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
No comments:
Post a Comment