Tuesday 31 July 2007

Delinquent posting

Hello all we are in Put in bay ohio, Lake Erie. We have had intermitant internet access so please excuse the time lapse from our last post. Every one is doing very well including Tia who is adapting to boat life very well. We all have lots of stories to tell and promise to post on Thurs or Fri when we get to Clevland G

Delinquent posting

Hello all we are in Put in bay ohio, Lake Erie. We have had intermitant internet access so please excuse the time lapse from our last post. Every one is doing very well including Tia who is adapting to boat life very well. We all have lots of stories to tell and promise to post on Thurs or Fri when we get to Clevland G

Monday 30 July 2007

Hi Everybody

Hi Everyone. We are in Detroit City. We've been playing in the pool and doing a lot really cool and fun stuff. We've met some nice people and we stayed with 1 fammily for a while, we went to the same places and played games and did some really fun stuff but, unfortunatly, we had to say good bye to them last night.

Hi Everybody

Hi Everyone. We are in Detroit City. We've been playing in the pool and doing a lot really cool and fun stuff. We've met some nice people and we stayed with 1 fammily for a while, we went to the same places and played games and did some really fun stuff but, unfortunatly, we had to say good bye to them last night.

Sunday 22 July 2007

Mackinac Island (click here)

Leaving Beaver Island, for Mackinac Island we had our first really good sail 10 – 15 K on the beam for starters building to 14 – 18 later in the day. High Five V showed speeds of 8 – 9 Knots and proved predictable and responsive. After some close reaching to clear Grey’s reef we were able to bear off for a 20 mile reach to Mackinac bridge. My parents drove over this bridge in 1958 when it first opened. Arriving at Mackinac was a bit of a shock. There was no room at the municipal marina so we tied to the pier at the Arnold Transit Company. The island has no cars so we were greeted by teams of horses hauling supplies from the pier to the towns business, quite an interesting view from the deck of the boat 6 ft below. All of the taxi’s, hotel shuttles, supply trucks, and tour busses are all horse drawn, the streets are lined with shops full of T-shirts and knick knacks, restaurants and bike rentals. Saturday July 21 !!HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA !!! Today we got a spot at the municipal marina, they are very busy with the comings and goings of many boats, but were able to find us a spot. The Port Huron to Mackinac race will finish here late Sun and Mon so we may get kicked out Sun aft. We rented bikes, Richard and dad got a bicycle built for 2, great fun. It is 7 miles around the island, the road is right at beach level, the clear water and white beach rock give the place an almost tropical look. After our 2 hour circumnavigation it was time for lunch and an afternoon of Frisbee in the park, cleaning up, and catching up on boat chores. Bye for now

Mackinac Island (click here)

Leaving Beaver Island, for Mackinac Island we had our first really good sail 10 – 15 K on the beam for starters building to 14 – 18 later in the day. High Five V showed speeds of 8 – 9 Knots and proved predictable and responsive. After some close reaching to clear Grey’s reef we were able to bear off for a 20 mile reach to Mackinac bridge. My parents drove over this bridge in 1958 when it first opened. Arriving at Mackinac was a bit of a shock. There was no room at the municipal marina so we tied to the pier at the Arnold Transit Company. The island has no cars so we were greeted by teams of horses hauling supplies from the pier to the towns business, quite an interesting view from the deck of the boat 6 ft below. All of the taxi’s, hotel shuttles, supply trucks, and tour busses are all horse drawn, the streets are lined with shops full of T-shirts and knick knacks, restaurants and bike rentals. Saturday July 21 !!HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA !!! Today we got a spot at the municipal marina, they are very busy with the comings and goings of many boats, but were able to find us a spot. The Port Huron to Mackinac race will finish here late Sun and Mon so we may get kicked out Sun aft. We rented bikes, Richard and dad got a bicycle built for 2, great fun. It is 7 miles around the island, the road is right at beach level, the clear water and white beach rock give the place an almost tropical look. After our 2 hour circumnavigation it was time for lunch and an afternoon of Frisbee in the park, cleaning up, and catching up on boat chores. Bye for now

Saturday 21 July 2007

Frankfort MI

Frankfort is a small seaside harbour, which has a revitalized main street with ice cream shops, restaurants, art galleries, hardware store, and other shops. The waterfront is lined with docks on pilings, 3 – 7 ft above the water, this is the same arrangement we have seen everywhere except Racine. I guess without tidal flow this arrangement is more durable than floating docks but it is a pain to have to climb up 2 ft from the deck of the boat with a big dog in your arms. At the end of the Main Street there was a nice sandy beach with warm shallow water. The kids and I spent an hour there, would have had longer but the boat cleaning chores took longer than expected. From here we powered to Beaver island.

