6-14-16
I know it has been a while since I have posted anything to our blog but we have just been so busy getting ready for our next adventure that I just haven't had time. Well today I am making time as today is a special day for us. As of today we only have one month to go before we start off on our next adventure, our adventure of a lifetime.
It isn't that we are off to some far off wild location, but instead this adventure will be the joining of two best friends into husband and wife. Cindy and I have been together for 4 and half years now and things have never been better. I would truly be lost without my bestie and cannot wait to take that walk to the bluffs her and make her mine forever.
As I think back over the last four and half years with Cindy is almost all seems like a blur it has gone so fast. It doesn't seem like it has been that long at all. We have done so many fun things together as we have worked on finishing our house(delayed only because of all the playing we have done along the way) all the while continuing to grow closer together with the passing of each day. It truly hurts me more each day to leave her in the morning than it did the day before. Cindy is the only person who I have met that I honestly could and would spend every moment of every day with. She is unlike anyone who has ever walked the face of this planet before. Just so beautiful, easy going, full of life, and fun to be with that she has created an addiction in me so much stronger than any drug could ever have dreamed of creating.
In addition to becoming husband and wife on this next adventure there is also this little trip to sail the North Channel in Lake Huron that we have been busy preparing for. Not many women, ok, none that I can think of, would ever suggest spending two weeks on a small sailboat in the middle of no where off the Canadian shores of lake Huron. I told you she was unlike anyone I have ever met. Doing something like this for the honeymoon is probably close to a lot of men's dream. The best part of is not only is this a "dream trip" for me but I get to spend it with a lady who is beyond my wildest dreams in so many ways. If you asked Cindy I am sure she would tell you I have a very "vivid" imagination. Even with that the life I get to live with Cindy is so far beyond anything even my "vivid Imagination" could have conjured up I am still half wondering if this has all been just a dream. If it is I hope I never wake up from it!
The actual wedding will take place at sunset on the second day of this adventure on the bluffs south of Empire Michigan that overlook Lake Michigan. Cindy has her dress, that she won't let me see, and we have our rings. We will send off our application for our marriage license next Monday and pick it up the day of our wedding. It is going to be a very casual, low key wedding. That was my only real request, demand, in the process. I feel like weddings today have just gotten totally out of control, both in cost, scale, and stress levels and I did not want that. The past 4 and half years it has just been Cindy and myself, and really that is how I wanted to get married. Cindy's daughter did ask if she could come as she really wanted to be there, so how do you say no to that? So she, her husband, and two kids will be there. We needed two witnesses anyway. Beyond that it will just be us, the officiant, and photographer. I have gotten the feeling several times that this is "too simple" for Cindy as she is probably more used to the traditional style weddings. My thoughts have always been to keep things as simple as possible for maximum enjoyment. I asked Cindy to marry me as we stood on cross country skis, in a dark woods, at midnight on New Years eve, during a snow storm in the UP of Michigan, and neither one of us had showered for 2 days! It doesn't get much simpler than that and it was, in my mind, perfect. I am really hoping I go 2 for 2 and she says yes one more time!
As far as the trip goes, when this all started I never dreamt it would have take so much preparation. I have spent countless hours reading and researching the area, what we will need, what the boat needs, what to expect and do, etc. I spent as much time this spring making modifications to our boat as I did last year repainting the whole boat! Not all the changes I made were necessary but I wanted Cindy to be as comfortable as possible on this trip so I felt them to be "necessary" in order for that to happen. With now just 30 days to go we have started packing some items like our dry foods stores as we will be spending up to 4 days on the boat at a time with re provisioning. It is our hopes that I can catch our dinners out of the lake, especially since I just spent 80 bucks on my Canadian fishing license! But knowing that there is no guarantees to catching our dinners, I want to have food on board as a back up. Since we have never spent more than 24 hours on the boat at a time, mostly due to our schedules and not because we did not want or could not have due to the boat, this trip will be a new experience in a lot of ways.
