Stats for a very wavy trip on August 24, 2018

Origin:  Charlevoix Marina

Destination:  Sutton’s Bay Anchorage

Distance:  32.8 miles

Speed:  9.4 mph

Time on the Move:  3 hours and 30 minutes

So we thought we would perhaps have a slight weather window on Friday morning to head out of Charlevoix.  Mike got up early and went for a long bike ride.  He checked out the lake which was apparently very calm, and he texted me and said we should plan to go.  We weren’t really *prepared* to rush out, so we had breakfast, took showers, and went to the grocery store quick.  In those 2 hours the wind had picked up a little, but the forecasted waves were 1-2 feet coming at our bow.  When the waves come right at us, our ride is much more manageable and comfortable than when they’re coming at our sides (beam).  I expressed my concerns that I wasn’t sure it was a good idea to go.  Mike said he was done in Charlevoix.  I walked to the river and saw flat water on the lake, so I texted him and said he won, we could go.  The friends untying us and helping us out of our slip didn’t seem too sure about our decision, but we knew we could always turn around.

The ride started off okay, just more choppy than anything.  However, as we cleared the protection of land, the waves were building and it became quite uncomfortable.  That is boater code for REALLY WAVY and ROCKY and OMG I CAN’T LOOK OUT THE WINDOW.  I put a movie on for the kids, so thank goodness they were distracted.  Except for that moment when they came to tell me the fridge opened and everything was falling out of it, I didn’t hear from them for an hour or so.  That was probably the same hour I was staring out the back window because the waves looked too big out the front window.  Mike says they were 3 footers, but I think they were more like 4 with the occasional 5.  I’m pretty sure I took flight, like actually flew, once while walking in the galley–there was just no floor and I was airborne.  Also, I almost flipped over in the loveseat on the sundeck just sitting there, trying not to throw up.  The bell rang about a dozen times–for real this time.  I told Mike he owed me big time for this one (his recollection is that I had “angry words for him.”)  At that point, he said we were halfway and turning around would be silly.  I agreed–even the act of turning around seemed impossible.  Then, just when I thought we were crazy, we passed a trawler heading the other way, and somehow that was a relief–that there was actually another boat out there.  Then, I watched a boat come over the horizon (remember I could only watch behind us without feeling way too anxious) and gain on us quickly over the next 15 minutes or so.  That’s when I noticed a Coast Guard helicopter hovering over the water along the shoreline about two miles away.  We turned on the VHF and realized the CG was responding to a call about 2 people in the water closer to shore.  By the time we tuned in, the people were out of the water and safe, but knowing there was a rescue close by didn’t do much for my nerves.

And just like that, it was calm.  Not calm calm, but back to just being choppy.  I realized we were in the protected area from Mission Peninsula and I was so thankful.  It was totally doable again.  The next hour was choppy, but it was a big relief after what we had just been through, and the anchorage was in sight.  Hayley didn’t feel well so she came up and fell asleep on the sundeck.  Toby played quietly with the binoculars.  Colin probably read through the whole thing.  I was just thankful that we were almost done with that stretch.  Mike apologized for his poor judgement and we moved on.  He also said he had to go change his pants.  We will not go out in weather like that again.  We were safe, but we were not comfortable at all.  That is not what this trip is about.

But ya know what it IS about?!  Amazing quiet anchorages!  We set the anchor and prepared to take advantage of the next couple of hours before rain moved in by taking the dinghy to shore.  We explored cute Sutton’s Bay with lots of little shops (but we don’t really want to buy anything) and cute restaurants.  Mike got suckered in by a review of a pizza place we read about on Active Captain (boating app) so we took pizza back to the boat just in time for the rain to start.  After dinner we watched “The Greatest Showman” and it was great.  It was a cozy, calm night and we slept like babies.

The next day was rainy off and on, so we did school work, played games, made banana bread, and enjoyed an excuse to lay low.

Then somehow I realized that we were about a quarter mile from a brewery.  So the next break in the rain we came to, we loaded up in the dinghy, beached it right in front of the boat, and walked across the street to the brewery.  Hop Lot is a super cool space, mostly centered outdoors around fire pits and picnic tables.  We found a chess board and I brought cards and a writing tablet with us.  So the kids played games and we enjoyed the break from the boat and some yummy brews.  We explored a trail in the woods, checked out the pond for frogs, and played with sticks for a while.

 

On our way home we stopped at the playground on the beach right in front of our boat.  Mike’s new favorite game is “Daddy run for his life but don’t hurt himself” which is basically where all the kids chase Mike until they’re all exhausted.  They did that for a while and then played tag.  That lead to looking for petoskey stones, which lead to swimming in their underwear because we weren’t quite prepared for swimming on this rainy, overcast 65* day.  I admire how kids can just create an adventure anywhere–one thing leads to another and next thing ya know you’re swimming in your undies.  So carefree.

After we got back to the boat we had dinner and played the game Sequence for the first time together.  It was a calm evening in our anchorage with just about 6 other boats and plenty of room.  More weather was heading our way on Monday, so we decided to head to Traverse City the next morning to take shelter for a few days.  We enjoyed Sutton’s Bay and were looking forward to the next adventure.  Thanks so much for reading and following our adventure!!