Leo's not a sailor...

I've been having fun on the boat with my humans. I love to snuggle, which seems to make them happy, too. And they have lots of toys on board for me to play with. Carol is going to put lots of photos of me at the top of this entry so you can see how much fun we’re having.

Today was filled with all kinds of new experiences for me! First, my humans let me watch while this machine made something they like to drink. It was very interesting, but kind of scary. Then, just before noon Roger made that loud noise with the engine again, and our house started moving again. That was okay, because I remembered it from before so I wasn’t scared. It was even nicer when Roger & Carol turned the engine off and started sailing. They even let me go up into the cockpit to walk around and explore. That was fun until my tummy started feeling funny. I came downstairs and went to my litterbox. I almost made it when something really strange happened. Carol says I puked because I was seasick. It’s the first time in my whole short life anything like that happened to me, so I was kind of surprised. I felt a little better afterwords, so I tried to sleep. But the house kept tipping, first one way, then the other. I don’t really understand it all, so maybe Carol should explain.

After leaving harbor just before noon, we put up sail early on, even though there wasn’t much wind. We ghosted along, our speed dropping as low as 2 knots sometimes. Just when we thought about starting the engine, around 12:45, the wind came up. It was more westerly than we would have liked, so we had to tack back up the length of Lake Charlevoix, but it turned out to be a wonderful afternoon’s sail. Eventually the wind piped up and we breezed along at top speed, heeling almost 20 degrees. That was fine, except we had to tack a few times, meaning we alternated between heeling first one way, then the other. This did not make Leo very happy.  But WE thoroughly enjoyed it! If we had stayed out any longer we probably would have taken in a reef. It was a warm afternoon with a WSW breeze -- a perfect late summer day to be out on the water.
As we were approaching the harbor we saw another Nonsuch, “Serenity”, putting up sail to blow downwind back to Boyne City. Her captain, Bill Vesey, sails alone frequently and has even taken second in his class in the solo Chicago to Mac race! We may be partial, but we think she’s a lovely boat, especially sailing off the wind.

Leo was much happier when we got into harbor shortly after 3:00 p.m. He came out and explored the cockpit and I got several good photos of him. It’s been nice having a ship’s cat this summer, but we think in future we’ll leave Merlin and Leo at home to play together while we sail.

Leo's first sail

Hello again.  Life is very interesting.  I don't know what to expect, since I'm only about 12 weeks old.  But this part of life is kind of fun.  I spent a day checking out my new surroundings, which are pretty nice.  There are toys here for me to play with, and food and water and my nice pink potty.  Some of the noises are a little scary, but Carol pets me and tells me it's okay, and I believe her.  Why shouldn't I?

The loudest noise was when Roger turned on the engine this morning.  Carol stayed right next to me, so I didn't run away, even though I thought about it.  But she didn't seem worried, and besides, I was very sleepy.  So I curled up next to her and purred.  She left me after a little while, and the next thing I knew our house was moving!  I wasn't worried, though, but I was very curious.  Pretty soon the engine noise stopped.  Carol came down and picked me up so I could look out the window.  There was water rushing past our house!  So interesting!  And the scenery was pretty, too.

I had a nice nap while Roger and Carol hung out upstairs (I think they call it the "cockpit").  Whenever I woke up enough to notice, they seemed pretty happy.  They were talking about sailing downwind kind of slow, but sometimes faster when there was more wind.  After about three hours Carol came down again to pet me while Roger made that loud noise with the engine again.  Pretty soon we stopped moving and I went upstairs to look around.  All I saw was a bunch of white walls before Roger scooped me up and put me back downstairs.  Maybe I'll get another peek sometime.  Most of the time there is a board at the top of the stairs so I can't get out.

Now I am relaxing downstairs.  It's kind of warm here, so none of us has much energy.  It's nice that the marina here in Boyne City has internet so I can write about my adventures and share them with others.  I hope you enjoy reading about them.

That's all for now.

Leo

Welcome, Leo!

Hi.  Leo here.  Does this pink make me look too girlie?  I'm taking over as ship's cat, at least for a few days.  I was hired to be a buddy to Roger & Carol's other cat, Merlin, when they went away on their boat.  But I can't hang out with him yet because I have a slight eye infection.  Meanwhile, their old ship's cat (and I do mean OLD) went away somewhere (I'm far too young to understand where), so they said I could fill in for her this week.

It's pretty fun exploring the boat.  I like to walk around on the countertop in the galley, but I've been told that's not a good idea.  Something about learning to stay off the counter in the kitchen (whatever that is) when we get back home.  So far all I know about where we live in Grand Rapids is the upstairs bathroom and a bedroom.  I guess I have a lot to learn when we get home.

Tomorrow they say we are going to sail to a place called Boyne City at the eastern end of Lake Charlevoix.  Wonder how I'll like that...

Carol here:  Gretel left us a little after 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 9.  She entered my life on June 3, 1989 and stayed for more than 19 years.   She was a sweet and loving little girl who was happy to extend that love to Roger when he came into our life.  She served us well as ship's cat this summer.  We are glad we brought her with us and will miss her very much.  May she rest in peace.

The end of the line

This will be my last post, since we got back to Charlevoix this afternoon and will be driving home to Grand Rapids tomorrow.  It's a bittersweet homecoming, since I am not doing well at all. Carol & Roger are glad they brought me along to be their ship's cat this summer, since it will be my last.  I'm glad, too, because I got to spend my final days close to them.  I'm especially grateful these last few days when I've been feeling so rocky.  They've been sticking close and giving me lots of attention, and that makes me happy.  I'm going to let Carol write about our day on the water.

