8-25 Port Austin: We set the alarm for 6am to get up and get going. We were on our way by 7:30am. The skies were dark and low and the wind was 10-15kn. The first two hours were pretty good. The lake had some small swells, but the ride was fairly smooth. The second two hours, the swells had some time to build and the ride got more rolly polly. The last two hours, we were crossing the mouth of the Saginaw Bay and the swells were 3-5 feet. The wind was in the low teens and the ride kept getting rougher. The temps were in the low 60's. I was cold and miserable. Even Bob had on sweat pants, jacket, hood and gloves. We had the main sail up all day and the head sail was in and out several times, depending on the wind. By the time we got into port, my back muscles had cramped and I was chilled all the way through. Bob's shoulder muscles were sore from hanging onto the helm all day. When we pulled into dock, the dock hand said, "I wouldn't go out in this weather." Another boater came to talk. They had pulled in yesterday and stayed put today. The said yesterday was bad here, the waves got to 8 feet and there were small craft warnings issued. I was so glad we didn't venture out yesterday. I celebrated landfall by having hot chocolate with Bailey's. We took some naps and walked the town. It was hamburgers and corn on the cob for dinner.

8-26 WEATHERED IN AGAIN. We decided to stay put. The other boats that were here yesterday are also staying for another day. The wind never quit all night and today was to be more of the same. Same total cloud cover, same low 60’s, same 10-15kn. My muscles still hurt from shivering all day yesterday. We walked over to the local bakery for Bob, then to the coffee shop for me. It was 9:30 before we even had breakfast. We spent the morning on the boat reading and whatever. Bob replaced a valve in the toilet. Next came naps, cross stitch, then a walk along the break wall. It is a pretty little town, but I must admit, one pretty little harbor town is beginning to look like every other pretty little harbor town. By three O’clock additional boats started arriving in the marina. One boat is from Cleveland Ohio (Cheryl and Verle of SONATA.IN.SEA) and is making the same trip home as we are. It will be interesting to see how many more times we run into them. Cheryl and Verle stopped to visit and we shared a glass of wine. They are on their fifth summer of sailing, same as us. It’s funny how some stories parallel. The pic today is the break wall. Notice the difference between the harbor side and the lake side.