Grand Traverse Bay Passage

[mgoller]

     Well,  the rendevous was awesome!  The weather was beautiful and the wind was strong.  This was my second sailing experience where land was out of sight and navigation was pretty important.  I will post a full report when I recover from the exhaustion and being away from home and work. 
     The harbors were fantastic and the beaches were soft sand going out hundreds of yards.  The waters were so clear 20 feet looked like 5.
     We were a Com-Pac 16 and 19 alone on the big bay except for an occasional coastal motor sailor in the distance.  Seems those 30 - 50 foot sailing Yachts don't see the deep water very often.  I think they serve mostly as cocktail lounges in the marina. 
     Not so with our Com-Pac yachts.  We pushed these boats hard.  I clocked mine at 5.7 knots a couple of times with the main layed hard onto the shrouds and the jib feathered out.  The wind shrieked through the shrouds with a high pitched whistle.  The pressure on the tiller with the following 3-4 foot swells was heavy.  We would climb the swell and surf it down.
     The high pressure area in charge was slowly giving way to a slow moving cold front.  The next day we decided to return to home port fighting a head wind the whole way.  It was a 17 n mile race with countless tacks to beat possible thunderstorms.
     We  kept each other close and in sight and by radio made decisions on trim and course.  Lunch each day was prepared ahead.
     I think the passages were a bit ambitious but we did it and the test of crew and boat was won.
     I did manage to get a lot of sailing footage that I will be able to post.
     I can also report on the 16 performance vs. the 19.  In general the 16 outperformed the 19 slightly on the runs and the 19 outperformed the 16 on the reaches.  But really the boats were closely matched.  Occassionally I had to fight to keep up with the 16 and sometimes I had to reef or s turn to let the 16 catch up.
     Also, for a sail like this you want the best motor you can get and it has to be reliable when winds kick up to 30 knots.  That's another story.

[dusty]

Marcus! i'm green with envy (and the description of the swells - hee!)

oh man that sounds like you had a blast - on the edge of my seat waiting to hear more....

glad y'all're back safe

[crbakdesign]

Macus,

That's sailing! I can't wait for the pics.  It's been years since I was on the big lake, but as a kid I lived near the shores and I learned to sail off the beaches on lake Michigan, bu that's a tale for another time.  From the sound of it you were single handed - no crew and 30 knot winds!

Good to hear you are back and had a great experience!

Clemens

[spaul]

Marcus,
what a wonderful story you have and thanks for sharing with us all. Each and every one of us are green with envy and wish we could have been along. Sometimes the things worth doing are just that, worth doing. Well done.

Steve Paul
cp27/2
IM PAUL SIVE

[TroyVB]

Hey All,

Marcus, My family and I had a great time on Grand Traverse Bay.  The passage making was great and the company was fantastic.  As Marcus said the boats were evenly matched and we had no problem staying together until the very end.  (Marcus sailed and I motor sailed).  I had two crew members who thought that 7 hours on the water was more than enough. 

Highlights of the trip for me?

Having people watch from their huge yachts as we prepped our little boats and set out from safe harbor.  I am sure that I saw envy in one gentleman's eyes as he sipped coffee from his slipped yacht.

Bellow Island- the one that the birds own.  Alfred Hitchcock could have filmed here.

Standing on the dock as the voyage came to an end, watching Marcus as he sailed into Elk Rapids without a motor.  Man, what a perfectly executed tack.  He is way to modest.  He mentioned needing a good motor, although he arrived to harbor a little later he made it look easy and he can truly say he sailed right up to the dock.

Living for two nights in such close quarters with my family I realize that I am able to stay on this little boat without too much trouble but when you add a wife and daughter cramped is definately the word.  Nice to have the docks in the Marina to spread out.

Make the trip folks it's worth it.  My only disappointment.  Not making it to Suttons Bay.

Cast off the lines folks.  Summer will be gone before you know it.

[steve brown]

Marcus, A Great sail by a Great sailor. Congratulations! Steve