Bristol-Blue Lake Michigan Sailing Adventures

This weekend I went down to the boat, pulled off the last of the gear, and put in the rest of the mast braces for winter. This year, I figured out that my bar clamps work really nicely for rafters.  To bad I only have 3 of them so I used a few other boards and scraps I have laying around.    Rafter Clamp Brace              Plastic molding arch over the hatch Aft mast supports I have found it important to  be sure to clean out the drain holes along the toe rails.  Little leaves like these can clog them up and allow water/and ice to build up on the deck.  Finally, I cover it all up with a tarp or two Tarp off Rear view covered Final cover up note the bar clamp sticking out.

I've been watching the big boats all around the marina.  The boat yard is a bustle with activity once again as everyone pulls their boats to winterize for the season.   The Typoon remains so easy.  Last weekend I winterized my motor in under 10 minutes.  I drained the gear lube and refilled it with fresh lube for the spring.  Fogged the 1 cylinder and poured a bit of fuel stabilizer into the tank.  Fast easy simple.  I still need to get the tarp over the cockpit but I've been on and off the boat a few times getting measurements for a few winter projects to come.   I have to put the kitchen back together in this new house first.  Love the thrill that has come with moving to a new home but it is taking away from the boat time.

  Friday the Kraken was pulled for the season.  Tower Marine did a great job spraying off the bottom and acid washing the calcium deposits off the water line.  This winter season, I'll be storing with Tower again. They have placed me in a nice little spot in back this year. Between an abandoned Catalina 30 and "Lilly Pad" a floating home. Saturday I striped down the sails and BB helped me lower the mast.  I started to tarp it off but have a bit to do still before I finally close her up for the season. Sails off. Remove lower shrouds and loosen the uppers and back stay . I pull the pin move to the back of the boat and First mate BB lowers it right into my hands easy as can be.

Today I got away for a little cruise around the lake.  Around and around I went with my freshly patched up Genoa. It was a great day.  My Genoa is getting pretty old and the luff needed some taping up at a few wear spots. This was my first chance to sail with the fix.  For my oldest sail it still pulls well.  Our little marina is becoming quite the place. This season we have had a pair of helicopters flying in and out on a fairly regular basis.  Defiantly adds flare to the place.  One came in right after I got back to the dock today.

I typically drop one or two things over a year and well that's that they are gone, but this week I dropped one of the larazet hatch covers into the lake.   I was finishing a good deck scrubbing.  Picked up the hatch and thought I'll rinse it off real quick by dipping it in the lake.  The first one no problem the second one slipped from my hand and sank out of site.  So time to go for my first swim in lake Kalamazoo.   First I had to go pick up Myles from his swim class.  That is why he looks wet in the pictures also.  The marina pool has a swim program and while Myles swims I've been working on the boat.  I also grabbed the gear I needed for the dive.   Goggles Dry bag Phone Child Life Guard I put my phone into the dry bag and activated the flash light before diving several times.  The water at my dock is 5'9" so just over my head.  The flash light was not really a great help in the merky depths of  the lake.  I'm sure the marine operation going on up stream wa

This weekend we had a great group of friends come down for the weekend.  We grilled, we swam, we watched fireworks go bam.  We even got in a little sailing in before everyone got there.   The Typhoon is a great fun boat but when you have a crowd over it is little.  Here are a few things I do to make things a bit more comfortable.   1st I raise the boom at the mast.  This adds a good deal of extra head room for everyone. Second get out the cushions. 3rd I close up the scuppers more than 3 people on board and we all get soggy toes. 4th I set up the cabin.  To do this I pull out the compression post and put the v berth board back in so the kids will have more room to play.  Let the party begin.

I was down at the marina the other day and a guy I know comes over and says when was the last time you had to put $365 in you sail boat.  I figured he had just put some cash down on an engine repair.  I was racking my brain $365  ???   He stopped my train of thought as I must have been drifting off. Then he told me that is what he spent at the gas dock this morning.  I laughed, we use a gallon a gas per season, maybe a gallon.  We got to talking and we realized we had not been out on Lake Michigan since the first season we owned her.  So we set up this weekend to head out. Lake Michigan is about 40 minutes from our dock.  This is the number one reason we sail in Lake Kalamazoo. The cannal is easy to navigate and we only had to slow down slightly for the chain ferry that crosses the river. We made it out to to a flat and smooth lake.  Here is a photo of another Cape Dory that slid out of the harbor just ahead of us. We rigged for light wind and set off.  The plan was to go to the beach