Friday, September 8th Port Huron to Bayfield

Wow!  We had quite an exciting day!  
We left Port Huron, this morning, after a quick stop at the grocery store,

downtown Port Huron
Zingara (4th from the right) looks so small -- this is where we tied up for the night

 and traveled north/northeast into Lake Huron.  It was too windy & cold, though the sun was trying to break through, so Rick was driving from the lower helm.  

 The travel was pleasant enough, although the winds were kicking up the waves a bit.  
My main job was to keep an eye out behind us, watching for overtaking boats, or interesting vessels. Unfortunately, I was “distracted” by my phone, and wasn’t doing my job.  Just before Rick was going to make a “right turn after this buoy” that ended the shipping channel, I looked up and all of a sudden! --- “BIG BOAT !   Rick!  There’s a BIG ship overtaking us, starboard side!”  Rick looked over his right shoulder and there was the bow of a huge freighter, not more than 75 yards away!   Rick quickly turned out of its way, and proceeded to lecture/remind/reprimand/berate me of my lack of attention. 

This is not the freighter, but I just thought I’d give you the idea of how HUGE these ships are.
After we re-grouped from that close call, Rick headed Zingara northeast towards Bayfield. Then --- The weather started getting rough,
The tiny ship was tossed,
If not for the courage of the fearless crew …. 
The waves grew to over 3 feet, and due to our course, we were taking them on our portside, causing the boat to roll.  I quickly stowed as much as possible (checking that doors were locked open, cabinets locked shut, coffee maker, etc. into the sink) then just held on and tried not to barf for the next 3 hours.  



Notice that the wipers were on, wiping away the spray, so that Rick could steer.

Finally, we arrived in Bayfield.  The marina was not far from the breakwater, there was a strong opposing current (due to 2+ inches of rain the night before), and the wind was coming in off the lake.  All combined, Rick and Fred (the owner/manager of the marina) had a hell of a time getting Zingara into a slip. 
Once tied up and stomachs settled, we introduced ourselves to the couple in the sailboat alongside us (which we almost hit during an unsuccessful docking attempt).  It’s such a Small World: It turned out that, this sailboat, the “Paradox” (Mark and Fran are both doctors) is usually docked at Great Lakes Yacht Club, near Jefferson Beach Marina, and they know our friend & Rick’s sailing skipper, Cap’n Rick, on the “My Way II”. Mark & Fran had friends arriving by car later that evening – it turned out that we recognized the friends’ boat, “Kern’s Turn” as another boat docked along Lake St. Clair.
All six of us ended up walking together, from the Village of Bayfield Marina, into the tiny quaint town of Bayfield, and shared a wonderful meal at the Black Dog Village Pub & Bistro!  
Marc, Fran, Rick, Sally, Kern,&  Kathleen
We walked back to our boats, marveling at the bright stars, especially the Big Dipper, that showed us the way west, which helped us navigate the 1/3 mile trail back to our boats.   Good Night!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

June/July August part III

Image
Back on Zingara, we experienced an unforgettable evening-cruise down-river to the GM building for a live concert, with FABULOUS new friends!  Laura & Josh Hevron, Rick, Steve & Kate Long Kim & Cap'n Rick Always smiling, Jessie Hornberger Arriving at the GM Building Unfortunately, while dropping the anchor, I injured two fingers, and that cut the evening short.  I can’t even begin to thank the levelheaded, calm friends that surrounded me that night! They made what-could-have-been a disaster, into an organized, effective training for what to do in case of an accident. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! As the hand-surgery healed,    we hosted an Open Hour on Zingara, for our Pontiac Yacht Club friends! During these past two months, we really appreciated this opportunity to meet such fantastic new friends, and to reconnect with “old” ones!  But, now it was time to move on, before it gets too cold here in ...
Read more

May 25th

Image
Wed, May 25th: 6:50 am We left the quiet harbor of Chesapeake City,  and traveled east/northeast in the C&D (Chesapeake/Delaware) canal.  The day started off easy, and I felt so silly at my pride in my accomplishments --- I remembered my gloves when I went out to hoist up the anchor, I pressed the correct button (UP not DOWN) on the electric windless, and I even sprayed off the mud with a small hose BEFORE getting the chain onto the boat!  Then I went inside the cabin, started the generator, let it warm up, switched on the master switch, turned on the galley AC outlets, and THEN > ta-da ->> made coffee!  Ha!!! Simple pleasures for simple minds!   My major job while we were motoring, was to keep an eye behind the boat, to warn Rick is a big SHIP was there; it would run us over! We luckily made to the Delaware River without any mishap, and turned south-east.  There, we saw many huge ships, one named the British Century. ...
Read more

Wednesday, May 31st Sag Harbor to Greenport

Image
ANOTHER day of clouds and drizzle!  So, we stayed tied up, walked into town for a delicious (but expensive $27 ???) breakfast at the Golden Pear!  Lunch Menu >>> We waked down Main street, went by 1790 circa. homes, one that had the wonderufl rose garden! to the Sag Harbor Whaling Museum. As we’re docked, and have electricity, we did shopping & laundry while waiting for the fog to break.  We’re trying to get to Greenport, NY (only 1 ½ hours away) on the North Fork of Long Island.  We had visited this town by land last summer, and look forward to visiting it again, by sea.   We just wish we could get some sunshine!!!
Read more