just did, with this team, was enough for me. (That later changed as all we talked about was getting a flag and what we needed to do next year!! haha)
The 2012 Chicago Race to Mackinac was coming to a close, but the fun was just beginning..............
Runaway...OUT
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Pictures!!!
We have so many pictures and I will add more as I enter in that part of the race, but here are some for now. We are also making a video of our entire race. Being that it was a fairly calm race it will probably be a combination of both pictures and videos. But for now....enjoy!
Motoring out to the start line
First night sunset
Elizabeth trimming spinnaker
CYC Pre-race Party
CYC Pre-Race Party
Working our way into a cold front boundary, which would later stall, become stationary and work it's way back north over us.
Kevin trimming spinnaker
Kevin on the spinnaker
Sunset first night
You're welcome Quantum Sails
One of my favorites
A view from, well, outside the box
Ahhh life on the forestay
Don't fall in!!!!!!
Down from the mainsail
Out in front
Leeward hull...boy who waxed that hull??? Lookin' good!!! :-)
Middle of the Lake, Manitou set up
Middle of Lake Michigan
DAY TWO: Sunday
I woke up this morning (Sunday), checked the charts and found that we were working our way north of Milwaukee. We couldn't be more in the middle of the Lake. Well actually we were 3 nautical miles closer to the Michigan side, but you get the idea. The weather was good, we had been watching a few storms out to the west, but were not too concerned about them. If anything we were hoping they would bring some wind. We passed six boats overnight, not knowing if they were in our section or not, it was still a good morale booster for the crew to feel as if we sailed a fast night. It was time to re-evaluate who was around us, check the charts and get ready to set up for the Manitou Islands. The wind came and left all morning, but we still managed to keep the boat moving. Boats weaved in and out of our path as they made decisions to head out into the lake further, head for shore or continue along their chosen path from the night before. It was a bit of a leap frog morning. Bravo, a section 5 boat (our section) came screaming down and passed us with no problems. Two hours later we were abeam to them off of our port. Two more hours passed and we could barely see them behind us they were heading hard for shore. Despite what other boats were doing around us we stuck to our thoughts that inshore would not pay off come evening and The Manitou's. We gybed on the wind looking for pressure everywhere we went. Boats would bunch up together and just like that be spread across the horizon again as we played a game of cat and mouse all trying to catch the best angle for the run through the Manitou Islands. Still with no land in site we decided to gybe out into the lake one more time until we had, what we thought, the perfect, hottest angle right to north manitou light. Once we had our setup point we turned and pointed for north manitou light. There was some talk about staying outside of the islands, but usually this never pays off and was dismissed quickly. We were finally able to take bearings on some of our inshore friends and watched them closely. The inshore game seemed to be paying off as our bearings decreased on the boats inshore as they started to win the race to sleeping bear point. Our hopes were that with the wind we had, it would be the same, or similar inshore, which would force boats to gybe their way out away from the point. Well, apparently they got a wind shift or different wind and were able to sail directly out and around the point.
As we worked our way into the Manitou islands the radio traffic picked up as a boat called in, reporting that a fire in the galley had broken out. We listened, learning that the boat was only a few miles behind us. Other boats gave their advice to fight the fire, water, wet blankets, etc... while we sat there and thought to ourselves "Why don't they just use the fire extinguisher? We all have one." Anyways apparently they got the situation under control and the race went on.
Night fell as we sailed deeper into the Manitou's, and to our surprise, the breeze picked up more and more as the sun dropped off of the horizon. We were sailing a bit more to the northeast, hoping to pick up a hotter angle and maintain more boat speed as the setup for Grey's reef was already on. It was pitch black as the only sliver of a moon was not too far behind the sun and soon disappeared. We did our best to take bearings on boats around us, but it was like trying to make out the different street lights when coming into Chicago at night. Boats were everywhere. We noticed that we were coming up on a boat to our windward and decided to hold course and use our rights to our advantage. 200 feet away and we could make out the hull, 150 feet away and closing, 100 feet away and we thought just maybe they didn't see us yet. Our skipper called out "stay up", as 100 closed to 75. "Stay up!" 50 feet. "STAY UP!!" 25 feet.... Suddenly the boat came up hard and their spinnaker completely collapsed. All at the same time we blew right by them and just like that were out of their air and sailing fast. It was a bit nerve racking but helped us pass them quickly being that they did not see us and ended up collapsing their spinnaker to stay out of our way.
The navigation meeting began as we decided whether to continue to sail this angle, gybe the rhumb, sail to the corner, etc... We decided to sail this angle for awhile as it was a fast angle for us and gybe in about an hour, which would put us just off of Grand Traverse Bay. It was time for me to get some rest. I put in my earplugs and before I knew it was out cold. But just like that I wake up to someone grabbing my leg. "All hands, we are at 18 going to the three quarter." Let's just say it is a bit difficult to process information coming out of a deep sleep and as I threw on my jacket and harness I still had no idea what the statement meant. I got up on deck and realized we had sailed out of the range of our half ounce A-symmetrical spinnaker and with the wind continuing to build we had to do a sail change. The skipper was eager to get his light air sail down as we started seeing 22+ knots, but being that it was pitch black we had to make sure we had everything right before hoisting our 3/4 A-kite. The kite went up great and it was a successful change. I was wide awake at this point. We checked the charts a few times with the new wind we were seeing, talked about what might work best, and I went back to bed. Over the next hour of sleep I felt the boat gybe twice and by the time I got back on deck at 5:30 A.M. we were just south of the shoals and setting up for Grey's Reef....the drag race was on.
Runaway ...OUT
DAY TWO: Sunday
I woke up this morning (Sunday), checked the charts and found that we were working our way north of Milwaukee. We couldn't be more in the middle of the Lake. Well actually we were 3 nautical miles closer to the Michigan side, but you get the idea. The weather was good, we had been watching a few storms out to the west, but were not too concerned about them. If anything we were hoping they would bring some wind. We passed six boats overnight, not knowing if they were in our section or not, it was still a good morale booster for the crew to feel as if we sailed a fast night. It was time to re-evaluate who was around us, check the charts and get ready to set up for the Manitou Islands. The wind came and left all morning, but we still managed to keep the boat moving. Boats weaved in and out of our path as they made decisions to head out into the lake further, head for shore or continue along their chosen path from the night before. It was a bit of a leap frog morning. Bravo, a section 5 boat (our section) came screaming down and passed us with no problems. Two hours later we were abeam to them off of our port. Two more hours passed and we could barely see them behind us they were heading hard for shore. Despite what other boats were doing around us we stuck to our thoughts that inshore would not pay off come evening and The Manitou's. We gybed on the wind looking for pressure everywhere we went. Boats would bunch up together and just like that be spread across the horizon again as we played a game of cat and mouse all trying to catch the best angle for the run through the Manitou Islands. Still with no land in site we decided to gybe out into the lake one more time until we had, what we thought, the perfect, hottest angle right to north manitou light. Once we had our setup point we turned and pointed for north manitou light. There was some talk about staying outside of the islands, but usually this never pays off and was dismissed quickly. We were finally able to take bearings on some of our inshore friends and watched them closely. The inshore game seemed to be paying off as our bearings decreased on the boats inshore as they started to win the race to sleeping bear point. Our hopes were that with the wind we had, it would be the same, or similar inshore, which would force boats to gybe their way out away from the point. Well, apparently they got a wind shift or different wind and were able to sail directly out and around the point.
As we worked our way into the Manitou islands the radio traffic picked up as a boat called in, reporting that a fire in the galley had broken out. We listened, learning that the boat was only a few miles behind us. Other boats gave their advice to fight the fire, water, wet blankets, etc... while we sat there and thought to ourselves "Why don't they just use the fire extinguisher? We all have one." Anyways apparently they got the situation under control and the race went on.
Night fell as we sailed deeper into the Manitou's, and to our surprise, the breeze picked up more and more as the sun dropped off of the horizon. We were sailing a bit more to the northeast, hoping to pick up a hotter angle and maintain more boat speed as the setup for Grey's reef was already on. It was pitch black as the only sliver of a moon was not too far behind the sun and soon disappeared. We did our best to take bearings on boats around us, but it was like trying to make out the different street lights when coming into Chicago at night. Boats were everywhere. We noticed that we were coming up on a boat to our windward and decided to hold course and use our rights to our advantage. 200 feet away and we could make out the hull, 150 feet away and closing, 100 feet away and we thought just maybe they didn't see us yet. Our skipper called out "stay up", as 100 closed to 75. "Stay up!" 50 feet. "STAY UP!!" 25 feet.... Suddenly the boat came up hard and their spinnaker completely collapsed. All at the same time we blew right by them and just like that were out of their air and sailing fast. It was a bit nerve racking but helped us pass them quickly being that they did not see us and ended up collapsing their spinnaker to stay out of our way.
The navigation meeting began as we decided whether to continue to sail this angle, gybe the rhumb, sail to the corner, etc... We decided to sail this angle for awhile as it was a fast angle for us and gybe in about an hour, which would put us just off of Grand Traverse Bay. It was time for me to get some rest. I put in my earplugs and before I knew it was out cold. But just like that I wake up to someone grabbing my leg. "All hands, we are at 18 going to the three quarter." Let's just say it is a bit difficult to process information coming out of a deep sleep and as I threw on my jacket and harness I still had no idea what the statement meant. I got up on deck and realized we had sailed out of the range of our half ounce A-symmetrical spinnaker and with the wind continuing to build we had to do a sail change. The skipper was eager to get his light air sail down as we started seeing 22+ knots, but being that it was pitch black we had to make sure we had everything right before hoisting our 3/4 A-kite. The kite went up great and it was a successful change. I was wide awake at this point. We checked the charts a few times with the new wind we were seeing, talked about what might work best, and I went back to bed. Over the next hour of sleep I felt the boat gybe twice and by the time I got back on deck at 5:30 A.M. we were just south of the shoals and setting up for Grey's Reef....the drag race was on.
Runaway ...OUT
Saturday, July 21, 2012
The 104th Chicago Race to Mackinac
SLOW START
The day was finally here. After so much anticipation I was sitting on the square foot of fiberglass that my butt would spend the next few days on, motoring out to the start line for the 104th Race to Mackinac. It wasn't until we got up in the starting area that the pre-race jitters filled in. There was hardly a hint of wind. More than 300 boats bobbed around, going through their pre-race routine, looking for wind and favored courses. All of the research and planning now had to be put into play based on what was actually happening. We went into race prep with only 4 minutes before our start. We were already going for the line and so was the rest of our section. We all got to the line a bit early and there was a big heap of a mess of boats stalled out 20 feet from the race committee boat doing everything we could not to bump into one another or foul another boat. Luckily everyone played fair and no one called protest. I think every boat could have probably called a protest on someone, but it just wasn't worth it. With no wind and 300+ miles to go it wasn't worth the fuss.
We finally got some apparent wind working for us and basically set a course to sail the Rhumb Line to Point Betsie, 170 nm to the Northeast of us on the Michigan coast. Not more than 10 minutes after the start we set our half ounce asymmetrical spinnaker not realizing we would be under spinnaker until Mackinac Island. The first afternoon and night were fairly pleasant. We were able to generate some boat speed, the waves were less than a foot, and it was a beautiful night. Helicopters buzzed over head for hours until finally we worked out of their range from the Chicago airports and off into the piece and quiet of Lake Michigan.
My first watch break came at 1:00 AM and while I was hopeful to get some sleep, it never really came. The adrenaline was still flowing, and I was much too excited to sleep. My ear tuned into every conversation being held up in the cockpit and I just couldn't get my mind to calm down enough. Before I knew it I was back on deck, just in time for a beautiful sunrise. We were in the absolute dead middle of the lake. We sailed into the middle of the lake and pointed north. I've crossed Lake Michigan many times, but I can't say that I have ever sailed right up the middle. You hardly felt like you were in the middle though as there were boats scattered everywhere in all directions. At night it looked more like sailing on a small inland lake surrounded by city lights than the middle of Lake Michigan. The stars were some of the best we have ever seen and night one was a success.
....I'll be posting day by day to complete the entire race and will have a ton of pictures and videos to come. I'm trying to get caught up on sleep and get back to a normal routine. Not to mention it's more fun when I have to make you wait for the next post :-)
So, from the middle of Lake Michigan, good morning Sunday....Runaway Out.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
I'm Baaaackkk: From Steam to Sail
CHICAGO, IL USA
Let's catch up:
Well what a winter it was. I was offered an engineering job in Chicago and it was just the right move so I said goodbye to the yachting industry....kind of. Europe was amazing (absolutely amazing), winter was mild, blah blah we are supposed to be talking boating here: spring sprung, and I found myself back on The Bonita bringing her across the lake to Chicago. As a favor, I offered my assistance to the owner as the family was still looking for my replacement. It was great, my Dad came along to help out and we had a very interesting crossing, dodging squalls, etc...
