On July 19th, I boarded the S/V Denis Sullivan in Bay City, Michigan, for a lengthy trip. We traveled through Lake Huron, the Soo Locks and across the wide expanses of Lake Superior. Once I arrived in Duluth, Minnesota on July 29 – I then spent a day with a close friend in St. Paul before returning home via Amtrak train.
With the best of intentions prior to sail, I purchased a lovely journal. I thought it would be clever to record all my thoughts while traveling though the open waters. Quickly I discovered – writing in a journal daily just isn’t my cup of tea! My faithful camera served as my best record of memories.
There certainly won’t be a shortage of footage from this trip. If I had to “guess” approximately how many photos I may have captured – it could well be between 3500 to 4000 images!
Now that I’m back on land, I also find it hard to describe accurately how the day passes aboard a ship in great detail. After only about the second day, time began to meld into a blend of conversations, meals, knots learned, sail and lines memorized, and piles of dishes washed. Without internet access, phone usage, or even a glimpse of the daily news – life became a cycle of sunrise and sunsets – and the interesting photographs between the two.
What surprised me most? Time passes much more quickly than I could have imagined! Not at any moment did I ever find myself “bored” or wishing the day would end. When we finally docked in Duluth – I almost had to pinch myself to believe the whole trip had really happened. To quote the familiar Truckin song by the Grateful Dead – “Lately it occurs to me… what a long, strange trip it has been!”.
It will be a major race to the finish to set up the display for the ArtPrize venue. ArtPrize is only about 45 days away! However, I’m looking forward to the challenges of setting up the exhibit with the best images captured.
Meanwhile – please enjoy a few images captured during the Parade of Sail into Bay City, Michigan:
