Sail Far Live Free

I should have listened to my dad when he warned that purchasing a boat would only make the summer go by more quickly and the winter more slowly. I now sit at the edge of a very long winter reflecting back over a very fast, yet enormously memorable summer. Maybe somehow putting it all down on paper will make the sailing from this past summer last just a bit longer. Let's start at the beginning. Before this summer, I was first a young boy spoken to by the sweeping sheerline of a Maine lobster boat, an adolescent teen enjoying the wind in my hair from the bow of mom and dad's boat, and more recently a novice sailor seeking wisdom from the wind and waves aboard a Laser on Lake Charlevoix. In fact, just one summer ago I was a mere armchair sailor, reading all I could about sailing adventures in far off places. The internet was my virtual showroom allowing me to step aboard the thousands of sailboats listed for sale and drift just a little further into my South Pacific f

On what turned out to be a rather spontaneous decision, we threw off the docklines and headed south towards Port Sheldon and Pigeon Lake. The crew consisted of Erin, Hannah, Isabel, Shasta and I. The weather forecast was perfect...10-15 knot winds out of the north with waves 1 foot or less. We rounded the south pier head of Grand Haven at about 11:30am and enjoyed a perfect broad reach for 8 nautical miles to Port Sheldon. The wind and waves were so very right that day that we did not even once take a tack or pull on the jib sheet. Just awesome sailing! Port Sheldon is listed in the chart books as simply a "port of refuge" with no services or marinas. Fair enough, we were looking for a bit of relaxation and quiet before the busy holiday weekend that lay ahead. The channel into Pigeon Lake is a bit narrow and sometimes shallow, but well worth navigating because of the clear blue water and narrow sandy beaches on the shorelines. We motored down the channel and into Pigeon L

On Wednesday, July 16, 2008, we embarked on our first overnight cruise from our homeport. We had originally planned to sail from Grand Haven to Saugatuck (~24 nautical miles) to meet up with some friends who have a boat there. The voyage from Grand Haven to Saugatuck affords a couple of ports in between for weathering a storm, provisioning, etc. The ports are evenly spaced with Port Sheldon/Pigeon Lake being a short hop at 9.5nm and Holland being an additional 8nm. The forecast for Wednesday, our departure day, called for winds out of the south from 5-15 knots. This meant a tough, slow beat upwind. Luckily the seas were only 1-2 foot and the sky was clear. We stayed on Hannabel the night prior to the trip and both Erin and I woke early Wednesday morning (6:00am) with excitement, ready to begin our journey. We rounded the Grand Haven pier and headed south at about 9:00am. The girls both played for the first few hours. Our dog, a golden retriever named Shasta, slept. Then af

The Grand River Sailing Club graciously invited Erin and I to participate in their annual "8+8 Sailing Rally" and we happily accepted. The 8+8 Rally is a laid back "race" that uses a handicapped start so all boats finish relatively close together. The course is set so the race has one turning mark 8 miles out on a beam reach. I know many of the regular GRSC members don't really consider the 8+8 to be a race, but believe me, Erin and I were racing! This was our first organized sailing event together with Hannabel and we're happy to report she did great! The race started with dark storm clouds looming overhead and 15 mph winds bustling about. But the conditions quickly mellowed out and all participants were sitting still in the water with little to nowind for about an hour. At that point the race committee decided to shorten the 8+8 to a 6+6 (6 miles out, 6 miles back) race. Because of our PHRF handicap starting place, we were the first boa

