Anchors Aweigh

June 22, 2012 Friday

Residents of Great Lakes Marina, Muskegon, Michigan (our home port) were awakened today at 0615 hrs to a Post Horn "Reveille" and a short concert by Terry on the bow as we left port. "Most" of the Marina Guests enjoyed it, (some, however were a little grumpy). Brother Tom and sister in law Em met us at the Muskegon Channel for a very Danish send off - the flags were hard to miss. Further down the channel, Gale, the original BP (boat people) said good bye, exchanging "licks" with Terry on their conch shells.
We cleared the Muskegon Channel, Northbound, @ 0659 hrs, the last time for a very long time, for how long we don't know. With tears in our eyes and excitement in our hearts we have set sail on our big cruise. 4000 miles to go, through the Great Lakes, Erie Canal, and down the U.S east coast, on our own "Adventure in Paradise" - wherever we find it. We are travelling in our sailboat, "Chasseur" (means hunter in french), a Catalina 320. She was modified over the winter with solar panels and new electronics. After an exhausting "fitting out" this spring we are finally ready. Our story on how and why we are doing this will come in a future blog. Today we will cover 56 miles up the coast of Lake Michigan to one of our favorite ports, Ludington Michigan. Wind and seas are down, so we motored, on a beautiful day.
Friends Phil and Virginia Moyer, along with "Scooter and Annie Mae" drove up to greet us and we had dinner at P.M. Steamers. Having done this adventure before us, they had lots of great advise.
We have cruised Lake Michigan for many years and have many fond memories and experiences on this beautiful body of water. Our goal is to get Chasseur and her crew to less familiar waters as quickly as possible, as weather allows. We will enjoy your comments to our blog for "company" along the way. Thanks to all who helped us get to where we are today....friends at Great Lakes Marine, Torresen Marine, West Marine and Bluffton Bay Sails.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do then the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover." Mark Twain