Frankfort MI

Frankfort is a small seaside harbour, which has a revitalized main street with ice cream shops, restaurants, art galleries, hardware store, and other shops. The waterfront is lined with docks on pilings, 3 – 7 ft above the water, this is the same arrangement we have seen everywhere except Racine. I guess without tidal flow this arrangement is more durable than floating docks but it is a pain to have to climb up 2 ft from the deck of the boat with a big dog in your arms. At the end of the Main Street there was a nice sandy beach with warm shallow water. The kids and I spent an hour there, would have had longer but the boat cleaning chores took longer than expected. From here we powered to Beaver island.

Monday 16 July 2007

Across the lake

Sunday we sailed (powered actually) from Manitowoc WI to Frankfort MI. 73 miles across the lake. Winds were light and variable so we had to motorsail the whole way. This is one big lake, it's the couple of hours in the middle where you can't see where you've been or where you are going that makes you realise just how big the lake is. The last quarter of the way we powered through the leaders of the Chicago Mackinac race. A couple of big multihulls, Windquest a Z86, and 6 or 8 Great lake 70s. All reaching with spinnakers back and forth in 5 knots of wind. Today a half dozen straglers came into port to refuel and shower before heading home. One boat tied up, showered, and rented a car to get to Mackinac for the party. The weather remains calm and settled, we are going to continue north and plan to pass into Lake Huron Thursday or Fri. Cheers to all PS Frankfort is at the point Betsie lighthouse

Across the lake

Sunday we sailed (powered actually) from Manitowoc WI to Frankfort MI. 73 miles across the lake. Winds were light and variable so we had to motorsail the whole way. This is one big lake, it's the couple of hours in the middle where you can't see where you've been or where you are going that makes you realise just how big the lake is. The last quarter of the way we powered through the leaders of the Chicago Mackinac race. A couple of big multihulls, Windquest a Z86, and 6 or 8 Great lake 70s. All reaching with spinnakers back and forth in 5 knots of wind. Today a half dozen straglers came into port to refuel and shower before heading home. One boat tied up, showered, and rented a car to get to Mackinac for the party. The weather remains calm and settled, we are going to continue north and plan to pass into Lake Huron Thursday or Fri. Cheers to all PS Frankfort is at the point Betsie lighthouse

Friday 13 July 2007

Moving on

This morning we are going to start heading north. We've been at this a week and have only made 21 miles, so i guess we should pick up the pace. Everyone here says the Michigan (west) side of the lake is very pretty, with sandy beaches and protected lagoons. We plan to cross over next week when we are north of Sheboygan MYC has been a fantastic place for us, with a poolside BBQ and beer tap, sunny weather in the 80's and very friendly people it has been great place to settle into the boat. Milwaukee is a very pretty city, lots of parks, and very clean. With Grannies untiring help we have finaly found homes for almost all of our stuff, and many of the boats systems are working well. Unfortunatly for us Papa needs Granny too and she flew home yesterday to rescue him from all the laundry and a diet of Swanson dinners. She promised to return soon. A quick K at West Marine found us 2 new heads and BBQ of unusual size, our boys seem to be growing into their appetites. Tia has adapted well and seems a little younger every day, I hope that when I am that old I can ignore my age as well she can. Hope all is well back in Vancouver We miss everyone

Moving on

This morning we are going to start heading north. We've been at this a week and have only made 21 miles, so i guess we should pick up the pace. Everyone here says the Michigan (west) side of the lake is very pretty, with sandy beaches and protected lagoons. We plan to cross over next week when we are north of Sheboygan MYC has been a fantastic place for us, with a poolside BBQ and beer tap, sunny weather in the 80's and very friendly people it has been great place to settle into the boat. Milwaukee is a very pretty city, lots of parks, and very clean. With Grannies untiring help we have finaly found homes for almost all of our stuff, and many of the boats systems are working well. Unfortunatly for us Papa needs Granny too and she flew home yesterday to rescue him from all the laundry and a diet of Swanson dinners. She promised to return soon. A quick K at West Marine found us 2 new heads and BBQ of unusual size, our boys seem to be growing into their appetites. Tia has adapted well and seems a little younger every day, I hope that when I am that old I can ignore my age as well she can. Hope all is well back in Vancouver We miss everyone

