The view from here

Saint Joseph from the air.
Some friends took this picture on October 8.

October Winds

The wind is howling out of the WNW at 30 knots, creating 10ft waves that crash into the lighthouse and roll down the channel, occasionally spilling over the seawall.
When St. Joseph was a bustling port, during the late 1800s and early 1900s, many a ship, trying to squeeze in one last shipment of fruit or lumber, piled up on the pier in this kind of weather. Other ships, equally unfortunate, often went aground on a sandbar that formed outside the harbor's entrance during fall storms, making navigation difficult in favorable conditions and nearly impossible in nasty weather. Most of the ships that went aground eventually succumbed to the incessant pounding of the surf, breaking into pieces and spilling their cargo into the lake. Saint Joseph actually has quite a fascinating maritime history. Lost on the Lakes: Shipwrecks of Berrien County, by a local author, details a surprising number of wrecks in southern Lake Michigan, and most of them in the St. Joseph area. Not surprisingly, most of the wrecks happened during late October and November, the time when the weather really begins to set in and fierce winds shriek out of the north.

Summer Cruise '06 Slideshow

Music by Iron and Wine, Passing Afternoon from Our Endless Numbered Days.
**if the video doesn't play, click here.

Good Old Boat Letter

I don't know whether or not this will be in their paper publication, but Good Old Boat Magazine published my letter to the editor on their website. You can read it for yourself. (Hope you're enjoying the sweatshirt, dad)