Crossings & Space Encounters

It appears the decision to wait before crossing Lake Michigan was wise as Whisper's exit from Kewaunee was meet with 4 foot, slab sided seas but a diminishing wind backing from SE to SW. As the day and my head cleared we set sail on a starboard tack broad reach which carried us all day and all night, average speed 5.5 kts.

As the night wore on I alternately reefeed sails (reduced sail area) and shook out reefs. Safety harness was de rigeur for staying aboard. But the windvane steered flawlessly through it all, enabling a few catnaps. For hours on end, the only sign of human activity was a sighting of the International Space Station. (I presume it was the Space Station as it was large, rectangular, consisting of two brightly lit modules and travelling at enormous speed). With a nearly full moon as her only companion Whisper rolled through the night. All in, a spectacular night to sail.

Whipser passed through the Manitou Channel, between the Manitou Islands and the Michigan shore well before dawn, the only evidence of the islands being a solitary, constant white light emanating from an abandoned lighthouse on S. Manitou Island (if the chart is to be believed, as I almost always do).

Landfall was made exactly 24h post departure, a distance of 129 miles which isn't bad for a heavy, old boat.

I've had to remind myself several times that I'm not sailing a Star, that sail trim is for comfort and longevity of gear and the needs of the windvane for keeping proper course. It's a little like raising kids: You make a series of compromises between unobtainable optima trying to find the happy medium.

Today Whisper turns the corner to Mackinac and northern Lake Huron beyond.

I have solved the technical issues with posting photos but now lack the AC connection required for the camera's docking station. SOON I promise.