While I sit next to the fireplace and watch the snow fall here in SE Michigan, I'll reflect a little on an AWESOME 2019 and look forward to what's ahead in 2020.
First, lets take a look back. The year started out with the decision to abandon sunny central Florida...
...and spend the winter in less than sunny Michigan.
There's a case that can be made for either choice.
So we hunkered down for the winter once again in a cold climate and waited for spring. Once the weather moderated, it was time to head to Kentucky and clean up the boat we had purchased in December.
After spending a week or so getting to know the new ship, I left it to a hired marine service to prep the boat for the scheduled shipping in May.
With the Sea Ray taken care of, we fired up the RV and fishing boat and headed to Lake Cadillac for a late May fishing week
A canal lot at Mitchell State Park is one of my favorite spots to spend some time. We even fished a little.
I don't recall it being very cold, but the way Kathy is dressed, I'm surprised there isn't ice on the lake.
So what happened to the May shipment of the Sea Ray? Seems my contracted trucker got caught transporting a boat in Montana that had a bunch of Lake Michigan zebra mussels attached to it. That little oversight put him out of business so I had to find another firm that could do the job which delayed the process about a month.
That meant a month of fishing time. We fished with Brian and Shanna on the St Clair River.
This was a first...Kathy hooked (actually snagged) a sturgeon.
There was no way she was going to be able to handle the fish so I fought it for something like 45 minutes. We had no way to land that fish and fortunately it came unhooked eventually and swam away.
The last week of June, shipping day FINALLY arrived. June 24.
Two days later, I was motoring my new Sea Ray to her slip in Mackinaw City.
After a whole lot of scrubbing to remove 700 miles of road grime and Kentucky pollen and we were boaters again.
With the boat situated in the slip, we had another outing planned with Brian and Shanna. So off to pick up the RV at home and set up housekeeping on the shores of Mullet Lake.
We spent several days there fishing tor rainbow trout.
And found some success.
It was now July and time to devote 100% to the new ship. As the weather allowed, we took several mini-cruises in the Straits learning the characteristics of the v-drives on this boat.
Of course, destination #1 on Kathy's list was Mackinac Island so we found our way there more than once.
Kathy's folks showed up one day with the required price of admission...jelly filled rolls from the Mackinaw Bakery...that's a great place.
In return, we treated them to a private carriage tour...
...and lunch at the Yankee Rebel.
They're already begging for a repeat performance. Not sure I can top that act...but I have some ideas for 2020.
Summer flashed by and it was time for the annual Labor Day Mackinac Bridge Walk. We shuttled to St. Ignace aboard the Shepler 5:30 am ferry to walk the entire 5 mile span north to south.
Shortly after Labor Day, with barely enough time to wash my underwear, we drove to Port Liberty, New Jersey for a cruise to Bermuda aboard Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas.
Bermuda is beautiful.
With that, I delivered the boat to the Cheboygan Village Marina for winter storage and the 2019 season was over.
So here I am, with February knocking on the door and looking forward to an incredibly busy 2020. Next up is a trip south and cruise through the Panama Canal. Then there's a laundry list of boat work.
new radar/sonar/gps
recondition props
new water pumps
transmission fluid
hull detailing (I do that "with a little help from my friends")
I had the compass factory reconditioned.
and just recently picked up a used marine grill off "marketplace" for use when traveling. (I know its a "marine" grill because it costs three times what it should)
After all that, there's RV trips to the Smoky Mountains and back to Cadillac and Mullet Lakes.
And that just gets us to the first of July and the real boating season! So stay tuned and enjoy our journey.
