Today was going to be a shorter day so we slept in a little. Around 0800 Deb checked our boat traffic app and noticed that a whole gaggle of boats north of us were heading south. Many of them were folks we have been leap frogging with and all headed the same place we were about to depart toward. So off we went seriously wishing we had been stuck for five days in the place we were leaving rather than the place where we had been.
The lake seemed to be in a pretty good mood so we settled in for a short day. Deb then called to get us a slip for the place where everyone was heading and, oops, they were booked up. The person on the phone did tell us there was both a free wall with no services and a $1 per foot per night wall with power and water. Mmm...walls? No thank you. Had our fill of walls. So,what to do?
It was turning into a perfect day. The lake was so quiet that we could see First Light's modest wake all the way out to the horizon. The autopilot was perfectly content holding our course. How about we just keep going? The marina planned for tomorrow had a spot, why not make that today's goal? So we did. In the process we turned three travel days into two. Which means that tomorrow we have three miles of lake travel between us and the river. Our last big open water leg was today. And yes, that makes me a very happy little boat driver.
It would be fun to think that Lake Michigan was a) granting us a perfect day as a parting gift, b) apologizing for beating the snot out of us and breaking our boat or, c) tired of my complaining and just making it easy for us to go away. Of course Lake Michigan has absolutely no opinion about anything us puny humans might be about or think. (It doesn't even care that we gave it a name.) It would be a pretty safe bet that the lake will be here long after humankind has faded from galactic history. Still, it is hard not to grant it a personality, even if it be a capricious one.
So, three years after buying First Light and nearly two years after starting the trip to St. Louis, the last phase of our homeward three fourths of a Great Loop is about to begin. It is still some 300nm to St. Louis. Given the history of our attempt I'm not going to make a guess as to how long it will take to get home. But that is okay. I'm pretty sure that, as soon as we get there, most of the down sides of the trip will get morphed into some pretty good stories. It was our choice to go this way. We managed. That is a pretty good thing.
Lake Michigan now ranks near the top of my list of dangerous waters I have managed to cross. There is the Gulf Stream, the outside passage around Grand Abaco Island, and the Hawk Channel. Each of which can be the coolest thing you have done or the scariest thing you have survived. And though Lake Michigan didn't really catch us out with our ports open, it did enough to make my list. And, to me anyway, the Lake made it perfectly clear it could sink any boat it chose any time it chose to. All of those who (safely) travel these waters on a regular basis have my complete admiration.
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