First Night Sail/Second Lake Crossing... Well, Not Quite

Since our first sail across the lake last year was successful, this year we decided to push ourselves a little and aim a bit farther north so we could skip the first couple of southwest Michigan harbors. We decided to do this since we were limited on time for this year's sailing vacation (we were constricted by my school schedule and Brady's work obligations) and we were hoping to explore a few new harbor towns a little farther north than where we went last year. In order to capitalize on our time as much time we could, we decided to leave in the middle of our first evening off work and school around midnight. This way Brady was able to get some sleep before heading out since we decided before shoving off that he was going to be on first watch for our first ever night sail! 

Our plan was that we would rotate the 3 hours on 3 off schedule, so each of us would be on watch for 3 hours while the other got 3 hours rest. This was the plan going into our second crossing (but first sail at night). We were both excited but very nervous, or at least I was way more nervous than Brady. Running the boat by myself, that's a BIG deal that I was hoping to be ready for. I had a feeling that in the first of my watches I would be waking Brady up WAY more often than I needed to. 

Well, everything looked good, we had good winds and waves were about 1-3 feet and we were feeling confident, as confident as we could with our skills and with the information we had about the lake condition. I went out with a couple of friends that evening and Brady went to bed. The plan was for me to wake Brady up when I got back to the boat set sail by 11pm-midnight. Then after we set the sails and were a couple of miles away from Chicago, Brady would take the first shift while I slept for a few hours.

When the time came that evening, I woke Brady up after a tame night out with the girls and we shoved off just after midnight. As soon as we set the sails I went below to sleep with Elaine and left Brady at the helm. I didn't get much sleep since we were banging into every wave and it sounded very loud and was very bumpy below. After a few hours I came up to the cockpit and Brady updated me on the weather. We were about a third of the way to South Haven however some thunderstorms were chasing us. They weren't supposed to hit the middle of the lake until later that morning, we would already be in safe harbor by then, but now it looked as though they were rolling in faster than expected. So, after weighing our options, we decided to turn back so we would be safe in a harbor before the bad weather hit. 

Brady ended up staying up with me since things started to get bad as we got closer to shore. (In hind site, we would have most likely been fine if we put in a reef or two and roll in the jib a little bit because the sail power was overtaking the boat.) We got back to Montrose Harbor around 7am or about an hour after the storm hit Chicago. And after our beating from the winds and waves we quickly packed up the boat and decided to crash in our bed back at the apartment. 

Everything happens for a reason right? I didn't realize it at the time but by the time we woke up later that morning, there was a text from my dad to call him. Long story short, he was ok'ed to fly home by a cardiologist where he was working to have an angiogram at home. My stepmom was out of town as well so I was able to meet my dad at the airport, take him home and be with him until Pam got home. I was also able to be with Pam during my dad's procedure and that would not have been possible if we crossed the lake. 

The weather ended up being horrible for most of our vacation so unfortunately we weren't able to make it to Michigan this year. However all was not lost since Brady and I enjoyed a wonderful stay-cation in our beautiful city by doing a lot of the tourist stuff we never did as well as take a lot of little morning/afternoon sails when the weather permitted with friends. 

Sailing Season has Officially Begun For Further - Better Late Than Never!

The big moment was finally here! Tuesday was the big day we sailed Further down to Chicago, finally! We woke up bright and early and headed over to the metra northern line that would take us right to Larsen Marine, well very close to it leaving us only a 15 minute walk to get to Further. Honestly this is the best setup one could ask for. Not only is the Waukegan stop a 15 minute walk from the boat, the stop where we board the train is only a mile and a half from our house. It makes sailing the Further to and from Chicago so incredibly easy!

Attaching our lazy jacks

After dropping off a little gift for the guys at Larsen, because they have been there to answer Brady's questions this spring while he worked tirelessly completing all of this season's updates. There was one last task we had to complete and needed a lift to help us do it and Mike, one of the dock guys, was more than happy to help us out! We couldn't ask for a better place to keep Further stored during the winter. Everyone at Larsen is so nice and helpful.

