(A picture will be added as soon as we get the film developed. I can't find my digital camera at the moment.)

Well we passed under the Mackinac Bridge and on to Lake Huron. Ben actually had the honor of being at the helm while we passed under the bridge. The height of the bridge is very deceiving. Ben was sure the mast was going to hit the bridge, but we know from crossing over the bridge that we where in do danger of hitting at anytime.

The conditons during trip itself were a little bit more difficult than NOAA had indicated they would be. NOAA was right about the front moving through by noon, and they were right about the sun shining most of the day, and they had the temperature of the air pretty close, (we didin't check the water temperatur) and they had the wind direction correct. The problem was they had the wind speeds a little bit off, they tended to be stronger than called for, and the wave height was off as well. NOAA called for waves upto to four feet, and they were to be near shore. Well we ran into plenty of waves that were bigger than the four feet called for and in some cases we had stretches of waves that ran at 7 to 8 feet consistently. But we decided 8 foot waves all from the same direction and with a few seconds in between made for much easier sailing than the "washing machine" action when waves seem to come from no where, even if they are generally only four foot in height. We have spoken to boaters from Florida who are doing the Great Loop and according to them they find it much easier to boat on the ocean. They liked the consistency of the wave direction on the ocean. If they're right, I think we're going to like that consistency as well.

For now we're back home and working. We're hoping the weather will be good for us to leave Sunday from St. Ignace. The first of September is approaching quickly and we would really like to be in Tonawanda by that time, or at least close enough that we could make a quick run for the canal once I've closed the winery and we can spend longer periods on the boat.

That's it for now. Hopefully we'll have more to report on Sunday evening.