Our last sail of the season coincided with the Bayfield Applefest. In prior years we had encountered rain, snow, and generally unpleasant conditions. This year’s weather, was perfect – well, almost.
Bob and Nancy and their daughter Erin joined us for the weekend. We sailed with Bob and Nancy many moons ago in the British Virgin Islands and in Greece and consumed many rum-thingies along the way. In the interim years, Erin joined them and perhaps may be a future sailor?
The weekend started with the traditional blessing of the fleet with the Thunder Bay Pipes and Drums (click to watch video) – a wonderful way to start the weekend and much nicer than last year when they played in the pouring rain.
The “almost” part of the perfect weather was 25+ knot winds blowing and 3-5 foot waves coming down the channel. So rather than terrify Erin on her first sail with us, we opted to explore Applefest which was going in full strength when we arrived. We sampled a variety of foods and wandered through the town listening to music along the way. Dan realized late in the afternoon that we had gone all day without eating any apples and sent me on a quest to find an apple pie. My first stop was at Weber’s where I learned that they had sold the last of the 500 pies a half hour earlier. My second stop was at the Gourmet Garage which had also sold out and they were frantically making pies for the next day. They graciously sold me an unbaked pie with explicit instructions for baking. It was fabulous!
Sunday was the perfect day in all ways and we headed out for a wonderful sail with all three sails flying. Bob and Dan shared time at the helm (along with Ted our autohelm) while Nancy and I enjoyed the sunshine.
Erin was Erin, and alternated between napping, videos, entertaining us, and exploring the boat.
Upon return to the dock Nancy and Bob helped us remove the mainsail and the staysail before heading back to Minneapolis. It was now time for us to go into high-gear getting the boat ready for haul-out. With our checklist in hand, we completed the necessary winterizing tasks in time for haul-out on Tuesday. Click here to see how a 20K pound boat is hauled up a hill.
With Gaviidae tucked next to the clubhouse, we proceeded with putting the winter cover on and making sure we had removed all liquids from the boat.
I should mention that during this whole process we were also trying to sort out what we needed to take with us to Toronto, what we would need when we return to Minneapolis, and what else we could store in Park Rapids. I fear that we have flunked the basic concept of being nomads.
But on a more positive note, both Dan and I agree that this first season as live-aboard cruisers exceeded our expectations as did Gaviidae. We can’t wait for next year when we will say goodbye to Lake Superior and head to Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.
October 9, 2015 in Bayfield, Wisconsin