Well you all will now here some blog updates from Jeannie for a while! It is July 4 and Mutual Fun has been at Beaver Island since July 2. We are, of course, anchored in the St. James bay. Since about 1 hour before we got here, and as I write, the winds have blown 10-20 mph, gusting up to 30 mph. Today we saw 35 a few times!! This is an experience I will tell you! The big anchor is doing it’s job, or we would not be in the bay! A slip would be a must, as it is impossible to leave, and has been since the 2nd! The town is really something to see! Randy and I had dinner Saturday night at the Beaver Island Lodge. Some very nice friends of ours gave us a gift certificate, and we chose to use it. Our meals were fantastic! The wine wasn’t half bad either! Good Pinot Grigio, and great Pinot Noir! That’s what I like! Today, we went to town for a 4th of July parade, which was my 1st experience. We had a great time, being apart of the celebration. Our friend, Ken, is here on anchor also. We picked Ken and his dog, Lady, up on the dinghy and we all went to town in our dinghy chariot. My first experience going into the town was on Saturday, and getting wet was an experience also. As my driver maneuvered the dinghy, we got swamped several times. He was not only driving, he had 1 arm on me so that I wouldn’t fall off!! And they say chivalry is dead!! Saturday night as we headed into town again, this time I wore foul weather pants and foul weather jacket, with the hood up! That worked very well! We brought along a backpack and that stowed the gear just fine!! I am learning to adapt much faster than I thought I would! It is much easier when your sailing partner is very experienced and is patient! Tonight we will just hang around on the boat. There is supposed to be a boat parade at dusk, but with white caps on the water, that possibly might not happen. The town people did assure us that fireworks would still be happening! Monday it looks like weather is coming in so we will probably sit tight(?) for another couple of days before we head to our next port. Thanks for tuning us in to follow us. Oh for the friends that are not familiar with Beaver Island, you can only get here via boat, a ferry, and a private plane. But it is a good time! We will post again as we continue our journey! Roni, I am also counting your days til retirement! Jeannie