Shanti's blog

“Pan-Pan, Pan-Pan, Pan-Pan.  Hello all stations.  US Coast Guard Atlantic City has just received a report of an EPIRB signal located 100 miles east of Atlantic City.  All vessels transiting the area are requested to keep a sharp lookout, assist if possible and report all sightings to the nearest Coast Guard unit.”  I checked our own GPS position, 60 miles upwind of the reported location, and mentally calculated how long it would take us to reach them, at l

Now that the cruising season on the Great Lakes is over, it's time to head south.  I'm leaving later today to help deliver Joy For All from Connecticut to Hampton,VA for the start of the Caribbean 1500.  It looks like a late Monday or early Tuesday departure, following the passage of a strong cold front which will give us NW wind for our offshore run.  

Because I live on my boat during the summer, haulout day is always hard on me.  I feel like I've been evicted from my home.  I packed up my belongings, took everything off the boat that would be harmed if frozen, winterized the systems, then headed over to the lift well.

The home stretch:  Whitefish Bay, locking through at Sault St. Marie, St. Mary’s River at night, De Tour Reef Light, Mackinaw City:  120 miles in 20 hours.

Keweenaw Peninsula to Whitefish Point

Shanti arrived safely in Mackinaw City yesterday morning around 9 am.  Tom has a commitment in Chicago on Tuesday, so we made only two stops for a total of about 16 hours.  We were underway about 72 hours, and didn't tolerate a boat speed less than 4 knots.  We logged 375 miles but actually covered more over the ground as the current in the St. Mary's River was 2 knots in places.