So lets speed up here. I really have always wanted to get involved with the sailboat race leagues here in Chicago but considering I was always boating for work I never had the time. Well now that I have one of those boring jobs I have time to go sailing too! Jessie's co-worker got me in touch with a boat that sails out of Montrose Harbor and they offered to take me sailing on Wednesday nights for the beer can league. My first few races were spent on the rail as the skipper pondered where it was little ole Eric may fit in on board. Before I knew it my butt was right next to him, my neck was cranked to the sky, and my mind had one focus; the mainsail...well more specifically: the mainsheet, the traveler, the outhaul, the downhaul, the backstay and the halyard tension. Sail shape, telltales and battens oh my!! I haven't looked back (down) since. At first it was a fun and great way to break up the work week. Then came our first distance race on a weekend and I said "eh what the heck, let's go sailing". Then came another, destination overnight race. "Eric can you race the Waukegan this weekend?" What do I say? "eh what the heck, let's go sailing." Suddenly my Wednesday night league was turning into my hobby. Who would have ever thought....boating and Eric might just find each other again.
We raced in one more overnight race, the Michigan City race, and before I knew what happened I was asking for three days off from work to race in the Chicago to Mackinac race. That's where the story picks up again.........................
Back on track
It was hot. Not a cloud in the sky, and other than the faint sea breeze, not a hint of wind. We had just gotten back to the docks from the NOOD distance race. We crossed the line second, reeled in a boat in the last 2 miles and passed them. We were feeling pretty good. Earlier in the year I told the skipper that there was no way I'd be able to race the Chicago to Mackinac and he simply replied "yeah, we are probably full anyway." You know....seniority, I get it. The cold beer went down easy as we all lounged back in the cockpit to discuss the days race. Almost as casually as an invite like this could present itself a sentence came out that I wasn't expecting: "Eric, will you race the Mackinac with us this year? We'd love to have you." The answer couldn't be yes right away, there were so many details to discuss, but it sure did put a smile on my face. After being told that first year guys don't usually get asked to race the Mac it meant so much to me to receive the invite. I guess the answer could have been yes right away, what was I going to say? No?
The time has gone by so quickly since that invite and with only two days left until the starting gun goes off for my first Chicago to Mackinac race I couldn't be more excited. It has been such a long time coming and so much fun getting involved again, helping prep the boat for the race, watching the weather patterns come and go, learning the strategies used for the race, and preparing myself to once again do some serious sailing. We've gotten better as a team, we've had some good races, and we've had some really bad races. The important part is that everyone is so positive about the race and win or loose it will still be an experience no one forgets.
Last night we all got together up at Montrose Harbor for a crew meet and greet. The girlfriends, wives, and families came down with the crew and we hung out on board for awhile before heading up to the club for some dinner. It was fun hearing the old stories of the Mac, the trials and tribulations of years past and history made. Dinner was, as expected, enjoyed in good company and as goodbye's were made for the evening I think we all had a sense that, this is it, it's go time, it's finally almost here. Friday will be spent attending a few meetings, enjoying the pre-race party down at Monroe Harbor/CYC and taking it all in. Before bed Friday night my mind will make like a sponge and soak up as much weather information as it can hold and before we know it:
Warning gun!!! Favor the pin lets get in on starboard. Tack in 20. One minute. Let's focus, here we go. Ready to tack. Ready. Helms lead. 45 seconds, we can go for it. Stay high! Stay high! Boat speed, trim, trim, trim. 30 seconds. We're going to be early. 25 seconds. Dump a little power. 20 seconds. Go for it!! We have the line go go go. 15 seconds, we're racing!! Boat speed, stay high! Starboard! 10 seconds til the gun, length and a half. 5 seconds, go go go go go go trim hard, we've got the pole go go go!!!!
(BOOM)..............................Mackinac here we come
Let's catch up:
Well what a winter it was. I was offered an engineering job in Chicago and it was just the right move so I said goodbye to the yachting industry....kind of. Europe was amazing (absolutely amazing), winter was mild, blah blah we are supposed to be talking boating here: spring sprung, and I found myself back on The Bonita bringing her across the lake to Chicago. As a favor, I offered my assistance to the owner as the family was still looking for my replacement. It was great, my Dad came along to help out and we had a very interesting crossing, dodging squalls, etc...
So lets speed up here. I really have always wanted to get involved with the sailboat race leagues here in Chicago but considering I was always boating for work I never had the time. Well now that I have one of those boring jobs I have time to go sailing too! Jessie's co-worker got me in touch with a boat that sails out of Montrose Harbor and they offered to take me sailing on Wednesday nights for the beer can league. My first few races were spent on the rail as the skipper pondered where it was little ole Eric may fit in on board. Before I knew it my butt was right next to him, my neck was cranked to the sky, and my mind had one focus; the mainsail...well more specifically: the mainsheet, the traveler, the outhaul, the downhaul, the backstay and the halyard tension. Sail shape, telltales and battens oh my!! I haven't looked back (down) since. At first it was a fun and great way to break up the work week. Then came our first distance race on a weekend and I said "eh what the heck, let's go sailing". Then came another, destination overnight race. "Eric can you race the Waukegan this weekend?" What do I say? "eh what the heck, let's go sailing." Suddenly my Wednesday night league was turning into my hobby. Who would have ever thought....boating and Eric might just find each other again.
We raced in one more overnight race, the Michigan City race, and before I knew what happened I was asking for three days off from work to race in the Chicago to Mackinac race. That's where the story picks up again.........................
Back on track
It was hot. Not a cloud in the sky, and other than the faint sea breeze, not a hint of wind. We had just gotten back to the docks from the NOOD distance race. We crossed the line second, reeled in a boat in the last 2 miles and passed them. We were feeling pretty good. Earlier in the year I told the skipper that there was no way I'd be able to race the Chicago to Mackinac and he simply replied "yeah, we are probably full anyway." You know....seniority, I get it. The cold beer went down easy as we all lounged back in the cockpit to discuss the days race. Almost as casually as an invite like this could present itself a sentence came out that I wasn't expecting: "Eric, will you race the Mackinac with us this year? We'd love to have you." The answer couldn't be yes right away, there were so many details to discuss, but it sure did put a smile on my face. After being told that first year guys don't usually get asked to race the Mac it meant so much to me to receive the invite. I guess the answer could have been yes right away, what was I going to say? No?
The time has gone by so quickly since that invite and with only two days left until the starting gun goes off for my first Chicago to Mackinac race I couldn't be more excited. It has been such a long time coming and so much fun getting involved again, helping prep the boat for the race, watching the weather patterns come and go, learning the strategies used for the race, and preparing myself to once again do some serious sailing. We've gotten better as a team, we've had some good races, and we've had some really bad races. The important part is that everyone is so positive about the race and win or loose it will still be an experience no one forgets.
Last night we all got together up at Montrose Harbor for a crew meet and greet. The girlfriends, wives, and families came down with the crew and we hung out on board for awhile before heading up to the club for some dinner. It was fun hearing the old stories of the Mac, the trials and tribulations of years past and history made. Dinner was, as expected, enjoyed in good company and as goodbye's were made for the evening I think we all had a sense that, this is it, it's go time, it's finally almost here. Friday will be spent attending a few meetings, enjoying the pre-race party down at Monroe Harbor/CYC and taking it all in. Before bed Friday night my mind will make like a sponge and soak up as much weather information as it can hold and before we know it:
Warning gun!!! Favor the pin lets get in on starboard. Tack in 20. One minute. Let's focus, here we go. Ready to tack. Ready. Helms lead. 45 seconds, we can go for it. Stay high! Stay high! Boat speed, trim, trim, trim. 30 seconds. We're going to be early. 25 seconds. Dump a little power. 20 seconds. Go for it!! We have the line go go go. 15 seconds, we're racing!! Boat speed, stay high! Starboard! 10 seconds til the gun, length and a half. 5 seconds, go go go go go go trim hard, we've got the pole go go go!!!!
(BOOM)..............................Mackinac here we come
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Day 365: The final post
CHICAGO, IL USA
So it isn't officially the 365th day, but I think that happened awhile ago, and I must have been off on my math throughout the past year (what a surprise).
The final blog post comes a little by force, but it needs to be done.
Exactly one year ago today Sound Waves pulled back from the docks and headed south. I would have been sitting in Hammond, IN tonight, anticipating tomorrows arrival to the rivers that would eventually lead us to Florida and the Gulf of Mexico.
First off I have to say that the previous 365 days of my life have gone by way too fast. I have seen some cool places, and learned a lot. Most of all, I have met so many cool people that I will never forget. From my yachting friends in Chicago, to the rivers, to Florida, to the Bahamas and back again. After you sit somewhere for awhile you become more than a tourist, you start to blend in. Specifically, Chicago, Sarasota, Key West, Ft. Lauderdale, and Staniel Cay.
What is the next step? Well no one really knows. With no boat heading south this winter, I plan to head to Europe for three weeks with Jessie. After that, the gates are wide open. Do I stay in the yachting industry? Do I go back to my engineering degree? Do I hang out all winter and wait for next spring and the 2012 Great Lakes cruising season? Or do I win the lottery? I am banking on the final option, so we will see what happens.
What an experience, it is something I will never forget and now will always have to look back on. For now, base camp is again Chicago, and I would be lying if I said I didn't love it here. Looking back, I'll never forget loosing the sky line on the horizon, clearing in to the muddy waters of the rivers and motoring under the chicago skyway as we pointed south, the locks of the rivers, and amazing small towns we saw on the way. From Henry Illinois to Bobbie's Fish Camp in (Mississippi/Alabama) all the way to wild wild Key West and into the crystal clear waters of the Bahamas. Spear fishing with Big Ben and Bushman and endless nights at the staniel cay yacht club. Sailing in a Bahamian Regatta and ending it all in a heartbeat as the wheels lift off the run way in Great Exuma. Cruising the Great Lakes, and seeing some of the most beautiful spots America has to offer.
365 days and a lifetime, the only question now, what adventure is next? Well... I guess I know that answer... three weeks in Europe!!
This is Captain Eric Adamczyk
Over and OUT
So it isn't officially the 365th day, but I think that happened awhile ago, and I must have been off on my math throughout the past year (what a surprise).
The final blog post comes a little by force, but it needs to be done.
Exactly one year ago today Sound Waves pulled back from the docks and headed south. I would have been sitting in Hammond, IN tonight, anticipating tomorrows arrival to the rivers that would eventually lead us to Florida and the Gulf of Mexico.
First off I have to say that the previous 365 days of my life have gone by way too fast. I have seen some cool places, and learned a lot. Most of all, I have met so many cool people that I will never forget. From my yachting friends in Chicago, to the rivers, to Florida, to the Bahamas and back again. After you sit somewhere for awhile you become more than a tourist, you start to blend in. Specifically, Chicago, Sarasota, Key West, Ft. Lauderdale, and Staniel Cay.
What is the next step? Well no one really knows. With no boat heading south this winter, I plan to head to Europe for three weeks with Jessie. After that, the gates are wide open. Do I stay in the yachting industry? Do I go back to my engineering degree? Do I hang out all winter and wait for next spring and the 2012 Great Lakes cruising season? Or do I win the lottery? I am banking on the final option, so we will see what happens.
What an experience, it is something I will never forget and now will always have to look back on. For now, base camp is again Chicago, and I would be lying if I said I didn't love it here. Looking back, I'll never forget loosing the sky line on the horizon, clearing in to the muddy waters of the rivers and motoring under the chicago skyway as we pointed south, the locks of the rivers, and amazing small towns we saw on the way. From Henry Illinois to Bobbie's Fish Camp in (Mississippi/Alabama) all the way to wild wild Key West and into the crystal clear waters of the Bahamas. Spear fishing with Big Ben and Bushman and endless nights at the staniel cay yacht club. Sailing in a Bahamian Regatta and ending it all in a heartbeat as the wheels lift off the run way in Great Exuma. Cruising the Great Lakes, and seeing some of the most beautiful spots America has to offer.
365 days and a lifetime, the only question now, what adventure is next? Well... I guess I know that answer... three weeks in Europe!!
This is Captain Eric Adamczyk
Over and OUT
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Day 290 - 310: Sorry!
CHICAGO, IL USA
Well I dropped the ball on this blog, I'm sorry! Lets just start off from where we left off shall we?
