2002 - Northern Lake Michigan
Ocean Explorer News - Sunday, August 5, 2002 - Manitowoc, Wisconsin
We arrived here on July 31, Wednesday night, made the boat ready for launch Thursday morning, and had it in the water by late morning. The mast was stepped the following morning. Donna and I did all of our own preparation work (there is a big incentive to do that when yard rates are $60/hr) and we have been working to get the vessel ready ever since. Today (Sunday) we installed a few small items and then I did some electronic work. I had wired an alarm into our radar last winter and thought everything was hunky dory. But, when I turned the radar on it sounded continuously rather than just when another vessel entered the guard zone that I had set up. One of things that I have learned in my years of experience is that it is often important to hook things up to the right spot in electronics. So, I took the radar unit apart, found my mistake and fixed it. It now works like a charm.
I also spent part of the afternoon integrating my GPS with the brains of the HAM radio system. As a result you should now get some kind of a position report with every message I send, automatically.
Donna spent part of her day provisioning (that is salty talk for grocery shopping) and stowing her purchases. It does not look like we will die of starvation on this trip.
We put on a new, folding prop this past winter. It seems to work fine in forward but, in reverse, we get a lot of vibration. The engine guy from the marina is going to go out with us in the early AM to try to figure out the problem. It is a fixable problem, I am sure. It is just a matter of determining the approach. I have a hunch we will be here tomorrow, but we will leave Tuesday morning at the latest (unless we have to haul out to change back to the old prop, and that is a possibility!).
So that is what is going on. Weather has been nice. We did have some pretty good thunderstorms roll through at about 0400 this morning, but it cleared off by noon and we had a very nice day.
Rich and Donna
Ocean Explorer News - Monday, August 6, 2002 - Manitowoc, Wisconsin
Just to keep you posted, we are still in Manitowoc. We took the boat out this morning and the prop did not perform satisfactorily. The boat was hauled this afternoon and the prop's pitch was changed. We took it out again, but the water was too rough to adequately test it. We think yesterday's pitch was better for forward. The bottom line is that it is probably going to be taken off and sent to the factory for modification. We are here for another day, and possibly more.
It is very windy tonight and the weather has turned cold. We heard that the high tomorrow is only going to be 63, but I don't know if that is accurate. It is a good night to be down below and warm.
Rich and Donna
Ocean Explorer News - Wednesday, August 8, 2002 - Manitowoc, Wisconsin
Thanks to Steve finding it, you can go to the following website to figure out where we are. If I understand Steve correctly, there is a chart there which shows where we are. I am not sure, but it may also show our course and speed when we are underway. Boy, if that doesn't make your day I don't know what will.
http://www.aprs.net/cgi-bin/winlink.cgi?AA9HE
Rich and Donna
Ocean Explorer News - Thursday, August 9, 2002 - Off Frankfort, Michigan
It is 0730 CDST and we are approaching Frankfort, Michigan. We left Manitowoc in light NE winds at about 1130 yesterday morning. After spending the afternoon and the early part of the night battling light headwinds, the wind finally picked up at about 2400 and we just smoked along after that. Now, they have gone light again, but we are almost at our destination.
Our prop problem is not resolved yet. We decided to go sailing and then, after we return to Manitowoc, the boat will be taken out of the water and the prop will then be sent in for adjustment. In the meantime, we will just live with the problem.
It is a beautiful, sunny day here. The seas are calm, and the temperature is 63 degrees. A Great Lakes freighter is passing off our port quarter. We just had our breakfast, and we each had a pretty good number of winks of sleep, so life is pretty good.
Talk to you later -
Rich and Donna
Ocean Explorer News - Thursday, August 9, 2002 (evening) - At anchor, Betsie Lake, Frankfort, Michigan
Donna and I are anchored in Betsie Lake in Frankfort, MI. We went to the library today to look up the URL that Steve sent. It is pretty neat. You get a series of charts showing our position. If you click on the chart of highest magnification and play with it, you can probably see where in the lake we are anchored.
We plan to leave for Leland, MI tomorrow. SW winds are predicted, so it should be a good trip.
Rich and Donna