Sailing as Exercise

We’re happily back sailing again after taking the month of July off for repairs - repairs of the boat that is. Cool Heads Prevail needed her transmission rebuilt & a few other tidbits, but now she’s good to go.

Last Friday we eagerly packed up, provisioned, moved back in & got started with some exhilarating day sails on Lake Michigan. And by the end of day one I came to the conclusion that one doesn’t need a gym membership or a workout schedule if one has a sailboat! 

While enjoying every minute, after that first day my abs were so sore that I felt as if I’d been doing an unnatural number of sit ups. And then next day the legs, the arms, the back muscles started to ache. As much glorious fun as this all is, I realize (and kinda love) what’s going on. 

Sailing requires a multitude of physical motions multiple times a day, not to mention trying to maintain balance at all times! Climbing up onto & off the boat, stepping backwards down the companionway ladder & back up again, bending over to connect and disconnect various lines from their boat cleats onto their deck cleats, making one’s way forward on the foredeck to grab & use the boat hook & make sure the fenders are either in or out. At the helm trying to keep the boat on course with the power of both the wind and waves working against your arms. Not to mention pulling lines during tacks and jibes, and occasionally unrolling & pulling in the jib. And it’s not even ME who pulls up & puts down the giant mainsail while balancing himself on the deck of a quickly moving water transport! 

Another day I’ll think about the MENTAL gymnastics sailing takes! 

Another Sailing Season Begins

It takes a lot of work to have fun, right?

In April, long before actual sailing season, Kent spent days & days enjoying a myriad of jobs including cleaning & rebuilding winch gears, changing transmission oil, waxing the hull & painting the bottom. 

As a result Cool Heads Prevail was looking quite beautiful when she splashed into the water in St. Joseph, MI in late May. 

Of course then we spent several more days bending on sails, cleaning, organizing, provisioning, etc. 

The first day of June found us sailing 52 nm across Lake Michigan with friends C&C. Now we’re really having fun! Our genoa & main led the way, followed later by the always charming gennaker along with the motor when the wind went to sleep. And a mere 11.5 hours later we manuevered into our slip in Chicago’s Burnham Harbor. 

So after some hard work we're off to a satisfying start. Within the past few days we’ve enjoyed 4 sails: a sweet morning sail followed by a delightful afternoon with O on board (oops & a fishing pole that went swimming!), and a pair of exciting day sails with winds gusting into the high 20s (yikes!). Always an adventure, always a lot of fun!  

A Chicago Morning Sail.

Towards the end of a busy summer in which we spent several weeks biking on the isles of Scotland, we grabbed some beautiful early fall days to enjoy Cool Heads Prevail who was waiting patiently for us at our home port. We motor out of Burnham Harbor, hoist the main and then the genoa, turn off the motor - and we're underway!

The Chicago skyline views are stunning against a brilliant blue sky to the west, and I cana't help but snap yet another photo. We take off on a close reach, 8-10 knot winds from the northeast, boat speed 4-5 knots, nicely making way.

Soon the historic Chicago Lighthouse came into view, so we sail towards it, watching a small fishing boat trying to score some fish near the rocks. We move on out beyond the breakwall and put the Harriison Dever Crib in our sites. And we sail on and on for the entire morning. This just never gets old!

What a Crew! What a Ride!

 What a crew! What a ride! Kent & Nancy & Chuck & Carolyn.

52 nautical miles across Lake Michigan!

*Did we get soaked in a downpour just as we were leaving port in St. Joseph, MI? *Did we hoist the sails and keep sailing even though? Why yes we did!

*Did we manage to rid the precious water of pollution by using boathooks to capture not just one but two mylar balloons? Yes - and no one fell in while doing it!

*Did we eat rather delicious chicken salad sandwiches along the way? Yum!

*Did we play some silly alphabet games to pass the time? Um (see below)

*Did we swat way too many awfully annoying flies? Yep we did. And we went through an alphabet of adjectives to describe those insects: A=awful, B=beastly

*Did we view the exciting skyline of Chicago beneath our beautiful magenta gennaker? Oh, yeah!

*Did it take over ten hours? Yes it sure did.

And did we LOVE every minute? Another resounding yes!

Winter Adventures in Sailing

Kent is in Hampton, Virginia, (Nancy is now home in Normal, IL) and he's all set to crew on Lorena, a 60' Maple Leaf, with captains Brian & Karen. So far he's been there in the slip for over a week, assisting with boat projects (new solenoid, new scuppers, installing new stove, etc.) and enjoying the dock life with other Salty Dawg sailors. 

This group is waiting for a safe weather window to head out on their 12-15 day passage to Antigua. But stay tuned . . . they haven't been able to get going yet! And so Kent's flying home this afternoon to spend a few more days here before flying back to re-join the crew.

And meanwhile here's my Goodreads review of Salt in the Blood: Two Philosophers Go To Sea, a recent sailing book we listened to on our drive out East. 

An intrepid, brave, determined couple (empty-nesters, still active in their professions, perhaps in their 50s? 60s?) decide to buy a sailboat. Sounds simple so far. And even though they're minimally experienced with sailing they decide to leave their large & lovely home in England, move onto their boat, and head for open waters to travel the world. Um, wow!

I particularly love the part where they tried to explain to each of their 4 grown children & spouses what they had decided to do and why: "At first there was stunned silence and blank faces."

And I love how they took turns telling parts of the story, each chapter concluding with Lessons for Sailing and also Lessons for Life. Truly, sailing is quite conducive to philosophical ruminations.

For instance, here's the first sentence in the book: "All of life is a voyage to the future, carrying us beyond distant horizons, blown by the prevailing wind to which we set our sails." Yes!

Evening Sailing - Michigan City, Indiana

We've had some glorious evening sails over the past several days by motoring
out of our slip here in Washington Park Municipal Marina after dinner. As we pass the iconic & historic Michigan City Lighthouse & Pier and head out onto the always majestic Lake Michigan, we hoist one or two sails and relish catching an east or west wind to sail wherever it takes us. At this time of the day we often have the big lake to ourselves. 

~ Michigan City Lighthouse - built in 1904 ~
We've just come out of our marina for the evening.
"Catwalk" on this east pier was used by light keepers to reach the light tower until 1933 when it was electrified.

And to the west is this little gem of an obelisk on another pier, helping to mark and protect the harbor entrance and exit.

Ah yes, heading back to safe harbor before the sun disappears. 

After getting back into our slip, here's our view of the sunset to the west. Yes, that's Cool Heads Prevail in the foreground.

Not All Fun & Games

Oh, yes we're still gratefully enjoying this fantastic way to spend a summer of sailing on Lake Michigan, but it's not always fun and games. 

For instance, tonight we're tied up to a slip in a marina in Whitehall/White Lake, and we're bouncing and pounding constantly with the strong south wind howling and blowing directly onto the stern of our boat. And this is our second night here.

This afternoon Kent and a new dock buddy Doug managed to connect even more lines to hold our boat than we'd originally tied up with. Two bow lines, two stern lines (one that even goes over to another boat's tie-up post and now can be controlled with a winch), and a sturdy spring line, not to mention the fenders that keep us safely off the posts and the dock. 

Kent connecting our boat to a neighbor's boat post.

Yet the fun part was getting here. We left Manistee about 9 AM yesterday after staying for three days because of south winds and high waves, and sailed all day until about 4 PM with strong winds at our back from the north and off to the west. We unfurled the genoa (the headsail) and the 15-19 knot winds flew us across the white capped waves, often at 6 knots. This is what sailing vessels are made for and we are continually appreciative that we really get to do this.

Nancy in the happy seat.

The beauty of the sand dunes all along the Michigan shore is hard to capture and describe.