Bristol-Blue Lake Michigan Sailing Adventures

 The season has come and gone.  I have not done a lot of posting this year in the blog but we have sailed once or twice every week this summer.  A lot has gone right this season we day sailed, weekend over, and have had a good time sailing our Mirage 24 up and down the coast.  This season we pulled late but the weather here was not conducive to sailing on the weekends. So we visited the dock and kept to our own area social distancing being the theme of the season.  Removing the Genoa from the furler.   Bimini removed for the season.  This photo is mostly to remind me how to put the framing back next spring.  With everything off the boat looks a bit lonely there in the water.  Once on the hard, it is time to winterize the sink, head, and drains.  This season we are leaving the mast up in the boatyard. Now comes the process of figuring out how to frame the deck for tarping.  The neighboring boat went the shrink wrap route.  ...

This past week has been super hot and there has been a significant lack of wind. Today we finally got a light breeze and Myles and I took the boat out. We were not exactly screaming along but made good time.  After a while, we decided to take a swim. BB meant us after work at the beach and I brought Woodstock back single-handed. There is some question as to whether it was a Mutiny of the Crew or a Marooning of the Crew Member. 😂

Over the last few weeks, we have been sailing at least once a week. We are really just starting to get the feel for Woodstock. We are also really just starting to organize and make things our own.        Using the leftover Sunbrella from the sail cover and a mesh laundry bag I did a little cutting and sewing to make a few stow bags for all the lines coming back to the cockpit.   I also made two new winch covers, the Self-tailing Winchards I installed last season increased the size of the winches heads so the old covers no longer fit. I used velcro wraps on the bottom to secure them.  I know a lot of people use elastic but with Covid-19 it can be hard to come by and I like the way these came out better.   Here are some weird people, you might see in the channel.          Asymmetric Spinnaker Day 2  We have loved this sail in light winds. On this run, we caught up with a cruising catamaran. They gave us a nice...

Yesterday we got some wicked wind and our fist snow fall of the season.  With winds blowing at about 46 mph I thought I'd go down and check on Kraken.  The cover system is holding up pretty well and with all the other bigger boats around mine the brunt of the wind is being blocked.  A good deal in all.  Still it is  amazing how fast we go from 70 degree days to the 30's overnight.  Maybe will be ice boating this year before Christmas!  That would be great. Here a quick video of the conditions.

Tower Marine pulled Kraken for me mid-September this year and it has been raining ever since.  Sunday after it stopped raining I got down and pulled all the sails and cushions for the winter.   I have to get down and do a little more cleaning and pull the motor this weekend.  I'm hoping to get the cabin squeaky clean so when spring rolls around I'm ready for a early launch again this year.  This year I'm planning on leaving the mast up and tarping off over the boom and spinnaker pole hopefully giving my self a bit more pitch so the snow slides off as they are predicting a rough winter for us. It all fits in the back of a Ford focus. Sun setting on the end of a great season. Drying stuff out in the garage. A quick end of season cleaning before stashing the cushions under the guest bead for the winter helps.  It is amazing the condition of these cushions after 38 years they still look new with a little Armor All.

Venetian Festival festival is a big fundraiser for local charities put on by the Cow Hill Yacht Club .  It starts out Friday evening with a kid's tent down town.  (Later the tent becomes a beer tent.) BB took Myles to that while I messed around in my garage. (see side note at bottom) Saturday was rather gloomy all day and we had friends over.  Then cleared up in the evening just in time for the boat parade.  We had planned to watch the parade from the marina with our friends but they ended up heading home early. All that swimming I think tired them out.  So we headed out for a little motor ride and anchored in the moring area with the other boats.  This was a super choice the boat parade circuled us.  The theme this year was Vikings and the boat decorating competion was fierce. A crowded anchorage area. At the start of the parade our local fire boat spraying fountains of water. Soon the Vkings arive. Morgan Out Island with g...

This year we visited Bay City Michigan for the Tall ship gathereing.  It was not truly intentional we just happened to be in the area camping and saw all the billboards along the highway.  So we figured, what an opportunity!   We started the morning by heading to the beach at Saginaw Bay State Park where we were camping.  From here you can see the ships under sail in the bay.  They were pretty far out in the distance and only one had its sails up. (See previous post regarding lake wind conditions).  After lunch at the camp site, we headed into Bay City for the grand show.   The ships were suppose to come in between 1-4pm The Denis Sullivan was the first to arrive just before 2:00.  We watched from the break wall as the crew masterfully brought the ship past us and along side the wall.  This is one crew that has communication down to a science.  Behind the Denis Sullivan came another blue hulled ship and docked ...