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.
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