Manana: LUDINGTON TO STURGION BAY WISCONSIN

We got up this morning with the sun and were on our way to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin by 7 AM. The forecast was for winds from 10 to 15 from the South West and waves from 2 to 4 feet all the way across the lake. We had anticipated an average of 5 knots, which would have been about a 13 hour sail. When we got out on the lake, the winds started out from the southwest but quickly changed to the West and Northwest This meant a nice beam reach that resulted in a beautiful sail from 6 to 8 Knots almost all the way across. We set the autopilot, kicked back and enjoyed the ride. Our average speed kept increasing to the point where we were almost 3 hours ahead of schedule! There's nothing so peaceful yet exciting as the feeling you get when an 11 ton boat can travel hundreds of miles with nothing more than the wind and the only noise is the wind in the sails and the water rushing across the hull. Since we took a Northwest angle across the lake, we spent a lot of time near the middle. For several hours, there was nothing but blue water. No land and only a few boats in sight. The boats we did see were large freighters and tugs and we could see them coming for miles, thanks to our AIS system. The system allows us to see boats beyond our field of vision on our chart plotter with their name, size, course, destination and speed. They will also be able to see us as soon as we get our ID chip from the manufacturer.

As we got closer to the Wisconsin shore, the skies started to cloud up and the winds began to increase and switch to more out of the North. We decided to reef the genoa to about half it's size, but the wind continued to increase, along with the waves, and we eventually furled it completely. Still the winds kept increasing until we were getting some winds over 30 knots! The waves continued to build and were soon in the 6 foot or more category. The VHF was buzzing with a May Day from what sounded like a good sized power boat that was sinking about 12 degrees south of us. It was taking on water fast and the people wound up in the water before they were finally rescued. Several other "Pon Pons" were issued as the waves and winds increased. By this time, we decided we should have reefed the main too. Note to myself, "The best time to reef is before you need to". We got the first reef in but the waves and wind blew us in the opposite direction and somehow fouled the dutchmen. Rather than break something, we decided to just drop the main completely and motor the last few miles to our destination. This was my chance to try out my new double safety harness. I clamped myself onto the boat, secured the main halyard and tied up the main sail as the wind and waves crashed into and over the bow. It was kind of fun! The last hour of motoring was not as much fun, but we finally reached the canal entrance to Sturgeon Bay around 6 PM. By 7 PM we had worked our way down the channel and are secured to a dock in Bay Harbor Marina. We are well protected from the winds that continue to howl around us. We hope to venture out into Green Bay tomorrow and enjoy some of the harbors and bays of Door County, weather permitting.