After Lamar's colorful rendition I don't know that you need anything else about the final week! It was everything we'd hoped for and more, with a day of sailing in the fog (in our defense, we were sailing in bumpy swell, with light variable winds, a (since-determined) faulty wind indicator at the top of the mast, and a thick fog--all in a widening channel in which we were forced to tack! So yes, we did actually sail in a circle, or rather a triangle)...with a visit to the Battle Island lighthouse, an annual clean-up of the remote and pristine Boat Harbor beach, a visit to the Pukaskwa Pits in Loon Harbor, Madi's return at Tee Harbor, a stunning hike up the Sleeping Giant, a visit to Isle Royale, and a daily dip for each of us on board which involved some serious commitment on the cold and windy days.
We arrived in Grand Marais, wind-blown and triumphant (and remarkably clean, due to the daily dip) and ate a mountain of huevos rancheros burritos for dinner, topped off with root/ginger beer floats.
And now, two days later, the good-byes painfully accomplished, I am most grateful for:
--the satisfaction of not only traveling lightly to other places, but connecting with people over a universally-recognized important issue, and finding comeradery and fun in every community we visited
--the crew's dedication to our climate engagement: their complete takeover of the presentation, their invention and creation of our Lake Superior map with its hundreds of signatures, and their personal life choice commitments
--our daughters' commitment to Sea Change which seems to expand rather than diminish every year, despite the increasing number of things they must give up every May
--Mark's dedication to captaining us and Amicus II safely through waters and seasons that, even after all these years, seems beyond the reach of any other sailboat. This year we saw no sailboats outside of the Apostle Islands.
--the opportunity we all embraced to completely re-set our pace with a month aboard. I did enough belly-laughing to offset a year's worth of worrisome news, disconnected social systems, and computer screens. If you are feeling trapped in a world that is disconnected, inside, without authentic human connection, and screen-based, I cannot recommend this more highly as an anti-dote. And I know we will be laughing about the funnier moments all year.
Stay tuned for our teen trip, coming up June 16-26....with a similarly stellar crew of teens signed up. And don't forget about our Educator Workshop Aug. 19-22 for teachers and educators. The need for climate curriculum within schools was repeatedly brought to us--this is our answer! Still two spots open!
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