Free—free at last
Free to roam, or
Not to roam
I only have
This moment in time
To do as I feel best
Swimmers swim
Sailors sail
Surfers surf
I pause
Like no one else here
Babies squeal and cry
Lovers walk
Athletics run
I pause
And wait
For what, I cannot say
Oh yes, I know …
To get nearer God to Thee
The last words I heard from my husband via cell phone: “We’re just trying to survive!” Time: 1:01 a.m. on Monday. After that, I waited. And waited. It would be the longest four hours of my life before I’d hear his voice again. Would I hear his voice again? Only the omniscient God knew the answer.
My husband and eight other crew members left Chicago Harbor Saturday afternoon for the 103rd Chicago-Mac Race (289 nautical miles on Lake Michigan) and raced to Mackinac Island. The boat, Swiftsure, is a 50-foot Nelson Merek sailing vessel. The crew had numerous sailing and racing hours logged. But never in all their sailing history had they experienced such horrific conditions.
First, I contacted Mary, wife of another crew member. We were already bedded down for the night after watching the radar and reading Chicago Yacht Club Facebook posts warning of an impending storm. “Mary, are you awake?”
“Yeah, did you hear from Steve?”
I swallowed. “Yes, and the storm hit their boat full on, but all the guys are fine…”
“Oh no!”
“Steve says everybody on their boat is okay, but he wanted to tell us first before we started hearing or reading about capsized boats and bodies missing.”
“Where are they now?”
“Somewhere by the Manitou Islands. He couldn’t talk long—only to say the wind blew out the mainsail and the boat’s retired. They’re trying to make their way southward toward Petoskey-Harbor Springs to dock.”
“So they quit the race?”
“Yes, the last thing I heard him say was…we’re just trying to survive!”
My head rested on a soft pillow, my weary body on dry sheets as I tried to imagine what their morning experience must have felt like. Thoughts of them tangling with angry wind, turbulent waves, lightening, hail, and pelting rain made my insides sick.
Prayer chain: that’s what we needed, so I set up a conference call between Mary and I, two dear sailor-friends, and my son and wife. Together we lifted our pleas heavenward asking for protection over the sailors. Encouragement also came in the form of many Facebook prayer posts.
My Bible lay on the nightstand next to me. I opened it to Psalm 55. Hungrily, I read the first verses, “Listen to my prayer, O God, do not ignore my plea; hear me and answer me. My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught…my heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death assail me. Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me…As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me.”
My eyes read further to Psalm 57. “Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.” I repeated over and over again: “Have mercy on me, God. Have mercy on my husband and the crew and all the sailors. Please, have mercy, God!”
With the words, “God, have mercy,” on my lips, I slipped into a semi-sleep until Steve called about four hours later to tell me the joyous news: the crew landed safely on shore at Petoskey Municipal Marina. Counting my blessings, I sobbed, and cried out: “Thank you, God, for saving them, for having mercy on them and on me. Thank you for allowing them to live another day.”
Note: Such was not the fate of two sailors who perished in the water before they could be rescued from their capsized boat on that harrowing morning of July 18, 2011. My heart and soul goes out to the families and friends of Mark Morley, 51, skipper of WingNuts, and Suzanne Bickel, 41. May God’s peace, comfort and love rest on each of their burdened shoulders.
Teresa Kay Lasher©2011
Sand stings my face. Hubby and I brave the wind storm and head for the beach to take pictures and document the effects of high winds across Lake Michigan.
Crashing waves. Angry waves break over Muskegon Lighthouse pier. Rolling, rolling frantically to an unsuspecting sandy shoreline. Lake Michigan churned simulates a voluminous soap-suds illusion.
Enthusiastic surfers walk the pier, and then jump off the end all on a quest to ride that surf in toward the beach. One solitary, crazy power boater attempts to navigate the channel. He bobs continuously as we watch from the safety of shore. Now and again, the boat disappears in the rising of the surf.
“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your right hand will hold me fast.” (Psalm 139:7-10)
9:00 pm Sky’s deepening orange and pinks – day is drawing to a close. I feel the need to travel to the shores of Lake Michigan where I feel closer to where our Chicago-Mac sailor guys are sailing.
I feel the urge to utter a prayer: “Lord, give our boys safe passage, fair winds, alert minds, wise judgment—and it would be great if Swiftsure did well in their division too!”
Good night, my Dragon Slayer – I love you and I’ll see you soon!
Orange, yellow, and reds abound as we toured Leelanau Peninsula in northern Michigan. The weather cooperated part time showering us with intermittent rain and sun. Traverse City is about 130 miles from our Grand Rapids home port, but somehow it took us over 200 miles to arrive in TC. No matter, we were celebrating my birthday “month,” since my birthday actually (how about that Liberty? Nana says that word a lot too!) Occurred October 8.
At one point, we climbed lots of steps to view Lake Michigan between Arcadia and Frankfort nestled in beautiful Sleeping Bear Dunes. The climb and scenic view proved worth the huffing and puffing. Some trees still held fast their green leaves and others had blown away from early snow and fierce winds. In fact, a park ranger noted it had snowed the day we traveled.
Pumpkins popped up their orange and green colors in fields, farm driveways, and roadside vendors (yes, there are green pumpkins). I believe I found a very sincere pumpkin patch. Apples of every color, make and genre abound. Can’t you just smell the poignant armor of fresh baked apple pie with caramel topping?
We combed the beach at “Christmas Cove” near Leland for a Petoskey stone – and yes, I did find one!! Can’t wait to see Leland’s new municipal building once it is completed –their docks have been expanded to allow for more boats. The car thermometer registered an icy 32 degrees. At that point, we were glad we didn’t ride the motorcycle like we did last year at this time. Last year, the weather was much more comfortable for bike riding.
Steve, my hubby, wanted desperately to get to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park – and we did, prior to their closing. We ended a perfect day as we watched the final ray’s descent over Lake Michigan and Sleeping Bear Dunes. Only a few brave remaining tourists remained to experience tranquility and serenity at its finest. Gentle breezes ruffled the remaining leaves—it would be a cold, clear night as a single bright star appeared and we bid the dunes goodnight.
Wait? What about “The Proposal?” more to follow in the next post. For now, I can tell you it occurred near the base of the Grand Traverse Lighthouse.
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Our son, Andrew, and wife Bethany are here visiting from Minnesota. PLUS, our two adorable grandchildren, Liberty (3 years old + 7 months) and Elijah (1 year + 5 months) are here entertaining us too! Last evening Steve and Andrew raced aboard “Swiftsure” in the Wednesday night summer series race in Holland on Lake Michigan. What a treat for Andrew since it had been years since he’d raced on a sailboat.
While father, son and crew raced, Bethany, Liberty, Elijah and Nana built sand castles and buried Liberty’s legs in the beautiful Holland shore sands. We kept track of the racers out in Lake Michigan at the same time. When the race ended, we ran over to the channel walk and waved at Daddy and Grandpa as they sailed victoriously through the channel. They think they took a 3rd place! Way to go “Swiftsure” crew! We were rooting for you!