The weekend of August 13 - 15 is our Club's 2nd annual Midnight Rendezvous. I
had a vacation day scheduled for Monday the 16th which is my 55th birthday. I
have not worked on my birthday for at least the past 15 years. It's my own
personal holiday.

Friday, August 13th, Friday the 13th I ended my work day a little after 3 P.M.
and headed for home. I took care of some personal business and then loaded up
the gear and headed for Bolles Harbor to get the boat ready to depart. I pumped
in 45.5 gallons of gasoline then my daughter called me with a personal problem
which I won't go into here so my departure was later than I wanted. I left the
dock at Bolles Harbor at 9:38 P.M. and headed for Dunbar & Sullivan an
anchorage at the north end of the Livingstone Channel in the Detroit River. I
made the 29 mile run arriving there at 10:40 P.M. One other Club boat was there
so I rafted off his port side.

I secured my boat to his and then went over for a few bloody marys to end the
evening. We were hoping to see some of the shooting stars that are prevalent
this time of the year staying up to 2 A.M. By then not having seen any I was so
tired I decided to call it a night. Because of my late arrival I will have to
wait until morning to inflate my dinghy as I plan to do some exploring
tomorrow. With that Friday comes to a close.

Saturday, August 14th. Up at a lazy 10:30 A.M.. A breakfast of an egg salad
sandwich and two Krispy Kreme doughnuts and some of Gerries special coffee and
I was on my way for the day. Pulled the dinghy out of the cabin and to the
foredeck where I inflated her and tossed her into the water. I mounted the 15
HP Merc and was ready to set off on my exploration of the area. The Coast Guard
came on the radio with an announcement of the potential for waterspouts on
southern Lake Huron and Lake Erie. Waterspouts this time of the year are very
common because of the cooler air passing over the warm waters of the lakes. In
my 39 years of boating I have yet to see one. Each late summer and early fall I
am on the lookout. I am hopeful that some day I will be able to catch one on
camera. Obviously this must be done without getting to close. The closest I
have ever come to seeing one was 10 or so years ago at Put-in-Bay where one
started to form but never did quite reach the water. Oh well, someday I hope.

About noon several other boats from the Club radioed that they were getting
ready to head over so we began to prep for their arrivals. Approximately 12:30
P.M. the first of our boats arrived. It was our fleet captain. Other boats
followed and the party began. We peaked at 14 boats. Off to the north there was
an isolated shower. I watched it on radar. About an hour or so later we were
brushed by the edge of the shower and got a few raindrops. The wind shifted
again from the north and the temperature dropped quite quickly. I went from
shorts and shirt to long pants and a jacket in a matter of minutes. There were
several different versions of popular drinks to sample from each boat so liquid
refreshment was easy to acquire. Euchre was being played on several of the
boats. Members of WRYCC love to play euchre. The partying and playing continued
all afternoon.

In all17 boats showed up at various times. We have 13 staying the night. Dinner
was a variety of items from each boat. We also had a surprise birthday cake and
ice cream for Chuck and myself as we have been doing these midnight rendezvous
to celebrate our two birthdays for the past several years. It was a nice touch
from the members and makes it more of a day to remember. We were going to
dinghy over to one of the local clubs but it was decided to stay and eat on the
boats. Euchre games started up on a couple of boats and eating and drinking on
the others. One boat was showing the Detroit Lions preseason game on TV so
there was a variety of things to choose from.

The sky has started to clear and maybe just maybe we may see some shooting
stars tonight before turning in. The wind has died down completely and it is
very quiet and calm. It will be a great night for sleeping once again.

Sunday, August 15th. Awoke to a beautiful morning with bright sunshine and
almost no wind. One of the members had to take their dog to shore for bodily
relief. On the trip back when he got close to his boat the dog, a Rotweiller
tried to jump from the dinghy to the swim platform. In the process the dinghy
moved backwards, the old for every action there is an equal and opposite
reaction. The dog did not make the swim platform and Rotweillers do not swim,
at least not very well. This dog was in trouble so I and one of the guys on the
boat the other side of them managed with some effort to pull the dog out of the
water. Once we had hold of her she stopped struggling and we got her to safety.
That was our morning excitement. Our host of the event prepared a wonderful
breakfast for all who wished to eat. Needless to say it was great and I left
the table with my stomach happy and full. Thanks Gerrie.

After breakfast I decided to head out in my inflatable and do some exploring. I
headed down the Livingstone Channel towards Crystal Bay. I travelled up the
east wall on the Crystal Bay side to Hidden Lake. I have not been there since
1967 and wanted to see what changes there were. Well, the old tree where we had
the rope swing so we could jump into the water was gone but other than that it
still looked much the same. The water is crystal clear. Back in the days when
my eyesight was 20/20 I could drop a quarter down into the water and still read
the year on the coin. The water is about 12 feet deep at that point. Then I
motored through a cut in the wall to Crystal Bay. I counted 72 boats anchored
there, mostly Canadian. Then I headed through the cut to Lost Lake and there
were a couple of fishermen and some people snorkling. It was a nice little
trip. I then headed back to our raft of boats at Dunbar and Sullivan. It was
clouding up so I turned on my radar and there was an isolated shower headed our
way. Just like yesterday we did get rained on. Todays rain was a little heavier
and it lasted about 20 minutes.

After the rain ended I pulled the motor off my dinghy and stowed it away. Then
I pulled the dinghy from the water up to the foredeck where I deflated it and
then I stowed it away for the next time. About 2:30 P.M. the raft started
breaking up and members were heading for home ports. I was trying to decide
whether or not to head for home or Put-in-Bay. I finally left the raft at 3:15
P.M. and I headed for Lake Erie. When I reached the lake it was practically
flat, waves less than a foot so I then decided PIB here I come. One hour and
thirty minutes and 39 miles later I arrived at PIB. I secured a dock on A-dock
and headed over to take a needed shower. I then re-duct taped my leaking sea
water hose as the one I ordered is still on back order. I hope it arrives
soon.. I love PIB, this is only my 3rd trip there this season. I average 7 so I
have to try to make it over there 4 more times before October 15th when my
marina shuts down for the season. I have 2 more planned trips here so the other
couple will just have to happen sometime I guess.


Dinner was at Tippers once again. Chicken strips and fries, eating on the cheap
tonight plus I was not real hungry. Took a walk thru town, not a whole lot
happening on a Sunday evening. Things are kinda slow but peaceful. A nice
evening at PIB. It's great being able to celebrate your birthday at your
favorite cruising destination. Hopefully there will be several more birthdays
in my future.

Monday, August 16th. Woke up to sunshine and blue skies. Light winds out of the
northeast which means the trip home will have following seas. Went to Pasquales
for breakfast then readied the boat for the trip home to Bolles Harbor.

I headed out from PIB into Lake Erie at 9:45 A.M.. The lake was fantastic,
waves less than a foot and following seas as I had hoped. I covered the 34
miles to Bolles Harbor in 1 hour 15 minutes arriving at 11:00 A.M. I was a
gorgeous day for a cruise and I really hated to end the weekend but duty calls
and it is back to work tomorrow.

I unloaded the gear and they came and pulled the boat out of the water and put
her in the rack until the next time. Summer is not done yet.