Christmas Letter 2000

Stan & Pam Williams

43635 Cottisford St. • Northville, MI 48167-8946

North Channel 7-29 with Barb & Stan Arnelien. Photo by Pam in the dingy.			(Pam’s Christmas letter in BLACK) Dear Friends and Relatives, It has been two years since my cancer. In '98, I was in the hospital wondering if I would be home for Christmas. Steve & Trudy serenaded me in my room with such beautiful harmony on the guitar, that the nurses opened the transmitter from my room and "broadcast" it into their nurses' station. I'll never forget it! Nor all of your prayers for me. (Stan’s Sailing notes in BLUE) Have you ever wondered how they get those pictures of the sail boat in the middle of the ocean, crashing into huge waves, the hull blocked on the foaming crest of a 20-foot square wave? That’s the First Mate’s job...get the picture from a dingy. Here Pam’s in training for that fateful day when we’re halfway across the North Atlantic in a gale.
Have you ever stopped to listen to the words of the Christmas Carols? They tell the whole story of Jesus' birth. Are you finding a way to make the story vibrant and real this year? Try this. Trudy and Steve are expecting our first grandchild in February. Christin and Josh are expecting our second grandchild in June. When Mary, the Blessed Mother, went to visit Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, they were both with child about 6 months apart. No, this picture of Pam was not taken at the docks by tilting the camera. Our last day sailing home provided ideal weather—about 15 knots off the starboard beam. And since the Western shoreline of Lake Huron was only a couple miles off our starboard, the fetch and waves were small. The boat hit 9 knots a couple of times.							Sailing ! Rockin' n rolling Southbound in lake Huron, 8-10.
Huron crossing Harrisville to Tobermory, 6-26, 3:30 AM.	When Christin and Josh come from Norfolk to visit us, we are going to get a real life picture of the scene between Mary and Elizabeth. I am going to drink it in as if I am getting a glimpse into history near the time of Jesus' real birth when the two blessed relatives met carrying such precious, holy babies in their wombs. We decided to head for Tobermory at 5:30 pm on the 25^th. We had a lousy day motor-sailing in light winds North along the Michigan coast of Lake Huron. Dull! Then the wind picked up out of the South and the forecast predicted steady 10k winds all night long—perfect for a reach across the Lake. So, instead of docking at Harrisville, we turned right 90 degrees. I took the first watch and kept the boat speed down to 4-4.5 knots. I didn’t want to arrive in the dark on the rocky coast and narrow passages approaching Tobermory. During Pam’s watch, she had so much fun with me out of the way, that she had the boat up to 6-6.5 knot watching the moon rise like a flaming torch. SLOW down Pam. Rocks ahead.
Josh and Steve, the husbands, are also getting a real life feeling of what it must have been like to be Joseph, the earthly father of our Lord, as they take responsibility for the protection and care of their wives and the children they bear. What an experience it will be for our whole family to be a part of these joyous occasions--births and Christmas--and realize that our God became a baby in this same glorious way in the womb of Mary. Two seasons ago we dragged anchor in a 15k breeze late one night; I had set the anchors wrong. So this was a good exercise. Bigger boat. Stronger breeze (gale actually). And one anchor held us well. You can see the line. Amazing!						St. Joseph Island, Ontario. Great anchorage in 40 Kn blow, 8-3
Detroit River 7-16. Pam's brother Tom and dad, Bill Turck.				Of course, April will be the perfect Aunt with her Montessori training. She is quite content with the single life and has fixed up one end of the house as an apartment. By day, she works fulltime at Shepherd Montessori in Ann Arbor, and by night she attends Madonna University and doing well in pursuit of her Bachelor's Degree. I’m glad to report that we returned Bill and Tommy to shore without having to call a towboat. The year before we took my elderly aunt and uncle for a ride down the Detroit River on a day with no wind, and the engine quit on us. Had to get towed back. That’s the day when we discovered that the U.S. Coast Guard’s radio was waiting for vacuum tubes from China.
Stan and I still work in our respective jobs. I find great fulfillment in mine as a middle school public school teacher (with sex-ed., drug-abuse prevention, and career awareness). Stan still works at Sandy Corp. as a creative director producing communication programs for corporations. He finds fulfillment in his avocation as an independent producer of documentaries and as a screenwriter. Ah, the Thames shakedown cruise. The lake level was so low, logs blocked the normal entrance to the Thames River. Canada, in her wisdom, turned off the lower range light so you’d know there was something wrong. Brilliant!				Shakedown to Thames River, 6-9.
