I did the hook this summer--Racine to Menominee. Very light winds from Saturday a.m. until wild thunderstorms off Door County Sunday night.

Though the weather was crappy--lots of fog, drizzle, little wind, this was my first overnight sailing. The stars were gorgeous, listening to freighters sound their foghorns in the dark was terrifying, learning how to handle a thunderstorm from an old hand was reassuring.

I saw mention of the Queen's Cup. Who has sailed, and what did you think of the Queens's Cup, Mac, Muskegon-Port?

Not on point...but I thought I'd mention the Lake Michigan Singlehanded Society races. Can highly recommend. They generally allow double handing as well. Every other year they have a "Q" race in August. Next year ('09) it will probably be from Racine to the mid-lake buoy and back. Nice group of sailors, very supportive, not ridiculously competitive....and they even let me participate.

The hook is a race I've thought about doing, but it's just hard to get away for that long. Sounds like a great adventure though. How long did it take you? What kind of boat were you on?

I did the Queen's Cup this last year. It was my first distance race. I found Grand Haven to be a disappointing port. The facilities were poor, and the docking was even more of a disappointment. I would bet a lot of boats were damaged. We sailed up to Muskegon later in the day and spent the night there. Much nicer. This year the Queen's Cup is going there. Took us 11 hours 59 minutes on a Hunter 27. 68 mile sail with decent winds. I was rudely awoken to 6 footers just offshore from Grand Haven and soon joined my crewmates feeding the fish. There was a Hunter 23 that was getting eaten alive by those waves just behind us. Great trip though. I'm looking forward to doing it again this year.

The hook was a Saturday am start. Monday morning/afternoon finish. Menominee was clean, slips were reserved. Good facilities. I hadn,t planned my return well--late night bus back to Milwaukee, bummed a ride to my car in Racine from a coworker.

I rented a Catalina 25 for a week in Muskegon last summer. The perfect way to spend a week. We got down to Grand Haven in the car, but as the fellow I rented from asked, why would you go south? Everything north of Muskegon is deeper, more sail friendly. Grand Haven had the feeling of a rustic suburb of Chicago. Muskegon was a combination of rust belt manufacturing and up north. From Whitehall and north it felt like you were in Northern Wisconsin, but with beautiful sandy beaches.