After the dune buggy rides in Pentwater I had the boat running and ready to leave the docks. We took off for Grand Haven and hoped that we would be able to find a spot on the wall. It was another beautiful day and the seas were fairly calm. Once outside of Grand Haven we got word that there was still some room on the wall so we tried our hand at fishing.....absolutely no luck at all. Salt water fishing is a bit friendlier to cruising because we troll at 7 knots or so. This way we can still make a little way. Freshwater fishing is different. We have to troll at about 2 knots, which means we aren't going anywhere while we fish. After about an hour we heard that the wall was in fact filling up so we decided to get in to port. Its always fun to dock on the wall (or completely annoying) in Grand Haven because everyone walking down the "boardwalk" wants to help grab the lines for this 90 foot boat. That night was fun in Grand Haven but it would be short lived as the following morning we left for Saugatuck....evil Saugatuck.
Venetian festival was going on in Saugatuck and it was packed. The river was jammed with small boats, big boats, dinghies, and kayaks. It was happy hour and I was on highest alert as I maneuvered up the river. Our slip was still occupied when we showed up but the boat was in the process of pulling out. As I was sitting in the middle of the river doing my best to stay in one spot and stay out of the way a Michigan Conservation Officer came up behind us. It was a busy river, there were boats everywhere so I ignored him. No sooner an officer showed himself on the fly bridge, asking for the captain. The spark of anger began. Not only did an officer board the vessel I was in command of without asking permission, but he had his nice big black soled boots on as well. They are lucky I didn't put the boat in reverse because I would have backed right in to there boat. He demanded that I show him the ships papers and our registration numbers and I advised him that we are a documented vessel with the U.S.C.G. and need not display numbers. He asked me again and I simply stated that I would not continue any conversation until I deemed the vessel in a safe location. I told him that I would be more than happy to turn over command of the vessel to him while I retrieved the ships documents and that anything that happened while under his command was his responsibility. Well being that these two officers could barely handle their 20 foot fishing boat he respectfully declined my offer. He said that we could wait until we got the boat in to the slip. A few seconds went by, I turned around to him and asked that he disembark this vessel while we dock. At this point I think I had him on his heels to say the least, as he scurried down to the aft swim platform and called on his fellow officer quickly. Once at the dock he asked for my license and ships papers. I presented him both. He stated "I don't know what this is, I need your drivers license."
"Sir that is a United States Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Credential."
"Well I'm not sure what it is, drivers license please."
"We aren't in a car sir, I don't believe a police officer would ask for my pilots license if I were driving a car."
....The guy was an idiot and to make a long story a bit shorter there were no tickets given to me or the vessel. Just a good way to get Captain Eric all fired up for a few hours thats all.
Saugatuck was....well what you would expect Saugatuck to be....crazy. It was a good three nights of fun and I even got to play some golf with my girlfriends parents which was very nice. My girlfriend came home for the weekend (She is from Saugatuck) and it was nice to see her as well.
Tuesday morning came all to fast and the summer trip came to an end as I cleared the pier of the Kalamazoo River and put the bow on Chicago. Some eight hours later the skyline appeared in a hazy fog and just as soon as it began, it was over. The owner greeted us at the dock and before I knew it the boat was empty again.
The following day the owners daughter brought in four cleaning ladies and they did a number on the inside of the boat. For eight hours they cleaned, scrubbed, organized, polished, and the boat looked the best it has ever looked. I can not say thank you enough to the owners daughter for pitching in and bringing in that service, what a life saver!
The last two weeks have been slow, and small projects here and there get completed, but for the most part the boat is in great shape. The Air and Water Show is this weekend and Chicago as I anticipate guests for the weekend. The Jets have been flying over the last few days practicing and it is always amazing to me that anyone would ever want to put up a fight against us. Why would you ever try and defeat that? The summer will be drawing to a close all too quickly, but I plan to keep the blog up and running for awhile anyways as a trip to Europe is penciled in for late October. I am debating keeping a separate blog or just continuing this one. If I do start another one I will be sure to post the link on here for everyone to see! Until then, I am sorry I have not been posting but will try and do a better job in the future!
Bonita Out
Well I dropped the ball on this blog, I'm sorry! Lets just start off from where we left off shall we?
After the dune buggy rides in Pentwater I had the boat running and ready to leave the docks. We took off for Grand Haven and hoped that we would be able to find a spot on the wall. It was another beautiful day and the seas were fairly calm. Once outside of Grand Haven we got word that there was still some room on the wall so we tried our hand at fishing.....absolutely no luck at all. Salt water fishing is a bit friendlier to cruising because we troll at 7 knots or so. This way we can still make a little way. Freshwater fishing is different. We have to troll at about 2 knots, which means we aren't going anywhere while we fish. After about an hour we heard that the wall was in fact filling up so we decided to get in to port. Its always fun to dock on the wall (or completely annoying) in Grand Haven because everyone walking down the "boardwalk" wants to help grab the lines for this 90 foot boat. That night was fun in Grand Haven but it would be short lived as the following morning we left for Saugatuck....evil Saugatuck.
Venetian festival was going on in Saugatuck and it was packed. The river was jammed with small boats, big boats, dinghies, and kayaks. It was happy hour and I was on highest alert as I maneuvered up the river. Our slip was still occupied when we showed up but the boat was in the process of pulling out. As I was sitting in the middle of the river doing my best to stay in one spot and stay out of the way a Michigan Conservation Officer came up behind us. It was a busy river, there were boats everywhere so I ignored him. No sooner an officer showed himself on the fly bridge, asking for the captain. The spark of anger began. Not only did an officer board the vessel I was in command of without asking permission, but he had his nice big black soled boots on as well. They are lucky I didn't put the boat in reverse because I would have backed right in to there boat. He demanded that I show him the ships papers and our registration numbers and I advised him that we are a documented vessel with the U.S.C.G. and need not display numbers. He asked me again and I simply stated that I would not continue any conversation until I deemed the vessel in a safe location. I told him that I would be more than happy to turn over command of the vessel to him while I retrieved the ships documents and that anything that happened while under his command was his responsibility. Well being that these two officers could barely handle their 20 foot fishing boat he respectfully declined my offer. He said that we could wait until we got the boat in to the slip. A few seconds went by, I turned around to him and asked that he disembark this vessel while we dock. At this point I think I had him on his heels to say the least, as he scurried down to the aft swim platform and called on his fellow officer quickly. Once at the dock he asked for my license and ships papers. I presented him both. He stated "I don't know what this is, I need your drivers license."
"Sir that is a United States Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Credential."
"Well I'm not sure what it is, drivers license please."
"We aren't in a car sir, I don't believe a police officer would ask for my pilots license if I were driving a car."
....The guy was an idiot and to make a long story a bit shorter there were no tickets given to me or the vessel. Just a good way to get Captain Eric all fired up for a few hours thats all.
Saugatuck was....well what you would expect Saugatuck to be....crazy. It was a good three nights of fun and I even got to play some golf with my girlfriends parents which was very nice. My girlfriend came home for the weekend (She is from Saugatuck) and it was nice to see her as well.
Tuesday morning came all to fast and the summer trip came to an end as I cleared the pier of the Kalamazoo River and put the bow on Chicago. Some eight hours later the skyline appeared in a hazy fog and just as soon as it began, it was over. The owner greeted us at the dock and before I knew it the boat was empty again.
The following day the owners daughter brought in four cleaning ladies and they did a number on the inside of the boat. For eight hours they cleaned, scrubbed, organized, polished, and the boat looked the best it has ever looked. I can not say thank you enough to the owners daughter for pitching in and bringing in that service, what a life saver!
The last two weeks have been slow, and small projects here and there get completed, but for the most part the boat is in great shape. The Air and Water Show is this weekend and Chicago as I anticipate guests for the weekend. The Jets have been flying over the last few days practicing and it is always amazing to me that anyone would ever want to put up a fight against us. Why would you ever try and defeat that? The summer will be drawing to a close all too quickly, but I plan to keep the blog up and running for awhile anyways as a trip to Europe is penciled in for late October. I am debating keeping a separate blog or just continuing this one. If I do start another one I will be sure to post the link on here for everyone to see! Until then, I am sorry I have not been posting but will try and do a better job in the future!
Bonita Out
Friday, July 29, 2011
Day 285- 289: Loud Noises!!!!!
PENTWATER, MI USA
Well the peace and quiet came to a screeching halt on Monday morning. It all started with the sound of the jets wheels hitting the runway. The owners daughter, her husband, and their four young kids sprung out of the airplane like there was a fire on board. They enjoyed the afternoon on the boat with the owner before the owner and his wife took off out of harbor springs to head back to Chicago. We stayed in Harbor Springs for another day and I had the opportunity to finally get away for a few hours and play a round of golf. One of the guests and I played at True North, which was a nice course. We took the two younger boys along as our "caddies". Their interest came and left as they learned a bit here and there about golf etiquette. I didn't play very well but I didn't care, I was away from the boat and golfing at this beautiful course. After golf I had to find a way to get the rental car back to Petoskey because we were leaving early in the morning for the next port. Good friend Mark Palma was in town delivering a far 40 sailboat called Heart Breaker. I called him and he had access to a car and could come pick me up at the rental company. He also needed a ride in to shore as his boat was on a mooring ball so we ended up helping each other out. That is the great thing about this family of yacht crew around the world. I moved the boat for him earlier in the week when he wasn't here, he picked me up at the rental car place 20 minutes away, and neither of us thought twice about helping each other out. It's amazing at how often we run into fellow crew in different ports and its great to have someone there that will pitch in and help if you need it.
We ended up waiting for the fuel dock to open on Wednesday so that we could get a pump out before leaving for Frankfort. It was around 0930 by the time we got away from the dock. It was a bit of a gloomy day but the seas were flat. I knew this would probably be changing throughout the day though as we went further south. Just after Charlevoix we passed Mark on Heart Breaker (now called Heritage). He was turned to weather and working on putting up a headsail in an attempt to squeeze out an extra knot or two. The closer we got to Frankfort the bigger the waves got and by the time we were on our final approach the waves were 1-3 on the nose. I figured there was a good chance that we would be seeing Mark in Frankfort later in the day considering making way in a sailboat would get harder and harder with the waves on the bow. Sure enough he showed up around 2030. I laid low in Frankfort and tried to relax a little bit, but sure enough I was brought out of my nap being poked by a plastic sword....it was going to be a long week.
We left for Pentwater on Thursday around noon and even though it was a gloomy foggy ride the seas were flat. Mark left in front of us again, but with the fog we never saw him. I somehow found myself on the Lake Michigan highway as I was changing course every two miles to avoid a collision. The log book was full of "1144 Confirm Collision course via radar at 354R unknown vessel. 1146 sound one whistle, assume no answer, turn 020R to avoid collision. 1147 Clear s/v to port steer 340R b.o.c C204M" This happened about 8 times. It looks as if we have some bad fuel in the port side tank. I have spent time in the engine room twice now, draining the racors of sledge. The filters look fine, but there is definitely bad fuel being sent through. I assumed this may happen as we just transferred old fuel from the aft tanks. We should be able to get by without polishing the tanks but I will certainly be keeping a close eye on the situation.
Now as I sit here in Pentwater we are on the verge of absolute chaos on board. Two of the boys are yelling back and forth about how easy it is to cut a waffle as the younger one yells continuously for his mom. Mom yells down the stairs trying to rally the girls and they yell back that they don't want to go on a dune buggy ride. It's more fun to sit in their room all day and play games on the iPad. The logistics are an absolute nightmare and I simply stay out of everything. I could tell you how far it is to every port south of here as I constantly get asked as they try and decide how long they actually want to be on the water today. 36 nm to Muskegon, 47 nm to Grand Haven, another 17 nm to Holland from there or 22 nm to Saugatuck from Grand Haven.....all from memory by now. Where do we go today? Who knows, hopefully Grand Haven but the longer we wait the more and more the wall will fill up on a Friday night, and with no room at the municipal marina its all a big gamble... giddy up.
Peace and quiet again as they all leave to go for a dune buggy ride at Silver Lake. The washing machine churns away and banana nut bread coffee fills the air. I hear the leaves from the trees outside in the wind as the boat rocks back in forth gently tucked up against a wall. This feeling will come to an end all too soon, replaced by kids fighting over who gets to play with a rubber band, crying by the one who looses the fight, and an argument over who played with it last time. Let me enjoy the first part of this paragraph as long as I can!
Bonita Out
Well the peace and quiet came to a screeching halt on Monday morning. It all started with the sound of the jets wheels hitting the runway. The owners daughter, her husband, and their four young kids sprung out of the airplane like there was a fire on board. They enjoyed the afternoon on the boat with the owner before the owner and his wife took off out of harbor springs to head back to Chicago. We stayed in Harbor Springs for another day and I had the opportunity to finally get away for a few hours and play a round of golf. One of the guests and I played at True North, which was a nice course. We took the two younger boys along as our "caddies". Their interest came and left as they learned a bit here and there about golf etiquette. I didn't play very well but I didn't care, I was away from the boat and golfing at this beautiful course. After golf I had to find a way to get the rental car back to Petoskey because we were leaving early in the morning for the next port. Good friend Mark Palma was in town delivering a far 40 sailboat called Heart Breaker. I called him and he had access to a car and could come pick me up at the rental company. He also needed a ride in to shore as his boat was on a mooring ball so we ended up helping each other out. That is the great thing about this family of yacht crew around the world. I moved the boat for him earlier in the week when he wasn't here, he picked me up at the rental car place 20 minutes away, and neither of us thought twice about helping each other out. It's amazing at how often we run into fellow crew in different ports and its great to have someone there that will pitch in and help if you need it.
