The Adventures of Twoflower

Monday, July 5 Lk St Clair Just as "sailing" has been noisier than I had expected, owning a sailboat has been more sweating in the marina than I expected. But today, we got to sail.  (After we did some work in the marina). The heat on land was nearly unbearable, but when we actually got off the river and into the lake it must have been instantly 10° cooler. We left NSSC at about noon, had a quick lunch of pasta salad prepared at home, bobbing around in the lake and then unfurled the genny. We've still got some issues with the mast step, so no mainsail but honestly I',m not sure we missed it.  Most of the other sailboats out with us also only had their Gennies up. the wind was a pleasant 8-12 mph, and conditions were good for me (Sheila) to practice steering.  My inexperience had meant that on the way around from St Joseph, Chuck had to do all of the "driving" and it exhausted him, so we really need for me to be a better, more skilled first mate.  I'm not...

 June 14 Presque Isle is a beautiful place for sunsets This may be one of the best pictures we got the whole trip of Twoflower down for the night. And then there's this picture.  Doesn't Feather look like an angel?  Not a little devil who would, right after this picture was taken, take off at a sprint off the dock and out of the marina and across the road and into the woods behind peoples houses.   It's my fault.  This far into the trip, I was beginning to trust her too much.  She'd hopped off the boat at a dock several times during the trip and always just meandered up and down the dock fingers, never getting too far away, definitely not out of sight (although she had, on a couple of occasions, boarded other boats without permission to come aboard) Not to mention that, the day before we'd gotten her the most exercise she had on the trip with the long hike on Mack Island. But she ran off into the woods, move further away from me (I tried not to chase)w...

 June 14, 2021 Presque Isle Presque Isle has two lighthouses, the old and the new, but it's not what you might think.  The first one we saw coming into the harbor, towering over the trees is the "New" lighthouse, built in 1870.  We didn't have the opportunity to see this one up close and personal. The Old Lighthouse, though, built in 1840, was a short hike from the harbor, and a short hike was exactly what Feather needed after we docked and had dinner (chili with cornbread, cooked while underway). I'm so grateful to the people who have worked so hard to preserve bits and pieces of the past so that we can not only read about, but also experience (in a small way), how things were done, so that we can imagine how things may be done. People to whom history is not disposable. From the keepers of the lighthouse: to the keepers of the light, those who collect the bits and pieces of lives long past, and preserve them for us to learn how places and things are connected: an...

Wednesday June 30 Lake St Clair Thus far, Feather (adorbs as she is...) has failed to make us Instagram famous and generate new incomes for us so that we can both  quit our jobs and sail the world.  Possibly has something to do with the fact that I never remember to post the pics on Insta. So...New plan.  We will hire ourselves out as Weather Wizzards.  Got a wedding coming up?  Fifteen year Family Reunion? Two day yard sale that you've waited for two years to have because COVID? Just call the Weather Wizzards . We can still the wind and calm the seas.  All Chuck and I have to do to stop the wind is to show up with anything wind-powered:  kites, wind surfers, sailboats...whatever. Recent accomplishments:  20 day trip around the Lower Peninsula with only 4 days under sail. Inexplicable ability to kill the wind and waves within 20 minutes of raising our Main. Act now and receive this bonus!  The dead wind does not have to come with ra...