It has finally happened for me! This no longer feels like we are on one of our sailing vacations. Since moving onto Starship more than two months ago we have been to 26 anchorages and/or marinas, travelled on three lakes and are now in a different country from where we began. Yup, our life definitely feels very different and I am absolutely loving it!

Jumping back into where I left off in my last blog…we pulled anchor in beautiful Harbour Springs on September 3^rd at about 9 PM. It was a tough call. Analyzing the weather forecast, nothing looked good for us but that night appeared to be the best of the worst to allow us to continue south. Before we left, we took off the main sail cover and prepped it on the second reef. At the same time, we knew the wind direction would likely not allow us to sail and we were right – we motored the entire night.

Matt and I had the first night watch. The wind stayed light for a while and with the moon in its waning gibbous phase it was a very bright night. Using the Star Tracker app on his phone (very cool app!) we together learned how to identify the Hercules constellation and saw a few shooting stars as we motored through the night with the rest of our crew sleeping down below. By the time Jason and Candace came on watch at 2 AM the winds, as expected, had picked up considerably. With the waves increasing in size, conditions were getting tougher but we stayed under control and were able to keep our speed above 5 knots. I couldn’t believe it – our recent sails both day and night had been so cold but that night was beautifully warm. I did our entire watch in shorts and bare feet!

Matt tucked into the quarter berth and I headed towards the v-berth to put my pyjamas on. Just then a wave hit that literally lifted my feet off the ground! Jas had been able to get a bit of sleep in the v-berth but I quickly saw that would not be an option for me. Dylan delightfully had no trouble sleeping in the main area so I just snuggled in beside him and drifted off to sleep. At 5:30 AM I was woken up to take the helm as Jason dropped the hook. We finally arrived at our destination – Sutton Harbour. With the engine finally off and the boat still we all crashed hard until about 10:00 that morning.

Shortly after we woke, Candace got a text from her friend, Kim, saying that her husband, Brendan, is about to fly over us in a helicopter! He is a swimmer with the US Coast Guard and he was on his way to take pictures of us at anchor! We finished our morning swim just in time to tidy the deck and get up on the bow before we saw the helicopter come into sight. It was pretty cool to see as they got low enough to really kick up the water with the down draft. They got some fantastic pictures of Starship! Kim and Brendan are wonderful and we are so happy to have had the chance to connect with them. Check out the following link to hear Brendan’s incredible story that led him to receive an award for extraordinary bravery during a rescue! https://maritime-executive.com/article/two-uscg-rescue-swimmers-receive-afras-award-for-bravery

That day just got better and better as right after the helicopter flew away, we saw we had terrific wind conditions to go further into Traverse Bay. We enjoyed one of the best sails yet under sunny skies with Matt at the helm. We anchored in Bower’s Harbour and Kim and Brendan came over in their boat with a stack of pizzas and beverages for a swim party while a million stars looked down on us.

This part of Lake Michigan truly is spectacular. I thought we’d have a long way to go before we were on clear turquoise waters and away from mosquitos but here it was already! With no need for screens and lots of hot temperatures, we feel like we are already in Caribbean waters. We spent an entire day on the beach at Power Island swimming and sunning!

The next day was a rain day. After we watched Candace’s water bottle fill up quickly on deck, Jas opened our deck plates and soon our water tanks were topped up! Later that day Kim picked up Candace so she could go get their rental car. That night we connected again with Kim & Brendan and Matt & Candace treated us to dinner in Traverse City! I should mention that Kim also received a number of packages for us which was wonderful! One package contained toques for Jason and I that were knitted by our friend, Jennifer, in Edmonton. We love them and will wear them quite a bit we figure this fall as we head down the Mississippi River!

On September 9^th we sadly said our good-byes to Matt and Candace. It’s not easy co-living in such a small space without many household conveniences but the five of us easily made it work. It was so fantastic having them on board and we all had so much fun together. Jas and I are confident we will be welcoming them back on board again at some point and perhaps for the Atlantic crossing!

The day after our guests left, we headed out to North Manitou Island. Again, we were blown away by how clear the water is. We could see our anchor buried in the sand 20 feet deep! We arrived just before sunset and quickly lowered the dinghy so that we could go explore the incredible sand dunes. It was funny, Dylan just loved running down the sand dunes and I said to him ‘now imagine how much fun it would be if you could do that with kids your age’. Little did I know, the very next day we FINALLY connected with our very first kid boat!