We were both nervous and excited for our long awaited shakedown sail back to the city. Brady turns inwards when he gets nervous and I am the opposite, I like to talk everything through and ask questions. I completely understand that this is probably very annoying as Brady is mentally preparing for 'game time'. Leaving Larsen is extremely nerve-racking for us since the marina is very small and filled to the brim with boats that cost exponentially more than Further. Mix that with our not so reliable or strong gas motor equals a questionable launch.

Nerves, what nerves?

To make things just a bit more tense, the winds were coming from the west at about 10-15 knots so we knew that was also going to add to the complexity of getting out of the dock unscathed. Thankfully there wasn't a boat docked next to us so we had one less thing to worry about, a HUGE bonus.

Brady making it look easy.

I walked Further back on the dock while Brady had the boat in reverse at full power. (if you remember our motor epically in reverse isn't powerful at all.) As we tried to turn the bow directly into the wind by spinning the boat against the dock, the wind had other plans for us and kept pushing the front of the boat port side so we were headed back into the slip. Not good. After a few tries, and the kind assistance of another boat owner who wasn't sure if we were going out or coming in, we finally got out of the slip and was able to motor out to the lake. Thankfully the only thing we hit was the end of the dock with our boat and not another boat. We can live with that. Hopefully everyone at Larson's were all at lunch because our rocky start was a bit embarrassing.

We are FLYING!!!

As soon as we got out of the slip everything started to go much more smooth. I hopped up and started to tidy up all of our dock lines that were creating an obstacle course on the deck and Brady motored us out to the lake. Since winds were supposed to be 15-20 knots on the lake coming directly from the north we decided to sail with only the jib. Well that wasn't getting us anywhere since our speed with just the jib up was less than 4 knots so we decided to throw the main up with a reef and that was the magic trick to get us moving!

Yay Chicago!!!

We were averaging 7 knots but frequently topped 8! It was a beautiful day, the wind was at our backs and we were FLYING back to Chicago! To make the trip even better, we would be docking while the sun was still out, unlike our first year when we got into the harbor at 10PM. The difference was literally night and day. Docking, while stressful, was a breeze compared to last year. We could see, we knew which dock was ours, and had lots of practice doing it last year. Thankfully it seems as though we don't have to dust off too many cobwebs. It was our quickest and smoothest trip yet from Waukegan to Montrose Harbor and a perfect way to kick off our 2012 sailing season!

With a Little Help...

Brady once again working on the boat.
What is he doing up there?

We know we are a bit (or 11 months) behind with documenting our boating experiences, and don't worry you won't miss a step. We are currently working on updating the blog. But it is also time to start to get excited about this sailing season!

Bria hard at work. I think we'll
keep her around!

Further was put in the water this past Thursday and we will be sailing her home in Montrose Harbor tomorrow, weather permitting. Today was my first day on the boat since we put her in storage last November and it was exciting to finally see all of the hard work and love Brady has put into her. (More about this soon, Brady is working on a few blog posts about what he has been up to since late January.)

Getting the spinnaker ready

One done many more to go!

On our way up to the boat we got a call from my fab sister Claudia asking to pick up my wonderful niece from school. (The nurse contacted her because Bria had accidentaly hit her head hard on a desk and wanted to send her home in case Bria had a concussion.) Well, Claudia wasn't able to leave work so we were called in for the rescue! We had to turn around, we were half way to Waukegan by the time we got the phone call, and pick up the munchkin. After making a detour and double-checking that Bria was ok and up to hanging on the boat we headed back up to Waukegan. I have to say it was nice to have an extra pair of hands around to help us with some of the last few things Brady still had on his to do list.

We are looking forward to our first trip of the season and hoping for a smooth and uneventful shakedown sail! We are also excited to finally try and fly our spinnaker! It will be a big day tomorrow. Fingers crossed that all goes well. Either way you will hear all about it real, real soon. Promise!

Guess who painted this one :)