My diet is quite full of Crow this week...

Back in February, Jeff discovered something amazing (to him). He has been fascinated with Tallships for a while *Thank you Master and Commander* and has been tracking the HMS Bounty for about 2 years. He saw that the ship was docking in Cleveland, OH for a Tallship Festival. Then he saw it was docking in Bay City, MI for a festival as well. We discussed the possibility of a family road trip with the girls to see the ship. That would be fun, I've never seen a tallship in person. But wait... there's more... the ship was BOOKING PASSAGE from Cleveland to Bay City. What? Passage? Is that even possible? You go, I'll stay home with the girls. No really, I'll be okay at home. You can go without me, I promise I won't be upset... None of this worked. He wasn't going without me, so being the good wife that I try to be, I agreed to go. For months I joked that someone could have my ticket (and hurt his feelings everytime I said it). I made arrangements for the girls to stay with my brother. He made arrangements for someone to house sit our pets. We packed the girls, we packed ourselves, and got on a Greyhound headed for Cleveland. We arrived around 2:30pm and taxied from the station to Brown's Stadium, behind which are Municipal Ports 28 & 30.

There were soooo many people at the festival, it was unbelievable. The line for the Bounty alone was 2 hours long. However, we had credentials! We were able to board immediately and stow our luggage while the ship continued it's public tours. After 5:45 we were invited back on board and accompanied the crew to a party at Edgewater Yacht Club (via ferry boat).

We spent Sunday night trying to sleep aboard the ship, but our excitement and the heat made sleep seem impossible. Monday morning we sailed out of port. It was awesome to see the crew in full sail action, hauling on this brace, making lines fast, easing on the main course... All new terminology, all so confusing, all so interesting. We were joined on the ship by 7 other paying passengers, 2 volunteer crew and around 20 other crew members. The cook, Ashley, was very creative and her food was really good. I learned that I would eat without being picky if someone was cooking 3 meals a day for me (sorry Mom... wish I would have learned that YEARS ago). We sailed for a short time when we left Cleveland, but the winds weren't favorable so we had to motor instead. We traveled through Lake Erie all day Monday and into the night. We anchored for a while, then headed for the mouth of the Detroit River. How exciting it was to see Fermi II, Pt. Mouilee, Grosse Ile, Wyandotte Hospital, The Ambassador Bridge, The Rennaisance Center and many other points of interest as we motored up the River.

Then on to St. Clair, passing Algonac and heading to Lake Huron. I had not ever seen the Blue Water Bridge connecting Port Huron, MI to Canada. We motored right under it. We continued into Lake Huron, where we were able to sail for a while, "playing with the ship" as the crew called it. Again with the terminology and I was so into it. Where do I go, what line do I grab? Am I hauling or easing? Make it fast? Coil it down? Aye! On our watch (4am-8am and 4pm-8pm) we were shadowing the crew. From boat checks to forward watch to manning the helm or climbing the rigging, we got to try it all (I didn't climb, though I do wish I had).

These people never stop working!

The am watch was incredible. (I didn't get up for it the first morning, but the second one made me wish I had). I've never seen so many stars in my life and I only wish there was a way to photograph them, but for safety's sake, no white lights on deck at night when the boat is motoring. The sun rising over Lake Huron was beautiful, shortly after we had passed Harbor Beach, MI (hi Lynn's family!). One of the most exciting sights for me was the town of Pt. Austin, at the tip of the thumb. As a child I spent many summer weeks there with my grandparents. It was so cool to see it from the water and spot landmarks like the water tower and breakwall. Once we rounded the thumb we "hove to", positioning the sails in such a way that we didn't need to anchor, and the ship didn't move too much. We had a "swim call" and Jeff and I jumped into Lake Huron. The water was so beautiful and clear. I however, couldn't pull myself up the rope, so two wonderfully considerate sailors came down in the "little boat" to save me... and I cut my toe in the process... Once I got past the embarassment, all was well and we went to sleep for our last night aboard. The next morning we motored into the Saginaw River towards Bay City. One of our passage-mates was a well known business man from Bay City and he was welcomed home with a HUGE reception. Seeing the crowds waiting for the Parade of Ships was so cool. We motored into port, docked behind the Europa and were welcomed by the "Tahitians".

We quickly grabbed our gear and left the ship, as they had much to do to ready for the Coast Guard inspections before people could tour the ship. We met my brother at the Steinhaus bar/Atrium Restaurant for drinks and a late lunch. 4 of our other passage-mates joined us. We met a crew of entertainers from Norway, and they were so impressed to hear Jeff's family came over from Norway in 1920 they took pictures with him and gave him a pin to commemorate his heritage. Then we drove home.... the entire 2 hours.... in a HORRIBLE storm. I was very thankful the storm didn't hit while we were sailing, I don't think I could have handled that. We got to my brother's safely and the girls were so excited to see us. After a quick dinner we headed home. On Friday, I was suffering from such a bad case of withdrawl from the ship we decided to take the girls back to Bay City so they could see the ship themselves. Saturday morning we drove the 2 hours back to the Tallship Festival. We got right back on board (Thanks John!) and were welcomed back by the crew. They were excited to meet our girls, especially after having heard countless stories about them all week (sorry guys...).

We had a great day walking around the festival and downtown Bay City, visiting the Steinhaus and the Bay City Antique Center. Wish we could have seen our passagemates again, but I'm sure they were all very busy with their families. Around 730pm we got back on the road and made the entire 2 hour trip back without stopping! With 4 girls in the car we can hardly go 15 miles without needing a bathroom, so it was pretty exciting. Thanks girls, for being so good while we were gone and especially while we were with you in Bay City. During a conversation with our First Mate I apologized to Jeff for giving him such a hard time about the trip. The First Mate told me "we vindicate husbands on every journey". Yep, he has been vindicated! And I am pretty full of crow... Can't wait to board the Bounty again!