Log 3; Day 3; May 24, 2008; South Haven, MI

Log 3
Day 3
May 24, 2008

12:45 EST
Location: Cruising out on Lake Michigan...1/2 way between Grand Haven and South Haven

Today is the first official day of moving the boat. As I write this I have the auto pilot on...on a heading of 181 degrees...heading for South Haven. My instruments say I have 2 hours and 10 minutes to go at this point...so I thought I’d get a quick update down in writing.

Slept in till about 6:30 this morning. I was so excited I woke up at 1:30 in the morning (ready to go) and could not go back to sleep until almost 4...then did not want to get up at 6 when I had planned. The 1st cruising day is always exciting and a little scary. Will everything work? Will the Lake cooperate? Will we have any issues? Today was a little of both. We left the dock at 10 am EST. For the most part...easy cruising. The lake has a slight chop to it...supposedly building late today. On the mechical side...I’ve had a couple of issues. For some reason our Freedom Lift (the lift that lift the dinghy in and out of the water) did not want to work this morning. Not exactly sure what the problem is...but the good news it is in the “up” position, so it did not keep us from leaving. The other minor issue is the transmission pressure gauge on the port engine is not working at all. I am assuming it is a wire come loose because a technician was behind that panel a couple of days ago...so I’ll bet he left off something. I’ll check into that later.

Our plan for today is to go to South Haven, MI (about a 5 hour trip at 9 mph) and we will probably end up spending a couple of days there because the Lake is predicted to build to 8 feet so we’ll stay put until it calms down a bit. No real plan beyond that...except to continue heading south. We will probably stop in New Buffalo, MI...and then cross to Chicago for a few days...we’ll see.

Right now it is just relaxing and cruising. The good thing about cruising in the lake is you can operate almost 100% with the auto pilot...which I love. I set a destination of South Haven...hit “track” and the autopilot does the rest. I keep a keen eye out for boats (and use the radar for those I might miss) and sit back and relax.

Not much else to report. Winds still out of the NW at about 8 mph and the Lake temp. is 55.8*. 15 miles to go to South Haven.

I’ll keep you posted...

BK.