Sail Far Live Free

Nothing is carved in stone yet, but we're very seriously contemplating a 2 or 3 month cruise of northern Lake Michigan and the Mackinac Straits for the summer of 2010.  Such a Great Lakes cruise would be a great way to "test the waters" and see how well our family adapts to living-aboard for an extended period while cruising. At this point in the planning/contemplating stages, the itinerary is wide open, but here's a sample of how the route could look: Grand Haven - White Lake - Pentwater - Ludington - Lake Crossing - Manitowoc - Two Rivers - Door County (multiple ports) - Washington Island - Fayette - Manistique - Beaver Island Archipeligo (Beaver/High/Garden Islands) - St. Helena Island - Mackinac City - Mackinac Island - Harbor Springs - Petoskey - Charlevoix (1+ week layover in Horton Bay) - Grand Traverse Bay (multiple ports) - Leland - Manitou Islands - Frankfort - Portage Lake - Pentwater - White Lake - Grand Haven. Wow...that's a lot o...

Have you ever been out for a lazy sail and wished you could step below for moment to grab a cold drink or perhaps a pair of sunglasses but you couldn't leave the tiller unattended? Davis Marine makes a product they call a " Tiller Tamer " that might help in such a situation. The Tiller Tamer is essentially a clamping device for a tiller control line. It is constructed of durable, hard plastic with stainless steel hardware (screw/hex nut). The Tiller Tamer mounts directly on top of the forward end of the tiller handle. If your tiller is made of anything other than wood, you may need to fabricate mounting hardware or forego the Tiller Tamer all together. The device is mounted via two wood screws. The control line (1/4" diameter provided) is then run from the stern corners of the cockpit to the Tiller Tamer. I personally used jam cleats mounted directly in the fiberglass of the cockpit's stern to anchor the control line. You could also use cam cleats or other me...

Now that the sailboat is out of the water and hibernating until spring, my mind has started to wander and wonder.  One of my passions is adventuring, which seems to have manifested itself in my life in the form of sailing and backpacking.  So I started to wonder, other than adventure, what the common theme is between sailing and backpacking.  Erin & I approaching the summit of Mt. Shasta Both activities require and reward self-sufficiency.  Cruising many miles from land on a sailboat, you have nothing except the wind, the waves and that which you brought oboard.  So it is with backpacking in the wilderness.  All you have is the trails, the trees and that which you have in your pack. Good offshore, bluewater sailors know that they must be competent in many skills.  On a long passage you need to be your own mechanic, navigator, doctor, chef and any number of other professions.  Again, when you're on a long wilderness ...

Just thought I'd make a quick post to share the stormy fall season on the Great Lakes and specifically Lake Michigan. Back on September 28, 2009 we had a major storm come ashore in Grand Haven. The NOAA forecast called for a storm warning with 50kt+ winds and 15-20 foot waves. I don't know the actual wave heights or the wind speeds that day, but I can say that I've never seen more wind or bigger waves on Lake Michigan than I did that day. Check these videos for a better description than words can provide: And lastly, 20 degrees of heel in the slip: