Entry #79: N43.02.110, W87.53.786 – Anchored in Milwaukee,Wisconsin
Friday, July 12th & Saturday, July 13th (Days 67 & 68) – I left the Grand Haven Marina relaxed and in great spirits. The weather forecasts were promising calling for NO STORMS and 6 to 8 knots winds and 1 to 2 foot seas (waves) from the north. I was heading south towards Holland and appreciated the winds on my back calling for a smooth sail. It is now or perhaps never to complete my 100 mile/24 hour Trans-Superior qualifier.
The forecasts called for moderate winds coming from the north shifting 180 degrees and come from the south in the early afternoon. The south winds were forecast to hold steady through the night. Should the forecast hold true, I felt comfortable with the following strategy _
As long as the winds were coming from the north, I would sail downwind along the coastline hopefully reaching Holland, then Saugatuck, then South Haven and so forth until the wind was forecast to shift and come from the south. At that point I would re-affirm the western weather patterns and immediately tack and sail on a reach as I would head for the Wisconsin coastline some 70 plus miles away.
As I left Grand Haven and got into open water, I immediately raised my sails, turned off my engine, marked my location into my Garmin GPS chart plotter and entered my starting co-ordinates into my logbook.
Unfortunately, the winds soon died down shortly after I began. After a half hour of little to know wind I decided to postpone my attempt until the wind picked up. (Due to the high PHRF rating of NTL, the GLSS would accept it taking me longer than 24 hrs to reach 100 miles. However, I didn’t want to push their exemption window.) Subsequently, I had to restarted my attempt twice before finally restarting for good when the winds came up at 12:30 in the afternoon from the same north direction.
I sailed for speed and distance with my direction serving as a reference and not a waypoint. The north winds were blowing at 9 to 11 knots for the next 2 1/2 hrs. The wind began to shift to the southwest shortly after 3 pm. I turned off my auto-pilot and took over the helm to take advantage of wind lifts from the shoreline. NTL was making good speed and I was enjoying the sail.
I had passed Holland and was about to pass Saugatuck when the wind shifted now coming from the south at 6 to 8 knots. With my wind apps on my I-phone I could see that there was a hole(no wind) developing at the bottom of Lake Michigan in the Chicago area. I then confirmed from my weather apps moderate winds coming from the south would continue through the night. Per plan, I immediately tacked heading west for Wisconsin.
The 6 to 9 knot winds from the south lasted to 1:30 am before shifting coming from the west south west at 10 to a robust 15 knots. I continued to go for speed and change my course heading 40 degrees to maintain a reach tack. I was now heading further north towards Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
I was tired but turned off my auto-pilot around 8:00 am to more efficiently adapt to increasing fluctuations in the wind direction. At 11:00 am the next morning I suddenly hit a hole. Though I had been making great time – at times hitting 6 1/2 mph, I was still 25 miles short of reaching 100 miles. For the next three hours I battled the flies with my can of Raid.
When the wind finally filled-in, NTL had drifted 5 additional miles. Now had 20 miles remaining. I quickly made sail adjustments as the north winds continued to build to 15 knots. I again didn’t care about my direction, all I cared about was achieving the fastest speed and distance in the shortest amount of time. It happened that the direction I was headed led me towards Milwaukee.
I started my attempt 1,927 miles into my journey. At 3:30 I read 2,027 miles on my GPS. I finally met my qualifier bogey and in only 28 hours!
I anchored in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin harbor at 8:30 pm that evening. I felt a sense of exhilaration and contentment during the five hour sail. It went without incident with one exception. As I motored towards my anchoring area I heard a hail from a crewmember on sailboat motoring out of the harbor, “That’s Never Too Late!” I smiled and waved as I continued on my way.
The Milwaukee harbor and skyline was beautiful as I fell asleep.
Day 68: 2048 miles, Lakes Erie & Ontario circumnavigation complete; Lake Huron one leg complete; Lake Michigan one leg complete proceeding north on the second leg.
I may be demonstrating paranoia by forwarding the pictures (below) as evidence following my fourth qualification effort. I could visualize the board members chuckling. I smiled too just thinking about it as I submitted my documentation. I also was grateful for the opportunity given me as well.
Never Too Late For 