Great sail across Lake Michigan

[ruffwind]

I had to go to a wedding in St. joe, Mi on August 3rd.  I needed some time off and sailing so far this summer had been disappointing.  I usually only get to sail after work, at night and most of the summer so far was jacket weather after 7pm.  I watched the weather closely and as August 1was approaching the weather forecast just kept looking better.  I was excited to get off the grid and get out on the open water.  I recruited one of the guys on the dock who has been wanting to sail across the lake and we made our final plans. 

Fancy, my 1992 ComPac 23 was ready.  We set sail at 3:30 in the afternoon from Kenosha, Wi for St Joe, MI, 75 Nautical miles away.  Wind was about 13 out of the NW so I was able to fly my new/used spinnaker I had just purchased on Ebay.  We averaged about 5knots until sunset.  We had a brief lull with big dragonflies hovering around and then the wind came up to about 12-16 from the SW.  Perfect beam reach!!  The wind held all night long and we were making good time.  As the sun started coming up we could see land and also a huge bank of clouds hugging the MI shoreline.  By sunrise we were in a torrential downpour that held all the way to port.  After a few big wind shifts and some lightning we decided to drop sail and motor the last 12 miles.

We pulled into the West End marina in St. joe at about 8am, 15.5hrs after leaving.  Wet, but no worse for wear.  The dock master saw our boat and he said, "you sailed across the lake in that?"  before I could say yes, someone on the dock said, "hey that is a great sea worthy boat, good job."  Of course the rain stopped at 8:30am and the weekend in MI and the wedding was perfect.

Sunday morning it was time to head back to Kenosha.  We had breakfast with my wife and some other relatives who drove over and set off by 10am with 12-15 NE winds.  Perfect beam reach back home.  Oh, before we left we gassed up, 2.5 gallons of gas.  There was a nice new Silverton 46 gassing up who was also returning to Kenosha.  His gas bill $2400.  I love traveling at sailing sipped.  That NE wind held all day long.  At about  8:30 PM the breeze lightened enough that we made the decision to motor.  The GPS said we would arrive at 4am under sail and Midnight if we motored.  When I topped off the tank the next day, we burned 3.5 gallons of gas over 3.5 hrs.

We had a great trip, perfect weather and the ComPac was a comfortable way to travel.  Can't wait to plan another trip across the lake.

[TedW]

Nice going Ruffwind. I'm over on the other side.....Lake Huron. Haven't built up the courage yet to take off over the horizon, but enjoyed reading your post. Nice to hear your boat handled the big lake so well.

[jcatkeson]

You say you burned 3.5 in 3.5 hours. That is about what I get in a 7.5 hp two stroke Mercury. Is your motor two or four stroke.

[ruffwind]

I have a Mercury 9.9 that pushes us at about 5.5 knots per hour. 

[ruffwind]

TedW just do it.  I have crossed the lake on 30 and 35 footers and a J24 and the ComPac was every bit as sea worthy.  GPS makes it all easy and safe.  I love sailing at night.  No sun and the stars are awesome.  Don't worry about darkness, the water and the air have a huge color contrast and visibility is usually 10 miles or more.

[nies]

Great sail, this trip has been on my "bucket list"for a long time, since sailing around the world alone in my CP16 had to be taken off and I seem to be running out of time I will just have to enjoy your trip...........nies

[crazycarl]

thanks for sharing.
this is something i've always wanted to do in our 19.
if you need crew next time, give me a shout!


carl

[NateD]

Very nice! The farthest I've done in a single hop was about 43 miles.

Did either you or the crew sleep while underway? That's something that I haven't tried yet.

Did you use an autopilot, or hand steered the entire way?

[ruffwind]

On the way there we stayed on deck until around 3am and then I went down and took a short nap.  Of course when I came back up to drive the skies opened up, but it was warm rain so it wasn't really bad.  We steered by hand the whole way.  I have tried to buy a used auto pilot on ebay, but I keep loosing the bid.  On the way back no one slept and we were able to tie the tiller, balance the sails and we sailed about 6 hours with just occasionally touching the tiller. 

[Cevin c Taylor]

Thanks for sharing your experience.  I recently sailed on Lake Michigan from Glen Arbor, MI, out to the Manitou Islands.  It was a great trip.

[Banana Cakes]

Awesome sail! I have heard that is a tricky sail to perform.  The CP23 is definitely a proven sailboat, and you have motivated me to give that a try now! The guy that I bought my boat from had a roller furler 150% Ginny was considering a spinnaker, but I don't think I need it with that massive jib.  But I liked the part of your story when you the dock master asked you 'if you sailed across on that boat.' Little does he know these aren't just sailboats, they are yachts.  Great story!

[ruffwind]

Banana,  I had a 155 Genoa on my boat when I bought it and found it was too big for the normal winds on Lake Michigan.  Too much healing moment and weather helm.  I bought a new set of sails and opted for a 110% Jib and I think the boat is more balanced and easier to sail with a lot less weather helm.  I also tightened the forward lowers and tightened the back stay to bend the mast above the the spreaders slightly back which opens up the top of the main sail.  The main sail was also made with the top two battens being full battens and some roach was added.  This helps the main twist off in a gust and also reduces healing.  The boat is much more balanced under sail and thus easier to steer and faster.

I bought the Spinnaker because the smaller jib made sailing downwind too slow.

[Banana Cakes]

I know exactly what ya mean!  Luckily I can reef the jib on the furler.  I'll give tightening the back stay a try. Thanks! And hope to one day sail Lake Michigan

[Salty19]

Just an FYI...one can reef the genoa on a reefing furler, but the sail shape won't be optimal, you'll loose a few degrees into the wind. That roll of sail on teh leading edge will disrupt windflow and will harm pointing.

Also the lighter sail material weight of genoa's typically make them susceptible to increased wear and tear in strong winds.  They are designed for light wind, not to handle all conditions despite what the marketing people at furling companies will try to make folks believe. 

Reefing a genoa should be considered as an option perhaps for short term (daysailing), but not for cruising where you want/need that sail to remain undamaged and perform well in conditions where you need the best control possible.  If you're crossing the gulf or Lake Michigan, I would encourage you to look into a 100% or 110% jib made out of stronger sailcloth rather than a furled genoa.  Just my $.02...leave change accordingly.

[relamb]

I singlehanded across Lake MI and back on my CP23 over the 4th of July weekend 2012.  From Frankfort MI to Sturgeon Bay WI, and back to Frankfort.
Took about 14 hours across, but only 10 to get back, sailing all the way no motoring.  The wind was from the south, a beam reach all the way.  A great sail, and I'm tempted to do it again.  Pick a good weather window, and it's entirely possible.