We ended up waiting for the fuel dock to open on Wednesday so that we could get a pump out before leaving for Frankfort. It was around 0930 by the time we got away from the dock. It was a bit of a gloomy day but the seas were flat. I knew this would probably be changing throughout the day though as we went further south. Just after Charlevoix we passed Mark on Heart Breaker (now called Heritage). He was turned to weather and working on putting up a headsail in an attempt to squeeze out an extra knot or two. The closer we got to Frankfort the bigger the waves got and by the time we were on our final approach the waves were 1-3 on the nose. I figured there was a good chance that we would be seeing Mark in Frankfort later in the day considering making way in a sailboat would get harder and harder with the waves on the bow. Sure enough he showed up around 2030. I laid low in Frankfort and tried to relax a little bit, but sure enough I was brought out of my nap being poked by a plastic sword....it was going to be a long week.
We left for Pentwater on Thursday around noon and even though it was a gloomy foggy ride the seas were flat. Mark left in front of us again, but with the fog we never saw him. I somehow found myself on the Lake Michigan highway as I was changing course every two miles to avoid a collision. The log book was full of "1144 Confirm Collision course via radar at 354R unknown vessel. 1146 sound one whistle, assume no answer, turn 020R to avoid collision. 1147 Clear s/v to port steer 340R b.o.c C204M" This happened about 8 times. It looks as if we have some bad fuel in the port side tank. I have spent time in the engine room twice now, draining the racors of sledge. The filters look fine, but there is definitely bad fuel being sent through. I assumed this may happen as we just transferred old fuel from the aft tanks. We should be able to get by without polishing the tanks but I will certainly be keeping a close eye on the situation.
Now as I sit here in Pentwater we are on the verge of absolute chaos on board. Two of the boys are yelling back and forth about how easy it is to cut a waffle as the younger one yells continuously for his mom. Mom yells down the stairs trying to rally the girls and they yell back that they don't want to go on a dune buggy ride. It's more fun to sit in their room all day and play games on the iPad. The logistics are an absolute nightmare and I simply stay out of everything. I could tell you how far it is to every port south of here as I constantly get asked as they try and decide how long they actually want to be on the water today. 36 nm to Muskegon, 47 nm to Grand Haven, another 17 nm to Holland from there or 22 nm to Saugatuck from Grand Haven.....all from memory by now. Where do we go today? Who knows, hopefully Grand Haven but the longer we wait the more and more the wall will fill up on a Friday night, and with no room at the municipal marina its all a big gamble... giddy up.
Peace and quiet again as they all leave to go for a dune buggy ride at Silver Lake. The washing machine churns away and banana nut bread coffee fills the air. I hear the leaves from the trees outside in the wind as the boat rocks back in forth gently tucked up against a wall. This feeling will come to an end all too soon, replaced by kids fighting over who gets to play with a rubber band, crying by the one who looses the fight, and an argument over who played with it last time. Let me enjoy the first part of this paragraph as long as I can!
Bonita Out
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Day 277 - 284: Peace and Projects
HARBOR SPRINGS, MI USA
When I woke up Sunday morning in Fish Creek our toilets weren't flushing. We knew that we were going to be close but thought we could make it to Michigan before we got a pump out. With that being said we decided to wait until the marina at Fish Creek opened up at 0800 so we could get a pump out. By the time I got the dockhands to get their butts in gear to give us a pump out we got off the dock around 0900. We were off the dock and motoring away before the dockhand could coil up the pump out hose on the dock.
We idled for a lot of the trip and it wasn't until we were well out in to Lake Michigan that I picked up the speed in an attempt to give us a smoother ride. The waves kept building, as I knew they would and as we reached the location where I predicted them to be the largest we were seeing 2-3 footers. No big deal right? Well they were hitting us a bit aft of the beam which was not helping. Also, the stabilizer fins are very far forward on this boat, and the hull seems to be relatively flat for its size. The boat tends to skip across the water like an empty clorox bottle. A few times the boat heeled up as it would pitch and yaw and finally did so in a manner that I had to reach for the wheel, disable the autopilot and turn hard to starboard. I think it scared the owner a bit as he retired to the salon. I decided to hand steer for the remainder of the trip, or at least until it calmed down. I played the waves and adjusted the speed of the boat for comfort not fuel efficiency. We finally caught a little lee from north Manitou Island and while the island caused the swell to wrap around more to our stern it still broke up much of the chop. The rest of the ride in to Bay Harbor was uneventful as we only spotted a few Chicago to Mackinac race boats.
Bay Harbor is proper, stuffy, and ....boring, for the most part. It is a very nice facility with not much to do. That night I noticed lightning off on the horizon and decided it would be best to cover all of the seats. While laying in bed around 0030 the storm finally hit. It was a good storm with tons of lightning and 50-60 knots of wind. All I could think about were the sailors out on Lake Michigan participating in the Chicago to Mackinac race. I had family out there and while I sat snug on the dock in the protected marina of Bay Harbor I suddenly started to feel a bit helpless. I've always had respect for the sea and my bosses will tell you that I am a very conservative captain. I can't say that I have ever been afraid of the sea, I've simply always held an upmost respect to it. I couldn't sleep. My mind was racing, I found myself checking docklines over and over even though I knew everything was holding on fine. The next morning I checked the news and found that a sailboat had capsized and two of the eight crew were still missing. I couldn't get a hold of any of my uncles in the race but when I didn't recognize the name of the boat it brought a bit of ease to my mind. I still found myself getting a bit worked up about the whole situation. I was scared. I had an emotional gut wrench twisting away at my stomach and a walnut growing in my throat. Literally four hours before the storm capsized this boat I grabbed the wheel of Bonita, disengaged the autopilot and was forced to turn hard to starboard....in the same exact location of the sailboat accident. I sat there in the harbor and watched the exact storm that claimed the lives of two sailors. I finally got to talk to my uncles and found out that they were O.K. but I still was just a little bit freaked out. I don't know why, and I still can't explain my feelings. Some tell me that I must now have more respect, but I've always had a ton of respect. I believe that there is a difference between having respect for the sea and being scared. I was scared. It still does freak me out when I think about it, and I don't know why. It was the storm that rubbed me the wrong way and I hope that it does not affect my decision making next time I am approaching a storm while on the water.
We spent a few days in Bay Harbor and I even managed to sneak away to the driving range one evening to hit some balls. On Wednesday we left for our long 4 mile journey across Little Traverse Bay to Harbor Springs. The boat that was in our spot had told Mike, the Harbor Master, that they would be leaving at 1000. They were still at the dock when we pulled up at 1015. With a storm approaching I knew that they most definitely would not be leaving anytime soon. I decided to tuck the boat up in to the bay as far as we could and leave the engines on and anchor up for the storm. I wanted to tuck in close to shore and not have to worry about getting a wind shift if the anchor was down. Thankfully the storm did not bring much wind, just a lot of rain and lightning. It was over in about 10 minutes. I got word that the boat sitting at our dock space was having car troubles and would not be off the dock until later in the afternoon. I spun the boat around in the bay, dropped the anchor, turned off the engines, and advised everyone to relax and enjoy the beautiful sites. They did just that while having lunch.
The bay was silent. There was not a breath of wind or a single ripple on the water. Lightning strikes could still be seen off to the east as the storm pushed further in land. The sun was already working its way back out from behind the clouds as it cranked up the heat and humidity. You could slice the air with a knife as the temperature went from 80 to 90 to 100. It was beautiful out as the town came back alive after its brief storm.
We finally got in to the dock and shortly after the owners son and girlfriend left to head home. It was now just me, the owner and his wife on board which was an even more silent relief. It gave me time to get a lot of projects done and really clean up the boat and get it back in order.
The owner and his wife invited me out to dinner one night and we went to the dam site inn which had a great family, home cooked, chicken dinner.
I got to hang out with my Uncle David a few nights and had a fun night at the bar last night with cousin Ryan. Today, Sunday, has been very gloomy and town has been quiet. It has been raining on and off and my project list has slowed for today anyway. Tomorrow I again shift gears as the owners daughter and her four small kids head back up to be on the boat with me until Chicago. Let the games begin.
I hope to have the boat back to Chicago around August 1st or shortly there after. With only a few more stops on the Michigan side I can not believe that July is already almost over. More so, I can not believe that I am posting day 284. Only 76 more days until my 365 days of blogging is over.
Bonita Out
When I woke up Sunday morning in Fish Creek our toilets weren't flushing. We knew that we were going to be close but thought we could make it to Michigan before we got a pump out. With that being said we decided to wait until the marina at Fish Creek opened up at 0800 so we could get a pump out. By the time I got the dockhands to get their butts in gear to give us a pump out we got off the dock around 0900. We were off the dock and motoring away before the dockhand could coil up the pump out hose on the dock.
We idled for a lot of the trip and it wasn't until we were well out in to Lake Michigan that I picked up the speed in an attempt to give us a smoother ride. The waves kept building, as I knew they would and as we reached the location where I predicted them to be the largest we were seeing 2-3 footers. No big deal right? Well they were hitting us a bit aft of the beam which was not helping. Also, the stabilizer fins are very far forward on this boat, and the hull seems to be relatively flat for its size. The boat tends to skip across the water like an empty clorox bottle. A few times the boat heeled up as it would pitch and yaw and finally did so in a manner that I had to reach for the wheel, disable the autopilot and turn hard to starboard. I think it scared the owner a bit as he retired to the salon. I decided to hand steer for the remainder of the trip, or at least until it calmed down. I played the waves and adjusted the speed of the boat for comfort not fuel efficiency. We finally caught a little lee from north Manitou Island and while the island caused the swell to wrap around more to our stern it still broke up much of the chop. The rest of the ride in to Bay Harbor was uneventful as we only spotted a few Chicago to Mackinac race boats.
Bay Harbor is proper, stuffy, and ....boring, for the most part. It is a very nice facility with not much to do. That night I noticed lightning off on the horizon and decided it would be best to cover all of the seats. While laying in bed around 0030 the storm finally hit. It was a good storm with tons of lightning and 50-60 knots of wind. All I could think about were the sailors out on Lake Michigan participating in the Chicago to Mackinac race. I had family out there and while I sat snug on the dock in the protected marina of Bay Harbor I suddenly started to feel a bit helpless. I've always had respect for the sea and my bosses will tell you that I am a very conservative captain. I can't say that I have ever been afraid of the sea, I've simply always held an upmost respect to it. I couldn't sleep. My mind was racing, I found myself checking docklines over and over even though I knew everything was holding on fine. The next morning I checked the news and found that a sailboat had capsized and two of the eight crew were still missing. I couldn't get a hold of any of my uncles in the race but when I didn't recognize the name of the boat it brought a bit of ease to my mind. I still found myself getting a bit worked up about the whole situation. I was scared. I had an emotional gut wrench twisting away at my stomach and a walnut growing in my throat. Literally four hours before the storm capsized this boat I grabbed the wheel of Bonita, disengaged the autopilot and was forced to turn hard to starboard....in the same exact location of the sailboat accident. I sat there in the harbor and watched the exact storm that claimed the lives of two sailors. I finally got to talk to my uncles and found out that they were O.K. but I still was just a little bit freaked out. I don't know why, and I still can't explain my feelings. Some tell me that I must now have more respect, but I've always had a ton of respect. I believe that there is a difference between having respect for the sea and being scared. I was scared. It still does freak me out when I think about it, and I don't know why. It was the storm that rubbed me the wrong way and I hope that it does not affect my decision making next time I am approaching a storm while on the water.
We spent a few days in Bay Harbor and I even managed to sneak away to the driving range one evening to hit some balls. On Wednesday we left for our long 4 mile journey across Little Traverse Bay to Harbor Springs. The boat that was in our spot had told Mike, the Harbor Master, that they would be leaving at 1000. They were still at the dock when we pulled up at 1015. With a storm approaching I knew that they most definitely would not be leaving anytime soon. I decided to tuck the boat up in to the bay as far as we could and leave the engines on and anchor up for the storm. I wanted to tuck in close to shore and not have to worry about getting a wind shift if the anchor was down. Thankfully the storm did not bring much wind, just a lot of rain and lightning. It was over in about 10 minutes. I got word that the boat sitting at our dock space was having car troubles and would not be off the dock until later in the afternoon. I spun the boat around in the bay, dropped the anchor, turned off the engines, and advised everyone to relax and enjoy the beautiful sites. They did just that while having lunch.
