Welcome to the cruising blog of Wayne and Michele Sharp! Join us as we chronicle our journeys and adventures aboard our s/v Lena Bea, an Island Packet 445. Our maiden voyage in 2007 was from Bayfield, Wisconsin on Lake Superior via the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence Seaway, Eastern Seaboard, and ICW to Punta Gorda, Florida. We traveled to the Exuma Cays in the Bahamas in 2009 and 2011, and also to the Ragged Islands in 2011. Our most recent trip in April and May, 2013, was to the Abacos, Bahamas.
Welcome to the cruising blog of Wayne and Michele Sharp!
If you want to learn a little bit about cruising, satisfy your curiosity, live vicariously, or be entertained, I think you've come to the right place.
Feel free to ask questions or post comments in the comment section of each post; I will respond to all of them. You can also email us at reluctantsailor@me.com.
We've written a book based on the blog from our first journey in 2007 - Adventures of a Once Reluctant Sailor: A Journey of Guts, Growth, and Grace. It is available online from my website at reluctantsailor.net, and from Apostle Islands Booksellers, Copperfish Books, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble. Your local bookstore can also order it for you. We've included over 170 color and black and white photos.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Oh, Canada! You busted us at customs!
Monday, July 30, 2007
Thankful
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Sunday, July 29, 2007
Trolling for Wi-Fi
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Saturday, July 28, 2007
Approaching Houghton, Michigan
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Random impressions, observations, and thoughts
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Friday, July 27, 2007
Unplugged, stashed and ready to go
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Thursday, July 26, 2007
Another day, another delay
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This is perhaps the most typical view I've had of Wayne recently. |
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Here I sit...
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Communicating
Friday, July 20, 2007
Unhappy family news
Looks like we're really going to do this!
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Sunday, July 15, 2007
How I got from "NO" to "GO" in a matter of weeks
- Fear: the thought of being in water with no land in sight terrified me, as did the thought of being caught in a storm and countless other Vague Unknowns.
- Inexperience: the longest sailing trip I had ever done was a week; 3-4 months seemed like too much of a jump. I had no idea how I'd do on a trip like that and was afraid I would be more of a liability than an asset to Wayne.
- Lack of interest: Unlike Wayne, sailing is not my passion.
- Homesickness: I just didn't want to be gone that long; I like my land life too much and didn’t want to be away from friends and family for several months at a time.
- Uncertainties with communication: On previous sailing trips Wayne had done just in Lake Superior, cell phone service or any other type of communication was almost non-existent. I was concerned that we wouldn’t have contact with loved ones.
- Too much togetherness: I am used to, and appreciate, having lots of alone time, and frankly, the thought of being with someone - even my husband - 24/7 for 3-4 months made me very nervous.