Maria Rayson

3:45p. Lines were dropped with assist from Rick and Debbie after prayers. They are Gods gift as dock neighbors. Wind at the nose, summer rain storms from the west followed for several hours until dissipating. Wavy ride but not disturbing.

The last hour of the trip from our Anchorage in Milford, was conducive for sailing other than that the winds and waves were mild. We stayed at a Safe Harbor Marina. There is a chain of them. We’re thinking seriously about getting involved with the program that offers discounts for transient boaters. We waited for 45 minutes outside of the river knowing the bridge only opens on the half hour mark (1:30, 2:30, 3:30). Unexpectedly, there was a long canal getting into the harbor and it was jumping with excitement. There was a celebration all weekend for the Coast Guard. Lots of festivities going on. Food trucks up and down the main road, service oriented attractions, and music in several areas plus a carnival. We were focused on the time and bridge schedule and knew we were cutting it close when we could see the bridge opening around the bend, but Wind Rider was going as fast as she could. Unfortunately we missed the bridge opening and had to wait an extra hour for it to open again. We had to contact the guests and explain our delay. Our guests being Ron, Jackie, Tony and our new friend, Pat who had flew in from Lansing airport to spend the evening and have dinner. The four of them picked up bikes from the airport and rode over. Our passage around the lily pads coming into the harbor was hair raising and nerve-racking. Our keel was passing through 4 foot waters and we have a 5 foot keel. But we did get a close-up view of the naked trees and the Erie blackbirds. After docking the boat and chatting a bit, we decided to go for dinner, Ron picked out a great place. The security man took us to a location to get a shuttle. The shuttle took us into town where we walked for 2 miles to get to the restaurant. It was a great Italian restaurant, well worth it and right on the beach of Lake Michigan. We merry a nice younger lady named Emily. She was at the Marina with her 6 year old twins, a boy and a girl and her husband who races bicycles. She gave us the inside scoop on Safe Harbor Life. We are interested.