The bay was silent. There was not a breath of wind or a single ripple on the water. Lightning strikes could still be seen off to the east as the storm pushed further in land. The sun was already working its way back out from behind the clouds as it cranked up the heat and humidity. You could slice the air with a knife as the temperature went from 80 to 90 to 100. It was beautiful out as the town came back alive after its brief storm.
We finally got in to the dock and shortly after the owners son and girlfriend left to head home. It was now just me, the owner and his wife on board which was an even more silent relief. It gave me time to get a lot of projects done and really clean up the boat and get it back in order.
The owner and his wife invited me out to dinner one night and we went to the dam site inn which had a great family, home cooked, chicken dinner.
I got to hang out with my Uncle David a few nights and had a fun night at the bar last night with cousin Ryan. Today, Sunday, has been very gloomy and town has been quiet. It has been raining on and off and my project list has slowed for today anyway. Tomorrow I again shift gears as the owners daughter and her four small kids head back up to be on the boat with me until Chicago. Let the games begin.
I hope to have the boat back to Chicago around August 1st or shortly there after. With only a few more stops on the Michigan side I can not believe that July is already almost over. More so, I can not believe that I am posting day 284. Only 76 more days until my 365 days of blogging is over.
Bonita Out
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Day 242 - 276: Summer Trip
FISH CREEK, WISCONSIN USA
Wow, I almost forgot that I even was still keeping a blog. While back in Chicago everything got away from me. A new rhythm, a slower pace of guests on board, and less movement of the boat and I completely forgot to keep writing. Looking back to the last blog post I realize that I have a lot to catch up on.
I did end up asking for a completely new hydraulic pump from Naiad Dynamics in Ft. Lauderdale. For some reason, they thought that something else was still the issue and it wasn't the entire pump. I know they are the experts but I don't know how they could think that. Shortly after receiving the pump I could not put it in. The owners daughter caught the bug for being on the boat and was down with a different set of friends everyday for about a week and a half. I didn't get anything done in terms of projects and most of my time was spent keeping up with making sure the inside of the boat did not turn in to a total disaster. I finally had to let her know that I needed to complete some projects as the summer trip was nearing closer and closer and would not be able to play stew each and everyday.
The hydraulic pump change went very well other than the fact that I chased a tool around town for a couple of hours. I needed an over standard allen wrench and no one seemed to carry them. I am finished with going to Home Depot. Every time I go there the products get worse and worse. I found a great hardware store in the city called Clark and Barlow. They had everything. After the pump got changed everything seemed to check out and the project could finally be closed after about a year. I think I mentioned this project in my first few blog posts.
So besides having the owners daughter and her assortment of guests down to the boat almost every day and the hydraulic pump problem, the summer was fairly quiet up until July 8th when we pulled away from the dock for our annual summer trip around Lake Michigan. The streak continued as I had the owners on board along with his daughter, her husband, and their four kids....the young kind with endless amounts of energy and demands. Don't get me wrong I have a blast with the kids and I'd like to think that they enjoy spending the time with me, but when it's all said and done the piece and quiet is great. On that note, I'm just going to say sorry to my mom and dad for being so obnoxious as a kid :-).
We left Chicago at 0500 in the morning for Milwaukee and ran about 10 knots until Racine Reef where we ran it up to 18 knots. It was the Chicago Power Squadron Rendezvous, and as always it was a circus show at the docks and after about 45 minutes everyone decided where they wanted to go, we changed slips twice, and were finally settled in. It took another 15 minutes of everyone deciding if they wanted the boat two feet forward or two feet back and finally I just starting making the lines. My biggest pet peeve hands down in my job is peoples attitudes while we dock the boat. The owner and I are a great team when it is just the two of us. It's when other people come in to the picture that confusion starts to set in. The owner asked me to sit down and have a talk about the issue and I gladly agreed and was thrilled that he asked. All too often someone shows up on the dock to help catch a line, which is great, we appreciate the help. All too often that person that shows up to help wants to be in charge. I often hear them giving commands, letting the person driving the boat (whether it is me or the owner) know how horrible of a job they are doing. They like to tell my deck crew and me how to tie up the boat. For all who read this I tell you this: If you are on the dock then please be quiet (to be politically correct). First off, my deck crew is rarely experienced yacht crew and is nothing more than some guests on board, so we don't need to add confusion there. Secondly, the person driving the boat is focusing and someone on the dock telling them what to do will just break their concentration. The only verbal actions that the person driving the boat should receive are distances and relays of the boats position, i.e. "six feet to stern, or 15 feet off the beam mind your bow." Thirdly, and most nagging to me is how stupid everyone looks when they are yelling back and forth. My dad and I used to sit on his boat and watch people come in to the docks just laughing. "Look at how stupid these people look". We kind of hoped that they would hit the dock, doesn't everyone? It's like watching Nascar, its boring unless you see a crash. With that being said I cannot emphasize enough that everything should be silent while docking. We don't need someone yelling the full length of a ninety foot boat, it just looks stupid. The owner and I discussed all of these issues and agreed, so hopefully things will quiet down around the dock for the rest of the summer.
I went out with the captain of Plane to Sea on Friday night and it was cool to see some of the city. Summer fest was going on in Milwaukee but I never got down there to check it out. We left around 1000 on Sunday for Sheboygan and ran slow the entire way. It was only about a 40nm run so it wasn't too bad. The owner and a guest invited me to play golf with them at Blackwolf run in Kohler, the home of the 2012 women's open. I was thrilled, and super excited. Our tee time was set for 1040 on Monday. At 0520 Monday morning I woke up to a little rain on the window. I was mad because I forgot to cover the aft deck seats. I glanced at the radar and shot out of bed. The seats were the least of my worries, we were under a severe thunderstorm warning and it was bad. I got some shorts on and threw my foul weather jacket over my bare back...no time for t-shirts. It was quiet in my quarters and other than some rain drops I thought I was going to beat the storm. I opened the aft hatch and found that I was wrong. Wind was whipping down the river and right in to my face, the rain was pounding down and I was instantly soaked to the bone. The morning chill had me shivering in no time. The lightning and thunder had already arrived and I knew it wasn't safe to stay outside long. Being that I'm a fairly responsible captain :-) the boat was already secured very well and other than one or two things on the table I was able to get back inside quick. It was a bad storm but everything went well. Something very close by got struck by lightning and I'm just glad it wasn't us.
Unfortunately that storm ruined my hopes for golfing. We did however go hit balls at the range at Blackwolf run and the course was absolutely stunning. One of the owners guests is a very good golfer and he gave me a few tips that really helped my swing. I did forget to mention that I did end up buying new clubs. I got a swing analysis and was fitted for Mizuno JPX 800-pro with project X 6.0 shafts (extra stiff). I am still getting used to them a little bit but really love them. It was hard not to play the course and I drove away from the range with a bit of a tear in my eye....next time.
The owner decided he was done with Sheboygan despite having two more nights on our reservation. Not only was he in a hurry to get out of Sheboygan but he was in a hurry to get to Sturgeon Bay, our next stop. He asked if I would be O.K. with running at night, you know, like the cruise ships do, then we don't have to waste a day on the water. I told him I was fine with it as long as I got to sleep before and after the trip. With that being said I went straight to bed. I got up around 2300 hours and got the boat ready. We were off the dock by midnight and underway. It was clear, cold, and calm...perfect conditions. One of the owners guests came up and sat with me until about 0300. I refused to drive from the pilot house because I knew the quiet, calm, warm air would instantly put me to sleep. The fly bridge was cold, and I had two coats on but it kept me awake. To my surprise the owner came up around 0300 and I gave relief to his guest to head to sleep. The owner stayed with me for awhile but soon retired to the warmth of the pilot house and salon below. I caught a beautiful sunrise as we steamed north at 10 knots through a glass calm Lake Michigan. We arrived in Sturgeon Bay around 0745 and as soon as we were secure I went to bed.
Sturgeon Bay was O.K., the marina is very nice and the family that runs it is wonderful. I never left the marina other than to pick up a rental car before we left for Fish Creek. The logistics of getting the owners daughter and her family home were a nightmare and I have clearly taken the position of staying completely out of logistics battles. Let me know what you decide and I will do it...after it changes four more times. We rented a car and had a guest drive it north to Fish Creek, our next stop, and my favorite on the Wisconsin side. Again we were way ahead of schedule and leaving Sturgeon Bay after only one night. Luckily all of the marinas could accommodate us despite our early arrivals. The cruise up to Fish Creek is a beautiful one, and a short one. It was only two hours at 10 knots.
Fish Creek is a small little town tucked under a bluff, protected by a small harbor. A small mooring field scatters the inner waters of the harbor as sailboats bob slightly and tug on their mooring lines. Its door county at its finest.
Now as I sit here in the galley the sun has come up on another beautiful, but cooler, Wisconsin day. The forecast is calling for more heat however as the sun works its way higher and higher in to the sky. The owners daughter has left with her kids and a quieter group, the owners son and his girlfriend, are now on board. The dishwasher hums away and the coffee maker clicks back on to warm up today's pot that was brewed 3 hours ago at 0600 sharp. The boat is quiet and other than some soft conversation coming from the salon the air is still and peaceful. The hum of a diesel engine echos against the hull as the Fish Creek tour boat heads out in to the lake, taking another group of tourist for a spin around the sights. A stroll through town early this morning, on the hunt for todays newspaper, was about a tranquil as they get. Loud kids screaming for ice cream, and tourists on every corner were still snug in their beds. Most shops weren't even open yet as I patiently waited for the Fish Creek Market to open at 0800. My newspaper teased me in the window front as 0801 ticked by. The kid earning some spending money over the summer was late for his job at the market, which only extended my relaxing rest on the bench outside on the sidewalk. I didn't care if he was thirty minutes late, I could sit here all day. Just then the door swung open, "Good morning sir, come on in."
Tomorrow we leave for Michigan, and we will be leaving very early. As usual I have reservations but as it stands now there are three different ports up for debate. I was told to call and make more reservations but considering I've already called three times this summer changing reservations I advised everyone to make a final decision before I call anyone...that is after they change it two more times after that.
Bonita Out
Wow, I almost forgot that I even was still keeping a blog. While back in Chicago everything got away from me. A new rhythm, a slower pace of guests on board, and less movement of the boat and I completely forgot to keep writing. Looking back to the last blog post I realize that I have a lot to catch up on.
I did end up asking for a completely new hydraulic pump from Naiad Dynamics in Ft. Lauderdale. For some reason, they thought that something else was still the issue and it wasn't the entire pump. I know they are the experts but I don't know how they could think that. Shortly after receiving the pump I could not put it in. The owners daughter caught the bug for being on the boat and was down with a different set of friends everyday for about a week and a half. I didn't get anything done in terms of projects and most of my time was spent keeping up with making sure the inside of the boat did not turn in to a total disaster. I finally had to let her know that I needed to complete some projects as the summer trip was nearing closer and closer and would not be able to play stew each and everyday.
The hydraulic pump change went very well other than the fact that I chased a tool around town for a couple of hours. I needed an over standard allen wrench and no one seemed to carry them. I am finished with going to Home Depot. Every time I go there the products get worse and worse. I found a great hardware store in the city called Clark and Barlow. They had everything. After the pump got changed everything seemed to check out and the project could finally be closed after about a year. I think I mentioned this project in my first few blog posts.
So besides having the owners daughter and her assortment of guests down to the boat almost every day and the hydraulic pump problem, the summer was fairly quiet up until July 8th when we pulled away from the dock for our annual summer trip around Lake Michigan. The streak continued as I had the owners on board along with his daughter, her husband, and their four kids....the young kind with endless amounts of energy and demands. Don't get me wrong I have a blast with the kids and I'd like to think that they enjoy spending the time with me, but when it's all said and done the piece and quiet is great. On that note, I'm just going to say sorry to my mom and dad for being so obnoxious as a kid :-).
