Writing tonight it is raining outside and we are snug in the comforts of our boat at the slip. Temperatures have been low again with highs of low to mid 60 °F. There is a stationary upper low bringing cool air from Canada down to us. It is actually refreshing after the very high temperatures of last week.

We are anticipating the arrival of the 3 grand children just after the 4th of July. This will be the first time in 50+ years we have not been home for the 4th holiday with family so we are charting a new course.

We saw some friends today as they arrived in their slip after a late launch. Dan & Kathy are cruisers but will be in the slip this summer. We did some more routine mainenance today as the waves were 6-10′ and confused on Lake Michigan – not pleasant sailing.

We made a planned trip home to do some chores early as the heat is on – summer has begun. Yesterday and today it is in the 90′s and that means some listless sleeping in a pool of sweat. We expect to return Thursday when the winds pick up from the 5 kts of the past three days.

Today is Father’s Day and we went sailing. It was something of a disappointment because the winds were 5 – 8 kts out of the NW. This gave us a speed of about 2 knots and it was hot. Fred & Karen were with us and they got sunburned. So did SAM but I escaped the majority of sun’s wrath. The remainder of this week is supposed to be in the 90′s so living on board will be slightly trying.

No cell calls today so far but I guess this is to be expected on this fine Sunday.

It is nice now but for the past two days we have received lots of rain – 15-18 mm – and the Kalamazoo is up almost a meter and has not crested yet.

We were pretty snug in our floating cocoon and did a lot of reading. My short term book was an old Tom Clancy novel and the long term is Flight of the Goose. The long term book is good but somewhat tedious and written from a female Eskimo point of view.

Well our guests for the weekend have just arrived so we have to sign off.

We took a quick trip home yesterday to mow the lawn and give the lawn maintenance person the lay of the land.  It costs more to return home to mow the lawn than to pay to have it done.  We also performed the Wednesday night church security duty.

Today we returned to the boat and were there in time for dinner.  It is always nice to eat on the boat.  We hope to go sailing tomorrow.  We will report on that tomorrow if the internet is working.

Tuesday we went out again and the wind was really blowing out of the East at 20 kts. The seas were 1 or less to start and we enjoyed some pretty good runs at hull speed. I finally heard an unusual noise in the back ground and investigated. Sure enough up above the reefing points the sail slides were broken and the remnants were tinging against the mast. I could see the sail was under some stress and since I did not want to chance ripping it we headed into the wind and I took down the main sail and secured it. I ask SAM to hold a course with the inner staysail but could not so I started the engine and we motored up the river to our slip. The remainder of the afternoon was spent securing repair parts and performing the repair. All in all a pretty good day.

With forcast promises we made for Lake Michigan down the Kalamazoo.  It did not look good when we saw two returning sailboats but we were filled with optimisim and raise the main while in the mouth of K. R.

On reaching the lake the sail filled and it looked good.  I went forward and raise the inner staysail and then unfurled the jib.  We were doing a whopping 2.2kt.  It only got worse from here and soone we were becalmed.  Down came the sails and the motor was started so we took a little motor trip instead.

The biting flies were out today in the light winds and warm weather.  Lake water temperature is 59 ° F.  No time for a long dip or a short one for that matter!

We had a good 5 hour sail yesterday. Wind was 10-13 kts, sun was out and temperatures were in the mid-60′s. We did not try to go anywhere but just sailed for an hour then tacked back and so on for several hours. We were tired and happy on our return.

After attending my nephew’s graduation party we returned to the boat.  wind was dead calm on arrival but soon piped up and we awakened to the pitter patter of rain.  Wind is from the East and it is hot with threatening skies.  Seas should be pretty flat with the East wind.  I think we will go sailing tomorrow morning.

My order fromSpeedseal arrived but I have not had a chance to install it yet.  This impeller quick change kit is pretty slick and you can change the impeller in less than 10 minutes.  A nice additional security item that adds a point or two into the “black” box.

So far this year the sailing season has been rainy and cool. The nights are in 40′s Fahrenheit and the days in the 60′s. Sometimes with wind and sometimes without. We have only been out twice with one good sail.

We have been experimenting with some new techniques but they have been pretty much flops so we are back to the original tried and true sail handling.

Both of us continue to work on the boat and having fun most of the time. Should be a great summer when it arrives.