Very Scary Storm

Well, today was another one for the record books. Clair and I only covered 129 miles in just over 12 hours, but it was one of the most challenging days I've ever had on the water. I will rephrase; this was the most scared I've ever been on a boat. We had a horrible rain and wind storm come through right a 2:00pm this afternoon. We were between the Dresden Island Lock and the Brandon Road Lock when all hell broke loose. It rained sideways so hard we couldn't see more than about 20 yards ahead of us. We couldn't see any markers on the channel. When the storm hit, we could see 2 sets of red and green markers ahead of us. They disappeared in an instant. Then the wind hit us sideways. I had full right rudder in and only the port engine engaged at over 2500 rpm and I couldn't get the boat to turn to starboard into the wind. The boat was heeled over at least 30 degrees, more heeled over then any wave I've ever taken. I won't lie, it was scary. I would seriously estimate the wind speed at over 75mph for over 5 minutes. I have been on my 411 underway in a tropical storm and never approached wind this bad. I've been on a boat tied up at a dock in Category 1 hurricane, and again, not even close to this much sustained wind. If you think I'm exaggerating, just ask Clair what he thinks. It was nuts.

The storm only lasted about 15 minutes. We kept the boat in the middle of the channel as best as we could and rode it out. We held our position between two markers and fought to keep everything in one piece. Clair and I were both really glad when it passed and we could see down the waterway again. We finally made it to the next lock and tied up to the wall and took a deep breath. There were some seriously frayed nerves for the next hour or so.

We got into the marina and tied up. Clair and I are laughing about it now, but it wasn't funny then. It looks like we will have a near perfect day to cross Lake Michigan and bring Rich his new boat home to Saugatuck. Seas should be 1 to 2 feet with wind NE at 5 to 10kts.