It's been a while since I've updated the blog, so I thought I'd take the time to make a few posts. I was blessed with the good fortune of being asked to crew on 37 foot sailboat for the 2008 Queen's Cup race. For those unfamiliar, the Queens Cup ( http://www.ssyc.org/queenscup/default.asp ) is one of the oldest cups in world-yachting still being offered for competition every year. The race begins on the western shore of Lake Michigan in Milwaukee and finishes on the eastern shore in Grand Haven. Our boat and crew crossed on Wednesday morning from Grand Haven to Milwaukee (approximately 72 nautical miles) in near perfect sailing conditions. We had 15-25 mph winds on our beam nearly the entire way and averaged about 6.8 knots for an 11 hour crossing. The race back home was even better. We started in a thunderstorm and tacked around the starting area with a double reefed main. Eventually the storm passed and we shook out the reefs and enjoyed an all n

This is a brief but important post I should've made long ago. We decided very early this year that the name of our sailboat is to be "Hannabel", which comes from simply combining the first four letters from our daughter Hannah's name and the last four letters from our daughter Isabel's name. Tricky, huh? In any case, our beautiful little boat is hence forth to be known as the sailing vessel Hannabel!

This past Sunday marked the first trip on Hannabel that was more than a mere daysail. Erin, Hannah, Isabel, my mom, dad and I all shoved off from the docks at North Shore Marina at about 11:00am and headed north to Muskegon for lunch. The weather called for light air (5-10kts) out of the north, so we knew might be in for a long, slow trip of only 24 total miles. Still, we were eager to get some mileage beneath our keel so we worked our way windward...for about 3 hours. The trip to Muskegon was uneventful, as we munched on my mom's almond bars and basked in the sunny (but cool!) 1st day of June. Just west of Grand Haven we observed a couple of the USCG boats practicing towing drills as we sailed by at a very leisurely pace. We pulled into the Muskegon breakwater and channel around 2:30pm and motored our way to Dockers. The food was good, even if they did take the very memorable calamari off the menu. There was also a live blues band and plenty of activities for the girls. The

Our first sail on our "new to us" boat was short but ever so sweet! We tried our sails and running rigging at the slip before departing for the lake. Everything seemed like it was working as it should, so we shoved off for Lake Michigan. Once reaching the big lake, we motored out about a half mile before shutting down the outboard and preparing to hoist the sails. Erin took the helm as I scurried about the deck and cockpit setting the sails and sheets. Once the jib went up, we were off! The conditions were light (wind to 10 knots from the North), but we made headway and enjoyed every minute of the first sail. We practiced making a couple of tacks and alternated between beam and broach reaching. On the way in we encountered engine problems, as the pull cord for our outboard broke, the choke stuck open and caused the engine to run poorly and to top it all off, it wouldn't stay in gear! Luckily we had my mom and dad nearby with the mothership (their Carver motoryacht) fo

The big days for our little boat keep rolling in. Today we splashed her at her new summer home, North Shore Marina in Grand Haven. The marina staff used a modified fork lift that is typically used for their "in and out" service to lift the boat off the trailer and set her gently down in the water. Even though the staff knew exactly what they were doing, I was still quite nervous as I watched the boat lift from the trailer and be set into the water. I was also nervous after the hull hit the water. Would it keep the water on the outside where it belongs? Or did I miss some hidden spot on the hull where water could get inside? Will the swingbolt for the centerboard be water tight? Time will tell. Anyway, here are a few pictures (courtesy of my mom): And finally, resting peacefully in her slip:

Finally...the day I've been anxiously awaiting since last fall has arrived. Today we stepped the mast. Obviously, this is a big day since it moves us that much closer to actually sailing our "good old boat". But despite my excitement, I was also very anxious because of the unknown. I've never stepped a mast or rigged any sailboat larger than a Laser. Luckily, I received a lot of great advice from forums members at Sailnet and a few other trusted Helms owners. Based on this advice, I constructed a gin pole from Home Depot materials (10' 2"x6", 4 eye bolts, ratchet strap) that made the job very manageable. I cut the gin pole to fit around the base of the mast and used the ratched strap to hold it in place. We then attached the forestay to the opposite end of the gin pole and ran a line from the same end through a block on the bow and back to the sheet winch in the cockpit. One person stood holding an extension ladder which supported one e