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.