Our sailboat Wind Chaser

Last month my husband and I took a major step.  After a few years of renting time on other people's sailboats, we finally bought our own boat.  She's a Beneteau First 38, made in France in 1983.

These pictures were taken by the previous owner.  As you can see, she's a beautiful sailboat.

The sailing season here on Lake Michigan runs from May 1 to Oct. 31, although most people have their boats in winter storage sometime in Oct. and don't bring their boats back to the water until later in May or even June.  Lake Michigan can be pretty rough at times, with gale force winds and high waves.

Here's another picture of Wind Chaser, also taken by the previous owner.  

She's currently on a steel cradle, which supports the boat on four places on the hull, at a marina in Milwaukee.  It's about a 2.5 hour drive from where we live in Chicago to the marina, and we go up about once a week to work on the boat.  And since she's almost 30 years old, there's a lot of work to do!

I'm really looking forward to sailing season in 2013.   It's going to be a long winter, but it's fun to go work on the boat, adding new equipment, varnishing and cleaning, and especially dreaming about cruising Lake Michigan next summer.

Hope where ever you are, that life is beautiful for you! :)