FRANKFORT – Emma and Taylor Forsyth dropped anchor of their 26-foot sailboat outside of the city’s boat launch, Monday.
This is the newlyweds’ sixth stop on Michigan’s west coast since setting sail from their home in Racine, Wisconsin in mid-July. They have plans to sail through Lakes Michigan, Huron and the Erie Canal to reach New York City on the Atlantic Ocean.
“We said this is our time to go,” said Emma. “We just got married and we don’t have kids yet, we don’t have a house; so we want to just travel and see what’s out there.”
A love of sailing brought them together. They first met at Sea Scouts – a branch of Boy Scouts – when they were 14. Remaining friends, then dating, the couple married on July 10. They began their voyage a week later after packing up a few of the essentials they would need to begin their new life together.
It was Taylor’s idea to sail to the East Coast. Emma and their families were all supportive.
“You have to talk them into it a little bit,” he said. “Sometimes it just seems like a crazy idea, but it didn’t take a ton of convincing.”
The Forsyths are in Frankfort for one night and will continue north to Charlevoix. Then they will travel through the Mackinac Straits, Mackinac Island and continue to the Canal. They hope to make many stops along the way but also have to make the Canal before it closes for the season on October 13.
The trip has been fun, but not every leg has been smooth sailing due to recent storms.
“When we were sailing from Ludington to Onekama that was probably the roughest it’s been,” said Taylor. “We were rocking back and forth really, really roughly.”
Emma and Taylor will visit New York City when they reach the East Coast. The goal is to reach as far south as Chesapeake Bay by the end of fall where they hope to settle down.
“We both want to plant our life there,” says Emma, “We’ll see if this is the lifestyle we want to continue, continuing sailing and traveling around, or if this was it.”
Wherever their final destination, Emma will look for a job in pharmacology while Taylor looks to design boats.
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