Today we're sailing Bernard, a Peterson 34, away from her home port in Southern Michigan. She's an old war-horse-of-a-vessel. As a youngster she collected multiple trophies in Chicago to Mackinac races and was the 1981 overall winner of the 600-mile Supermac, an occasional extension of the Chi-Mac where participating racers blow past Macinac Island to sail down the Lake Huron side of the mitten to a finish line in either Port Huron or Sarnia. We're told she also raced New York to Bermuda. Digging into her history will be part of the fun. Sailing her will be a privilege. I hope she likes us as much as we like her. Stay tuned.
We're looking for a boat, and she will be called Bernard. Will this Alsberg Brothers Boatworks Express 34 be our boat? We sure hope so. We're having her surveyed in a few days, and if all goes well, we'll move her from Lake Erie, where she has lived her entire life, to Lake Michigan. I'm trying not to get too emotionally invested, but if it all works out, I'll have plenty more to say about why we like this boat and why we'd go through the trouble of moving her and why she'll be called Bernard.