Great Loop Day 011 Sept 8, 2016, Rock me Baby but Don't Hit Me
Port Sanilac to Harbor Beach, MI
“The charm of singlehanded cruising is not solitude, but independence.” -Claud Worth
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Day 11 Thursday, Sept 8, 2016. Been floating still in this thick fog for I don’t know how long, feels like days on end. Completely out of gas and not a breeze to move the sails. Bobbing up and down ever so slightly on this still water with nothing but a thick shroud of whiteness around us. My batteries went dead, can’t use the radio or my phone to call for help. Don’t know where I am. Can’t find the way north or any point on the compass. Am I near shore or out in the lake? Then there is the silence that surrounds me. No wind thru the shrouds, no waves lapping on the hull. Complete… silence. I go below.
The food is all gone. Down to my last 2 navy beans and a fruitfly I caught this morning. Wiped the bottom of my last can of green beans with a stale piece of bread I found in the bottom of the food storage container. Gave one of the beans to Mickey who lapped it up so slowly. Poor Mickey’s getting so thin his ribs are showing through his fur. He doesn’t move much, Just lays there looking at me as if… it’s all my fault. I really don’t know how much longer I can take this...
“Riiiiiiiiiiinnnnngggg” The alarm clock on my phone goes off startling me awake. Checking my watch for the time and day and this is Day 11. That was one hell of a dream I was having and Mickey poked my face with his paw with his “where me food” look. (cat speak for ‘where is my food’)
Must have been something in that salad I had last night, maybe the green pepper at last night’s dinner from IGA. Something got my lower intestine in an uproar this morning. There was very little warning and I had to think fast. Real fast. Bucket! Where's that bucket? Quick! Dump the contents on the floor.
Hurry no time!
Made it! What a close call!
Mother Nature, why must you torment me so?
Earlier this summer Pogo Bob and I discussed getting what he called WAG bags. Great idea. Why clean a perfectly good porta-potty when you can use plastic bags? They work really well when they are in the proper receptacle. My WAG bags at the moment were still in the box, forward in the V-berth, buried under the cold weather clothes bin. But prepared I was. Earlier this week I was finishing a project and had an idea to line the 5 gal bucket with a garbage bag and secure it with a bungee cord. Added grocery bags on top and that worked well. Double bagged as per my BSI nursing training and will dump it in the marina dumpster.
I know, I am not a big fan of plastic bags either. They take thousands of years to biodegrade and the molecules only get smaller; never completely disintegrate. But this was an emergency. Maybe someday someone will invent biodegradable waxed paper bags for this purpose. Until then I recycle what I get from the grocery stores.
But what's that? A spot on the bath rug I washed 3 times already. Now, where is that bleach cleaner my daughter got me? There it is. Under the toolbox, under the screen bag. Space is a real premium here on the Sea Marie. If you move stuff to get to the stuff you better put it back where it came from or else it gets swallowed up and will be days before it shows up again. Good dowsing of the cleaner and wipe got it but back to the laundry room to wash it again.
Saying goodbye to Port Sanilac in the morning.
I couldn’t help but noticed how Sea Marie’s felt happy to see other sailboats around her.
Now I feel better and Mickey looks fine. Today's travel was pretty much a straight line from Port Sanilac to Harbor Beach, a 30.7-mile run along the western Michigan shoreline. Before leaving I made another trip to the restroom onshore just to make sure my personal holding tank was empty and we left around 11 am. Should be in Harbor Beach by 3 pm. Visibility was clear and the winds were from the West South West so the lake should be calm.
Now I have 3 GPS units and a cell phone navigation app. Course set for Harbor Beach with no bail-out points. The chart plotter by Lowrance shows the bottom depth but no contour lines. So when it shows you are going from 25-foot depth to 1-foot depth there's probably a good reason. Rocks. The cellphone Navionics map caught that. And I found myself heading at 7mph smack into the middle of them. A quick course change to starboard and I am back in deeper waters. The winds now were beginning to freshen. About 15 to 18 mph. Not a good day to raise the sails. Plus I had my bimini up to block the sun which the past few days were baking me up so bad I started to feel like a Pillsbury crescent roll coming out of the oven only I didn’t smell that good.
