Barb and I cruised the boat to Chambers Island today with a group of two other boaters. The starboard batteries were weak upon starting the starboard engine. We left the marina around 11 AM. The waters were a little choppy with confused seas making our 16 mile trip there somewhat bumpy. I tried running at 3000 RPM making 20 MPH but the waves kept causing us to weave. Slowing down to 16 MPH at 2600 RPM made a smoother ride. Once there we backed into about 3 1/2 feet of water, dropped anchor and rafted with the other two boats. While there I went under the boat and checked for myself for any damage to the props or rudders from our soft grounding last May. Everything looked OK. We left for our return trip around 5 PM. On our return trip the water was much smoother and I was able to open her up to 3200 RPM making 22 MPH until the dinghy was bouncing too much on the davits so I slowed down to 17 MPH at 2700 RPM until I notice the bow of the dinghy was setting low from the davit. Upon inspecting the situation I notice that the davit frame had buckled at the base and feared that the welds were going to break so removed the dinghy from the davits and towed it behind us using its anchor rope. This slowed us down to around 7 MPH fearing that the tow rope might break going any faster. After we entered the Menominee River I tied the dinghy to our port side so I would be able to maneuver during docking. We arrived back to the marina around 6:30 PM. Total miles cruised - 32.8 miles. Total gallons of fuel used - 39.5 gallons costing around $162 at $4.10 a gallon.

Tonight at the marina - The marina held a 4th of July party for the slip holders and guest which had already got underway shortly before we returned from today's trip.