Winter Blues D Dock Party

Here is Rick Hicks entertaining the group on January 31. The group shots follow. A good time was had by all and we really enjoyed seeing all our "summer friends" in mid winter. Only a little over two months to launch!!!!

The food everyone brought was great!
The lighting was almost bright enough to remind us of the summer sun!

See you all at D dock in just over two months!!!

Winter Home (Storage)

Winter time look of a lonely Michigan boat.....longing for April launch.

Skipper Buds Raft Up 2008

Our weekend began with a Sat night trip to the barge anchored in Smith's Bayou (Spring Lake) as guests of Skipper Buds. We had a dinner on the barge and "lights out" around 11 so none of the condo neighbors got too upset with the noise. Our "slumber party" included our friends the Rowladers and Kenyons as overnight guests.



This invite gave us a prime spot for the surprise band performing on Sunday, only one boat off the barges. Here are some pics of the crowd of boats and the surprise band (The O. C. Beach Boys) who are actually some of the original Beach Boys. They (and the local warm up band too) were great and the weather was very hot and perfect for a huge party! Also included is a pic of our group awaiting departure after the party...they all look like they had a great time!!!


This was a huge success for the 6th annual Raft Up!

Labor Day to Sept 7 Trip North

So after the huge raft off in Spring Lake we headed out of Grand Haven on Labor Day "first light".

S Manitou Island was so inviting we anchored out for the afternoon before heading into Leland for the evening. Not a lot of action late on Labor Day in Leland....and no cell signal. Kinda wierd that we could use our phones on S Manitou but not on the mainland in Lelend. So no blog updates.
Here is a pic of S Manitou Island lighthouse.

Here is "Fishtown" in Leland. It is now a few commercial fisherman, some charter boats and a lot of retail shops. It is being preserved as a historic area and really is pretty cool.

And sunset at Leland was fantastic.

The trip to Charlevoix was uneventful except for an electronics failure. Apparently (after a call to technical support) the hard drive is overheating and Windows is automatically shutting down. So we arrived using the back up handheld GPS and are "saving" the main electronics for radar (if we need it). We hope it works if needed as it sporadically does.

Anchored out in Lake Charlevoix for the afternoon on Tuesday....it was hot and the water was 75* so very refreshing. Staying at the Charlevoix Municipal Marina. Wow, I thought the state was out of money....I think the local money must have had some influence because the facilities are absolutely gorgeous. Internet in the lounge, excellent floating docks and Hal the Duckmaster (not a typo....there are so many ducks on the docks at night his first job in the morning is to hose all the docks down!) is very helpful.

Went to Boyne City on Wed. Nice town with a couple marinas. Had a great lunch at the Red Mesa Grill, a local Mexican place. Have eaten here a few times and it is great every time! Took a slow cruise back to Charlevoix. Note that we are now a dinghy. This is Kevin Costners 172 foot yacht "Battered Bull". Security guys pacing the deck and all. Habormaster said this was the largest yacht in for the season. Unbelievable....Spent Thursday taking a walk before the rains, reading, having a great bloody mary and going to the local grocery store for a deli chicken for dinner. Also went to the local farmers market for fresh sweet corn, cherries, squash etc. Hope to leave afround noon tomorrow and plan to stop for fuel in Leland (and to pick up my electrical adapter I left on the electric post!!!) May continue on further or stop in Leland for the night...we'll see. So far a great trip again!

Pics and recap of Whistling Straits

We left Grand Haven Michigan on Friday evening July 18 for Saturday afternoon tee times at Whistling Straits. The lake was almost dead calm and an uneventful, beautiful 87 mile crossing was made in a little over three hours with the sun setting off the bow of the boat. Water temps changed from 75 degrees in Grand Haven to 57 degrees at the pierhead in Sheboygan...not a good omen for temperature inversion induced fog. After a bite to eat in a local Sheboygan Wisconsin watering hole, four of the golfers headed to accommodations at the American Club while the balance stayed aboard.
We awoke Saturday to rain and fog. After breakfast in town, we refueled the boat to ready it for the return trip across Lake Michigan and got the clubs ready for the days challenge. And what a challenge it was! After a little practice range work and the swing oil (bloody marys) were ordered in the lounge, we proceeded to the first tee accompanied by our caddies Kyle and Justin. The first hole provided enough visibility in the now partially lifting fog to see one's shot for its entire trajectory. This however soon changed as the fog came and went for the entire round. At times it was "target golf"..."Go over the towel I laid 30 yards down the fairway....don't go over 260 and right is better than left" could have been the caddie's advice. On other holes, especially par 3s, one caddy would go to the green and yell "all clear" when we were able to take our shots. Not exactly what we had hoped for with the pristine views afforded by this lake shore track. We did have about 10 holes with pretty good visibility, unfortunately these were not the "postcard" holes.
The caddies were very good at tracking shots, errant or otherwise, and very few balls were lost even with the challenge of the fog. They knew the course and could read the trajectory of the balls disappearing into the fog very well indeed. They really made a difference. It took us 6 hours to complete the 18 holes due to the challenge of the weather, but it would have been much longer without caddies.
The course was very challenging, but was adjudged very playable. Greens rolled true (if one listened to their caddie!!!) and provided just enough challenge...not like the greens at Arcadia Bluffs with their three or four tier shelfs which are just plain unfair. Bunkers abound and the rain of the night before made them wet and solid....a real challenge for most. All in all, still a very enjoyable and memorable round of golf.

The trip home across the lake on Sunday was quite foggy most of the way but most of the crew was busy watching Greg Norman blow his lead in the British Open on satellite TV. Midway through our trip home, we were hailed by the Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw to warn us that our course would be taking us through the 100th running of the Chicago to Mackinaw Island sailboat race. 400 boats were entered into this race and we saw many boats on radar, but only passed close enough to a few of them to see them through the fog.
Upon arrival at our home port of Grand Haven, the group agreed that this boating and golf combination needs to be an annual event. Perhaps a trip to northern Michigan next year is in order....or should it be the harbor in Chicago or Milwaukee?....we'll have to plan it in November again so we all have something to look forward to during the long cold Michigan winter.....

Last Chicago Pics

A few last pics. Great trip but too short!

July 4

The trip down the Chicago River was great. Here are some pics of the skyscrapers. Really an awesome ride but they could use some nice spots to tie up for lunch/dinner.

The trip home on Sat morning was less than four hours to cover the 109 miles. Waves were basically non existant as forecasted. Everyone again slept (except Tom) as we left at 8:30AM Chicago time after being up late to watch the dual fireworks (sychronized firings from Monroe Harbor and Navy Pier at the same time)....really cool.

Had to buy some fuel at Burnham Harbor in Chicago....$5.43 per gallon! Ouch!

Want to go back to Chicago when we can spend more time exploring the harbors and the town. Really a nice family trip with all six of us on board. Once they get the new rest rooms and harbor master office done at DuSable it will be the best marina in Chicago!