We left Chicago at 0500 in the morning for Milwaukee and ran about 10 knots until Racine Reef where we ran it up to 18 knots. It was the Chicago Power Squadron Rendezvous, and as always it was a circus show at the docks and after about 45 minutes everyone decided where they wanted to go, we changed slips twice, and were finally settled in. It took another 15 minutes of everyone deciding if they wanted the boat two feet forward or two feet back and finally I just starting making the lines. My biggest pet peeve hands down in my job is peoples attitudes while we dock the boat. The owner and I are a great team when it is just the two of us. It's when other people come in to the picture that confusion starts to set in. The owner asked me to sit down and have a talk about the issue and I gladly agreed and was thrilled that he asked. All too often someone shows up on the dock to help catch a line, which is great, we appreciate the help. All too often that person that shows up to help wants to be in charge. I often hear them giving commands, letting the person driving the boat (whether it is me or the owner) know how horrible of a job they are doing. They like to tell my deck crew and me how to tie up the boat. For all who read this I tell you this: If you are on the dock then please be quiet (to be politically correct). First off, my deck crew is rarely experienced yacht crew and is nothing more than some guests on board, so we don't need to add confusion there. Secondly, the person driving the boat is focusing and someone on the dock telling them what to do will just break their concentration. The only verbal actions that the person driving the boat should receive are distances and relays of the boats position, i.e. "six feet to stern, or 15 feet off the beam mind your bow." Thirdly, and most nagging to me is how stupid everyone looks when they are yelling back and forth. My dad and I used to sit on his boat and watch people come in to the docks just laughing. "Look at how stupid these people look". We kind of hoped that they would hit the dock, doesn't everyone? It's like watching Nascar, its boring unless you see a crash. With that being said I cannot emphasize enough that everything should be silent while docking. We don't need someone yelling the full length of a ninety foot boat, it just looks stupid. The owner and I discussed all of these issues and agreed, so hopefully things will quiet down around the dock for the rest of the summer.
I went out with the captain of Plane to Sea on Friday night and it was cool to see some of the city. Summer fest was going on in Milwaukee but I never got down there to check it out. We left around 1000 on Sunday for Sheboygan and ran slow the entire way. It was only about a 40nm run so it wasn't too bad. The owner and a guest invited me to play golf with them at Blackwolf run in Kohler, the home of the 2012 women's open. I was thrilled, and super excited. Our tee time was set for 1040 on Monday. At 0520 Monday morning I woke up to a little rain on the window. I was mad because I forgot to cover the aft deck seats. I glanced at the radar and shot out of bed. The seats were the least of my worries, we were under a severe thunderstorm warning and it was bad. I got some shorts on and threw my foul weather jacket over my bare back...no time for t-shirts. It was quiet in my quarters and other than some rain drops I thought I was going to beat the storm. I opened the aft hatch and found that I was wrong. Wind was whipping down the river and right in to my face, the rain was pounding down and I was instantly soaked to the bone. The morning chill had me shivering in no time. The lightning and thunder had already arrived and I knew it wasn't safe to stay outside long. Being that I'm a fairly responsible captain :-) the boat was already secured very well and other than one or two things on the table I was able to get back inside quick. It was a bad storm but everything went well. Something very close by got struck by lightning and I'm just glad it wasn't us.
Unfortunately that storm ruined my hopes for golfing. We did however go hit balls at the range at Blackwolf run and the course was absolutely stunning. One of the owners guests is a very good golfer and he gave me a few tips that really helped my swing. I did forget to mention that I did end up buying new clubs. I got a swing analysis and was fitted for Mizuno JPX 800-pro with project X 6.0 shafts (extra stiff). I am still getting used to them a little bit but really love them. It was hard not to play the course and I drove away from the range with a bit of a tear in my eye....next time.
The owner decided he was done with Sheboygan despite having two more nights on our reservation. Not only was he in a hurry to get out of Sheboygan but he was in a hurry to get to Sturgeon Bay, our next stop. He asked if I would be O.K. with running at night, you know, like the cruise ships do, then we don't have to waste a day on the water. I told him I was fine with it as long as I got to sleep before and after the trip. With that being said I went straight to bed. I got up around 2300 hours and got the boat ready. We were off the dock by midnight and underway. It was clear, cold, and calm...perfect conditions. One of the owners guests came up and sat with me until about 0300. I refused to drive from the pilot house because I knew the quiet, calm, warm air would instantly put me to sleep. The fly bridge was cold, and I had two coats on but it kept me awake. To my surprise the owner came up around 0300 and I gave relief to his guest to head to sleep. The owner stayed with me for awhile but soon retired to the warmth of the pilot house and salon below. I caught a beautiful sunrise as we steamed north at 10 knots through a glass calm Lake Michigan. We arrived in Sturgeon Bay around 0745 and as soon as we were secure I went to bed.
Sturgeon Bay was O.K., the marina is very nice and the family that runs it is wonderful. I never left the marina other than to pick up a rental car before we left for Fish Creek. The logistics of getting the owners daughter and her family home were a nightmare and I have clearly taken the position of staying completely out of logistics battles. Let me know what you decide and I will do it...after it changes four more times. We rented a car and had a guest drive it north to Fish Creek, our next stop, and my favorite on the Wisconsin side. Again we were way ahead of schedule and leaving Sturgeon Bay after only one night. Luckily all of the marinas could accommodate us despite our early arrivals. The cruise up to Fish Creek is a beautiful one, and a short one. It was only two hours at 10 knots.
Fish Creek is a small little town tucked under a bluff, protected by a small harbor. A small mooring field scatters the inner waters of the harbor as sailboats bob slightly and tug on their mooring lines. Its door county at its finest.
Now as I sit here in the galley the sun has come up on another beautiful, but cooler, Wisconsin day. The forecast is calling for more heat however as the sun works its way higher and higher in to the sky. The owners daughter has left with her kids and a quieter group, the owners son and his girlfriend, are now on board. The dishwasher hums away and the coffee maker clicks back on to warm up today's pot that was brewed 3 hours ago at 0600 sharp. The boat is quiet and other than some soft conversation coming from the salon the air is still and peaceful. The hum of a diesel engine echos against the hull as the Fish Creek tour boat heads out in to the lake, taking another group of tourist for a spin around the sights. A stroll through town early this morning, on the hunt for todays newspaper, was about a tranquil as they get. Loud kids screaming for ice cream, and tourists on every corner were still snug in their beds. Most shops weren't even open yet as I patiently waited for the Fish Creek Market to open at 0800. My newspaper teased me in the window front as 0801 ticked by. The kid earning some spending money over the summer was late for his job at the market, which only extended my relaxing rest on the bench outside on the sidewalk. I didn't care if he was thirty minutes late, I could sit here all day. Just then the door swung open, "Good morning sir, come on in."
Tomorrow we leave for Michigan, and we will be leaving very early. As usual I have reservations but as it stands now there are three different ports up for debate. I was told to call and make more reservations but considering I've already called three times this summer changing reservations I advised everyone to make a final decision before I call anyone...that is after they change it two more times after that.
Chicago Skyline from the river
Chicago fireworks at Navy Pier
Afternoon cruise of the skyline
Another beautiful sunset
Chicago lighthouse
Coming in to the harbor at Chicago
Flat calm day for cruising!
Sheboygan to Sturgeon bay...roughly 2:30 AM
Civil Twilight inbound for Sturgeon Bay. Flat Calm
Almost time for sunrise over Lake Michigan. Inbound for Sturgeon Bay
Bonita Out
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Day 228 - 241: Slow start to the summer
CHICAGO, IL USA
Well the title of this blog says it all. It has been a slow start to the summer. The month of May was a disaster and it didn't warm up until Memorial Day. We had great weather for about a week and now as we near the middle of June it barely broke 60 degrees today. Due to this crazy weather my job has been very low key. I have my projects as usual but with only a couple visits, and one dinner cruise, the inside of the boat simply requires a light dusting and that is that. Don't get me wrong there is still a project list, but being that the boat is not being used as much as Sound Waves all winter there are not huge projects. Still no word on our stabilizer pump issue, and I think that I am just going to have to replace the entire pump in the end, which will be such an enjoyable project...not.
The trip for this summer is starting to come together, but it appears as if it will be much shorter than the six week long trip last summer. If the weather doesn't shape up we may not be going anywhere!
Due to the bad weather this weekend I have it off, and it has been spent playing some golf. I broke two clubs in two days and I think that the old irons that I use are finally giving up. It's too bad though because I just got them lengthened and re-griped. Hopefully I don't have to buy a whole new set of irons, but I think it may be the best thing to do for the long run. I have a feeling that I may keep breaking shafts throughout the summer and at $35 each to fix them, it could get just as expensive.
Bonita Out
Well the title of this blog says it all. It has been a slow start to the summer. The month of May was a disaster and it didn't warm up until Memorial Day. We had great weather for about a week and now as we near the middle of June it barely broke 60 degrees today. Due to this crazy weather my job has been very low key. I have my projects as usual but with only a couple visits, and one dinner cruise, the inside of the boat simply requires a light dusting and that is that. Don't get me wrong there is still a project list, but being that the boat is not being used as much as Sound Waves all winter there are not huge projects. Still no word on our stabilizer pump issue, and I think that I am just going to have to replace the entire pump in the end, which will be such an enjoyable project...not.
The trip for this summer is starting to come together, but it appears as if it will be much shorter than the six week long trip last summer. If the weather doesn't shape up we may not be going anywhere!
Due to the bad weather this weekend I have it off, and it has been spent playing some golf. I broke two clubs in two days and I think that the old irons that I use are finally giving up. It's too bad though because I just got them lengthened and re-griped. Hopefully I don't have to buy a whole new set of irons, but I think it may be the best thing to do for the long run. I have a feeling that I may keep breaking shafts throughout the summer and at $35 each to fix them, it could get just as expensive.
Bonita Out
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Day 220 - 227: Back to work
CHICAGO, IL USA
Well its back to the grind. I have to say that the grind isn't as stressful or as intimidating as last year this time. I got on board Bonita last spring and pretty much knew nothing. The entire first week of work was spent ripping things apart, crawling in to tight spaces, flipping every light switch, pushing every button, sitting in the pilot house messing around with the navigation equipment, all just to get to know the boat. This year was a lot different. The main reason being that I did not log 92 hours of work in the first week like last year. It was much more casual and only around 55 hours... a light workout in this industry. Being that the weather has been horrible up here I have not seen much of the owners. I spent most of the week cleaning the boat. I had a fresh start. Other than some dust from the winter the boat was in order, and there was no one there to move things around as soon as I re-organized. I took my time and went through every head, detailing every corner, organizing the cabinets and restocking them perfectly. By Thursday afternoon the boat was in the best shape it has been in.
Jessie entered the J.P. Morgan Chase corporate challenge race here in Chicago. All of these businesses get together and have a "team". It's a 3.5 mile run and about 25,000 runners entered! I walked from the boat to the race grounds and it looked more like we were setting up for a war. There were tents everywhere for miles! BBQ's, beers, music, the works. Jessie did really well in here race and was proud of her time. I got to watch the first place guy come across the line...in 16 minutes 13 seconds, and I have to say my jaw was on the floor. As he came to the end of his 3.5 mile run he was sprinting faster than I can run a 100 yard dash. He must have been a marathon runner and this was just a light workout for him.
In the meantime I still managed to sneak away and play some golf in the late afternoons. I really have been playing a lot better. On a par five I missed the green by 3 feet on my second shot and chipped within inches of the hole for an almost eagle. On a par four I landed the ball a foot in front of the hole from 180 yards out. It went past the hole, bounced and rolled back to within two feet. I had a tap in for another birdie. Am I ready for the Masters? hah! My goal is however to hopefully play in an amateur tournament by the end of the summer. I have really become good friends with one of the teaching professionals at the driving range by my apartment and he is encouraging me to play. So I'd probably get last place...so what. He said that I still should absolutely do it, not for the competitive side of golf, but for the experience. They call your name at the first tee, no mulligans, no fluffing your ball, and you have to have a caddy. I've never had a caddy, that'd be cool! So whether or not I enter the tournament for late August at the Sydney Marovitz golf course here in Chicago remains to be seen, but it is a fun goal to have.
Friday we had an event planned to go to the Chicago Yacht Club with another family but cancelled due to the cold temperatures and the brisk northeast winds. I had the night off. So naturally I went home to the apartment, called all of my friends, and decided to rent a movie OnDemand and enjoy my night off in relaxation instead of meeting up with friends at Duffy's for all you can eat and drink from 6-11 for $20 (a very tempting deal).
Saturday took me about an hour to get to the boat as a race at Soldier Field had traffic looking more like a parking lot. The owner and his wife showed up around 3:00 PM and our guests about an hour later. We had a wonderful cruise up to CYC, minus the rain and cold, and a great dinner. I got invited to dinner which was nice, because I never expect the invitation. We finally got back to the docks around 11:00 and I took about a half an hour to clean up and get the boat back in tip-top shape. Our guests finally left around 11:30 and bedtime followed shortly after.
Now as I sit in the galley on a gloomy foggy Sunday morning, coverage just begins on the Indy 500 on the tv in the salon. The faint smell of coffee fills the air as a few cups still linger, getting cold. The boat is beginning to move around in the slip as a dead calm morning comes to an end with the wind of the approaching severe storms expected later today. The rain starts to pound on the boat and just like that everything goes silent again. It was the warning bell that the radar is true and the storms are really out there. I hope for the storms though as they are being produced by an approaching warm front and a sunny and 90 degree day tomorrow. The sooner it storms the sooner summer really starts, and hopefully it is here to stay this time. I've had trouble getting up in the mornings lately but today I was wide awake staring at my clock four minutes before my alarm went off. I enjoyed the peace and quiet however and let my alarm carry out its duties four minutes later. And while it has been a slow start to the summer I am still hopeful that sunny and hot days are still yet to come.
