Vacation Recap: Day 2 Part I — Jim Spurr and Friends Good Will
Day 2 of our vacation was by far the most anticipated and most exciting day we had. With the amount of built-up expectation, it would have been easy for either author Jim Spurr or the sloop Friends Good Will to disappoint, but neither did. If anything they both surpassed expectations.
Our sail wasn’t scheduled until 1:15, with an admonishment to be at the dock no later than 12:45, so we had some time to burn in the morning. We left our hotel early, travelled down the Lake Michigan coastline from Holland to Grand Haven, where we stopped to visit another lighthouse:
You’ll easily note the massive ship in the near background on the right. This is the Keewatin, known as the Kee for short. She is over 100 years old (102 this year, I think) and was a fascinating find in herself. Ships, evidently, haven’t changed that much in the past 100 years. She was a beaut, and we would have loved to tour her, but we were too early in the morning for tours, and we had a prior engagement.
After we left the Kee and the Lighthouse, we headed for the Michigan Maritime Museum, which turned out to be only about five minutes away. We arrived there way early, and snooped around the museum and went out for an early look at Friends Good Will. At this point I thought I was going to be disappointed. She was so much smaller than I had imagined. All the history of her that I had read in Jim Spurr’s works could not possibly fit on this respectable, but still much smaller than I had expected, sloop.
I thought of her owner Oliver Williams and Captain William Lee sailing her, out on the water for weeks at a time. I thought of the storms they encountered on her decks, of the waves crashing over her bow, of the winds screaming past her mast. I thought of the battle cannons splashing about her, drawing closer on each subsequent shot. This could not possibly be the actual size of the sloop. How had she ever survived as long as she had? How had anyone on her survived?
We nibbed around the boathouse, read up on some history, and then, finally, congregated on the small shaded deck on the outside of the museum to wait. Sail time was drawing near and Jim Spurr should be arriving soon.
Now I had never met Jim Spurr in person. We had talked on the phone during the initial phases of contract negotiations, and then corresponded mostly by email over the past two years and the publishing of two of his books. So it was with a great deal of anticipation that I looked forward to meeting this gentleman who had managed to bring the War of 1812 and the battles on the Great Lakes to such vivid life in his works. I had done my hair (note the word, had. As the pictures below will reveal, that lasted no more than one gust of wind once we were under sail and then it just looked its usual mess). I put on makeup (something I normally reserve strictly for weddings and funerals). I dressed in a new white sweat outfit (yeah, yeah, I know. But we were on vacation!).
So how does Jim Spurr find us when he finally arrives: all of us dozing. Me with my head on my daughter’s head which was on my shoulder. Everyone else kind of nodding off where they sat. I awoke to a cheerful voice saying, “This must be the group from Pennsylvania!” as a white sailing outfit adorned man strode up the steps. I think I was grinning before I even opened my eyes.
After a hearty round of welcomes, we boarded Friends Good Will. And once she was out on the open water, making her own way under sail, any disaappointment I had initially felt fell away as magically as the graceful sweep of her hull over the waves.
Jim and I on the deck (my posture is terrible because I was trying not to fall over):
Sailing isn’t all fun and no work, however:
(Above) Jim Spurr with our sons in the background (front to back): Coleman, Austin and Garrett Melvin.
(Below) husband Neal, daughter Shelby, and myself (kind of hidden):
But we did find time for discussion:
After all this, you may be wondering how our day got any more interesting. Well, that’s a story for tomorrow, when I blog about Day 2, Part II. But I will give you a hint: remember my prior post where I hinted at Miami Vice style water chases and a near ‘man-over-board’ scenario?
Everyone have a great Tuesday!
