Day 2 - Bays of no return

Photo by: Bob Bradford

.
As we bid good day to the hospitality of our support crew and John at the Nature Center, Darin who is doing the event paddles up after stealth camping just down from Gabby.
.
A hoot and a holler, words of encouragement shared; the day called for 2 big bay crossings and with the weather forecast calling for wind and waves the crew was anxious to get underway.
.
Darin hung with us momentarily, but once the sails went up we wuz gone.
.

Photo by: Bob Bradford

.
Things you don't expect out on the water is Bob putting his paddle down; being up in the bow and before things really started to get hairy - Bob snaps of a picture as the seas start to build.
.
We were committed, following seas and the far point of the bay in the distance, we are at the point of no return, no going back, laughter and hoots can be heard by the crew of Gabby as we surf /sail our way south.
.
A shore break made for some good laughs as it was hard to take care of "housekeeping" with 7 other crew members in such close quarters, we pulled over and everyone scurried to the bush only to find out we had made landfall at a Leelanau State Park with a bunch of people milling around - surprise surprise.

.Photo by: Lynn Johnson

.
The hours clicked by, and evening was upon us, winds howling and waves 3 to 4 foot; the decision was made to pull off the water for the night.
.
We pulled off at Leland and met our support crew. Harbor master offered us HOT HOT HOT showers, just don't use the ones on the left; it would have been nice if he had mentioned that. :-/
.
It was nice to get off the water, but the search for a place to stay in the quaint village of Leland proved futile. A trek back north 21 miles to the Leelanau State Park (wern't we just here for lunch and a potty break, dang!) was our home for the night; big cracks of thunder and crashing waves kept us company this evening.
.
It looked like we would be off the water tomorrow with the reports calling for more of the same. To be continued...