Friday, February 12, 2010

Great Lakes sailing, Petoskey and other oldies but goodies.



Jenny and I are both from Michigan. We loved it there, but we were never sailors til we moved to Boston and bought Madrigal. Knowing what we do now about sailing, we both think it'd be FANTASTIC to get a chance to sail on the Great Lakes. They are wonderful lakes and we both love them. I've vacationed on their beaches and on fishing charters a number of times, but having never sailed, I didn't know what I was missing... Maybe some day in the future we'll get a chance to head up the St. Lawrence and spend some time on our native waters, but that day is likely a very long ways off.


In the meantime, reminiscing about fresh water adventures of days past led me to look at some old pictures. Shortly after we first met we went on a group camping trip with some friends. We stayed at a beachfront campground in Petoskey, Michigan. What a great place. These pictures are all from that trip. Incidentally, this is really the trip that caused Jenny and I to realize what a strong connection we had to each other.



It was memorial day weekend, so that was some COLD Lake Michigan water that Jenny had ventured into.


We tried to get a photo with our two friends Jason and Katie, but something went terribly wrong with Jason's face.


As you can see, that tends to happen to him...

4 comments:

  1. Cool pics guys, Great lakes sailing would be awesome I bet. I wonder about surfing sometimes on lake michigan. I grew up surfing and reading the surf mags of the era, and I can remember a feature every once in awhile on lake surfing, mostly on L/M.

    Also wonder about the harshness of it too, the Edmund Fitzgerald comes to mind! How's the weather treating you guys so far btw? Get any of the snow you wanted? We have some we can lend you if not...

    Cheers,
    Chris

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  2. When you get to the great lakes... check out the North Channel in Lake Huron. Amazing area!!

    Great Lakes surfing is on the level with East Coast Atlantic surfing.... shitty. But I still love it, and go out every chance I can. I've heard the better times on lake michigan are during the winter... i'm just not that hardcore.

    I wonder about the harshness of Lake Michigan too.

    There were plenty of times on the lake when I thought "this is it. I'm going to die." But I was A LOT less experienced then. If put back in those same situations I wonder how I would handle them differently now? Of course, that is how experience works!

    The waves are certainly different from the ocean. But less dangerous?

    Channels on Lake michigan are easier to navigate. Maintained better, which makes them less dangerous in general.

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  3. Chris and Cate - the snowstorm entirely missed us. Cest la vie...but it would have been nice. Please send some our way.

    It's nice to hear that the channels on Lake Michigan are easy to navigate. I do think it would be fantastic to sail around there - those lakes are so large, I bet we could spend a decade sailing around them and wouldn't get bored...

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  4. You guys always make me smile. :)

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