Jason had been in touch with the family on the sailboat, Fika, through Facebook and they were so close to us now!  After a few messages back and forth our plans firmed up to meet them by Sleeping Bear sand dunes. The dunes were 600 feet high! I did not think we’d actually do the climb to the top but guess what!? We did! After meeting up with Chris, Alison and their kids, Ewan and Gwynnie, off we went to do the climb. It was very challenging so we took many breaks as we progressed. At the top, the view of Starship and Fika was amazing – they looked like little toy boats at anchor! We all enjoyed the much easier descent and before we knew it, anchors were up and away we went following Fika into Frankfort.

Frankfort – oh man, where do I start? Wow, what an incredible three days that was! We knew that this trip would bring interesting and wonderful people into our lives and Frankfort absolutely lived up to that! Our first day there we met up with Chris and the kids at the library and then we all went looking for a place to stop for lunch. Ewan noticed the restaurant across the street that had ‘award winning fries’ written on the window and the decision was quickly made – we were headed to Frankz Restaurant for lunch!  Shortly after we got our food (and, yes, the fries were delish!) the owner, Joey, came over to say hello. He quickly got onto the topic of fishing as Dylan’s eyes lit up! Here was another ‘fast friend’ situation unfolding in front of us. We talked for quite a while and, to Dylan’s delight, Joey sent us on our way with two ‘big fish’ rods and a ton of lures for us to borrow! So kind of him! Well, we weren’t a block away when we heard Joey yell out to us. His staff decided he was overdue for a day off so he offered to take us fishing in his boat! Alison and I stayed back to allow more room in the boat and our guys had a great time with the kids!

The next day we wandered into town and popped back in to Frankz to say hello to Joey. That turned into a full afternoon there enjoying amazing drinks, food and company. We were introduced to the rest of the staff as Joey outfitted us all in complementary Frankz t-shirts! Later that evening we welcomed everyone onto Starship for drinks. Joey and his cook, Miles, came over along with Chris and the kids and we had a blast continuing to all get to know each other!

Joey’s generosity is never ending. The following day he cooked Jason, Dylan and I burgers despite the restaurant being closed on Wednesdays. He also gave us a tour of his rental unit he owns above the restaurant.  Click this link to see Joey’s wonderful two bedroom apartment rental in Frankfort, MI!

Connecting with Fika has been terrific! Dylan finally had kids his age to play with and Jason and I really enjoyed getting to know Chris and Alison. Our last day in Frankfort was Ewan’s 11^th birthday! It meant a lot to us to receive the invite to join them in their celebrations that night! We went to Villa Marine Bar and Grill and enjoyed meeting Chris’ parents. That evening really felt like we were with ‘family’ despite us being so far from ours right now.

On September 14^th we said good bye to Joey with the possibility of seeing him again in Key West this January. We hope that works out! We also parted ways with Fika that day but fully expect to see them within the next two weeks as both our boats make our way down to drop our masts in Chicago. As Gwynnie says, we will be playing a big game of ‘tag’ as we track each other on the AIS!

We are now in Pentwater, a charming village in Oceana County. Yesterday we were delighted to have family drive down to see us here! Jason’s Uncle Glen, Aunt Evelyn and cousin Andrea did the drive from Sault Ste. Marie and it was great to see them. Last night they took us out to a lovely dinner at the Pentwater Yacht Club and we met up with them again for coffee this morning before they got back on the road. We think it’s neat that so early in the trip we have already had family come see us twice and we hope that trend continues!

Last week, Dylan officially started school at ‘Starship Middle School’! Things are off to a good start. In Social Studies we are looking at the history of Canada, and in Science we decided to start with the cluster on ‘flight’. He aced his first spelling test and we have begun to read ‘My Side of the Mountain’ and will be doing a book study for it. I have a schedule and a plan but I know we will have to remain flexible.

Today is warm and sunny and we are back at the boat now. Dylan is doing some fishing in the dingy and Jason is trying to trace out a leak we have in our water pressure system. We are considering leaving before the sun tomorrow morning to make way before big winds crank up later in the day. We are thinking of shooting for Holland tomorrow, a 64 nautical mile trip.

September 1 was a sad day. We were in Harbor Springs when we heard of Jimmy Buffett’s passing. Jason has always been a huge fan of him. He went to one of his concerts as a teenager and was hoping on this trip that we’d be able to go to another one down south. There are many reasons why we are doing this trip and it would be accurate to say that the lyrics from many of his songs have helped carry us to where we are today. As any ‘parrot head’ would agree, his music always emphasized enjoying life and following your passions. Starship will frequently plays his music as we continue on enjoying this life on the water following our own passions.