Bristol-Blue Lake Michigan Sailing Adventures

Kiddo manning the helm after a sail.

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 on the other side of the river.  The event organizers

This summer is shaping up to be be a bit of a bust.  Day after day we have been plagued by a lack of wind.  Forth of July was no exception.  As a matter of fact it was one of the calmest days I've ever seen.  We headed out to Lake Michigan hopping to find a little breeze on the big lake.  Instead we found water so flat and calm if it weren't for the boat wakes we would have a huge mirror streatching all the way to Chicago.  After a few minutes with the main up we simple gave it up.  This is really the first time since owning the Typhoon we really couldn't make it move under sail.  Regardless, it was a good trip up the river and a nice work out for the motor.  Glad I cleaned the carborator as everything is running nicely now.

Out for a sail.  Lake Michigan was our first plan but it turns out the forecast had a small craft advisory with waves running at 5ft today. So we just stayed in Lake Kalamazoo.  We sailed back and forth in the lake dragging behind us a fishing line.  It was 2 in the afternoon high sun so we were not really expecting to catch anything especially as out bait skipped across the surface of the water but it kept the kiddo distracted.  After a while we anchored out for a snack. Then we rigged and pulled up the spinnaker.  When I went to pull it down the sock dousing line jammed so I had to release the halyard to get it down.  The spinnaker and its sheet lines ended up getting a bit wet. I brought it home to dry out and straighten out the lines in the bag.  It looks like I need to replace the bags lines as they are fraying and are likely the culprits for the jammed bag.  Boats, no matter the size, there is always the next project.  😀

So the motor has been running a bit rough this season.  It's been working but last Thursday when w e went out on our date sail it was sputtering more than I liked.  So this weekend I pulled the motor and brought it home.     I started by checking the fuel line  all the way back to the tank.  Then I moved on to the carburetor.  I pulled it off and took it apart and I found the float was sticking.  A bit of carb cleaner, and I put it all back together. Driveway bucket trials. Sea trials, we're ready to go.

Had a great night out with this cutie today.   After a nice dinner at Marros we headed out on the lake and had a great sail!   

So, for the past few weeks one of my teaching partners has been using weather bug as part of his First grade morning calendar routine. (That's right, school does not look like it did when you went.). One of the cool features on the weather bug site are local web cams.  Two of which happen to overlook Lake Kalamazoo.  So he has been kidding around with me for some time about being able to see my house on the web cam and this and that.  So I looked up the cam and had to trace it back to the wood tv 8 web site to find out he refresh rate.  Every 60 seconds it refreshes.  It took some time to figure out just which side of the flag pole in the picture I needed to be on.  After a several passes and refreshes on my phone I was able to pull some screen shots!   They're not great, after all they are web cam shots, but it is super cool to see.    As the wind died down I also did a quick sail change and for the first time flew my new Genoa!