"The whole world before you, and a horizon that's always changing!" Kenneth Grahame
Wow, we just finished up a fantastic week! We traveled down Lake Huron, on the east side of Michigan and past Detroit, which, with all due respect, is not the touristy side of Michigan, but the more industrial. Not super exciting towns and, frankly, well...a little redneck. We were serenaded by horrible rock bands, surrounded …
Well, we completed our jaunt into Lake Superior and survived to tell the tale. Whew! We cruised over to Whitefish Point, where the Edmund Fitzgerald sank in 1975. We planned to continue to Munising but discovered their marina has the new power pedestals that Joy Girl trips, so we turned back. (Niki - Yay! Craig …
Life is looking up in Michigan. Finally, we have clear skies, sunny days, calm seas, and just finished up a fantastic visit with our friends Jim and Sherryl. Craig and Jim have been friends since third grade and Sherryl felt like my long lost sister. We took a two hour cruise to lovely Charlevoix, motored …
Yes, I have a song for every occasion. It's just the way my brain works. Drives Craig crazy since I hum each tune as it pops into my head. Today it is... It never rains in Northern Michigan, but girl, don't they warn ya? It pours, man, it pours. If you don't know this great …
When we first arrived in Grand Haven I often found myself humming this old Temptations tune... I've got sunshine on a cloudy day. When it's cold outside, I've got the month of May. We'll, I guess you'd say what can make me feel this way... Joy Girl, talkin' 'bout Joy Girl. Yes, she is a …
Ahoy, mateys! We hope all is well with our friends around the world! Winter has passed and spring is here. Hallelujah. It was a strange winter for us. We were lost in retirement transition pains without our full and active life on Joy Girl. And it was difficult to watch my mother suffer as she …
During our 9 months living aboard and 7 months of travel from May to October we docked or anchored Joy Girl in 86 different locations. We cruised 3,100 nautical miles (3,584 statute miles) in 10 states and 2 countries. Naturally, people ask us "What were your favorite places?" We asked the same question of other …
Since we talked last the Team Joy Girl trajectory was modified. After weeks of discussion and prayer we decided to return home to Colorado for the winter! What?! Why? Primarily, we both have parents in their 80's (two are holding their own at 88) who we want to spend time with and provide assistance to. …
Last time we left you we were cruising down the Wisconsin coast toward Chicago... In a fluke of good luck, Lake Michigan was quiet as a lamb, the wind-free weather on the Great Lakes related to Hurricane Florence in some weird weather front I don't understand. As heartbroken as I was that North Carolina was …
Door County, Wisconsin was named after "Death's Door", the legendary passage between Green Bay and Lake Michigan. The exact number of deaths and ships lost in this narrow passageway is unknown but the official 1906 Sailing Directions for the area describes the passage this way: There is a strong current setting in and out according …
