Sailing SVBombadil

As the weather turns cold and blustery we get a lot less sailing in. But that doesn't mean we aren't enjoying it! I LOVE when the weather turns and I get to start cooking those warm, comfort foods, hot cider, mulled wine, and Phillip gets to enjoy some of his hobbies! Phillips been surfing for at least 13 years now and has been out at least once a month for the past 5 years. Even in January! The marina that we are in is so close to the channel that it makes getting to Lake Michigan a breeze. Unfortunately, it means that we are really impacted by the waves on Lake Michigan. When the wind is out of the west or northwest, the waves stack up down the channel and rebound off the seawall. This can make for a bumpy living situation with the boat both rolling side to side, but also surging front to back in the slip. This particular storm system was one of the worst nights that we've experienced. At least it was fairly short lived!

The good times continue! September was an amazing month for us since we took a break from some of the bigger projects and enjoyed sailing a bit more. We had some unusual east winds at 8-15 knots and it made for some of the BEST sailing that west Michigan can offer! We enjoyed sailing with our dock neighbor a few times on his C&C 121 and man does she FLY! I also realized how much more comfortable I (Heather) am with sailing in general but especially heeling on the boat. I used to be terrified when we hit 12 degrees and at 15 I would nearly spontaneously learn Italian to yell at Phillip 🫣 On the C&C we had her laid out at 30 degrees and I was still smiling! I’m feeling pretty stoked about that.

Well, our nine days of cruising were over and it was back to real life. Work, boat projects and more boat projects. So, we are just in a season of preparation. The boat needs LOTS of work and our list is pretty long. The night lights will really help us out when in regards to coming home late or overnight sailing. This was the same reason we installed both white and red lights in our closets. Often, we get comments from people about our excessive number of compasses. In the days of electronics compasses may seem out of date, but they don’t require electricity and when sailing without land marks they help visualize course changes. This is why we chose to repair our Richie navigator bulkhead compass. With the way our cockpit is set up, it gives us the option to either stand behind the helm, or sit on either the high or low side. Lastly was our repair on the front chalk. These chalks take a lot of abuse while the boat is in its slip! Our marina is located very close to the channel to Lake Michigan and is well known for issues with storm surge and residual swell coming down the channel and keeping things quite *lively* when the wind is up and there is a swell coming from the north or west. #sailboatrefit #sailboatlife

Phillip and I generally subscribe to the "go big or go home" line of thought. And while we aren't going to be crossing oceans for a few years yet, we have a big trip planned this summer. Way back in December of 2022 we started discussing our trip and planned to take two weeks off of work for a total of 14 days. With me switching jobs and being super busy working overtime (instead of part time as was the original plan) we were only get nine days to make it from Holland MI to Traverse City MI and back to Holland... However, we had a ton of projects that needed to be completed before we left! So we got to work. Between days Phillip spent on the dodger he worked on a ton of other projects. Some we videoed and some we forgot to record.