PHYC Sunrise 8/17

Drawbridge

Ian Conway Lee of Great Britian

The Sacrebleu crew of 4

Under sail

Sunrise at Lexington 8/19

Former Huron Lightship, now a museum

Editors Note: Thanks to Larry Koster for providing this log and pictures.
Click on a thumbnail picture to see the original image.

The Crew for this Voyage

Dennis Dudley is the owner/skipper of the Sacrebleu, a beautiful Erickson 35, sailing out of the Port Huron Yacht Club. Ron Marshall, Bill Horwood and Larry Koster were the crew persons for 3-days of sailing on Lake Huron, first destination is unknown. A bit of background information on this "Old Salts" crew (or should it be "Old Farts"?) The writer has known Dennis since mid August of 1974, when there was a waiting list to join LSC. I joined the club with Laser 2355 and a DN Iceboat 2357. And Dennis introduced me to Lightning sailing in 1985 by taking me to the Higgins Lake regatta. I met Ron in the late 1970s, when he and Jane had a Laser, later a Rhodes Bantam and then a Lightning "OHM". Bill and I go back to 1959 while we both lived in Howell, were single guys, were slender and our hair had color.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

We arrived at the Port Huron YC – West sometime mid-afternoon on Sunday, 8/16. The crew proceeded to get "Sacrebleu" ship-shape, pumped up the inflatable dingy, and then hauled our sea bags and supplies aboard. Ron brought out his single malt scotch, Bill his ‘recipe’, Dennis the ‘India Pale Ale’ and the other guy with his ‘Bud Light’. As it is time to get a bite to eat, Dennis suggests taking the long two-block walk along the riverfront to the Zebra Bar which served a thick delicious Olive Burger. The measured distance on Monday morning was 1.2 miles. Three great days of sailing follow:

Monday, August 17, 2009

At 10 am, the Sacrebleu approaches the first of 3 drawbridges on the Black River, one long and one short blast on the air horn to alert the bridge keeper. We pass beneath the two Blue Water Bridges, cross the shipping channel under power and head up into Lake Huron. Temperature was in the high 80s, with high humidity and a favorable southwesterly wind. Boat speed varied throughout the day: 5-kph, 2.2-kph, 4.5-kph, 3.7-kph, 6+ knots, etc. The Weather Station reported chances of severe storms on Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie. It was decided to make Port Sanilac our first destination, a 30-mile jaunt from Port Huron.

Arrival time was about 5:30 pm at Port Sanilac; the harbormaster assigns us to our slip. Time for a bit of relaxation: Ron brought out his single malt scotch with no ice or water. Bill samples his ‘recipe’, Dennis pops the cap on the ‘India Pale Ale’ and the other guy pulls the pop top for his ‘Bud Light’. We are in the cockpit of Sacrebleu and facing east. There is another Erickson at anchor near the breakwater; we are admiring that black hulled sailboat. Moments later a fellow works the oars in his inflatable and approaches our stern.

The rower is Ian Conway Lee of Great Britain and lives near London. He made arrangements to purchase his Erickson sailboat over the Internet. The previous owner is a writer for the Detroit Free Press. Ian winters in Spain, but goes home for Christmas and New Year’s Eve, then back to Spain. We had an interesting visit with him, saw him later that evening and again Tuesday morning…

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Sacrebleu departs Port Sanilac, the next destination is the Lexington Harbor of Refuge, another nice facility. It was a great day for sailing with the northwesterly winds, the temperature somewhat cooler with less humidity.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

There was a beautiful sunrise. Breakfast at Wimpy’s was eggs, meat and potatoes according to the owner. We leave Lexington at around 9:55 am, then motor out into Lake Huron, about 9-10-miles in a southerly direction. It was time for hoisting the sails, our nicest day of sailing. Blue sky with excellent wind, we continue sailing until we reach the shipping channel. While under power, we leave the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse and the Coast Guard Station to starboard as we cruise down the St. Clair River. We then pass the Huron, a former lighthouse ship, now a museum. A delightful 3 days of a sailing vacation ends once we enter the Black River motor past the PHYC and we head towards Sacrebleu’s slip on the west end.

Epilogue

A goal for 2010: An extended cruise down the St. Clair River, across Lake St. Clair, down the Detroit River past the cities of Detroit and Windsor, Ontario. (This is where Canada is south of the of the USA) Then cross the western portion of Lake Erie while stopping at Put-in-Bay, Ohio. Or perhaps a night at the North Cape Yacht Club…

Addendum

This is additional background information on Ian C. Lee, the UK sailor we met at Port Sanilac. I always find people interesting that I meet at regattas and other sailing ventures. Some of this is 'borrowed' from his e-mail of 9/1/09, including his spelling of words:

Ian lives about 60 miles south of London, just outside South Hampton, Hampshire. He will leave Michigan in mid September, will spend time with his family in the UK, will then go to southern Spain where his main residence is, near to the British Crown Colony of Gibraltar. His Erickson boat used to be called "Southerly" and was white. He changed the color and renamed her "Black Swan". He took ownership in February 2006. The previous owner was Mary Schroeder, a member of the staff at Detroit Free Press. Ian sails the Great Lakes because he wants to be there. The Mediterranean is "much spoilt by over commercialisation and perhaps not as one would expect."

A colorful character, but very friendly as he admired Dennis' "Sacrebleau" while our foursome admired his "Black Swan", at anchor near the Port Sanilac breakwater. Larry