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Ben’s life in pics

I know posting food pics isn’t really cool any more but I’m proud of my breakfast potatoes. They are spicy with chili and cumin and have cojita cheese and cilantro. So crispy! So hot! Breakfast potatoes bring me joy. #breakfastpotatoes #hashbrowns #southwestbreakfast #cojitacheese

I’ve officially “made it” in life now that I’m an Art Czar. Thanks, @impressagram for the new cards. I think they’re snazzy. #businesscards #vistaprint #artczar #artdirector #businesscarddesign

The fog rolling in was a bit eerie today! No adjustment or filter necessary here. Jeez. #fog #foggy #mkelife #greatlakessailjng #sailingthegreatlakes #mke #mckinleymarina

Well, that’s it for the season! My main goal was to become a better sailer with a decent sized boat and by that measure of success, I kicked butt. A little sad to be parking the boat on the hard when there are weeks of decent weather left but dang—marinas are pricey! Next year we’ll be sailing more, entertaining more, and attacking some cleaning and safety and comfort improvements in the spring. Thank you all for the kind words of encouragement and for checking out my adventures in sailing. Huge thanks to my mom for coming along as crew and helping move this boat 1200 miles from Cleveland to Milwaukee through three of the Great Lakes. Big shout out to @julieewald too for being relatively cool with me taking off on such a long adventure. She puts up with a lot and then some. Looking forward to sharing more sailing pics soon. And by soon I mean six months. #huntervision36 #huntersailboats #milwaukeesailing #wisconsinsailing #greatlakessailing #sailingthegreatlakes #sailboatlife

Soooooo I got an amazon gift certificate for my bday from my sis. And I was like awwww damn! I’m gonna get whatever the hell I want!!!! 4.2lbs of sour gummy worms was at the top of that list. They lasted about a week. Gonna take a lot of kale smoothies to balance that out. #gummyworms #itsmybirthday #birthdaypresent #gummy #dietfood #dietplan #fuckmydiet

She is on the hard for the winter. Couldn’t quite get everything winterized as hoped but at least nothing will be bursting over the next few months. Hopefully next season will be full of more pics, trips, and good times. Honestly, this season was rough. My body just fell apart from the stress of moving this bad boy from Cleveland to Milwaukee. #sailing #onthehard #milwaukeesailing #greatlakessailing #sailingmke #sailinglife #huntersailboats #huntervision36

These are the boats I really learned to sail on. If you’re on the #Milwaukee area and want to learn the ins and outs of sailing, the Milwaukee Community Sailing Center (@mcscsailing) is THE place to learn. I had a ton of the time on the water with these boats. Plus, avid sailor volunteers go out with you the ropes, er sheets. The folks there really put in the time and effort to make sure you legit know how to sail before the course is over. These training boats are awesome too. They’re restored early 60’s boats called Pearson Ensigns and they were designed by legendary naval architect Carl Alberg. Even though they are full keel boats, they can point nearly straight into the wind and are incredibly simple and safe. They feel like sailing a park bench in a way. I’d own one in a heartbeat. They look pretty darn classy on the water with that raised stern. #carlalberg #pearsonensign22 #sailingschool #milwaukeesailing #sailboats #sailingmke #mkesailing #wisconsinsailing #greatlakessailing #pearsonsailboats

My friggin’ awesome cousin in TX, Clay, asked if we had a fridge on board. Yup! It’s a fridge freezer. Although, the shelves are misusing so everything in there dances around with the waves. Gotta get on that! #huntervision36 #huntersailboats #sailinglife #sailing #galley #sailboatinteriors

Fat Head returns! He usually adventures outside for 15min or so before coming back as though running from a clown. These are the last few days for outside adventure time as winter is truly here. Six months of being locked inside cannot he good for this gatto. #outdoorcat #catlife #fathead #straycat #mycatownesme #adventurecats #adventurecat

So, I solo sailed for the first time in my life! I was in a hurry and had to motor a chunk too—but I made it 20 miles safely. I have much to learn about safety at sea I’m sure, but if felt pretty damn amazing getting the sails up and trimmed on my own. I howled as a wolf when the boat heeled over. #solosailing #huntersailboats #hunter36vision #greatlakessailing #sailingthegreatlakss #mkesailing #sailingmke

Took me a sec to figure out how to get the dinghy onboard but with the help of the main halyard and a winch it was a snap. Well, maybe not a snap. But it did get done without injury!

534 feet deep!!! Holy dizzle that is a lot of water. We read that there is enough water in the Great Lakes to cover the continental USA in 9 feet of water. I believe it! #deep #deepwater #deeplake #raymarine #depthobsessed #sailinglife #greatlakessailing #sailinggreatlakes #sailinglakemichigan #sailinglakemichigan

Battle boats!!!! They let you take these out and blast ye matey with the water cannons. Baltimore rocks. #piratelife #pirateship #downtownbaltimore #baltimorelife

I will never get tired of the view from a cockpit. I’m looking forward to parking this boat at Racine Riverside Marina. They are super professional over there and their yard is nice and clean. This Hunter 36 Vision deserve it! #huntersailboats #hunter36vision #huntervision #huntervision36 #sailboats #sailingmilwaukee #milwaukeesailing #sailingthegreatlakes #greatlakessailing #sailboats

I took one last joy ride in the dinghy in the fog. Gonna miss this boat and my tohatsu outboard! #dinghylife #galaboats #galainflatables #tohatsu6 #tohatsu #tohatsuoutboards

Ugh! We barely squeezed between these two systems to avoid lightning. If we had known the weather was going to be like this today we would have probably stayed in port. Doh! #greatlakesweather #greatlakes #greatlakessailing #sailinglakemichigan #lakemichigan #lakemichigansailing #wtfarewedoing

home

I know posting food pics isn’t really cool any more but I’m proud of my breakfast potatoes. They are spicy with chili and cumin and have cojita cheese and cilantro. So crispy! So hot! Breakfast potatoes bring me joy. #breakfastpotatoes #hashbrowns #southwestbreakfast #cojitacheese

