Sail Far Live Free

As one of my heroes (John Denver) so melodically put it, "Hey it's good to be back home again." But still I have to confess that it is with mixed emotions that I report s/v Island Bound is tucked safely back in her home slip at North Shore Marina in Grand Haven.  And so, the sun has set on our big cruise of 2010, but has only just begun to rise on bigger cruising aspirations.  Stay tuned to read more about dusk on the North Channel cruise and the dawn of future plans. Sunrise over North Manitou Shoal Light sometime way back in June, 2010

Now that we've got about a week of down time while we're taking care of some business and waiting to get back to Island Bound in Charlevoix, I thought I'd share some videos we've shot during the cruise so far.  Enjoy! Meldrum Bay to Gore Bay Covered Portage Cove South Benjamin Island Whalesback Channel Topaz Lake

Charlevoix (Horton Bay) to Suttons Bay: 38NM - July 20 Next on our cruise itinerary was a short 4 day side trip to Grand Traverse Bay. Grand Traverse Bay is another place I’ve visited often from land. I have always longingly looked out at the open blue water imagining myself sailing. I can now attest that the big bay is an excellent sailing location and a cruiser’s paradise. We left Lake Charlevoix in the morning and motored in the very light air direct to Suttons Bay. While there was plenty of room at the marina we decided to stay on the hook in the south end of Sutton’s Bay and use the dinghy for shore side adventures. After anchoring we all quickly put on bathing suits and jumped into the clear, 25 foot deep water to deal with the building humidity. I snorkeled around the anchorage and saw sunken old docks, lost mooring equipment and lots of other unidentifiable pieces of lumber. On shore we met up with my mom and dad (Grammy and Poppa), who just happened to be visiting with some ...

Harbor Springs to Charlevoix (Horton Bay): 25NM - July 16 through 19 Waiting for better weather proved to be a good move as the lake was much calmer the next day and we were able to motorsail with Otto at the helm for most of the 25 nautical miles from Harbor Springs to Charlevoix. N ana, Bumpa and the girls met us in Round Lake in Charlevoix on their boat as we came into the harbor. We all went ashore for lunch and Venetian Festival activities before sailing down Lake Charlevoix to Horton Bay. Ever since I met Erin back in 1990 and started coming with her family to the cottage and Lake Charlevoix I’ve dreamed of sailing down the long, beautiful lake through the blue/green waters. Yet again, our summer cruise has allowed me to realize another of my sailing dreams. We borrowed a mooring ball in Horton Bay and kept the boat moored while Erin, Isabel, Hannah and I soaked up a few days of life ashore. We were able to stretch our legs, catch up on laundry and sleep in a bed with an hon...

Mackinac City to Harbor Springs: 47NM - July 14 & 15 Erin and I got a mid-morning start on the route from Mackinac City to Harbor Springs after enjoying a quiet breakfast together at a restaurant in Mac City. After leaving the marina we quickly passed under the mighty Mackinac Bridge and were in awe of the view from beneath. The weather began to deteriorate as we moved westward towards the abandoned lighthouse east of Gray’s Reef and offshore from the mainland. Waves were building to from 2 to 5 feet and the sky darkened with rain clouds. It wasn’t long before we were motoring into the wind and waves in an intense downpour. Surprisingly, this is one of the few times we’ve need our foul weather gear on this trip. The rain stopped after about an hour and the skies cleared but the seas remained lumpy as made our way past another mid-lake lighthouse (Ile Aux Galets Light) and into the relative protection of Little Traverse Bay. Harbor Springs was busy with summer cruisers so we were...

Drummond Island to Mackinac City: 48NM - July 13 We’ve covered a lot of ground since the last blog post. After checking back in to the United States through US Customs, we departed in the morning for a westward run through the Straits of Mackinac to Mackinac City where we met up with Erin’s mom for lunch. Sailing past Mackinac Island for the second time on this voyage made us realize just how far we’ve sailed this year. Isabel and Hannah rode with Nana back to the cottage in on Lake Charlevoix while Erin and I stayed in Mackinac City and reprovisioned to sail the boat west and then south so we could eventually meet back up with the girls on Lake Charlevoix.

Turnbull Island to Drummond Island July 13, 2010 67NM We awoke at 5am to light air and fog as we departed Turnbull Island just before sunrise. I always feel blessed to see the sun come up over the water and light the way ahead of the bow. Seeing it many times on the trip is something I’m thankful for. Our intended route back to the United States would take us from Turnbull then south of Missasagi Island and across the North Channel proper to False Detour Channel between Cockburn Island in Canada and Drummond Island in the United States. In so doing, we were able to circumnavigate Drummond Island since we took Detour Passage coming into the North Channel several weeks ago. Next we were headed to Whitney Bay and Fort Drummond on the south western side of Drummond Island to clear customs. The trip was to be something like 55 nautical miles and take around 10 hours. Our somewhat dated guide books said there was a U.S Customs Office at Fort Drummond Marine in Whitney Bay…but when...

Long Point Cove to Turnbull Island July 12, 2010 5NM It was just a quick hop over to Turnbull Island from crowded Long Point Cove. Turnbull is our last island to visit on this trip to the North Channel, so we all have bitter-sweet feelings. The anchorage at Turnbull is big and protected by the many small island to the east. We picked a spot tucked into small corner, set the anchor and began to explore with our dinghy. We had been told by several other cruisers that there was at least one nesting pair of bald eagles in the small islands surrounding Turnbull, but we were unable to find the nest after about 2 hours of searching. Back at Island Bound we all went for a late afternoon swim and settled in for a quiet evening of family games. Erin and I woke at 5:00am the next morning to begin the long sail back to Drummond Island and the United States.

Beardrop Harbor to Long Point Cove July 11, 2010 8NM It was just a short distance from the beauty of Beardrop Harbor to the much anticipated Long Point Cove. We sailed lazily under full sail in light air and trolled with a NorthPort Nailer and our Dipsy Diver for salmon to no avail. Just the same, the cruise over to Long Point Cove was a relaxing way to spend the midday. In the distance to the west we could see Turnbull Island and the open waters of the western part of the North Channel. We were quietly reminded that our time in the North Channel was coming to a close. However, I’m sure to spend more time here in my mind this winter pouring through the memories we’ve made. Long Point Cove proved to be a popular anchorage as we came in past Navy Island and saw 15 other boats already at anchor in the tiny cove. We took our time idling around the cove and weaving between the boats while carefully picking a perfect spot where we could swing at anchor without worry of bumping the oth...

Spanish to Beardrop Harbor July 10, 2010 15NM The nice new marina aside, there wasn’t much to keep us in Spanish for very long. But the truth is that even if Spanish had all the amenities of our home marina (pool, showers, playground, etc.), you’d be hard pressed to keep us there longer than necessary to reprovision. You see, we’ve grown quite fond of life on the hook in the islands of the North Channel. There’s something freeing about being unplugged from electricity, cellphones, internet and the sounds of civilization. At anchor you learn what you really need and you learn how to get it. You learn what you don’t need and you live without it. Life at anchor is just that simple. So we left Spanish behind and headed out into the Whalesback Channel eager to “live free and sail far” during the relatively small amount of time that remained for us in the North Channel. The bow was pointed west towards Beardrop Harbor as we moseyed along under full sail in 8 knots of a southwestern...