This is Fun?

We woke up to cloudy skies Sunday morning. It wasn't raining and for that we were grateful. After another hot breakfast it was time to put up the sails and pull the anchor.

First things first. Sails must go up. Because we had Lee, a folk singer, on board the sails were raised every morning while we sang "Haul Away Joe". The song is a traditional Irish tack and sheet, short haul shantey.




Way haul away, we'll haul for better weather.
Away haul away, we'll haul away Joe.

We hauled every morning but never seemed to see better weather. Maybe today would be different. Or maybe not.

Some people were born for watching




and some were born for hauling.




We had dropped anchor the previous day so that meant we had to pull that anchor back up. A 500 pound anchor. That is a four person job with people rotating in and out. Dave is getting his instructions before he takes his turn.




Push, Dave, push!




I have to give Brendan and Cara credit. They didn't get to rotate out. They were in for the duration.

Dave did rotate out and decided he would go back to the stern and help Captain Dave out. This sailing business is hard work.




Are the Daves expecting rain because they both are wearing their rain pants? I don't like the direction this could be going.

Now that the anchor is at the water line it is time to winch it up to the side of the boat so it can be tied down. It looks like Brendan is ready.




Look who is back. Cara is pulling and Dave is in charge of the line. Don't let go, Dave! I don't think Cara wants to do this twice.




Good job. He didn't let go. A final tie down and another job is done.




I don't want you to think I didn't do anything but watch. Some mornings I did help pull the big sails up. This morning I was in charge of one of the jib sails. I got it up but wasn't strong enough to tighten it. I tried but Brendan had to take over.




Dave still wasn't done. It was time to tighten up the large sails. He was one busy boy this morning.




It wasn't all work. There was a lot of mud on the anchor and chain when it was hauled up and some of the crew couldn't resist having a little bit of fun with it. Youth.




All of the sails and anchor were up. We had a nice breeze and it was time to make out way out of the harbor of Beaver Island and into Lake Michigan. Look who's been promoted from deck hand to captain.




We made our way out to Lake Michigan and this is what we found in front of us. There would be no avoiding that. It was full steam ahead. What lay ahead for our journey across the lake? Only time would tell.




Hang on, Cheyenne! This boat is really starting to roll.




to be continued...

The Big Lake, part two

Dave was exhausted from all of that looking up and decided a nap on deck would be just the thing. That guy can sleep anywhere.




Look at all of those lines. I hope Brendan and Cara know what they are for because I sure don't.




Cara decided to make a trip to the top of the mast too. She couldn't let Brendan have all of the fun now could she?




Notice the blue skies. You, not Cara. Cara needs to keep her eyes on where she is going.




Now it's Brendan's turn.







See he really is tied off once he gets to the top.




The rain had moved back in and we were approaching Beaver Island; It was time for Cara to bring in one of the smaller sails on the bow the boat.




Dave's up just in time to bring the big sails down.




Our destination for this day was Beaver Island. It is the largest island on Lake Michigan and is thirteen miles long and three to six miles wide. It was a year round population of approximately 300 people.

Beaver Island was at one time a Mormon kingdom. The island's association with the Mormonism began with the death of Joseph Smith, founder of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Most Mormons considered Brigham Young to be Smith's successor, but many others followed James J. Strang. Strang founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite), claiming it to be the sole legitimate continuation of the church "restored" by Joseph Smith. Strang moved his followers to Beaver Island in 1848. In 1850 Strang proclaimed himself king, but not of the island itself. Rather, he claimed to be king over his church, which at that time contained most of the island's inhabitants. While Beaver Island's would-be monarch held many progressive ideas (such as the conservation of woodlands), his autocratic style of rule came to be seen by many as intolerable. Eventually there was a rebellion and Strang was killed. The followers of Strang were then driven off of the island.

Irish fishermen from Gull Island, Mackinac Island, various port cities on the mainland, and County Donegal in Ireland quickly replaced the Strangites on Beaver Island. Their community, increased by more Irish immigration, would develop a unique identity that was enhanced by the island's isolation from the mainland. Church services and even ordinary conversations were conducted in Gaelic for many years.

Now Beaver Island is a favorite vacation spot of people around the Great Lakes.




The marina doesn't have a dock big enough to accommodate the Manitou so Captain Dave threw the anchor in the harbor. It turns out it is much easier to throw the anchor out than it is to bring it back in. Dave would realize that the next morning. Our transportation to town would be a dinghy that was lashed at the stern of the boat. The most important thing about that is to know the dingy schedule. You don't want to miss the last dingy ride back to the boat.




We enjoyed another dinner cooked by Wendy and D, took the dingy into town to explore and then made our way back to enjoy more stories and songs by Lee.

The Big Lake, part one

Part one? Don't panic. Lots of pictures and little talking.

Saturday dawned cloudy with no wind and no rain. Quite a change from Friday's weather of 25 mph winds and a temperature that barely broke 50 degrees. Look how calm the marina looked that morning.




I took a walk up to the marina bathroom to collect my now dry clothes and snapped a couple of photos of the Manitou as she sat at the dock.