I’ve officially “made it” in life now that I’m an Art Czar. Thanks, @impressagram for the new cards. I think they’re snazzy. #businesscards #vistaprint #artczar #artdirector #businesscarddesign

The fog rolling in was a bit eerie today! No adjustment or filter necessary here. Jeez. #fog #foggy #mkelife #greatlakessailjng #sailingthegreatlakes #mke #mckinleymarina

Well, that’s it for the season! My main goal was to become a better sailer with a decent sized boat and by that measure of success, I kicked butt. A little sad to be parking the boat on the hard when there are weeks of decent weather left but dang—marinas are pricey! Next year we’ll be sailing more, entertaining more, and attacking some cleaning and safety and comfort improvements in the spring. Thank you all for the kind words of encouragement and for checking out my adventures in sailing. Huge thanks to my mom for coming along as crew and helping move this boat 1200 miles from Cleveland to Milwaukee through three of the Great Lakes. Big shout out to @julieewald too for being relatively cool with me taking off on such a long adventure. She puts up with a lot and then some. Looking forward to sharing more sailing pics soon. And by soon I mean six months. #huntervision36 #huntersailboats #milwaukeesailing #wisconsinsailing #greatlakessailing #sailingthegreatlakes #sailboatlife

Soooooo I got an amazon gift certificate for my bday from my sis. And I was like awwww damn! I’m gonna get whatever the hell I want!!!! 4.2lbs of sour gummy worms was at the top of that list. They lasted about a week. Gonna take a lot of kale smoothies to balance that out. #gummyworms #itsmybirthday #birthdaypresent #gummy #dietfood #dietplan #fuckmydiet

She is on the hard for the winter. Couldn’t quite get everything winterized as hoped but at least nothing will be bursting over the next few months. Hopefully next season will be full of more pics, trips, and good times. Honestly, this season was rough. My body just fell apart from the stress of moving this bad boy from Cleveland to Milwaukee. #sailing #onthehard #milwaukeesailing #greatlakessailing #sailingmke #sailinglife #huntersailboats #huntervision36

These are the boats I really learned to sail on. If you’re on the #Milwaukee area and want to learn the ins and outs of sailing, the Milwaukee Community Sailing Center (@mcscsailing) is THE place to learn. I had a ton of the time on the water with these boats. Plus, avid sailor volunteers go out with you the ropes, er sheets. The folks there really put in the time and effort to make sure you legit know how to sail before the course is over. These training boats are awesome too. They’re restored early 60’s boats called Pearson Ensigns and they were designed by legendary naval architect Carl Alberg. Even though they are full keel boats, they can point nearly straight into the wind and are incredibly simple and safe. They feel like sailing a park bench in a way. I’d own one in a heartbeat. They look pretty darn classy on the water with that raised stern. #carlalberg #pearsonensign22 #sailingschool #milwaukeesailing #sailboats #sailingmke #mkesailing #wisconsinsailing #greatlakessailing #pearsonsailboats

My friggin’ awesome cousin in TX, Clay, asked if we had a fridge on board. Yup! It’s a fridge freezer. Although, the shelves are misusing so everything in there dances around with the waves. Gotta get on that! #huntervision36 #huntersailboats #sailinglife #sailing #galley #sailboatinteriors

Fat Head returns! He usually adventures outside for 15min or so before coming back as though running from a clown. These are the last few days for outside adventure time as winter is truly here. Six months of being locked inside cannot he good for this gatto. #outdoorcat #catlife #fathead #straycat #mycatownesme #adventurecats #adventurecat

So, I solo sailed for the first time in my life! I was in a hurry and had to motor a chunk too—but I made it 20 miles safely. I have much to learn about safety at sea I’m sure, but if felt pretty damn amazing getting the sails up and trimmed on my own. I howled as a wolf when the boat heeled over. #solosailing #huntersailboats #hunter36vision #greatlakessailing #sailingthegreatlakss #mkesailing #sailingmke

Took me a sec to figure out how to get the dinghy onboard but with the help of the main halyard and a winch it was a snap. Well, maybe not a snap. But it did get done without injury!

534 feet deep!!! Holy dizzle that is a lot of water. We read that there is enough water in the Great Lakes to cover the continental USA in 9 feet of water. I believe it! #deep #deepwater #deeplake #raymarine #depthobsessed #sailinglife #greatlakessailing #sailinggreatlakes #sailinglakemichigan #sailinglakemichigan

Battle boats!!!! They let you take these out and blast ye matey with the water cannons. Baltimore rocks. #piratelife #pirateship #downtownbaltimore #baltimorelife

I will never get tired of the view from a cockpit. I’m looking forward to parking this boat at Racine Riverside Marina. They are super professional over there and their yard is nice and clean. This Hunter 36 Vision deserve it! #huntersailboats #hunter36vision #huntervision #huntervision36 #sailboats #sailingmilwaukee #milwaukeesailing #sailingthegreatlakes #greatlakessailing #sailboats

I took one last joy ride in the dinghy in the fog. Gonna miss this boat and my tohatsu outboard! #dinghylife #galaboats #galainflatables #tohatsu6 #tohatsu #tohatsuoutboards

Ugh! We barely squeezed between these two systems to avoid lightning. If we had known the weather was going to be like this today we would have probably stayed in port. Doh! #greatlakesweather #greatlakes #greatlakessailing #sailinglakemichigan #lakemichigan #lakemichigansailing #wtfarewedoing

COPYWRITE Ben Schkade 2015