Would have been a nice beam reach, the fastest point of sail. However, I decided not to get new sails and the old rags I had wouldn't have been much help. The lake was still relatively flat with a light chop that increased to 2 footers, no sweat. But the way Sea Marie was hitting this chop sent spays of water back to me in the cockpit. Literally getting a bucket of water thrown in your face. Out came the windbreaker for the last 6 miles or so. Still good to see the Harbor Beach lighthouse at the harbor entrance and a call to Lisa from the Harbor Beach Marina assured me she would meet me at the gas dock. Good idea. Get the fuel now and be done with that. Made it a point to select a dock close to the bathrooms and now, you know why.
One more event. Yesterday evening I have been watching the radar app on my cellphone showing some wicked thunderstorms moving into my area. Have been working on a project to find easy-to-set-up rain protection covering for the cockpit. This present system has been tested in a couple of storms back home at Cedar Point Marina in Sandusky. I have 4 clear shower panels with industrail strength 2-inch Velcro sewn on top. Attaching all 4 panels to the bimini and it gets super hot like a sauna. I found by using only 3 panels facing the storm they hold up well. So up went 3 panels with the center one facing West where the storm was coming from. How do I keep the panels together on the sides? The simplest method I could think of was using good old-fashioned binder clips. 4 or 5 of them usually did the trick.
All set for a good night's rest. Just as I was going to sleep I was awoken by the sound of a large rip. A storm was coming but changed course from the west to the north. My least protected panel. A large gust of wind opened up that panel but no rain was falling. Took the panels off all but the one over the companionway so I could keep the hatch open. A poor man’s dodger. Got some rain but not heavy. Noticed the toolbox I used as a step was damp. It appears the bimini seam right overhead is leaking into the cabin. Seam sealer should fix that and if I can't find any I am sure to find some seal blubber the further north I go. Got through the rest of the night unscathed. Till next time, fair winds and gentle seas.
Harbor Beach Lighthouse.
Description from LJK 48441 on TripAdvisor. This offshore lighthouse located in Lake Huron is a restored lighthouse. It is worked on by members of the Harbor Beach Lighthouse Preservation Society and restored to its 1885 appearance. There are many items representative of those that were in it back when it was a guide for those on the lake. The beacon has been replaced by a replica Fresnel Lens, which continues to shine powered by solar energy.
Getting creative comes with the territory. Here I used a few prusik knots to hold the shore power cable out of the water.
Prusik knot. One of the most versatile knots to know.
Mickey rarely comes out to the cockpit while I am underway but at the dock, he made it clear this was his spot to lay down and rest.
Each evening I would study the route of the next day’s voyage. Hugging the shoreline could be disastrous. All those little Xs and cross marks are rocks and many are not marked on the chart.
Zooming in shows more rocks. The objective here will be to watch my depth and stay in deep water. It is tempting to cut short a route between the mainland and Port Austin Reef Light. This is where the greatest danger lies waiting just below the surface out of view.
A very light dinner tonight and my breakfast cereal is ready for the morning.
Comments from 2016:
Ymaria Lekutis Fair winds to you.
Rose Fox Thank you, Henry, fair winds, and a safe journey to you.
Joan Johnson fair winds and a safe journey to you and Mickey, hope you get some good food, fair wind, and no idiot power boaters in your travels we are praying for your safe travels.
Henry Krzemien RN Thanks, Joan. Since entering Lake Huron powerboats are very rare. Only saw 1 today and passed half a mile from me. I practically have the entire lake to myself.
Bob Meredith Hope your Head is adequate for your needs!
Sherry Thaler Safe sailing Henry! Be sure to check the radar hourly knowing how our Great Lakes are so fickle. If you need to, stay by the marina for a few days, no?.
Sherry Thaler Aren't you glad now you brought him???
Mary Jo Cartledgehayes A good companion for the journey.
Henry Krzemien RN It feels funny like when Greg and Jen were little. Every time it gets quiet it's time to look for Mickey. He's doing something he's not supposed to do.
Mary Jo Cartledgehayes He's adapting quite well and keeps your followers as engaged with him as you are.
Really, without cats, Facebook would be hardly worth checking.
Henry Krzemien RN Sea Cats are hard to come by these days, Mickey is worth his weight in doubloons.