I couldn't get up to the lake much before nine thirty or so, so I was pretty sure that my sister would already be there. As I couldn't find her on my boat, I was pretty sure she'd be on Dave and Roseanne's boat, and that was in fact where I found her. Myfanwi, faced with the uncomfortable prospect at arriving at the marina well before myself, and therefore having to sit around in the cold and wait for me, had (not unreasonably) called Dave and Roseanne to see if they were at the marina and if so could they please let her in.

Turns out Dave and Roseanne weren't at the marina, they were home in Canton or Akron or wherever it is that they live, relaxing and minding their own business, but once they caught the gist of my sister's predicament, they up and lead-footed it off to the marina to help her out: changing all their plans! dropping whatever they were doing!- just so's they could help my sis out, and also, apparently, to ply her with booze (she was truly looped). That is the kind of rare gems Dave and Roseanne are- if you haven't met them yet, I encourage you to do so: you won't be disappointed!

Thus it was that on Saturday, poor Myfanwi wasn't feeling her best when we set sail for Kelleys Island. Steve's wife Mary Anne, along with Steve's brother and sister-in-law were going up to Kelleys, so one thing led to another and Steve kind of finagled an invite to sail with us out there. Good thing, too, because Steve is an experienced sailor, and the winds were delightfully strong- twenty or so knots- so it was nice to have an able hand, seeing as how my sister was feeling a bit hung-over indisposed.

The weather was truly splendid- the wind was right parky, five foot waves crashing away. Steve is a good friend, but he's one of those guys that it's best to go on short day-sails with rather than a weekend cruise, because he's one of those guys who keep on talking long after he's run out of interesting things to say. Personally one of the things I like about sailing is the sounds of the water and the waves and the creaking and the clanking of the rigging. It's very relaxing, I find, and puts me in a contemplative mood, attunes me to nature, one might say- the boat rising with the swell, the feel of the wind... the waves hissing by.... the rollers expiring under the lee quarter with a mighty "kssssshhhhh", the sun occasionally breaking through in all its brilliance- sparkling over all the ripples and the wavelets, the rail buried in the hissing foam. And all the while, Steve babbling on and on and about nothing at all. Mmm, yes- remind me: no more sailing to Kelleys with Steve-o.

The wind- staying strong- backed more and more into the west, forcing us to sail more north and south and north again. We were going five, six knots all the while. And it took us eight hours to cover 25 miles over ground.

In the morning the howling wind in the rigging woke me at five, and the lake was a mass of whitecaps. I admit to feeling somewhat trepidatious, but the actual sailing turned out to be amazing. The wind was, say, 20-25 knots, and the waves four to six footers, but it was all on the quarter. It's grand sailing, before the wind like this. We averaged high fives, low sixes, hitting the sevens when the waves threw us along, twisting the boat forwards and around like a corkscrew. You can't steer hardly but it's exhilarating enough that you don't care. At one point, we hit 8.38 knots for a half a second, easily the fastest I've ever gone on my boat.

We made the return passage in four hours forty five minutes.