Tawas City Sorcerer Cruise

We’ve got a busy summer ahead of us, what with buying a new house, preparing for the AuSable Canoe Marathon, and all. So before summer started, we decided to mark out at least one weekend per month as a “Sorcerer Weekend.” We don’t have specific plans for these weekends, but we want to make sure to give our Gloucester 16 the attention she deserves. This Sorcerer Weekend, southern Michigan was forecast to be stormy, so we headed north to Tawas City. Every time we drive past the harbor in Tawas City, we think to ourselves how great it would be to sail there.

Tawas Bay does not offer too much in the way of protected areas, so we were lucky to have perfect sailing weather with moderate wind and little waves, despite some fog. We decided to stay at the harbor, though, because good anchorages would be further than we had time to travel.

We drove up in the misty rain. Fog was rolling in on the lake shore as we rigged the boat. It was getting late, so we launched and motored in to the harbor, where we settled in for an evening meal before bedtime.

In the morning, we headed out for a sail to Tawas Point, where we hoped to see the lighthouse. The fog was rolling in and out of the bay, keeping us cool, despite the heat wave that was going on throughout the rest of the state.

We caught a glimpse of the lighthouse, and wondered why the foghorn wasn’t blowing. The return trip was a downwind sail, so we winched up the keel and sailed close to shore, watching the ripples of sand below us in the clear water.

As we approached the harbor, the fog lifted, and we saw a sailing regatta was underway near the harbor entrance.

Our friends, Jerry and Linda, joined us for a sail in the afternoon, and then we had pizza at G’s.

On Sunday, we weren’t quite ready to drive home. Even though there was fog and no wind, we decided to head out for a quick sail. We enjoyed bobbing around in the fog. Mark made use of the time by scrubbing the deck, while I learned about some of the dramatic effects offered by our camera.

The "Fish-eye" Effect.

Uh oh. Better start bailing!!! The camera’s “reflection” effect. Don’t worry! We didn’t sink!

The “Dramatic” Effect.

We had a great time in Tawas, and we’re looking forward to our next Sorcerer weekend!