Wednesday, June 16, 2004
Saugatuck, MI
Sunrise on the City – from 5 miles out
Our first passage was to be from Monroe Harbor, Chicago to Holland, Michigan – 86 nautical miles to the northeast. On Monday, the weather looked as if yesterday (Tuesday the 15th) was the day. So, yesterday morning, I woke up at 0530, laid the course in the GPS, fired up the iron sail, dropped our mooring, and steamed out of Monroe Harbor, passing the harbor light at 0600.
So much for waiting for good weather – it was too good. With no wind at all, it looked like we were going to have to motor the whole way. After a couple of hours of the diesel rumbling below, Vanessa and Binga joined me on deck to watch the city slowly (and I mean very slowly) shrink into the horizon. This early in the morning, the only thing we saw were a couple of freighters headed for Calumet Harbor and a fishing boat.
Idle time – on our way
Too much time invites trouble. Things go wrong when you are just sitting around. On Sunday’s river trip, we had a slight issue with the engine heating up. However, I figured it was a problem with the coolant reservoir on the heat exchanger. I filled it before we left, so there was no need to worry, right? Wrong. As we motor around the two freighters we saw, I noticed the engine temperature gauge pegged all the way to supernova red! We shut down – set a drift. With no wind, we don’t bother setting sails. The engine room, too hot, restricts my ability to get in there and fix things. So, we have lunch and take a nap.
Passing in front of a freighter
It’s not a real surprise that things go wrong. The sailor’s creed is that when something goes wrong, it will be the thing that causes the most damage – in front of the most spectators. We were safe, as no one else was around. We really haven’t shaken down all the systems. We know there are problems. For example, in the rush to get the boat rigged, I wired the radar wrong, so it doesn’t work right now, but with crossing the Lake during this clear day, we don’t really need it. There is an issue with the alternator charging properly. We put a new super-duper-high-tech regulator on it, but it didn’t solve all the problems. We are crossing with out a full charge on the batteries. We really need to get to Holland, where we will have services and resources (like Wal-Mart for provisioning) where we can work out the bugs.
Binga on fly swatter duty
After lunch, the engine cooled down enough I could get in and rig a fix. I took the heat exchanger out of the cooling circuit and ran lake water directly through the engine. As long as we get it fixed before we get to salt water, we’re okay (salt water rusts the engine from the inside out). We fire it up and Lake Michigan cools it down to cold. We’re underway again. However, that doesn’t mean we are in the clear.
A few miles out, we came upon this swarm of cannibalistic flies. They looked like innocent black house flies, except they bite – hard! There were hundreds of them! Maybe thousands! We all scrambled to get clothes on, but it was hot. They didn’t seem to bite Bing, but they loved my ankles and feet. Maybe Binga is too sweet, but I am old and rotten enough for them. We were hoping for wind to blow them away – they proved too smart and hid below. We tried killing them with a fly swatter – they over powered us and ate at the hundreds of dead fly carcasses lying on deck and on the cabin sole. They stayed with us for the rest of the passage. It was terrible!
Sunset over Chicago
As things go around here, once you fix something, you don’t need it any more. We weren’t running under engine power for a half hour when the wind picked up. Finally. We set sail. Of course, the wind was coming directly from the direction we wanted to go. Sail boats can’t sail up wind, so we set the highest course we could, set the windvane (which steers the boat mechanically according to the wind direction – a neat piece of gear), and sailed an easy four knots due east, Flies and all.
All bundled up in our foulies
Under sail, everything goes better. The boat, while not fast, sailed itself – especially with the help of the Cape Horn self-steering vane; money well spent. We just sat back, enjoyed the ride, watched the beautiful sunset, and killed more flies. As the wind picked up and the sun set, things cooled off. We bundled up and took turns, alternating between keeping watch and baby-sitting Binga.
Unfortunately, the wind held steady out of the northeast – directly where we wanted to go. But, we’re cruisers and have to remain flexible. Checking the GPS chart plotter, we were headed directly toward St. Joseph/Benton Harbor, MI. Since we were already in the 14th hour of a planned 10 hour trip, we changed course and headed for port at St. Joe. At 0315, we tied up at the fuel dock in West Basin Marina and got some much needed sleep.
Leaving St. Joseph Harbor
Up at 0630 this morning, I cleaned up, got some coffee from the marina, and took on 35 gallons of diesel. No wind at all today, so we decided to motor up the coast toward our Holland destination. Thunderstorms were in the forecast, so we would have options of South Haven, MI (20 miles) and Saugatuck, MI (another 15 miles) as potential “duck and covers,” if needed.
The motor ran fantastic. I finally figured out the interface between the Autohelm auto pilot and the GPS, so all I had to do was chart a course and go. The GPS drove the auto pilot, which steered the boat. I didn’t drive the whole way up the coast. Nice. Vanessa and Binga slept and I read a book while keeping watch.
Lake Michigan “fogged in”
Abeam of South Haven, we decided things were going well enough and the weather was good enough to press on. More reading – James Patterson’s 1st to Die (thanks Billy!). Around noon, things started to “fill in.” It never rained, but the fog and mist became so thick, I couldn’t tell where on the horizon the water ended and the sky began. Excluding the small fishing boats at the St. Joe inlet, we didn’t see one sole on the water the whole way. But, we didn’t want to risk it the rest of the way to Holland. With out the radar, we felt forced to pull in at Saugatuck and get off the lake.
On approach to the Saugatuck inlet, it was nice to be back in my “home” waters. I began recognizing sections of shoreline. Finally, sitting atop the dune, the “radar” tower on Mt. Baldhead loomed over world famous Oval Beach. I was home. A simple trip up the Kalamzoo river and we tied up at Saugatuck Yacht Service at 1330. A long, yet successful, first voyage. Even the horrible carnivorous flies left once we were in the harbor! All was well. Time for a long needed shower.
 Mt. Baldhead standing over Oval Beach |
 Saugatuck lights marking the Kzoo River inlet |
– Steve