Bonita Out
Well its back to the grind. I have to say that the grind isn't as stressful or as intimidating as last year this time. I got on board Bonita last spring and pretty much knew nothing. The entire first week of work was spent ripping things apart, crawling in to tight spaces, flipping every light switch, pushing every button, sitting in the pilot house messing around with the navigation equipment, all just to get to know the boat. This year was a lot different. The main reason being that I did not log 92 hours of work in the first week like last year. It was much more casual and only around 55 hours... a light workout in this industry. Being that the weather has been horrible up here I have not seen much of the owners. I spent most of the week cleaning the boat. I had a fresh start. Other than some dust from the winter the boat was in order, and there was no one there to move things around as soon as I re-organized. I took my time and went through every head, detailing every corner, organizing the cabinets and restocking them perfectly. By Thursday afternoon the boat was in the best shape it has been in.
Jessie entered the J.P. Morgan Chase corporate challenge race here in Chicago. All of these businesses get together and have a "team". It's a 3.5 mile run and about 25,000 runners entered! I walked from the boat to the race grounds and it looked more like we were setting up for a war. There were tents everywhere for miles! BBQ's, beers, music, the works. Jessie did really well in here race and was proud of her time. I got to watch the first place guy come across the line...in 16 minutes 13 seconds, and I have to say my jaw was on the floor. As he came to the end of his 3.5 mile run he was sprinting faster than I can run a 100 yard dash. He must have been a marathon runner and this was just a light workout for him.
In the meantime I still managed to sneak away and play some golf in the late afternoons. I really have been playing a lot better. On a par five I missed the green by 3 feet on my second shot and chipped within inches of the hole for an almost eagle. On a par four I landed the ball a foot in front of the hole from 180 yards out. It went past the hole, bounced and rolled back to within two feet. I had a tap in for another birdie. Am I ready for the Masters? hah! My goal is however to hopefully play in an amateur tournament by the end of the summer. I have really become good friends with one of the teaching professionals at the driving range by my apartment and he is encouraging me to play. So I'd probably get last place...so what. He said that I still should absolutely do it, not for the competitive side of golf, but for the experience. They call your name at the first tee, no mulligans, no fluffing your ball, and you have to have a caddy. I've never had a caddy, that'd be cool! So whether or not I enter the tournament for late August at the Sydney Marovitz golf course here in Chicago remains to be seen, but it is a fun goal to have.
Friday we had an event planned to go to the Chicago Yacht Club with another family but cancelled due to the cold temperatures and the brisk northeast winds. I had the night off. So naturally I went home to the apartment, called all of my friends, and decided to rent a movie OnDemand and enjoy my night off in relaxation instead of meeting up with friends at Duffy's for all you can eat and drink from 6-11 for $20 (a very tempting deal).
Saturday took me about an hour to get to the boat as a race at Soldier Field had traffic looking more like a parking lot. The owner and his wife showed up around 3:00 PM and our guests about an hour later. We had a wonderful cruise up to CYC, minus the rain and cold, and a great dinner. I got invited to dinner which was nice, because I never expect the invitation. We finally got back to the docks around 11:00 and I took about a half an hour to clean up and get the boat back in tip-top shape. Our guests finally left around 11:30 and bedtime followed shortly after.
Now as I sit in the galley on a gloomy foggy Sunday morning, coverage just begins on the Indy 500 on the tv in the salon. The faint smell of coffee fills the air as a few cups still linger, getting cold. The boat is beginning to move around in the slip as a dead calm morning comes to an end with the wind of the approaching severe storms expected later today. The rain starts to pound on the boat and just like that everything goes silent again. It was the warning bell that the radar is true and the storms are really out there. I hope for the storms though as they are being produced by an approaching warm front and a sunny and 90 degree day tomorrow. The sooner it storms the sooner summer really starts, and hopefully it is here to stay this time. I've had trouble getting up in the mornings lately but today I was wide awake staring at my clock four minutes before my alarm went off. I enjoyed the peace and quiet however and let my alarm carry out its duties four minutes later. And while it has been a slow start to the summer I am still hopeful that sunny and hot days are still yet to come.
Bonita Out
Friday, May 20, 2011
Day 213-219: Launch!
CHICAGO, IL USA
Well it all finally worked out. I called off the launch last week, hopped a bus back to Chicago and waited. I was right.
The wind kicked up. It rained all day, everyday, and was freezing cold. The small craft advisory changed to a gale warning, and no one wanted to be outside. I enjoyed the extended time off and used it to my advantage....while staying indoors.
Wednesday night was Jessie's birthday and her mom and sister were in town. We met up with them and went out to dinner on Michigan Ave. at a place called Bandera. It was a nice restaurant. Afterwards, we went down to the dualing piano bar, Howl at the moon. It was such a cool place! There were about five people rotating through the pianos, and every now and then they played drums and guitar with it as well. By the end of the night all five members played of the instruments including harmonica, fiddle, and trumpet. What a talented group of people!
Thursday morning I got up and caught a cab to the red-line train stop and took a 40 minute ride to the grey hound station on the south side of chicago. My first mate, Clint, and I once again got on the bus and traveled back to Holland, MI where we then caught another 30 minute cab ride up to Grand Haven. It makes for a really long day of traveling to say the least. This time around everything ran very smoothly. The boat went in the water on time, the fuel truck finally got back with me and scheduled a fuel up right at the launch well, the cab was waiting for us in Holland, and the buses were actually running on time. We fired the engines, took an oil sample, checked the serviced transmissions and went through our checklist. I serviced all of the racors, and made sure we still held fuel pressure afterwards. We got both generators up and running despite a manual charge needing to be placed on one of the set of batteries. The AC units fired up without a glitch, and everything was running smoothly.
We decided to go lay up on the wall in Grand Haven as it would get us past one bridge and save about 30 minutes on the river.
Friday came about as early as it could. 0330 (EST) my alarm went off. I was already laying in bed wide awake anticipating the extreme wake up time. It was pitch black and as soon as I opened my hatch the cold, damp Michigan air went right to the bones. There wasn't a single sound, other than the hum of the generator. Some stars were out but it was mostly cloudy and there wasn't a breath of wind. The lights on the pier lit up the water and set the runway for open waters. We fired the engines and began to motor in to the dark.
About three miles offshore we hit fog. We hit the kind of fog that tales are told from in the Bermuda triangle. We hit a fog that makes you wonder if you are in fact about to fall off the edge of the earth. The black sky was now enhanced with a white blanket. The fog horn was turned on and the radar tuned in even more. 10 knots, 96 nautical miles......ETA 1230 (CST) to Chicago. Twilight broke about 0620 but didn't make a bit of difference. We could barely see the water as it disappeared under the bow. The fog had us in its grip. For the next 90 miles we saw nothing but white, and heard nothing but our engines and the fog horn. Drifting off to sleep is no issue as your eyes strain in to the white cloak waiting for a giant freighter to somehow miss the radar and pop out of no where. Nothing...tick, tock, tick, tock....nothing. A constant watch proved for a safe arrival to Chicago and until we were 500 feet from the harbor entrance we had no idea that it was even there. We never saw a building, and hardly saw a boat. It wasn't until we were one mile away that a 30 ft. sea ray presented itself as a faint white shadow on a white background. It was creepy as the image went passed.
The owner greeted us at the dock and after a short briefing and a story or two, we went to lunch at the Burnham harbor yacht club. It was great to be back for another summer and I look forward to the already large to do list that I have created for myself. The weather has started on a very bad note up here in Chicago, but I am hopeful that it improves. May is looking like there is no hope, but lets keep our fingers crossed!
Bonita Out (I typed Sound Waves again!!!...that is going to take some time!)
Well it all finally worked out. I called off the launch last week, hopped a bus back to Chicago and waited. I was right.
The wind kicked up. It rained all day, everyday, and was freezing cold. The small craft advisory changed to a gale warning, and no one wanted to be outside. I enjoyed the extended time off and used it to my advantage....while staying indoors.
Wednesday night was Jessie's birthday and her mom and sister were in town. We met up with them and went out to dinner on Michigan Ave. at a place called Bandera. It was a nice restaurant. Afterwards, we went down to the dualing piano bar, Howl at the moon. It was such a cool place! There were about five people rotating through the pianos, and every now and then they played drums and guitar with it as well. By the end of the night all five members played of the instruments including harmonica, fiddle, and trumpet. What a talented group of people!
Thursday morning I got up and caught a cab to the red-line train stop and took a 40 minute ride to the grey hound station on the south side of chicago. My first mate, Clint, and I once again got on the bus and traveled back to Holland, MI where we then caught another 30 minute cab ride up to Grand Haven. It makes for a really long day of traveling to say the least. This time around everything ran very smoothly. The boat went in the water on time, the fuel truck finally got back with me and scheduled a fuel up right at the launch well, the cab was waiting for us in Holland, and the buses were actually running on time. We fired the engines, took an oil sample, checked the serviced transmissions and went through our checklist. I serviced all of the racors, and made sure we still held fuel pressure afterwards. We got both generators up and running despite a manual charge needing to be placed on one of the set of batteries. The AC units fired up without a glitch, and everything was running smoothly.
We decided to go lay up on the wall in Grand Haven as it would get us past one bridge and save about 30 minutes on the river.
Friday came about as early as it could. 0330 (EST) my alarm went off. I was already laying in bed wide awake anticipating the extreme wake up time. It was pitch black and as soon as I opened my hatch the cold, damp Michigan air went right to the bones. There wasn't a single sound, other than the hum of the generator. Some stars were out but it was mostly cloudy and there wasn't a breath of wind. The lights on the pier lit up the water and set the runway for open waters. We fired the engines and began to motor in to the dark.
About three miles offshore we hit fog. We hit the kind of fog that tales are told from in the Bermuda triangle. We hit a fog that makes you wonder if you are in fact about to fall off the edge of the earth. The black sky was now enhanced with a white blanket. The fog horn was turned on and the radar tuned in even more. 10 knots, 96 nautical miles......ETA 1230 (CST) to Chicago. Twilight broke about 0620 but didn't make a bit of difference. We could barely see the water as it disappeared under the bow. The fog had us in its grip. For the next 90 miles we saw nothing but white, and heard nothing but our engines and the fog horn. Drifting off to sleep is no issue as your eyes strain in to the white cloak waiting for a giant freighter to somehow miss the radar and pop out of no where. Nothing...tick, tock, tick, tock....nothing. A constant watch proved for a safe arrival to Chicago and until we were 500 feet from the harbor entrance we had no idea that it was even there. We never saw a building, and hardly saw a boat. It wasn't until we were one mile away that a 30 ft. sea ray presented itself as a faint white shadow on a white background. It was creepy as the image went passed.
The owner greeted us at the dock and after a short briefing and a story or two, we went to lunch at the Burnham harbor yacht club. It was great to be back for another summer and I look forward to the already large to do list that I have created for myself. The weather has started on a very bad note up here in Chicago, but I am hopeful that it improves. May is looking like there is no hope, but lets keep our fingers crossed!
Bonita Out (I typed Sound Waves again!!!...that is going to take some time!)
Friday, May 13, 2011
Days 210 - 212: Relax, prepare, wait
GRAND HAVEN, MI USA
What a much needed time off the last weeks were. I flew in to Chicago and sat around and did nothing for awhile. As promised, I brought back some 80 degree weather for everyone who has been complaining about the awful spring they have been having. I unpacked everything and got settled back in to the apartment in Chicago. I spent the days hitting some balls at the range, joined a gym and hired a personal trainer for the summer. I want to get back in to football shape, and I don't think it will happen without someone really pushing me. Now that my wallet is pushing me, I am sure that I will utilize my personal trainer!
I headed home for mothers day and it was great to see the family, and be "home" again. The place that is still closest to my true home. There wasn't much relaxation however as the weekend was spent cleaning out the barn with my Dad and Chris and putting in the water toys and my grandparents dock. It was great to see all of the grandparents and enjoy some good family time. On the following Monday I took care of all of my physical check ups. I went and saw the eye doctor, the doctor, and the dentist. Two years after my eye surgery I still testes 20/15 vision, the doctor asked me a ton of questions and sent me on my way, and my streak is kept alive with zero cavities. I am so thankful to have good health.
I planned to drive back to Chicago on Monday, but a pit stop in Kalamazoo to see old friend Pat Lefere turned in to a sleep over. It was great to see him again, it has been way too long. I hope that I am able to see him as well as other friends a lot more this summer.
Chicago was a quick turn around as I hopped back on the train on Wednesday to head to Grand Haven to get the big boat, Bonita, ready for another summer in the Great Lakes.