Approaching our goal, the Straits of Mackinac and the Mackinac Bridge.					The documentary he’s working on now is that of a black minister of a Detroit area Pentecostal church, who is leading his wife, 3 sons, their wives and grandchildren, and 65 members of the church he founded into the Roman Catholic Church. After seven months of catechism training they will be confirmed during the Easter Vigil Mass 2001. We left Mackinac Island in a early morning rain, but with clear skies predicted later on. Approaching the Big Mac bridge was the highlight of our trip. And the weather was good enough that we could sail (no motor) and set up the camera on a mini-tripod for pictures.
Stan and his crew (me included) have been able to document the entire process for the past year. Stan recently purchased a desktop video editing system and will begin editing as soon as the script is complete. It’s been great to be part of this beautiful move of God. Sometimes it helps to have long arms. We took a bunch of these hoping that one would be aimed right.						Passing under Big Mac at 9:30 AM, Sept. 6, 2000.
Replaced engine belts, Harrisville, MI, 8-8.		We sailed through rain squalls, and ducked into safe harbor during severe thunderstorms where we were eventually hit by lightening. Zap! Insurance paid for all new electronics which we now have to install. But we had God's protection and mercy during the breakdowns and repairs, high winds and waves. We also had many glorious days and nights experiencing the beauty of God's creation, delighting in the marvelous wonder of it all. The storms kept rolling in. In Port Austin, lightening hits. We watched the storm come and go on radar that helped us predict exactly how long the rain would last, and exactly when it would arrive. Pretty neat...until lightening took out the radar later that day while we were in Port Austin. You learn to respect the elements and the ability of the laws of physics and a few sails to harness the massive energy of the sea and winds to take you to places in days that in a car would take just a few hours. But, then you’d never see lake freighters lit up like a city at night, or navigate between islands by radar, or find your way into an inlet at night by bouncing over a rock as big as a house. Oh, well! It was a truly a memorable and "comfortable" experience aboard our very roomy 41 foot ketch!
Stan and I find great enjoyment, as well, in our "new" boat, Family Ties, which took us for 3 weeks this summer all around Lake Huron. I experienced a moonrise, as we crossed the lake in the pitch black of the night under a million stars (while Stan slept between his watches). We docked at favorite ports we had sailed with the kids years ago on vacations and dropped the hook in wilderness anchorages and sailed under the Mackinac Bridge. We met old friends and made many new ones. You didn’t think I would go up there did you? Pam was not only brave, but she got a great view of the $2 Million yacht that ran up on the rocks the night before. Some yahoo, in his new boat, decided to take the short cut between the top of Michigan’s thumb and the lighthouse 2 miles off shore marking the presence of rocks. In the dead of night, at some ungodly speed, this wave skipping bravado destroyed the bottom of his boat. He wasn’t going to sink in 4 feet of water with rocks punching up through his hull, but he didn’t know that at the time. So, the U.S. Coast Guard flew a helicopter up from Detroit and pulled the two of ‘em off the boat. Pam’s effort was valiant, but the direction from the bald guy on the ground was useless. As best we could determine lightening knocked the antenna off and into the water. There was no physical damage to the boat which was well grounded. But none of the electronics worked except the depth sounder.								Pam goes "top side" to fix the radio antenna. Yep, that's her up there, while Stan stands by, 8-9.
Finishing TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MAST					Throughout the rest of the summer, back on the Detroit River and Lake St. Claire, we kept busy most every weekend taking out family and friends for afternoon or evening sails. We would love to bring you aboard and give you the experience of sailing, share some good food and conversation. Please let us know if you would like to join us next summer. After reading TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MAST, nothing much on the Great Lakes was very threatening. April found a 50 year old edition of the story at a yard sale for 50 cents.
Until then, we wish you all the love and peace and good will of this Blessed Season.