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On
Northern
Shores
Above: Reverie, the Wooll’s cutter rig sailboat with sails fully extended. PHOTOS COURTESY OF JIM WOOLL
Below: Wild blueberries can often be found while hiking on the rocky shores of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
By Jim Wooll of sailing. We have four sails including a think, and no TV in an election year is a
spinnaker which can be used in a variety special treat! Thanks to the Internet, we
Like many residents of Sun City Texas, of combinations on our cutter-rig boat. To are still able to get the news. We enjoy
my wife Bobbie and I escape north supplement the sails, we also have a small many beautiful sunrises and sunsets;
for the summer. For the past 18 years diesel engine. being on the water with a clear view of the
we have gone to our sailboat Reverie with a horizon makes for many special moments.
home port in Northern Michigan. Over the So, why do we go each summer to live in
course of our summers on the Great Lakes a two hundred square foot space with no We supplement living on the boat with a
we have managed to put more than 29,000 air conditioning, TV or dishwasher? Being good deal of exploring. We have a dinghy
miles on her, even with a top speed of less surrounded by cool, Canadian water in and two kayaks that let us get to places
than seven miles per hour. July and August isn’t as bad as you might the big boat can’t. We take the opportunity
to go ashore, walk around and pick wild
Our sailboat has everything we need for blueberries whenever we can. There are
living comfortably: hot and cold running some great hikes with spectacular views
water, gas stove with oven, refrigerator. of wilderness areas. The wide variety of
It does not have laundry facilities, so wildlife - including bears and moose – is
about once a week we stop to do the wash quite a sight. Have you ever had a wild
and resupply. It’s a lot like an RV, except mink stop and look you over? We are both
that we can park for the night in a large pretty good photographers and have an
variety of protected anchorages. We are extensive collection of photos of our travels.
not limited to marinas, which are the
equivalent of RV parks for boats. We have had a special interest in the
northern shore of Georgian Bay where
Moving the boat requires knowledge of the French River Provincial Park occupies
navigation and boating rules. Sailing the the northeast corner. Here at the outlet of
boat also requires those skills, plus the art the French River, the Algonquian people
34 | SUNRAYS JANUARY 2017 ONLINE: SCTEXAS.ORG