We left Northport just before 9:00 a.m. this morning, hoping to get to Charlevoix early enough to get a slip.  Winds were supposed to be from the west, which would be perfect for sailing to the northeast.  In fact, we had a nice sail for the first couple of hours, slow in light winds at first until the winds increased to around 10 knots.  We were averaging around 5 knots of boat speed and hoped to make the 1:30 bridge opening at Charlevoix, some 18 miles away, until, midway through the trip, the wind dropped us like a hot potato.  For the rest of the trip the wind was less than 5 knots, but the waves got bigger because we cleared Lighthouse Point at the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula and were subject to the fetch across all of northern Lake Michigan.  So we motored at 6 knots with 2-foot waves on our port quarter for the next two hours.  Not very comfortable.  The good news is that by motoring, we boosted our speed and made the 1:00 bridge opening, just in time to get the last open slip in the marina!  So we are "home", ready for the next stage of our lives, which includes driving to our "house home" and taking Gretel in for probably her last visit to the vet.  We are very sad, but grateful to have spent her last days with her.  And grateful beyond words for the wonderful 19 years and two months of love she has given us.

Heading home

We are headed back to Charlevoix (via Elk Rapids and Northport) after a nice cruise around Grand Traverse Bay over the last couple of weeks.  We spent several more days in Traverse City to celebrate Carol's birthday in style (no, they didn't give me any leftovers, of which there were plenty.  They decided to save them to eat the next day!)...

and so Carol & Roger could go to some movies at the film festival, including one on a huge outdoor screen in a park next to the marina.  Everyone in town (even those who don't care for Michael Moore's politics) agrees that the film festival has been a huge boon to Traverse City and will only get bigger and better as the years go by.  This year they showed over 70 films on five different screens (six counting the one outdoors) in locations all around town.  Madonna even made an appearance, but Carol & Roger didn't see her since they were watching a different movie on the other side of town.

They were also hoping for a nice wind to sail north, but the best they got was a day with no wind (better than a wind from the north because it's easier to motor through calm water than into waves).  That was yesterday.  By now I've gotten used to the engine noise and pretty much ignore it.  I move around between my bed on the floor in the main cabin and the humans' bed in the forward cabin, drinking water and eating a little in between.  We motored north past Sutton's Bay toward the tip of Old Mission Peninsula which divides Grand Traverse Bay in two, East Bay and West Bay.  At that point Carol & Roger decided it was early enough to go around the tip of the peninsula and part way down into East Bay to Elk Rapids, their old home port.

We spent two nights there, and yesterday (Monday) was really hot.  Outside it was in the upper-80s and down in the cabin it was 98-99 degrees!  So they carried me to the air-conditioned lounge to hang out while they played Scrabble.  On the way back to the boat I insisted on walking by myself instead of being carried.  I think there was something familiar about the place.  Carol says they brought me here about 11 years ago to go out sailing on their previous boat.  I loved it!  But then we went out again with Dutch about 9 years ago, and he got seasick and vomited.  So after that I stayed home to keep him company when they went cruising.  Still, I thought I recognized a smell in the air in the harbor at Elk Rapids...  I wandered the dock back towards shore, getting compliments (and some petting!) from other sailors and powerboaters.  It was great!  I felt like a queen (of course, I am one, you know).

The forecast for today (Tuesday) was for wind from the northwest, but not too strong, with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms.  Last night they were predicting big waves for Wednesday, so Roger thought it would be smart to leave today for Charlevoix.  By this morning, however, they had changed the forecast for Wednesday to include lots of sun, small waves and wind from the west -- perfect for sailing home from Northport.  So we motored here in just a few hours and now we're ready to sail again tomorrow.

Happy Birthday, Carol!

Today is a special day, because the human I know better than any other is having a birthday. She celebrated it by renting a car and taking me to the vet to have me checked out. There are signs that my kidneys are getting old, but they will probably keep working for quite a while. Otherwise I seem okay, I just need to eat more. I only weigh 6.8 pounds (I used to weigh twice that!). So they bought me a different kind of food to try, especially since I like variety.

When we got back to the marina I asked if I could spend a little time in the fresh air. Since I don’t move too far too fast, Carol said that would be okay. So I spent almost an hour resting under a bush while Carol sat on the wall next to me and read a book. When Roger came out to join us she took some pictures of me and Roger with the marina and Grand Traverse Bay in the background.

Last night Roger & Carol left me and went into town to see a movie at the film festival. While they were waiting in line to get in, the audience from the previous movie came out. It was a movie made by Phil Donahue, and he came out of the theater with Michael Moore! It was a mob scene. Roger & Carol were close enough to see clearly what was going on, but not close enough to talk to either of them. Still, it was exciting. Tonight at dusk on the big screen they’ve set up in the park next to the marina they are going to show “Back to the Future”. I heard Carol tell Roger she’d like to go see it (it’s free). Before that, though, they are going to have a yummy fancy dinner on board. Their favorite restaurant (Windows) closed after they moved away, but the owner now has a chocolate shop and catering business, so Roger ordered a gourmet dinner for take-out! I hope they give me the leftovers!

It looks like we will move again tomorrow. The prediction is for wind from the wrong direction, but it’s the only day for the next week that there are no thunderstorms in the forecast. I’m not sure how I will like tacking into the wind (tacking makes the boat tilt first one way, then the other). We’ll see.