Entry #69: N45.19.791, W83.28.897
Sunday, June 30th: I left my dock at 11:30 am headed for Presque Isle in an effort to beat the incoming weather. Presque Isle is approximately 19 miles due north of Alpena. Given my 4 mph trip average that would make it a very doable 5 hour sail. However, Alpena is located at the far western end of Thunder Bay and it took me a full 4 hours to round Thunder Bay Island and head directly for Presque Isle. At that point I was over 20 miles and still 5 hours from my destination. But I had a contingency, unlike in Lake Erie, with the weather coming from the west, there were numerous safe harbors to choose from between Thunder Bay Isle and Presque Isle.
It was past 8 pm when I reached the southern harbor of Presque Isle. I saw two sailboats anchored and I positioned myself closest to the western tree line before setting anchor. The harbor was well protected and I felt I was in the best location should the storm hit during the night as it was now predicted.
I hit the sack completing day 54 of my trip and 1,554 miles.
Yes, I have been pushing it on Lake Huron and here’s why…
When I was planning this journey, I broke down each Great Lake into segments and assigned priority tasks. My initial priority and task sailing on Lake Erie for example was to focus on learning NTLs sailing mannerisms and tweaking her for improved performance. Instead, my time on Lake Erie required focusing on survival, testing both NTLs and my own seaworthiness and seeking safe harbors.
In my planning stage, I saw in Lake Huron the opportunity to complete a 100 mile overnight and the potential to make up time should there be a need to do so. Again, the unanticipated time required to circumnavigate Lake Erie due to the weather and the over-extended layover at JBM has served to further the priority to take advantage of Lake Huron. I hope to be able to utilize my time on Lake Michigan to further tweak NTL and work on my points sail – originally planned while sailing Lake Erie.
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Never Too Late For 