Cheryl's notes:

Okay, I should never have said that the trip has been 90% boredom. We left Grand Marais with a sense of excitement. We've got wind! The weather predicted winds at 10-20 knots and waves of 2 to 4 feet. The reality turned out to be winds averaging 20 knots and gusting to 30. The waves started out at about 4 feet and about every fifteen minutes we hit a pocket of waves that were from 6 to 8 feet. The boat would ride up the wave and as we slid down the crest the boat speed would increase. We tried the headsail, but the wind was coming from the stern, and the waves made it difficult to keep the boat on the wind. By the end of the day, we had to take shorter turns at the wheel as we were getting exhausted. (A note on something that I have learned on the trip. The level of excitement and adventure is directly proportionate to the number of bruises that I acquire during the day.) At one time I had such a death grip on the wheel that when a wave knocked the rudder sideways, I almost did a cartwheel rotating with the wheel.

A second thing that I have learned is to make some sandwiches for the crew before we leave a safe harbor. It was a long day without eating. We arrived at Whitefish Point State Harbor and grabbed a dock. I decided that I would walk to the Whitefish Point lighthouse and take some pictures for Kay. The lighthouse is the oldest on Lake Superior. It was constructed in 1849. We could see it from our slip, and it didn't seem very far. Turns out it was a mile and a half, but the walk helped warm me up. We had some dinner and turned in early.

John's notes:

Cheryl has been a fantastic navigator on this trip so far. We are using Maptech software and it is fantastic. Unfortunately, we only had the opportunity to use it for about a week before we left. To say that their documentation leaves something to be desired would be an understatement. I would pay for an evening of Guinness to anyone who has used the program for a long time and could show me what I need to know. Someone could make a fortune writing a third party users guide.

With Cheryl as the navigator, she is being conservative. She always makes sure that we skirt any shoals with room to spare. With that being said, I should tell you about our entrance to Whitefish Point State Harbor. This isn't a marina as such. It is a harbor of refuge if anything. There are no services at all, including a garbage can. It does have a few slips. Mostly used by local commercial fishermen. There are only four slips for people like us.

According to Bonnie Dahl's notes, when you enter the harbor you are supposed to hug the wall to starboard because of shoaling to port. As we neared the harbor entrance, we noticed that they were dredging. From our angle of approach, it appeared that there was a tug and two barges that were tied to the starboard wall of the entrance. That was the view that we had, so we approached trying to keep as close to the barges as we could. Right at the entrance two guys on the barge began shouting and waving that there was no water. Wow, was that an understatement. The depth sounder showed 6" under our keel but somehow we made it without toughing bottom (or sides). The only way to explain it is pure Irish luck. Now we wind our way through the break wall and see that there is a slip available. The wind is blowing 20kts plus off the dock and we have to make a couple of approaches but finally get tied off. A couple of cruisers that were there came over and asked us how in the world did we get in on the port side. I told them that I didn't have a choice, to which they asked why didn't I go outside on starboard. Unfortunately, I was unable to see that there was about a 20' channel on the starboard side between the tug/barges and the break wall.

One more thing I've learned since we left Bayfield. Almost everyone cruising the Great Lakes is, was, or will probably be a school teacher at some time in their life.

Note to Barb and Trish: Jack and Teddy made it through the experience, although Jack's eye patch was askew by the end of the day and Teddy was looking a little green. He doesn't do 8 foot waves yet.