Thursday, July 19, 2012. Belle Maer Harbor.

We left Lexington in the morning in overcast and drizzly weather. After traveling an hour and a half south, we reached the buoys at the entrance to the St. Clair River and passed under the Blue Water Bridge by Port Huron. In the upper St. Clair River a rainstorm hit us. We slowed down a bit, but otherwise the wind and rain didn't effect us too much (love the pilothouse!), and the visibility wasn't bad. A bass fishing tournament was being held on the river, and the fisherman were out in their open bass boats in the rain. They really earned their prize money today!

St. Clair River (epa.gov)

By the time we reached Anchor Bay the weather had cleared some and we were soon back in our slip at Belle Maer, home sweet home!

Belle Maer Harbor (thefishinghome.com)

 In retrospect, this trip for me was a great experience. Cruising like this has always been a dream of mine. Early in our marriage I assumed it would not be possible because of K's seasickness issues. However, several years ago we took an overnight trip on Lake Michigan with friends Bob and Mary on their boat. We both enjoyed the trip and K did not have any seasickness. This led to our getting into boating and eventually buying our current boat.

We enjoyed visiting a lot of different harbors, and we stopped in different towns on the way down the coast of Michigan than we did on the way north. We really enjoyed cruising with a "buddy boat", and we were fortunate to benefit from Kelly and Deb's experience. We learned about our boat's capabilities and I was impressed with her design and quality. K felt comfortable and secure most of the time onboard. We gained experience in handling the boat and in anchoring overnight. K and I enjoyed each others company while traveling in the enclosed space of our boat for 3 weeks! We look forward to doing more cruising and visiting new areas.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012. Lexington.

We left Tawas Bay in clear weather with a chance of showers and thunderstorms, and while crossing Saginaw Bay the Coast Guard gave a weather alert over the VHF radio of squalls possible from Lake Erie through the Detroit River, Lake St. Clair, and Lake Huron. We traveled at about 10 knots to try to reach our destination of Port Sanilac or Lexington before the weather worsened, with plans to turn off at Port Austin or Harbor Beach if needed. It turned out the weather was good all the way to Lexington, although the wind picked up just after we tied up at the Lexington State Marina.

Lexington Harbor (michigan.gov)

Lexington Marina (lexingtonmichigan.org)

When we passed Port Sanilac we looked to see if we could pick out Mom and Dad's old cottage on the shore. I could tell when we were between Applegate Rd. and French Line Rd. but I couldn't see the cottage. I think it was hidden by trees.

In Lexington we ate dinner at the Cadillac House where we had picked up many a pizza while staying at the folk's cottage with the girls. A nice little town, but the shops were mostly closed up in the early evening when we were there.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012. Tawas.

This morning I took Daisy for a walk along a beautiful path in the pine woods near Presque Isle State Docks. The path had a cedar smell and it was cool, dark, and damp, and it opened to the light house and museum nearby. The view of the bay lined with pine trees was beautiful!

Daisy rested up while we were underway

We cruised south along the coast with North winds following us. By the time we passed Harrisville, the waves had risen to three to five feet. The autopilot did not do well in these following seas so I had to steer by hand the last hour and a half (seemed longer!). The boat handled well and we arrived at Tawas Bay and were happy that a squall passed just west of the harbor as we arrived. We were tired! Sometimes it is such a relief to tie up snug and safe at a nice marina.

East Tawas State Dock is a nice marina but it is a long walk to get off the docks. Also there is a railroad track adjacent to the docks. We awoke at 2:30am to the sound of two long whistles and two short. I was sure a ship was signalling he was going to pass on our port side. I even looked out the window and thought I saw a freighter going by the marina (not likely!). When I woke up a bit more I realized it was a freight train going by on the railroad tracks just outside the marina entrance.

Monday, July 16, 2012. Presque Isle.

After leaving Les Cheneaux Islands we returned to Mackinaw City Marina where we spent two nights. Kelly and Deb left their boat on Sunday to return to Jackson. We had a nice visit with friends Charlie and Mary who drove over from their condo in Petoskey.

Shepler Ferry Dock, Mackinaw City. Fuel pump is at the right. (panoramio.com)

This morning we fueled up at the Shepler Ferry Dock and began our return home down the Michigan coast of Lake Huron. On our way the Port Huron to Mackinaw Sailboat Race was coming to a close. Several boats dropped out and we listened to the VHF radio as they were required to alert the Coast Guard when the did so. They were asked by the guardsman the reason for dropping out. One said, "mechanical failure in my rigging", another said, "the wind is dying and it's no fun anymore!"

