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.
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