Kristin and I got up at 6am (early for us!) and walked from home over to the boat. Looking at the water as we walked along the shore revealed the southeast winds we had hoped for had arrived. Previously, we had delayed our departure while waiting on a weather window for our first leg to Ludington, MI. The forecast for the day was for southeast winds at 16-18 knots until about mid afternoon, then calm, then 8 knot winds from the north around sunset as we approached the Michigan shore. My plan was to make as much progress northeast before we had to motor into the light north winds.
We finally were underway by 7:50am Central Time. After clearing the breakwall, winds were southeast at 15-20 knots. The waves were larger than we had hoped for, averaging around 4-5 feet. With full sail on a beam reach, though, we were doing 8 knots! Our vacation had started! It was warm, the sun was out, and it was a beautiful day!
About an hour and a half after departure, I noticed another portlight of ours had started to leak. I’ve replaced all of the opening portlights on Priorities already, but hadn’t gotten to replacing the fixed ones below the toerail since they had been fine. Now, of course, at the beginning of the first leg of our vacation, the port side midship portlight was leaking every time it was below the heeled waterline… which was most of the time since we were on a starboard tack in decent wind!
It appeared the portlight frame’s gaskets were no longer sealing. The Lewmar “Old Standard” portlights have two piece frames, and it seemed the frames were either pulling apart (possibly from dock rash) or the gaskets had shrank with age. I could actually see daylight in the gap… when water wasn’t squirting in. It did appear the gaskets around the actual window portion were fine, and the whole portlight did not appear to be in imminent danger of completely failing. I tried sticking some butyl tape in the gap, but this was ineffective. I also considered reefing to reduce our heel angle, but Kristin had brought extra terry cloth towels which we stuffed in the frame. This worked well for the rest of the leg to Michigan, as long as I wrung out the towels every 30 minutes or so.
The Milwaukee skyline had completely disappeared over the horizon when we were 4 hours out of Milwaukee, having already traveled 29 miles with under 55 to go to Ludington. Because it was so clear, though, I could see the radio towers north of downtown until about 35 miles out. The winds had moderated somewhat to 10-12, but since we had made such good time earlier we were able to keep sailing without starting the motor. Even if our speed slowed to 5 knots, we’d still be in Ludington by midnight Eastern Time. Unless, of course, if the northeast wind shift in the evening was stronger than forecasted.
After 6 hours, we were nearly halfway, with 40 miles traveled and 44 to go to Ludington. However, the winds had lightened significantly as forecasted, so we motored.
After two hours of motoring in light wind, the winds filled in from the north northwest at 10 knots… a little more than expected. Fortunately, we were able to sail at 5.5-6 knots, and were just able to lay Ludington 30 miles ahead. I got a little optimistic with our good fortune and thought we might be able to sail the rest of the way, arriving before 11pm Eastern. I hoped the winds wouldn’t shift more northeast, though.
Unfortunately, by 7:15 Eastern, after ten and a half hours of traveling, the wind did not cooperate. It knocked us… shifting to north-northeast as forecasted, but much stronger at 18 knots (true wind speed). We weren’t able to lay Ludington on one tack, and were very far from a layline. Motoring into 18 knot winds and resultant waves is not a fun experience, either, so Kristin and I weighed our options: bash into the wind and waves under sail and arrive in Ludington in 3-4 hours, way after dark, or sail to Pentwater and arrive just before dark. Pentwater was the easier choice since we already were on the layline, and could arrive in less than 2 hours, though the harbor entrance is a little tricky with a cross sea.
Our ultimate goals of the weeklong trip were Frankfort and South Manitou Island which lie farther north. While Pentwater is south of Ludington, it’s only a distance of 10 miles. In more favorable conditions, such as were forecasted the following day, we could cover that in under 2 hours comfortably.
With a reefed main and a partially furled jib, we sailed to Pentwater. The shoreline helped moderate the wind as we approached the breakwall. We also had just enough daylight to see the breakwall without much use of a flashlight.
Sometimes a change of plans feels like a failure, since the original goal is not attained. While we didn’t get to Ludington that night, we also didn’t arrive exhausted or super late, which wouldn’t have been much fun. As I drank a beer while peacefully at anchor on Pentwater Lake only 13 hours after leaving Milwaukee, our accomplishments that day were fine with me. We were on vacation, after all!