Monday 9 July 2007

brad'$ update

it's 9:30pm here in Milwaukee wich means it is 7:30 in Vancouver and it is still really warm out. But there's a pool here so we are spending most of our time there. Everyone's happy and exited to find whats going to happen next. don't forget, there's no such thing as too much fun

brad'$ update

it's 9:30pm here in Milwaukee wich means it is 7:30 in Vancouver and it is still really warm out. But there's a pool here so we are spending most of our time there. Everyone's happy and exited to find whats going to happen next. don't forget, there's no such thing as too much fun

Sunday 8 July 2007

MYC

We are now at Millwaukee YC. We had a great sail from Racine today 12 - 15 from the W, we motor sailed and charged the batteries. It was nice to finally sail our new boat . This place has a BBQ and a pool. Its 85-90 degrees in the day and At 9:30 PM it is still very warm. More later Gary

MYC

We are now at Millwaukee YC. We had a great sail from Racine today 12 - 15 from the W, we motor sailed and charged the batteries. It was nice to finally sail our new boat . This place has a BBQ and a pool. Its 85-90 degrees in the day and At 9:30 PM it is still very warm. More later Gary

Wednesday 4 July 2007

Driving across the country

We left Vancouver on Sat am after all of the last min packing and cleaning, and a great breakfast from our neighbour Bob, Amanda, Lucy and Asha. After 2 ½ hours in the line up for the border we were invited into the special room for a further 45min of explanation: No we did not plan to work, Yes we had the resources to support ourselves, No we were not going to work in the US, Yes we would leave the USA before 6 months, No we were not planning on working, Yes we could support ourselves No we would not stay more than 6 months, accompanied by a few “So what is it exactly you plan to do”. Anyway you get the idea. After jamming all of our stuff into the Rental Ford Excursion and a delightful dinner with Auntie Rita and Uncle Syd we started east. Monday we toured Yellowstone. It was far more exciting than any of us imagined. As well as Old Faithful and all of the geysers and springs we saw moose, elk, deer, bison, (lots of bison), and we think we saw a bear off in the distance. Dunraven Pass took us to almost 9000 ft above sea level. It’s a shame we did not plan more time, there was so much more to see. From Yellowstone we have been driving across South Dakota, into Minnesota, I only hope that the ocean is this flat. Tomorrow, Thursday, we will finally get to the boat, Hopefully we can launch the boat as soon as we install the new Prop that we have brought with us, and pick up Granny from the bus station. After all of the preparations, planning, packing, and driving we really look forward to finally getting on the boat.

Driving across the country

We left Vancouver on Sat am after all of the last min packing and cleaning, and a great breakfast from our neighbour Bob, Amanda, Lucy and Asha. After 2 ½ hours in the line up for the border we were invited into the special room for a further 45min of explanation: No we did not plan to work, Yes we had the resources to support ourselves, No we were not going to work in the US, Yes we would leave the USA before 6 months, No we were not planning on working, Yes we could support ourselves No we would not stay more than 6 months, accompanied by a few “So what is it exactly you plan to do”. Anyway you get the idea. After jamming all of our stuff into the Rental Ford Excursion and a delightful dinner with Auntie Rita and Uncle Syd we started east. Monday we toured Yellowstone. It was far more exciting than any of us imagined. As well as Old Faithful and all of the geysers and springs we saw moose, elk, deer, bison, (lots of bison), and we think we saw a bear off in the distance. Dunraven Pass took us to almost 9000 ft above sea level. It’s a shame we did not plan more time, there was so much more to see. From Yellowstone we have been driving across South Dakota, into Minnesota, I only hope that the ocean is this flat. Tomorrow, Thursday, we will finally get to the boat, Hopefully we can launch the boat as soon as we install the new Prop that we have brought with us, and pick up Granny from the bus station. After all of the preparations, planning, packing, and driving we really look forward to finally getting on the boat.