We arrived at Presque Isle State Docks and found this to be one of the most beautiful spots on our trip. There are two lighthouses, one working and one a museum. The marina has a very good restaurant and the water was especially clear. Cousin Shad drove up from Alpena and joined us for dinner. He took us for a ride in his vehicle around Grand Lake. We had a great visit.

Presque Isle Harbor (michigan.gov)

Old Presque Isle Light (unc.edu)

Friday July 13, 2012. Les Cheneaux Islands.

This morning we left our Lime Island anchorage and traveled down the remainder of the St. Marys River. We passed a freighter awaiting apparently major repairs or scrapping while tied down on the west side of the riverbank. We also passed a cottage which is the front part of an old freighter which was scrapped, the John Boardman.

John Boardman freighter cottage (ipr.interlochen.org)

We passed the DeTour Reef Light and cruised to Les Cheneaux Islands again. We anchored for the night back at Government Bay. I got the dinghy down and K and I and Kelly and Deb drove upstream a couple miles to the little town of Cedarville for dinner.

De Tour Reef Light

While I was tying up our dinghy to the swim platform a speedboat came over to check out Breathin' Easy. The lady driving it said "Isn't that Doc Albertson?" It was the wife of one of my patients. She is also a friend of K's, and they have a cottage in the area. The next morning after anchoring in Government Bay with about 5 other boats, a man came over to our boat in his dinghy and it turned out to be K's dentist! Small world...

Government Bay

Sunrise in Government Bay

Anchoring overnight in a place like Government Bay is a quiet peaceful experience.The stillness of the night, the fresh clean air, and the beautiful pines ringing the bay made this a special part of our trip.  Now I understand why Kelly asked us before the trip if we were the type of people who needed to have the generator on all night to run the air conditioner!

Thursday July 12, 2012. Lime Island again.

This morning we toured the Valley Camp Museum, which is an old freighter docked next to the Kemp Marina in Sault Ste. Marie. The ship carried bulk goods from 1917 until 1967. It was turned into a museum which has exhibits showing all parts of the ship, displays of native fish in large aquariums, and a lifeboat from the Edmund Fitzgerald. We looked at the sleeping quarters and eating areas of the hierarchy of crew members from ordinary sailors to the captain, and the pilot house.

Valley Camp Museum (greatlakesdigitalimaging.com)

We then left the Soo and traveled downstream on the St. Marys River. We followed the Mesabi Miner, one of about a dozen Great Lakes freighters of 1000 foot length (we saw several others of this group on the trip). The downstream maneuvering for these ships is very convoluted and difficult. At one point the Mesabi Miner appeared to have its propellers in reverse to negotiate a tight turn. Because of the current  and its momentum it continued to travel downstream at about 3 knots in this area. Bumping the edge of this narrow channel would not do anyone any good!

Mesabi Miner stern view (photography-on-the.net)

Mesabi Miner bow view (greatlakesfreighters.4t.com)

Tonight we anchored out for the first time. We went to the southeast side of Lime Island just north of DeTour Village, where we had tried to anchor on the way up. The weather was great this time. We brought the dinghy down and took Daisy ashore. The anchorage was peaceful and quiet. I set an alarm to wake up at 2:30am to see if we were dragging anchor and we hadn't budged.

Dinghy Swashbucklers

Wednesday, July 11, 2012. Sault Ste. Marie

This morning Kelly and Deb joined us on Breathin' Easy for a trip through the Soo Locks. We had never been through a major lock before and we appreciated their help. The American Soo Locks are larger and all the freighters use them, whereas the Canadian Soo Lock is smaller and is used by the tour boats and pleasure craft. The process turned out to be straightforward. We entered the lock at the lock masters' instruction (green light was turned on) and came alongside the north wall. We looped two lines around vertical plastic coated cables at the stern and the midpoint of our boat. The doors of the lock closed and we were raised 25 feet as water entered the lock. The upper gates opened and out we went. The hardest part was keeping the boat in position in the river current prior to entering the lock. The process reversed on our way back as we were let down 25 feet to the downstream level.

Soo Locks, Canadian Lock on left (from Wiki)

Canada Soo Lock (tripadvisor.com)

After going through the lock we cruised up the St. Marys River to Whitefish Bay. We went as far as the Iroquois Point Light, just far enough to say we touched our hull into Lake Superior!

We returned through the lock and tied up at the George Kemp Marina again. After dinner we watched a concert of a large steel drum band and walked around Sault Ste. Marie ("walk around" a town usually implies ice cream was consumed).  Kelly and I went to the observation platform to watch a huge freighter lock through the American Soo Lock. There appeared to be only a couple of feet clearance on each side!