Knowing the possible pitfalls we could encounter with trailering a boat that far I have made modifications to the trailer and boat to hopefully prevent as many problems as possible on the journey there and back. I have installed new radial tires on the trailer that will run cooler and carry more weight. I repacked the bearing, again, and installed double lip garlock axle seals. I fabricated a motor mount on the trailer that the outboard motor for the boat will ride on keeping it out of the tow vehicle and adding some more tongue weight to the trailer. I have made new supports and holders for the mast to better protect it for it's long journey atop of the boat. I have redone the wiring on the trailer and added a storage tube to the trailer for our mast raising equipment. We are renting a new 3/4 ton quad cab truck from Enterprise truck rental. There is no way to prepare everything that could possibly go wrong but no one can say I did not try.
Once we get on the water we plan on going which ever way the winds carry us. We can go east to the Benjamins or we can go west to Long Point cove and stop at anyone of the hundreds of islands along the way. We are both so looking forward to just be able to totally relax for a change. To live our days, if just for a short time, with no time schedule. We look forward to hiking on the islands, exploring the islands in Ding Dong (the dinghy I made), picking fresh blueberries, naps in the cockpit under the cockpit tent I made, bon fires on shore at sunset, staring off into the stars, and peaceful nights sleeping as the boat bobs up and down on the hook. As lovely as that all sounds we have also had to prepare for the flip side of that as the weather on the channel can become quite treacherous at times. So if we get stuck on the hook for a day or so till calmer conditions prevail we have the Fire we can watch movies on in the cabin between naps and, well, you know. It is our honeymoon ;-)
Cindy's only real request or stipulation for this trip was that we get to shore every 3rd day or so which I was totally agreeable to. How could I not have been as she was the one who suggested this idea to begin with. I have made reservations for two nights at a B&B just up the road from the Spanish Ontario Marina where we have a slip reserved for our boat. I hope it is nice as that is about it for accommodations in the area. Remember when I said the middle of no where? So we will break up our sail with a night at the B&B then refresh ourselves there before we head back to the States.
Once we cross back to the US, we have a couple of options. Cindy thought it would be neat to sail on Lake Superior as well so if the weather and time permits we may launch into Waiska Bay on Lake Superior and sail there for the day before heading down to St Ignis where we plan to spend a couple of days sailing around the Mackinac area. We both look forward to sailing under the Mackinac bridge and over to the island. I originally hoped we could get a slip at the island but our visit just happens to coincide with the finish of the Chicago to Mackinac sailboat race and the yacht club hosting the race has all the slips reserved. So we have a slip at St Ignis reserved for 3 days. If we can't get one of the few visitor's slips on the island we will just take a ferry across to the island and spend a day exploring it as I am sure Cindy would really enjoy seeing it.
If this all sounds like a lot of work to you then you are absolutely correct. We will rig our boat maybe 4 times on this trip which while I have made it as easy as I can it is far from easy. I can totally understand why more people do not sail. It is dying sport for a reason, because it is so much work. Most people today do not want to expend that much time, energy, and thought on their off time. That is a shame too because when it all works as it should it really is a thing of beauty. The fact that I get to enjoy with me incredible lil Admiral Cindy only makes it that much better. There is nothing more relaxing or enjoyable than being able to set the sails for a nice 5 mile run down the lake, then leaning back into the rear pulpit, and having Cindy lean back into me as she snuggles up for a relaxing trip back to the slip. Almost magical is how I would describe the sensations of being pulled along by the two large sails stretched out on opposite sides of the boat with only the sounds of the water burbling up from behind the stern breaking the silence as I soak it all in with my soul mate in my arms. With us sailing with the wind behind us we loose reference to the speed we are traveling and it is like time is standing still when in reality we are actually moving along at a pretty good clip. Moments like that make us forget all the work it took to get there as we just enjoy the experience and each others company. Sadness typically describes my feelings as we near the slip and we have to return to manning the boat in preparation for docking. Moments like that never last nearly long enough. Maybe I am just greedy. Even if the run was 500 hundred miles instead of 5 I would probably feel the same way as I could hold Cindy in my arms forever!
I just want to say thank you to you, Cindy, for making the last four and had half years the best ones in my life and I am so looking forward to spending the rest my life with you as my wife. Soon 30 days will have turned into 30 years or more and I hope when we get to that point we can look back on them all, in each others arms, and say what and adventure we had! I love you Babe!
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