I'm Just A Little Black Rain Cloud...

The first time Captain Ron sang this to us over the vhf radio, Pier Pressure was following us out to the lake as some dark clouds were rolling in. Even from their boat, they could see Ben's look of worry as he glanced back "a few times" at the clouds...

From then on, "the princess" (aka dana) insisted that she hear that song on just about every trip to the lake. :-)

And the Winnie the Pooh version

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NitBpJaom5k

July 3rd First Night on the Hook!

We had spent countless nights sleeping aboard on Seapickle II, but we still hadn't spent the night anchored out on the lake. With the marina only being a few miles from our normal hang out spot at Boaters Beach there didn't seem to be much of a reason not head to the dock, tie up to a fixed structure, and plug in the a/c.....at least that was my opinion. This weekend Dana had other plans for me. Later I found out she enlisted the help of our dock neighbors to help make her dream of sleeping at the beach come true. I didn't realize it at the time but everyone knew we were staying at the beach but me. I should have figured this out when everyone was way too eager to fix me drinks, of course I wised up to their plot but by then it was too late.

Ron and Debbie gathering firewood

Nice view of Chicago with Executive Decision motoring by

 June has been cold and rainy, but it really seems like summer started tonight! Warm weather, calm water, and one of the best sunsets we have ever seen! If there was ever a night to try sleeping on the big lake for the first time this one would be hard to beat.

Best sunset of the year!

It doesn't get much better than this!

 I hardly slept all night and jumped up what seemed like every five minutes to check on the anchor....it never moved. My complete lack of sleep was worth it when I peeked outside on one of my many checks to see an incredible sunrise. Well I guess both Dana and I got our wish considering I have wanted to see a Lake Michigan sunrise since we got into boating!

The now famous sunrise over Pier Pressure picture

Debbie waiting for the first pot of coffee to be brewed

The morning of July 4th brought a return visit from Executive Decision

After spending the day soaking in the sun we took a nice cruise down the shore to Indiana Dunes State Park to watch fireworks! A great finish to a wonderful weekend!

Lake Michigan Boating in June

View from our dock

The pool at Marina Shores

Heading out to the lake

Our friends on "Pier Pressure"

Enjoying the night on the lake

Another Lake Michigan sunset

We are so blessed to be able to see so many sunsets!

Sunset on Ben's first boat outing by himself

Let's Toast to the 2011 Boating Season!

Ben grilling some dinner at the marina

The ladies enjoying the beautiful evening

Ben with our sunset cruise guests

Heading out to the sunset

Marina Family

I never get tired of this view

Attack of the hungry seagulls!!

Heading back in for the night

We were lucky this week to have some beautiful weather after work, so we decided to have a little marina get together Wednesday night. Some cocktail shrimp, BLTs, kabobs and drinks made for a perfect dinner before we headed out for a sunset cruise on Seapickle II. This was the first time we had our marina friends out on the boat... and we should really do it more often! We had a great evening.... thanks guys!

A Perfect Memorial Day

Our friends on "Not Now" raising the flag

Rafting up outside Boater's Beach

Hanging out with friends on "Pier Pressure"

Memorial Day on Lake Michigan was a perfect hot and sunny day... the only negative was not being able to cool off in the water, which was still only 54 degrees! We were visited in the morning by our friends Joe & Miranda, on their Four Winns 268 "Serenity Forever." They had trailered up for the weekend from Indianapolis, and enjoyed the first day of hot weather on the lake! After breakfast and a few errands, we enjoyed lunch on the dock with our friends from "Pier Pressure," "Nauti Kids" and "Not Now."

After lunch we headed out to boater's beach for the first time of the season. Since the water was so cold still, we decided to raft up and hang out on the boats rather than wade to shore. We had a great afternoon - full of sun, friends & fun! Since it was 90 degrees and the lake too cold, we headed back to the marina after a few hours to hang out in the pool and grill some cheeseburgers for dinner.

A quick nap and cleaning up, and we finally went home for the night... all in all a perfect day :-)

In Non-Boating News...Hobart Relay for Life

This Friday Ben and I are walking from 6pm to noon on Saturday for the Relay for Life in Hobart. It's an overnight event at the Hobart Brickie Bowl. We were looking for ways to get more involved in our community, so we decided to start our own team and invite our friends and family to join! So far we've raised about $1200... but we still have this week to reach our team goal of $2000.

The theme of this year's Relay is Carnival for a Cure.  I'll have a face painting booth set up, we'll have some fun kids games, and my dad is baking brownies & cookies to sell for fundraising! :-)

If anyone would like to join our team, you don't have to commit to being there the whole night. We'd love it if you could just come by for a few hours, or just stop in and play some games!

(In more boating related news - we are looking forward to driving straight to the boat for some time on the lake Saturday!)

UPDATE: The Relay for Life was a success! We had a great night making new friends, painting faces & most importantly, raising money for the American Cancer Society.

Dana putting her painting skills to good use

Ben standing with our tent before the event - Hobart All Stars

 

Click to donate or join our team!

Spring launch has finally arrived!!

Well it's been a very long winter but spring has finally sprung, and with it comes one of the most exciting day's of the year...spring launch!! After weeks of prepping and polishing our beloved Seapickle II, she's looking great and ready for another wonderful boating season.

After stopping on the way to have a nice breakfast at Cafe 339 in Hobart, we made it to the marina just in time to see the guys coming around the corner with the tractor.



Dana keeping an eye on the situation





SPLASH!!!!






Ready to go to Boater's Beach?

 



At home in her slip and looking good!



Well it's going to be tough to top last summer...new boat, perfect weather, and an incredible 16 day trip that we will never forget! We hope to take another long trip like that again, but unfortunately it doesn't look like it will happen this year. With high gas prices and a heavy work load for both of us we have decided to spend the summer exploring the southern half of Lake Michigan. With so many great ports to visit like Chicago, South Haven, New Buffalo, Grand Haven, Milwaukee, and more I'm sure we will have plenty to share with you! Lets make this a great summer and we hope to see you out there!! Ben & Dana