Trailer Sailor 2001 to the North Channel

Since we first joined the Dayton Power Squadron, Becky and I have heard of trailer sailing. We just never felt our Santana 21 had the space to live in for a week or so. Now that we have Pegasus, formally Mike and Marilyn Baker's O'Day 25, we thought we'd give it a try.

This year's sail took place in the North Channel. We drove up with Al Koehler and met Tom and Jan Larimer and Roy and Pat Horvath at Spanish, Ontario. The Larimers and Horvaths had previously launched in southern Lake Michigan and spent several weeks sailing up to the North Channel and planned to continue on down Lake Huron.

Our adventure began to firm up Sunday after the Lake Erie Rendezvous. Al and I took our boats to the Sandusky public launch to pull out and prepare for travel. As luck would have it, there was a fishing tournament and the parking lot was full. That was the beginning of a less than pleasant afternoon. It was hot with no breeze. I was thinking - this is supposed to be fun? A root canal would be nice and fun by comparison. We eventually got the boats ready and parked in our marina's parking lot.

Becky and I (Pegasus), Al, Marie, and Melissa (Cat's Meow) drove to Sandusky Thursday 19 Jul, spent the night on the boats, and pulled out early Friday morning. I'd never driven up Michigan before. The countryside is beautiful. It only got better the further north we went. We had a FRS radio in each truck, which allowed us to talk and coordinate gas stops, etc. Thirteen hours later, we were in the Spanish Harbor parking lot where we found the Larimers and Horvaths waiting. Since it was still daylight, we decided to go ahead and launch that night. This went fairly smoothly - much more so than previous attempts. I guess practice makes perfect. We actually beat Al in preparing to launch. I hopped into the truck to launch. No keys! They were hanging in the boat. The ladder was locked on the trailer. Al launched first.

Except for one day in the middle, we had good weather. Clear skies, warm days, cool nights, and very comfortable water temperatures. We departed Spanish Saturday morning for an anchorage north of Hotham Island. Passing through Little Detroit was interesting to say the least. We were already getting the idea the North Channel was more beautiful than we had imagined. Entering our anchorage area involved carefully following a path through submerged rocks. Becky watched for rocks at the bow and I watched the boats ahead, the depth gauge, and the chart platter. Upon arrival, we anchored Mediterranean style with our stern tied to the shore - Molson time. Before long, we were all enjoying a swim in pleasantly cool water. Supper, relaxation, and early to bed followed. I had been skeptical about the early to bed, but it worked well as the mosquitoes made staying on deck much past dark impossible. This was our first time to anchor overnight. I didn't sleep well wondering if the anchor was slipping. It didn't.

Sunday morning, after a captains' meeting, we departed for Fox Island. After exploring a rock field, some using the Braille method, we found the entrance channel and entered Fox Harbor. Due to the wind, maneuvering in the close quarters and trying to anchor were interesting. A sailboat doesn't mark time well in the wind while waiting it's turn to anchor. This anchorage was very cozy and we really enjoyed it. We had evening and morning swims, explored in the dinghies, enjoyed a couple of warm water pools in the rocks, and visited each other - we didn't forget Molson time. We breakfasted on the rocks - North Channel doughnuts, eggs, fried spam, blueberry pancakes, orange juice, and coffee. We even feed a couple of kayakers. Thinking back, this was my favorite anchorage.

At the captains' meeting, we decided to return to Spanish as someone had forgotten to empty their holding tank. While we were cruising and didn't "race", there was a keen desire to be first, or at least not last. We got left so far behind it wasn't funny. We understood Pegasus wasn't used to being embarrassed. I even checked the boat to be sure we weren't dragging anything - like a bucket. We finally hoisted the iron jenny in addition to the sails and a nice breeze. We still had difficulty getting much above four knots. At this point, we thought the motor on the dinghy was the only thing we'd changed since we had previously done OK. Upon arrival at Spanish, the dinghy motor was retired to the truck.

Returning to Spanish turned out to be very lucky, as there were small craft warnings with winds above 40 Kts the next day. We decided to spend the day at Spanish. We climbed the cliffs overlooking the harbor, lounged around, visited, and went out to eat. Having the trucks available was convenient. Spanish is a new, VERY nice facility. Their goal is to provide the best service in the North Channel - their friendly service would be hard to beat.

We departed Spanish for Gore Bay the next morning. Pegasus and Becky were out to redeem themselves - I had to go along, of course. There wasn't much wind and it was generally from abaft of the beam. With others putting out whisker poles and spinnakers, we remembered our whisker pole was still in my son's garage - just great. That didn't stop Pegasus and Becky. The next thing I knew, Becky had the boat hook full extended and in the clew of the ginny. Pegasus slowly pulled ahead. How sweet it was. We roared along at two to three knots. Upon arrival at Gore Bay, I hear Roy had the motor off his dinghy almost before he finished tying up.

Gore Bay is a bigger facility, though older, than Spanish. The public facilities are also very nice. There is a lot more to do - shopping, museum, small marina store, and good restaurants. We took full advantage of the above opportunities. The museum is an old jail with jailhouse and other local memorabilia. Tom and Roy took their leave of us to continue their journey the following morning. The Cat's Meow and Pegasus headed for Crocker, just east of the Benjamins. This is another beautiful anchorage with rocks around the entrance, though not as exciting as Fox. The water was nice for swimming here also. I was the first in and thought the girls were kidding when they yelled, "snake". It was probably just a northern water snake that was swimming towards me. I splashed a little water on it and it went the other way. We hiked to the top of the hill and watched the Sun set to the west framed by the Sow and Pigs, and the Benjamins. Our last day, we leisurely departed later than usual and headed for Shoepack Bay. This placed us close to Spanish for departure the next day.

All good things must come to and end. We pulled away from Spanish around 1800 and headed home. Our final anchorage was a KOA just inside the Lower Peninsula. We forgot the anchors, but did enjoy a last Molson time and pizza aboard Cat's Meow.

Those who haven't tried a trailer sail don't know what they've been missing - we didn't. I don't know why trailerable power boaters don't participate, as that would add a whole new dimension and open many more opportunities. Even with the fantastic scenery, friendly marinas, and good sailing, it's the company and the associated camaraderie that made the fondest memories and an eagerness for the next trip.