This past Sunday marked the first trip on Hannabel that was more than a mere daysail.  Erin, Hannah, Isabel, my mom, dad and I all shoved off from the docks at North Shore Marina at about 11:00am and headed north to Muskegon for lunch.

The weather called for light air (5-10kts) out of the north, so we knew might be in for a long, slow trip of only 24 total miles.  Still, we were eager to get some mileage beneath our keel so we worked our way windward...for about 3 hours.  The trip to Muskegon was uneventful, as we munched on my mom's almond bars and basked in the sunny (but cool!) 1st day of June.  Just west of Grand Haven we observed a couple of the USCG boats practicing towing drills as we sailed by at a very leisurely pace. 

We pulled into the Muskegon breakwater and channel around 2:30pm and motored our way to Dockers.  The food was good, even if they did take the very memorable calamari off the menu.  There was also a live blues band and plenty of activities for the girls.

The trip back to Grand Haven was equally mellow.  The winds remained at around 5kts, but shifted to a more NW heading.  We sailed with the main and genoa about half way and then started the motor to give us a little extra push.  The air temperatures were a bit warmer on the return trip so we all soaked up sun in the cockpit and on deck.  Hannabel returned safely to her slip around 7pm.

We can't wait for our next trip!