I left the boat in good shape last fall, which really helped my project list this spring. We cleaned the entire inside of the boat, sanded and re-painted the stabilizer fins, and I did some fiberglass and gel coat work on the transom. We tried to get moved up for a Friday morning launch but as 11:00 A.M rolled around we were still sitting in the barn. The forecast changed drastically and unless we were already on our way to Chicago we were going to get stuck in five footers on the beam by the time we got to Chicago. I looked at the forecast further and saw that it wasn't going to calm down again until late next week. I made the call, let the owner know, and cancelled the launch all together. My first mate, clint and I will be taking a bus back to Chicago this evening and will not be coming back until next week to try again. It is a big bummer, and while it may seem like a waste of time, it was the right decision to make and we still did get a lot done. I talked to my Dad this morning about the weather, and he was well aware of what was happening. The statement "If you say let's go for it comes up, you are going to get in trouble" came to mind that he told me years ago as I set sail in to the open seas on a 34' sailboat. It is a statement that I will never forget and it helped me make my decision today.
So, back to Chicago to wait for the weather!
Bonita Out (I almost wrote Sound Waves!)
What a much needed time off the last weeks were. I flew in to Chicago and sat around and did nothing for awhile. As promised, I brought back some 80 degree weather for everyone who has been complaining about the awful spring they have been having. I unpacked everything and got settled back in to the apartment in Chicago. I spent the days hitting some balls at the range, joined a gym and hired a personal trainer for the summer. I want to get back in to football shape, and I don't think it will happen without someone really pushing me. Now that my wallet is pushing me, I am sure that I will utilize my personal trainer!
I headed home for mothers day and it was great to see the family, and be "home" again. The place that is still closest to my true home. There wasn't much relaxation however as the weekend was spent cleaning out the barn with my Dad and Chris and putting in the water toys and my grandparents dock. It was great to see all of the grandparents and enjoy some good family time. On the following Monday I took care of all of my physical check ups. I went and saw the eye doctor, the doctor, and the dentist. Two years after my eye surgery I still testes 20/15 vision, the doctor asked me a ton of questions and sent me on my way, and my streak is kept alive with zero cavities. I am so thankful to have good health.
I planned to drive back to Chicago on Monday, but a pit stop in Kalamazoo to see old friend Pat Lefere turned in to a sleep over. It was great to see him again, it has been way too long. I hope that I am able to see him as well as other friends a lot more this summer.
Chicago was a quick turn around as I hopped back on the train on Wednesday to head to Grand Haven to get the big boat, Bonita, ready for another summer in the Great Lakes.
I left the boat in good shape last fall, which really helped my project list this spring. We cleaned the entire inside of the boat, sanded and re-painted the stabilizer fins, and I did some fiberglass and gel coat work on the transom. We tried to get moved up for a Friday morning launch but as 11:00 A.M rolled around we were still sitting in the barn. The forecast changed drastically and unless we were already on our way to Chicago we were going to get stuck in five footers on the beam by the time we got to Chicago. I looked at the forecast further and saw that it wasn't going to calm down again until late next week. I made the call, let the owner know, and cancelled the launch all together. My first mate, clint and I will be taking a bus back to Chicago this evening and will not be coming back until next week to try again. It is a big bummer, and while it may seem like a waste of time, it was the right decision to make and we still did get a lot done. I talked to my Dad this morning about the weather, and he was well aware of what was happening. The statement "If you say let's go for it comes up, you are going to get in trouble" came to mind that he told me years ago as I set sail in to the open seas on a 34' sailboat. It is a statement that I will never forget and it helped me make my decision today.
So, back to Chicago to wait for the weather!
Bonita Out (I almost wrote Sound Waves!)
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Day 207 -209: End of another season
33,000 FEET SOMEWHERE NORTH OF ATLANTA, GEORGIA USA
Lets finish up the trip before I wrap it all up (the blog will hopefully continue throughout the summer. After all we aren't to 365 days yet, right?).
Friday I got asked to race again aboard Ruff Justice. The winds were much lighter and at one point of the race we were making about a half of a knot. We again finished almost dead last but today was a little more due to the luck of catching the wrong wind at the wrong time. I went down to the festivities and ran in to a bunch of old friends. Nuno came down from Staniel Cay and I also ran in to Sean and Gemma who are on their way to Cuba in their sailboat. I met another group of sailers my age and we had quite the crew. I ran down to Peace and Plenty and ran in to the Tida Wave and Lady Muriel crew as well as Bushman and Ben. It was a fun night that lasted well in to the morning hours.
On Saturday I focused on fixing the new generator. The generator was started while the fuel lines were closed and things weren't looking good. I couldn't get the generator to prime despite cracking injectors as well as simply removing the fuel line from the output side of the fuel pump. The racors were full of fuel, being that I just changed them, and things weren't adding up. We removed the fuel pump and found that we could not even blow compressed air through it. It seemed that it was clogged with something. The owner did not want me to leave until we got the problem fixed, but after further thought it is not a hard part to install and I can easily handle the logistics from Chicago.
Ben showed up out of no where and told us that they needed me to race again today. I got in his boat only to hear the 1 minute gun go off out in the harbor. I asked him what that was all about and he said he didn't know. Well it turns out the boys were a little behind schedule today and we missed the start of the race all together! I got dropped off as the boat was sailing down to the start line and I was glad that they still decided to race the course, despite being DQ-ed. We almost caught the last place boat and sailed really well! After watching the ceremony that night with Ben I told him that trophies or no trophies he gave a kid from the United States a chance to do something that he will never forget, and in my mind that means a lot more than a shiny trophy. Of course bragging rights in the Bahamas for a year isn't bad either :-/
The night went much like the last as my goodbyes were made to some of my closest friends I have had over the past two months. I couldn't believe that it was really my last night in the Bahamas....
Well it seems like just yesterday I created this blog and began talking about the trip south with Sound Waves. Its funny how some days (more than others in the islands) seem to tick by at a snails pass, but yet when you finally get on that plane I wonder to myself, "how did the last six months go so fast?".
I remember talking about growing up in my first few blog posts. Talking about taking the lead and not letting the next bend in the river, or reef on the chart intimidate me. Well, I accomplished so much of that "growing up". I've navigated the Western Rivers, been offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, tackled the ICW with a six foot draft, rounded the keys of Florida, replaced props, tore engines apart and put them back together, fixed hydraulic pumps, re-wired a set of underwater lights in the bowels of the ship, replaced door handles, re-wired home entertainment systems, crossed the gulf stream, polished the props in the soft sands of the Bahamas, made friends that will last a lifetime from around the entire world, dove on some of the most beautiful reefs in the world, overcame my fears of sharks and open waters while spearfishing, wasted days away on the beach, had amazing bonfires on the beach, sailed in a traditional Bahama island regatta, rebuilt most of the cooling system on a generator, and maintained someones biggest investment of their life in the meantime.
As I stepped onto Bonita a year ago I think it was safe to say that I was in a bit over my head. A bit over my head is an understatement. I was scared shitless of what I got myself in to. A year later as I fly back to Chicago to get ready for another summer aboard Bonita, the story is a lot different. I have already asked for the project list from the previous winter from our yacht services guy, Wade. I have scheduled an oil change as soon as the boat splashes, and have already began to generate my own to-do list. Last year I walked in to the barn with my jaw on the floor!
I've learned so much over the past year and I am confident in saying that I know what I am doing when it comes to yachts (somewhat :-), there is always so much more to learn!)
I look forward to the next week or so to relax and get my feet back on the ground in Chicago. I then look forward to visiting with my family back in Michigan and taking care of doctors, eye, dentist appointments, etc...
From there I will be back in Grand Haven prepping the 87' Cheoy Lee, Bonita, for yet another great summer in the Great Lakes.
Just a little kicking to chew on for everyone, Nuno asked me if I would be interested in visiting him in Europe next fall and helping him sail Sparrow from the Mediterranean back to the Caribbean. We will keep that one on the back burner! :-)
Here are some more pictures:
Lets finish up the trip before I wrap it all up (the blog will hopefully continue throughout the summer. After all we aren't to 365 days yet, right?).
Friday I got asked to race again aboard Ruff Justice. The winds were much lighter and at one point of the race we were making about a half of a knot. We again finished almost dead last but today was a little more due to the luck of catching the wrong wind at the wrong time. I went down to the festivities and ran in to a bunch of old friends. Nuno came down from Staniel Cay and I also ran in to Sean and Gemma who are on their way to Cuba in their sailboat. I met another group of sailers my age and we had quite the crew. I ran down to Peace and Plenty and ran in to the Tida Wave and Lady Muriel crew as well as Bushman and Ben. It was a fun night that lasted well in to the morning hours.
On Saturday I focused on fixing the new generator. The generator was started while the fuel lines were closed and things weren't looking good. I couldn't get the generator to prime despite cracking injectors as well as simply removing the fuel line from the output side of the fuel pump. The racors were full of fuel, being that I just changed them, and things weren't adding up. We removed the fuel pump and found that we could not even blow compressed air through it. It seemed that it was clogged with something. The owner did not want me to leave until we got the problem fixed, but after further thought it is not a hard part to install and I can easily handle the logistics from Chicago.
Ben showed up out of no where and told us that they needed me to race again today. I got in his boat only to hear the 1 minute gun go off out in the harbor. I asked him what that was all about and he said he didn't know. Well it turns out the boys were a little behind schedule today and we missed the start of the race all together! I got dropped off as the boat was sailing down to the start line and I was glad that they still decided to race the course, despite being DQ-ed. We almost caught the last place boat and sailed really well! After watching the ceremony that night with Ben I told him that trophies or no trophies he gave a kid from the United States a chance to do something that he will never forget, and in my mind that means a lot more than a shiny trophy. Of course bragging rights in the Bahamas for a year isn't bad either :-/
The night went much like the last as my goodbyes were made to some of my closest friends I have had over the past two months. I couldn't believe that it was really my last night in the Bahamas....
Well it seems like just yesterday I created this blog and began talking about the trip south with Sound Waves. Its funny how some days (more than others in the islands) seem to tick by at a snails pass, but yet when you finally get on that plane I wonder to myself, "how did the last six months go so fast?".
I remember talking about growing up in my first few blog posts. Talking about taking the lead and not letting the next bend in the river, or reef on the chart intimidate me. Well, I accomplished so much of that "growing up". I've navigated the Western Rivers, been offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, tackled the ICW with a six foot draft, rounded the keys of Florida, replaced props, tore engines apart and put them back together, fixed hydraulic pumps, re-wired a set of underwater lights in the bowels of the ship, replaced door handles, re-wired home entertainment systems, crossed the gulf stream, polished the props in the soft sands of the Bahamas, made friends that will last a lifetime from around the entire world, dove on some of the most beautiful reefs in the world, overcame my fears of sharks and open waters while spearfishing, wasted days away on the beach, had amazing bonfires on the beach, sailed in a traditional Bahama island regatta, rebuilt most of the cooling system on a generator, and maintained someones biggest investment of their life in the meantime.
As I stepped onto Bonita a year ago I think it was safe to say that I was in a bit over my head. A bit over my head is an understatement. I was scared shitless of what I got myself in to. A year later as I fly back to Chicago to get ready for another summer aboard Bonita, the story is a lot different. I have already asked for the project list from the previous winter from our yacht services guy, Wade. I have scheduled an oil change as soon as the boat splashes, and have already began to generate my own to-do list. Last year I walked in to the barn with my jaw on the floor!
I've learned so much over the past year and I am confident in saying that I know what I am doing when it comes to yachts (somewhat :-), there is always so much more to learn!)
I look forward to the next week or so to relax and get my feet back on the ground in Chicago. I then look forward to visiting with my family back in Michigan and taking care of doctors, eye, dentist appointments, etc...
From there I will be back in Grand Haven prepping the 87' Cheoy Lee, Bonita, for yet another great summer in the Great Lakes.
Just a little kicking to chew on for everyone, Nuno asked me if I would be interested in visiting him in Europe next fall and helping him sail Sparrow from the Mediterranean back to the Caribbean. We will keep that one on the back burner! :-)
Here are some more pictures:
Left to Right: Owner's girlfriend, Gizelle, Bushman
Nuno and me at Staniel Cay Yacht Club
Tony in front, David in the back SCYC
Left to Right, Soloman and the owner
At the start line of the A class race. Anchors out and sails down!
And they're off! Start of the A-Class race
Sailing off in to the sunset
Ruff Justice in the back (closest to camera) Thats me out on the pry! (all the way to the right on the "board")
Ruff Justice, port tack to the windward mark, light winds
Tida Wave the A-Class Champions of the 58th Family Island Regatta
Working my way out on the pry
Light winds riding the pry.
Left to Right: Ben, myself, Gizelle, Bushman. Peace and Plenty in Georgetown
Sound Waves Out!
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