We're (almost) Home!

There are two ways to access marine weather forecasts: online from NOAA, or on a marine radio from the National Weather Service. Their forecasts don't always agree. This morning, for example, one said we would have moderate winds and small waves for a run from Beaver Island to Charlevoix. The other, however, sounded like a broken record, predicting 2-4 foot waves until Thursday, at least. So we dithered over whether to leave today or not. When another sailboat headed out, we asked them to radio and let us know what they found outside the protected harbor. At 10:30 we got their report and decided to make a run for it.

Run is what we did. The wind was almost directly astern of us. We tried tacking downwind to avoid gybing, which can be very dangerous. While we were in the lee of Beaver Island, conditions were quite nice, with gentle rolling waves on our quarter. But when we left the protected waters about halfway into our journey, we met leftover waves that had been building over the last several days. So we coasted down the fronts of four-footers and at times found ourselves in confused seas, with some waves coming up behind us from the north while others rolled in on our starboard beam. The confusion continued as we approached the pierhead light at Charlevoix and discovered that it's no longer white but has been painted red! Needless to say, we were glad to see the bridge go up allowing us to enter Round Lake and back into familiar territory.

After exactly a month away, it's good to be "home". We plan to drive to our "other" home tomorrow.