Cheryl's Notes:

We left Put in Bay early this morning. We had a rough few hours as we battled waves building to 6 feet and winds on the nose. We put out a headsail and sailed off the wind, but we really didn't want to visit Toledo. When we tried to tack back to our course, a boarding wave swamped the cockpit. Finally pulled in the sail and plowed through with the engine. Half way across the lake, the wind lay down and the waves got smaller. Much better.

I went down to make lunch and noticed that we had no water pressure. Went under the settee to check the water pump and realized that we blew a hot water hose. Water had sprayed everywhere and the line was no longer pressurized. We decided to hold the repair until we docked for the night. We said goodbye to Lake Erie and entered the Detroit River. When we docked we pulled the utensil cabinet out and discovered a tear in the hot water hose to the sink. Luckily, it was right past the clamp. We were able to cut it off and still have enough length to reattach the hose. Water back on, job done.

Our next battle is to figure out a plan for going upstream to Lake Huron. We made it down in one long day, traveling with the current. Going upstream today, we were only making 4 knots. We are told that the current gets stronger the farther north that we go.

John's Notes:

You just have to bash to weather for a few hours in high winds and waves to enjoy the good days. As Cheryl said, we took a whopper boarding wave during a tack. Glad we have a cut-a-way transom. That was a lot of water.

In the area of "for what it's worth," an indicator of how the economy is doing compared to four years ago, might be how marinas are doing. Four years ago, we had no problem getting a transit slip at any time. Now¸ you try and make a reservation, even during the week, and you will probably find that they are booked solid. Tomorrow night we will be anchored in Lake St. Clair, right off Grosse Point. Wonder how the "richies" are going to like that? I'm a little concerned about where we are going to spend the weekend and Cheryl's birthday. I don't think she is going to be too thrilled about being anchored out.

A little tough on the First Mate this morning. I'm thinking that she has forgotten the last trip across the Gulf Stream. She'll be back in full swing in another week.

Local knowledge says stay as close to the Canadian shore as we can going up river to minimize the effect of current. We will just have to wait and see. Going to use a little more fuel than normal in the next couple of days. A guy in Sandusky told me that the current is sometimes so strong that you can hardly make 1kt progress with the throttle wide open. Sure hope that isn't the case.

Note to cruisers: Skip the Grosse Ile Yacht Club. Had to pay for dockage and no hot water in the showers. The entire marina is filled with seaweed.