Every morning at eight o'clock we enjoyed a hot drink and freshly baked muffin or scone on the deck while breakfast was being prepared. At nine o'clock breakfast was served in the galley and shortly after we would leave our port for that day's destination. Today we were headed to Beaver Island which was approximately 40 or so miles away. That seems like a long way on a boat with sails.

Speaking of sails it was time to tighten the lines.




Once the two main sails were up Brendan climbed up the rope steps to raise one of the smaller sails at the top of the mast.




That sure is a long way to the top.




For you people who worry about safety, yes he does tie himself off once he gets to the top.




I see there are lots of lookers but few volunteers.




Can you blame them?




The crew is always busy with something.




Dave is still amazed at how high Brendan has climbed. So am I.




In case you're concerned he did make it safely back to the boat deck.




Is that a little bit of blue sky peaking through the clouds? I think it is. Though the day was a bit warmer and the lake much calmer than the day before it also meant less wind. Less wind means the sails aren't very effective. In fact, there was so little wind that we ended up using the engines most of the way across the lake. Some days are like that.




This is Cheyenne. She is part Cherokee and a full-blooded sailer. She is the captain of the boat on many of the day sails throughout the summer. For this trip she was a deck hand but she was okay with that. She didn't mind letting Captain Dave shoulder the responsibility of this trip. I don't blame her. Being the captain isn't an easy job.




Because we were under power there wasn't a whole lot for the crew to do. Brendan kept himself busy working on this. Many times we would find the crew reading with an occasional trip down to the galley to look up a work in the dictionary. This crew was really smart and very interesting to talk to. The crew said they enjoyed these longer trips because it gave them a chance to talk to the guests on board and get to really know them. We felt the same way about them. They have led such interesting lives.




to be continued....

Bon Voyage

I promise you this is our last vacation of this year. For some reason we ended up with all of our vacations grouped together this year. We went out west for a couple of days, biked from Pittsburgh to Washington DC and now we were headed back to the Mitten to do some sailing on Lake Michigan.

When we were in Michigan last summer we had found a brochure about sailing Lake Michigan on a tall ship. In the summer The Traverse Tall Ship Co. does three two-hour trips every day with some of those sailings themed such as wine and ice cream tastings. They also do four 4-day cruises in the fall which are also themed. We had chosen the music cruise. We would be enjoying the music of folk singer Lee Murdock. He would be entertaining us every night with songs and stories of the Great Lakes.

We would be sailing on the Manitou, a schooner. She is one of the largest sailing ships on the Great Lakes. The Manitou is constructed of modern materials and is a replica of an 1800's "coasting" cargo schooner. The boat is a traditional two-masted, gaff rigged, topsail schooner. The Manitou is 114 feet in length with over 3000 square feet of sail and displaces (weighs) over one hundred tons. For day sails she can accommodate 62 passengers and for the overnight sailings she can carry 24 guests. In short, she is a beauty.




We boarded in Traverse City on Thursday night so we would be ready to set sail Friday morning. After a great breakfast prepared by the cook, Wendy, and her helper, D, we were ready to set sail.

Neither the crew or the passengers know what the day's destination will be until that particular morning. It all depends on the weather and wind. On this morning it didn't look good. By mid-morning it was decided we would be staying in Northport for the night. There were gale warnings out on Lake Michigan which meant we wouldn't be venturing out of Grand Traverse Bay that day. Northport was a good option. With Grand Traverse Bay at 32 miles long and 10 miles wide we certainly had room to roam. Those gale warnings meant we had good winds in the bay and in fact reached Northport three hours early. Like any good captain, Captain Dave turned her around and went back and forth a couple of times. He felt that we paid to sail on the water not sit at a dock. He was right. We all preferred sailing to docking.




The winds also brought in wind and cold. We may have reached fifty degrees that day and we saw plenty of rain. This is where Dave and I parked ourselves for the afternoon. It was a bit sheltered but there was no getting away from the rain. We spent the entire afternoon standing there watching the rain fall. I can't think of a better way to spend an afternoon.




While we were standing mid deck the crew and other passengers opted to stand at the stern of the boat. I don't think they were any drier than we were. That's Brendan, one of the crew, at the wheel while keeping his eyes on the sails.




It looks like one of the lines needed to be tightened.




While Brendan and Dave were working two of the other deck hands decided to use the deck as a slip and slide. It actually worked quite well. You have to make your own fun on a boat.




Eventually it was time to dock at Northport. That could only mean one thing. The sails we had put up that morning now had to come down.







Even Captain Dave helped with the sails.




Docked at Northport.




This would be the only night we would be tied off on a dock at a marina. In short this would be the only night with heated bathrooms and hot water. We all took advantage of the heat and the showers. In fact the bathrooms were so warm that one of the guys bought a clothesline and clothes pins so we could hang our clothes up overnight. I can't tell you how nice it was to walk in those bathrooms the next morning and find nice warm, dry clothes.

We also enjoyed a delicious meal prepared by Wendy and D.




What is really amazing is all of the cooking is done on a wood stove in a very small galley. Her food was incredible.




We enjoyed some folk music by Lee and everyone crawled into their cozy bunks and listened to the wind and rain.