Under Sail…

…from the bottom of Gore Bay to the bottom of Mudge Bay.

Leaving Gore, dinghy obediently following

Just after lunch

Heading down Mudge

Home port advantage

Brisk south wind out of Gore Bay, moderate breeze on the starboard quarter along the coast, fluky swirls of noting in the Clapperton channel, and then a nice beat down Mudge to Kagawong. It took us at least half an hour to get through the Clapperton channel, sitting at times without steerage, while whitecaps beckoned from just a few feet away. Sometimes, that’s the way of a sailboat.

Photos by Sue.

That’s a Lot of Miles…

…but back after a whirlwind graduation week of fun and projects. Huge NW wind all the way from Minocqua to Kagawong, but as we were heading east, the wind was on our port quarter, which is a good place for it to be.

Note in the photo above that the water gauge rocks are not visible. Could that be because of all the recent rain, or just the mighty west wind?

Pickled Beets…

…First step—plant seeds.

After some serious weeding.

Hoping for a shower to set the seeds (and the grass seed along the driveway) but got instead what could be described as either a gully-washer or a duck-drownder.

Over Groan
Impossible, for sure—and yet,
How overgrown a yard can get,
When left a month in warm and wet.

Road Day

Back In Wisconsin, a bit weary, but with two drivers (which permits naps and reading), not impossible in one swell foop. Interesting to be back in the land of abundant clouds and rain. Exuberant growth.

Sweetgrass—time to harvest?

Redbud,, still going strong.

Care for a flower in your soup?

Wildly enthusiastic witchhazel. No need for a witch hunt here.

And, beautiful big blue.

All Three Sails Bent On…

…Heliotrope—the cleaned and refurbished main, mizzen, and genoa. (Some heavy lifting getting them on deck, up the masts, flaked, and covered.). The boat is now all dolled up and ready for a wet bottom.

Also went to the dump.

Pollen now pigmenting the bay.

In other news, the Squarespace app has been repaired.

Lilac Time

Lilacs have been in bloom for about a week, and as the climate suits them, they stay in bloom a long time. Lilacs and Manitoulin are a match made in nature.

Manitoulin lunch—spicy local sausage, pickled egg, cheese, and Clamato juice

Very chilly north wind this morning, but full sun all day warmed things up, and wind switched west. Black and white warblers have joined the black-throated greens, and our resident winter wren is back and in full voice. Saw a monarch butterfly on the Lane, but don’t know how to explain its presence.

While the pulling boat got a coat of varnish on its brightwork, quite a lot of trimming and mowing got done.

Windrider

Windrider re-rigged and re-floated.

Mast raised, rigging run, motor started—all without incident or assistance, or squabbles, just by moving slowly and methodically.
Later, after lunch and naps, an odd little squall/thunderstorm came at us from the north and seemed to build right over us, providing moderate rain from 3:30 to 5:00. Rain appreciated by all us living things.

In other news—still doing this blog through Chrome on the laptop, not as usual through the Squarespace app on iPhone. But, apparently and unusually, Squarespace seems to be listening to me during this software glitch interlude: “We’re currently investigating an issue with image upload on blog posts - thanks for reporting this to us. Our Engineering teams are prioritizing a fix for this as we speak.”