Venetian Weekend

Venetian Festival!!!!!  

Each year in Saugatuck Cow Hill Yacht Club puts on Venetian Festival.  Cow Hill is not really a club for boaters.  It is a charity group that raises funds for the needy in the community.  They Start Friday night with a big party.  Kids games, Beer tent and some great live music. I'm proud to say that my wife serves on the board of Cow Hill and helps put this event together along with a few other events throughout the year. 

Saturday afternoon after the Venetian dingy poker run had cleared out we took to the harbor and headed out to Lake Michigan for a sail. 

It has been a long while since I have removed the cover from my knot meter. It appears the poor center ring has fallen to the bottom. However, the miracle is, it works. I don't think it has ever worked before, but today it was. Although it doesn't agree with the GPS on speed. According to the knot meter, we are flying along at 6.5 knots.  LOL   I'm going to guess the GPS is far more accurate with 3-4 knots.  

This one was an accidental photo but it is pretty cool so I'm throwing it in here I like the sunshine flowing down into the cabin.

After a few hours of sailing, we headed back up the river to Lake Kalamazoo.  We played with our radio control boats in the lake and eventually headed back to Tower Marine to cook dinner out on the grills and play in the pool.  Once the pool activities were over we headed back out for the Anchorage area.  

Just before sunset, we dropped our anchor. 

Cheese Puffs and towel blankets were all the rage while we waited for the boat parade and fireworks to begin and check out that stern light. Fresh batteries do wonders. 

Here are some edited clips of the boat parade, just the highlights.

Saturday night ends with some of the best fireworks.