The Adventures of Twoflower

Saturday June 27 Northstar Sail Club We've spent the past few days removing and re-installing the Genoa tracks on the starboard side of the boat.  After our "shake-down cruise", we were experiencing a little leakage especially in the monsoon rains of this past week, and we wanted to head off deck rot. I didn't take a "before" picture, so these are the tracks on the port side.  The Genny "car" runs along this track to allow adjustments to the Genoa Sail based on wind conditions. (This is so much more refined than the system on the Elemental). We removed the track and cleaned up the holes. There was a little bit of punky wood, and we cleaned that and dried it out as best we could.  Then we filled the holes with epoxy. After that set, we (and by we, I mean Chuck) drilled holes for the bolts in the epoxy. Then we applied this cool material (I promise not to chemistry geek out too much) called butyl tape. It's like silly putty (without picking up im...

June 14 Mackinac Island to Presque Isle We motored out of the harbor at Mackinac Island by 730 am, leaving the lighthouses and the Mighty Mac  further and further in our wake.  Of course in the Great Lakes, as soon as you leave one lighthouse in your wake, another pops into view (or so it seems to a transplanted North Carolinian like myself). This picture shows both the Bois Blanc (which means White Beach and inconceivably is pronounced Bob-Lo) lighthouse built in 1868 and use until 1924, and the "new" light (built in 1941), which is now solar powered!  Like many lighthouses in the Great Lakes, this one has been lovingly restored and cared for by private owners. We've had to come up with a better method of handling Feather when we are coming into or leaving port since she may have a wee slight tendency to be underfoot. It's working well as you can see.  She's now learned to climb the ladder/step and balance on the small ledge at the top, while we're in motion....

June 13 Mackinac Island (still) 207 steps up and we were taking the requisite tourist pictures when a familiar voice asked if we would like a picture together. Sharon and Frank had circled back around to meet us at Arch Rock. After a few minutes of catching up, and a few minutes of picture taking, we all agreed to get away from the masses. (There is a horse drawn bus that brings tourists to Arch Rock, and one unloaded right about then). We all agreed to take the lesser used trails on the east side of the island back to the airport where Frank and Sharon would head home.  Frank led the way and Feather (in spite of usually being quite fearful of new people) adopted Frank immediately. The park is part of the Niagara Escarpment, and as such it looks much like Flowerpot Island (which may be a reference lost on many of you).  The land is rocky and covered in old growth cedar with dense shade, which thankfully hasn't been spoiled by man.  Some trails are concrete and most are di...

 ...for an announcement from your authors. June 22, 2021 Allen Park, MI Feather, Chuck and I arrived back home safe in the Detroit Area on Saturday, June 19.  We cleaned Twoflower on Sunday and drove Tuesday across the state to pick up my truck.  Thus the "trip" part of the trip is officially over.  However, in the blog, we still have all of Lake Huron to report on, and lots more. I'll try to get as much up as soon as I can, as reality impinges on my time. If you just can't wait, (and you're not already following there), Chuck and I both posted shorter more timely updates on Facebook (www.facebook.com slash sheilars).  If  I see a friend invitation with Twoflower in the message, I'll accept. After 3 weeks away in June, it was lovely to take one more walk around Island Pointe (St Joseph) where Twoflower stayed for a month before we left while we worked on her, and where my truck stayed while we bobbed around the lower peninsula. We are so grateful for the a...

Sunday,  June 13 Mackinac Island We were feeling pretty good after our successful retrieval operation. We had a good breakfast on the boat and we had touched base with Sharon and Frank who were headed over to the island and from whom we hoped to get an insiders’ tour of the island later in the day. We also learned that our friend Charity was on the island and we’d invited her to come see the boat. (I swear Chuck knows someone in every port.)Everyone is vaccinated, and it feels so good to be a little more social. Also, we were tired, so we sort of hung out on the boat doing light boat chores for the morning. Sharon and Frank let us know that they were on their way in at about noon and sent us this picture that is a different view of Mackinac Island from the one we had. If you look really hard you can find us in the marina. Our plan had been to rent bikes and take Feather for a run around the island the way we do at home.  We knew she probably needed a chance to stretch her legs...