We had a slow start to our morning today. We slept in and dilly dallied over breakfast. We didn't get out of Lexington until 10:30. That was quite a bit later than we planned. But hey, that's what vacation is all about isn't it? Before we left I made up our sandwiches for lunch so it would just be a grab and go later in the day.
As we headed North, Lake Huron was fussing. We had NW winds and some white capping. Probably about three foot seas. The waves were quartering on our bow.
So here's a little lesson for all of our non boater friends. When we talk about wind direction it refers to where the wind is coming from; not where it is blowing to. So when the winds are from the west as we are moving north in Lake Huron, they are blowing off land. Or they are called an off shore wind. So that NW wind as we left Lexington was blowing from the North and off shore.
Because we were heading north; those waves were coming at us on about a 45' degree angle. Or quartering our bow. Those are ideal conditions when the sea is a bit bumpy. We aren't pounding into waves directly in front of us.
When we got even with Harbor Beach the winds changed and we were now heading due North into a direct North wind. Luckily for us they must have been a little less strong and the white capping gradually disappeared. Our boat can handle the rough water; but it's a matter of comfort once we start bouncing around.
As we passed the tip of the mitt and Port Austin we both said, "Well, here we go." Crossing Saginaw Bay can be dicey. It's a long open body of water that can get pretty crazy. Today the weather was on our side and we got all the way across without any issues. I even managed a half our nap. Once we were north of it Dan took his nap.
As we continued North along the pointer finger the winds clocked around and we now had a quartering sea from the SE. So the waves were pushing us a bit from the rear starboard side of the boat. (Starboard is the right side of the boat and Port is the left side. Just remember that Port and left both have four letters) Not white capping much but we did have swells of about four feet. We were still pretty comfortable. As the time passed the lake laid down considerably and we had seas of less than a foot. A very nice ride.
We docked in Presque Isle at 5:30. We had a pretty pleasant seven hour day. The boat ran great.
Presque Isle Harbor. It has a restaurant, pizzeria, general store and two ice cream shops! Everything you need. What a great place!
We pulled into the fuel dock and took on 220 gallons of fuel. It was a little higher up here at $3.27 a gallon. Let's talk a little bit about fuel costs. We budget for our summer fuel bill and put money in a separate account all year for fuel. Some summers we use more and some we use less. Obviously this is a more summer. We are going to be out sixteen days this time. We don't do a lot of vacationing together throughout the year usually. Boating is our hobby and our vacations. When we look at the price of a comparable vacation; say a cruise, all in all our boating compares. Not trying to justify anything, just pointing out that any vacation is going to set you back.
After fueling up and getting our slip assignment we tied up and connected our electrical. Our boat uses a 50 amp electric cord. That runs four air conditioners, recharges our batteries, runs our cooktop, microwave, water pumps, lights and all wall receptacles. When we stern (back in) into our well we can usually get away with our 25' cord. When we bow in we need the 50' cord. Our boat has an electrical connection in both the back and along the starboard side near the front. Today we sterned into floating docks. Michigan harbors are all gradually being renovated to floating docks. They are so awesome. No matter what the water level is you can step right off your boat. With fixed docks it can get tricky climbing up off your boat or down into your boat depending on boat size and water level.
After tying up we washed down the boat and topped off our fresh water.
Presque Isle is well water but it tastes pretty good. I straightened up the bridge while Dan washed off the bird poop from our gunnels. Lexington has quite the population of little birds that like to sit on your bow rails.
After showering I walked over to the little general store. I was looking for a headband or bandana to keep the hair out of my face. I also wanted to pick up some sprite for Dan. Two things that never made it to the lists. I was successful with the headband; but I wasn't paying $1.89 for a twenty ounce bottle of sprite. I guess it's water for Dan till Frankfort.
I walked over to the Portage restaurant which conveniently has a pizzeria in the back room. I ordered us a pizza for dinner and walked back to the boat till it was ready. The pizza was delicious. After dinner we walked back over to the pizzeria and got ice cream cones. Yum!
Bedtime was 9:30; we planned an early start for our nine hour run to Frankfort.
No comments:
Post a Comment