{{Capt. Bob’s Michigan Summer }} With Big D’ cranking out the torque, we left Warner Robins on Thursday, 15th of May. Friday night I met up with an old friend, M/Sgt Kevin Harris. Then I cranked up the next morning and made the short trip to Sturgis, MI to visit my sister Dolores and her husband Ed. The following Monday, I arrived in Muskeegon, MI. I spent a day working on the boat adding a couple of cleats, a battery switch and some new tail-lights for the trailer. I launched at Grand Trunk Launch Ramp in Muskeegon with just enough water, and docks about 20 feet shorter than I wanted. With a slip at Torrensen Marina for the night, I was ready for sailing the next day. That evening I met Bob George, who 30 years ago sailed a Morgan 24 from the Muskeegon area to Venezuela. He had some interesting adventures. The following two days were filled with sailing on Muskeegon Lake and hiking in the North Muskeegon State Park while I had Linda Jean’ anchored near the shore. On Saturday, the 24th of May I pulled up the anchor and sailed out of the channel heading south toward Grand Haven. Starting out on the cautious side, I had up a reefed main and my heavy 110. The wind died out so I shook out the main and drifted. Sometimes in circles! An hour later the wind filled in and I was racing along at 5.5 knots. At noon I realized that I had mis-read the landmarks and was nearly at Grand Haven. It really was a short sail with a near perfect wind and only 1-ft. seas. I arrived at the waterfront at 1 p.m. but was soon offered a slip for free for the four days I expected to be there. Grand Haven has a very nice and very busy waterfront, especially on Memorial Weekend. The storm hit at 2 a.m. on Monday, May 26th. I was hammered by 40-50 mph winds, rain and lightening. I was glad I had found the slip instead of being tied to the seawall on the waterfront. Monday was filled with a Memorial Day Parade and visiting Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Nieces and Nephews. Tuesday had a forecast of 15 – 25 mph wind, so I rode my bike around town and visited with friends in the evening. Wednesday the 28th was Laundry and Grocery Store Morning’. After recruiting 2 guys (father and son) to help crew, I headed out at 5:45 p.m. to attend the Blessing of the Fleet’ and the first Wednesday Night Race of the season. The wind was blowing 15 – 18 and seas were about 2 ft. After only sailing away from the channel a little I decided the 120 jib and a reefed main would work good. The other Morgan 24 was running a full main and a 150 jib. Linda Jean’ was loaded for cruising and the other Morgan 24 (Peggy Dash II) was mostly empty inside and a crew of four. We were lining up for the start and had about 4 minutes to go when we heard “All Clear”. We winched in our sails and started’, although the line was still 2-3 minutes ahead of us. The Committee Boat had gotten confused in the sequence and we were now about 3 minutes behind Peggy Dash II’. It was a fun race with us trailing our main competitor by about 2-3 minutes for the whole race. I hope to join them again in their 8+8 (out and back) race on June 21st. Thursday the 29th looked like a great day to sail south but the wind did not come in as predicted. I averaged about 2 knots and was 3 miles away from Port Sheldon after sailing for almost 5 hours. I cranked up the motor when I noticed clouds forming about 30-40 miles to the west of me. I was anchored with my biggest anchors down by 4:30 p.m. as the predicted storm approached Port Sheldon. Pigeon Lake is about 3/8 of a mile wide and maybe mile long. A nice safe harbor in a storm. The rain started about 8 p.m. and lasted through the night. It was still raining through my late breakfast. High winds are predicted for today and tomorrow so it may be a few days before I sail south again. That’s all for now Bob