Sunsets

Ahhhh...another luscious, comforting sunset. Red sky at night...sailors delight I'm pretty sure it goes something like that. Anyway, today's heavily overcast sky reluctantly gave way to a tangerine-lit horizon. Funny, without the clouds capturing the fading light, we might have missed it altogether.

Beaufort, South Carolina, in late November. Not a bad place to be.

Beginning the cruise

Log entry: June 6, 1999 South Haven Michigan



After a year's worth of saying our good-byes, Beowulf finally untied the lines and attempted to get away from the dock on June 6, as planned. Strong winds hammered the boat against the dock, forcing the fenders against the pilings, making for a rather inglorious exit-backwards. We didn't know exactly what to do with the dinghy so it wrapped around a stern piling, anchoring us sideways in the slip. It is always helpful to have ten to twenty people on the dock to witness the debacle as well!



I am so glad I had forgotten about that scene. Among the crew standing on the dock were family members, friends and a few stray tourists who just wandered by and wanted to know what everyone was looking at. We had just spent two months preparing our 1982 Cape Dory 36, hull#77, for living aboard...watermaker, radar and arch, SSB radio, additional lining for the ice box, new bronze thru-hulls, bottom paint, new waterheater, installation of addditional GPS's, cedar lining for the hanging lockers, pumps and fittings and spares and more spares. If we could think of it, we got it.



Our good-bye party the night before was shared with fellow cruisers Jack and Kitty Engels on Kittiwake. They were smart enough to leave two weeks later when the crowd was gone! Thanks to my sister Judy and brother-in-law Stan and our South Haven friends, especially Dan and Jane Chappell of Chaps, we enjoyed one great send-off party.



Superhaven Campground and Fish Camp was our home for two months: one bed, a TV, a microwave and a coffeemaker. This was really a great introduction to living aboard in a tiny space. Superhaven was one of those delightful places along the Michigan shore where a guy could bring his boat up to Lake Michigan, hang out all day on the water and come back to Superhaven in the evening, clean his fish and cook them over an open fire. It was not a fancy resort, but it felt like home to us.

The cruising dream

Just do it! Follow Your Dreams... Driving home from work or waking up at 3 am in the morning, the catch phrases rang through my ears. Did I have what it would take? Could I sell it all, stuff myself and my husband in a 36' sailboat and untie the lines to what most would consider a very secure, predictable life in the Midwest? Ten years later and well over 20,000 miles under our keel, I guess the real answer to the question is "yes." The initial apprehension and fears might have taken longer to disappear than I would have liked, but somehow I've forgotten (well, not quite forgotten) most of the sleepless nights and knotted stomach that would not go away. Now I dream of the crystal clear waters of Georgian Bay, the sight of sailing past the Statue of Liberty, the depth of the blue water in the Gulf Stream, the pink sands of Harbour Island in Eleuthera and th Bayou Castine in Mandeville, Louisana. And, I could just go on and on. I just think I will.