It was our fourth season of sailing. The three previous seasons we’d joined a boat club and had access to a 23′ sloop that we sailed on a fairly regular basis on the St. Croix River. This year we spent a wonderful week sailing in the BVI and we’d captained “Clear Air” in July, but we hadn’t been sailing since then. It appeared that our sailing season might be short this year.

Then, in mid-August, Michael received an email from Superior Charters, alerting us to a short notice discount on “Chat Eau,” a 2010 38′ Lagoon 380 catamaran. With only a month to find crew, we booked it.

We posted a blanket invitation on Facebook and sent an invitation to everyone on a family reunion email list. One of Michaels’ co-workers, Jen, signed up. We also received a reply from the family email list from a woman named Jodi. I sent a text to Michael and asked him if he knew who this person was (he is into genealogy so I knew he could look it up). Turns out she’s a distant cousin. After exchanging a couple of emails, Jodi was on board as well. We heard from many other folks (“ask us again”), but none were available that weekend. We were delighted to have two crew members!

As you know, sailing trips can be made or broken depending on how well everyone on board gets along. We were fortunate that the four of us got along swimmingly; in fact, we hope to sail together again.

Day Zero (Friday): We drove to the boat together Friday afternoon. When we got to the boat and unloaded our gear, the food and . . . the booze, we realized that we had enough alcohol to completely satisfy the four of us for about three weeks. It was a four-day sail! We had our work cut out for us.

Day One (Saturday): The winds were light so we had to motor a portion of the way to Devil’s Island for some sightseeing and cliff jumping.

Michael stayed with the boat at anchor while the three women took the dinghy to the island. Before going to the island, we explored the caves. They are stunningly beautiful! If you’ve never been there, we highly recommend that you visit. After exploring the caves, we motored to the island. We attached the painter to a rock, stripped to our bathing suits and walked the short distance to the cliffs. I’d jumped off the cliffs in July so I knew the water was cold enough to take one’s breath away. Once in the water it was okay; but that initial dunk was pretty chilly.

Jodi and I jumped the first time so Jen could take pictures. Then Jen and I jumped so Jodi could take a pic with Jen’s camera. The swim to the rocks is rather short – about 20 yards from the jumping point – and we all felt refreshed after the jump and short swim. We were also glad that we’d made the jump. One should not go to Devil’s Island without taking a jump off the cliffs. A short dinghy ride back to the boat and we were on our way to Raspberry Bay to anchor for the night.

Day Two (Sunday): We sailed to Sand Island on Sunday and set anchor at East Bay. None of us had been to Sand Island before so we were looking forward to the visit. We followed the trail to the lighthouse. The lighthouse was closed so we didn’t see the interior, but the exterior was beautiful! We took the stairway down to the lake and were treated with a great view of the lighthouse as well as the crashing of the waves against the rocks.

After visiting the lighthouse we took the trail back to the dinghy and motored to the boat. We whipped up a fine dinner of fried chicken, corn on the cob, rolls, veggies and chips and dip and ate at the table in the cockpit.

Note: While we were at anchor, Jodi and Jen thought it would be a fine idea to take a picture of each of them at the helm . . . as if they were at the helm while we were under sail (which they never were). Jen suggested that Jodi blow on her so it would appear that her hair was blowing in the wind. Didn’t happen. But, yes, we took the pics.

Day three (Monday): We sailed to Stockton Island on Monday. After anchoring in Julian Bay and going to shore in the dinghy, we started our visit by carving important messages in the sand at the beach. Jen carved “beer,” at which time Jodie carved “need” in front of the word “beer.” The surf washed away part of the “B” so it appears that we needed “peer,” but we took a picture anyway. I carved “seahike,” the name of this blog and the eventual name of our boat.

Carving in the sand completed, we searched for the trailhead to the Tombolo Trail. The trail took us through the woods . . . and a lot of interesting mushrooms. We kept hoping to see wildlife (such as a bear), but the only wildlife we saw were a snake and a bird. Nevertheless, the hike was quite beautiful. After a short time we came to an information center. Jen and Michael decided to take a shorter trail back to the beach, while Jodi and took a slightly longer trail. Our trail was primarily earthen but consisted from time to time of a boardwalk. My favorite section of boardwalk was a little crooked bridge.

Upon completing our trail walk, Jodi and I reached the dinghy. Michael and Jen were not there yet, so we contemplated our next step. It was at this time that I confirmed for the tenth time in three days how glad and lucky I was to be related to Jodi. Jodi suggested that it would be funny if we left our clothes in the dinghy and swam to the boat. When Jen and Michael arrived at the dinghy they’d find our clothes. I thought this was a brilliant idea! We stripped to what would be equivalent to a bikini and deposited the remaining clothing in the dinghy. One thing was immediately apparent to me: Jodi had much cooler underwear than I did. But this is a family blog so that is as far as that conversation is going.

The water was cold at first but quickly became warm. As we swam to the boat the water continue to feel warmer and I wondered if we were suffering from hypothermia, the warmth just our imagination. Tossing that idea aside, we enjoyed our swim to the boat. Upon arrival, we climbed the stairs to the sugar scoop, made ourselves an adult beverage and waited for Michael and Jen to appear on shore. Once they were in sight, we donned additional clothing and awaited their arrival.

When we told our tale, Michael seemed a bit disappointed that he hadn’t been involved in the scantily clothed swim. I told him that I would gladly skinny dip with him any time (even though Jodi and I were not nude). Michael thought “right now” was a good time to skinny dip. Jodi and Jen amused themselves in the salon while Michael and I jumped in. About 30 seconds later he let me know he was done. There was never time for the water to feel warm.

Day Four (Tuesday): Not one of us was ready for the sail to end. The weather had been beautiful, we’d gotten along famously, and we all felt peaceful and connected to nature. But the time had come. We motored to Madeline Island because the wind was on our nose.

We shopped a bit, drank and ate a bit and headed back to the boat. Within too short a time we were back on the mainland, our sailing adventure over. Happily, we had the four-drive back to the Twin Cities to spend more time together.

Epilogue

It’s been some time since our trip ended. We have many fond memories of sailing, sunny skies, lighthouses, and more. Mostly, we have wonderful memories of sailing with Jen and Jodi. Miss you!