A 15+ Hour Tour

We once again achieved yet another milestone in our sailing belt...

We can FINALLY say that we sailed across Lake Michigan! BAMB!

It took us 15.5 hours to sail from Saugatuck back home to Chicago and if we drove it would have taken us 2.5 hours, but that is beside the point. We were able to travel on our own, by ourselves with the wind and never had to leave the comfort of our home. It was amazing, well almost.

The morning before setting sail.

We did have a few hiccups during the day but what good travel adventure doesn't. After hanging out in Saugatuck, MI for almost a week waiting for a good weather, wind and wave window we were able to shove off early Friday morning.

Brady going crazy trying to fix the motor.

While enjoying our coffee and the crisp soon to be fall morning air our  motor decides to go kaput on us in the middle of Kalamazoo Lake. Relaxation and excitement quickly turns to panic. Once again Lake Michigan's depth is at a record low causing all of the rivers and lakes off of it to be at a record low level as well. As soon as our motor died, Brady and I sprung into action. He dashed into the cabin to work on the motor while I manned the wheel hoping I could somehow keep us away from running aground with no motor to help direct us out of trouble. After about 10 minutes our prayers were answered and a little fishing boat who was late to get out that morning was coming towards us. As they got close I waved them over to ask if they wouldn't mind tow us back to safety. Thankfully they were kind enough to tow us back to a dock so we could fix the issue.

Fortunately Brady was able to get our motor back up and running under an hour so we were able to give our send off one more shot before throwing in the towel. Thankfully the second time was the charm in this case!

Heading out for the 2nd time.

This face shows exactly how felt

Side note, I'm not sure if I have said this before but I believe that sailing with your partner or spouse is the ultimate test of your relationship. Sailing can be the divorce-a-nator in a relationship. Yes, things come to a head on land but when out on water and someone isn't listening, does something wrong, etc. it can actually affect your lives and the situation escalates exponentially. This happens from time to time with us but thankfully as soon as we can talk it out afterwards we are able to understand what happened and try to figure out how to avoid it next time.

Before leaving we knew we were going to go through some decent sized waves in the beginning of our trip but knew that they would slowly subside as we got closer to Chicago. Unfortunately what we didn't take in to account was how long the waves would beat us before it got better. The bonus part was both Brady and I both were feeling queasy while in these not so calm waters. We did everything we could to get our minds off of our queasiness we could think of for 10, yes TEN HOURS!!! The minute we got out of rough waters we wasted no time enjoying the last couple of hours of perfect sailing with the sunsetting and the city skyline coming closer into view. It. Was. Amazing.

Look closely, you can see Chicago!

It was funny just how quickly we forgot our first 10 hour woes. During the first two thirds of the trip we were seriously talking about not being able to handle it and possibly selling the boat. But the minute we got into better waters, all of those thoughts were quickly blown away with the first gust of good wind. It was the most amazing sail we have had so far.

When we thought things couldn't get any better. When we got into the car after closing down the boat, our car battery was dead. Ugh! But this little hiccup, like the first one, didn't get us down. We were able to find another good samaritan to jump our car and help us out. I'm glad we were able to cash in the good karma we sent out into the world because we really needed it today!