Ready or not... here we go!

I got up this morning, checked the weather, and found a pretty good report. I went over it with LeeAnn and we decided to go for it.

First we started calling around to see who could help with the sail over to Chicago. It's a long trip through the middle portion of lower Lake Michigan. Having an extra pair of hands and eyes will make life a LOT easier.

Then we rush around, packing up last minute items, going grocery shopping, etc.

I'm exhausted. It's 12:34am on Saturday now. I just finished one last sewing project. The sewing machine isn't coming with us.

It's freaky to think that tomorrow... everything changes. I start a new life. No idea where it will take me.

I've tried very hard to stay calm and centered today. I want to make smart decisions, and anytime I felt myself getting carried away, felt like I was thinking too fast. I just stopped. Sat down. Reminded myself that nearly everything was done, and as for tomorrow all we need to do is get fuel and a pump out. Everything else can be done after we leave the dock.

I need a shower? I can take it under way. I need to secure the dinghy? I can do it underway. This is one of the reasons why we wanted help for this first big leg of the trip. So while the things we forgot to do need to get done, someone can still man the boat, help with the kids, etc.

Here is our forecast for tomorrow:

 SATURDAY
 East winds 10 to 20 kt backing to north 10 to 15
 kt...then becoming variable late in the afternoon. Slight chance
 of showers in the afternoon. Waves 2 to 4 ft.

 SATURDAY NIGHT
 Southwest winds 10 to 15 kt becoming northwest
 10 to 20 kt. Chance of showers in the evening. Waves 1 to 3 ft
 building to 2 to 4 ft.

 SUNDAY
 West winds 10 to 20 kt diminishing to 10 to 15 kt.
 Waves 2 to 4 ft.

The forecast this morning didn't call for any wind out of the south until Sunday. Saturday afternoon with variable winds isn't the best, but I'll happily take it. Saturday night with Southwest winds is a bummer. We will be headed south west and the wind will be right on our nose.

I hope the SW wind will be short lived. We could motor sail as close hauled (into the wind) as possible. Or we could change course and head more west so when the wind switched around to the NW we have a better angle to turn south toward Chicago. I suppose heading west would be better than going east.

I'll check the forecast again before we leave, then make a plan while underway!