Manistee, MI

Not the best forecast but a bunch of us Loopers left Frankfort and headed to Manistee.  I was controlled, 3 1/2 hours to go a measley 29 miles, buckin 2-4 seas.  It was sunny though but not enjoyable until we fought our way through the breakwater.  I am learning that whatever the waves are on Lake Michigan you can add 2 feet at the mouth of the breakwater.  It also seems (there must be something like a Murphy's Law for these kind of things) that the narrower the opening the waves will be at the worst angle possible so that the boat rolls excessively or the boat is pushed to the nearest rock wall.  Once in it was nice that is until we got to the marina; the building is under construction so the washrooms and showers were "go huts", portable, plastic, single person facilities.  They were kept spotless tho and it turned out not to be a big deal but rather a saving... 40% off dockage rates.  Almost as satisfying as going slow.

Manistee is not a bad town; it has a great boardwalk along the river to the beach.  We availed ourselves of the beautiful beach a couple of times. ...and they had batteries for the camera.  No photos though because I forgot the camera each time we went to the beach.

I must inform the Westport crowd that I am a hero....again.  I went to pick up Linda and another Looper from the beach in the dinghy.  This was our second day there because the winds and waves were too high, in fact they were crashing over the breakwall.  (A great photo op.... the spray flying high over the wall, seagulls in the air, bathers on the beach, blah, blah, blah....a picture is worth a thousand words.  Too bad I forgot the camera.)  Anyway after managing the larger waves inside the breakwall, the three of us were moving up the river when all of a sudden, out of nowhere, a flying shark( no I did not say "asian carp") flew over our heads.  The tails almost hit us.  We all ducked and I veered the boat and came to a stop.  Lo and behold it was a flying fish about three foot in length, black and purple in colour and with a series of thin yellow tails about 10 feet long.  It was a kite.  The wind was so strong that the control unit was pulled out of  the young kid's hands.  The kite flew over our heads but the control box, about the size of a football landed in the water right in front of us.  It took the three of us to reel this thing in and bring it back to the kid and his very appreciative mother.  It had already crossed the river and if it had not been for the quick thinking of my dinghy crew well who knows how many tears would have been shed.

I assisted in another rescue so to speak.  It was the first time that I assisted a sailor....to be hoisted up the mast to repair a broken piece of equipment.  It was interesting hooking up the seat to some kind of line or sheet (I am still not sure of any of the terminology on a sailboat) and having him hoisted to the top.  This was a huge mast as the boat is a 37 ft catamaran.  I handled the mainsail which means I struggled like crazy to pull and lock the safety line for his safety harness.  It was neat to participate and see how everything was done.  The captain hated going up there but his lights had broken free in the rough water and was hanging by the wires.  As it turned out 4 bolts got stripped by the force of the rolling mast.  A $200 light was saved.

Hopefully we can carry on tomorrow as we still have about 200 miles to go to get to Chicago.

Frankfort, MI

No pics today; we cannot find a battery for the camera.  It is too bad to because outside of this harbor is Point Betsie which has cliffs of sand; hugh, I mean high, sand dunes all along the coast. 

There was a fishing tournament here this weekend and the number of large salmon and lake trout were unbelieveable.  It was nothing for a boat to catch 6-8 fish weighing in over 100 lbs and unlike bass tournaments, they kept the fish and cleaned them at the dock or took them to the fish shop.  More excellent fresh fish and smoked fish.  We are eating some kind of fish every day and it is fantastic.  We thought that the smoked lake trout was very good from Bell's Fishery in Mackinaw City but the smoked lake trout was twice as good from Carlson's in Leland.  Every happy hour we seem to get a whitefish pate from the local fishery and that is becoming a habit.  We don't always buy some ourselves but there have been a number of us Loopers that have been taking turns hosting a cocktail get together every evening at 5:30.  I'm in trouble, I am still in the habit of stopping for the 4 PM cocktail hour that Westport Marina instilled into me and then I have to get ready for the next one.  Life is grand.

We just got back from the beach with the dinghy again.  The water is still crystal clear and fairly warm but here the sand is oh so pleasant; not a stone or a weed anywhere.  For lunch, we seem to want to have a drink and some food each time we arrive.  I think it is because we travel for so long (for example, today we travelled 4.5 hours to do the 42 mile distance.)   Anyway, the clam strips were superb, the boiled shrimp excellent and the calamari good and the bar had the draft beer that I have adopted, Siren Indian Pale Ale.  Now if the town only had some camera batteries one would be tempted to stay another day. 

I decided to fuel up today even though I still had a half a tank.  Prices are getting better, $2.91 /gal compared to the $3.15 I pay in Detroit.... and I have no idea what a liter would cost in Canada any more, other than too much.  I need my CPA and engineering friends to help me here.  For the previous fill up, prior to restraint, we travelled 243 miles on 289 gals for a .84 mpg average.  This time we travelled 210 miles on 202 gal for a 1.03 mpg avg.  Obviously more efficient but is it worth it??   Thinking out loud for every 400 gal tank of fuel, I can go 336 miles at 22 mph or 412 miles at 10.5 mph.  The 76 extra miles saves approx  74 gal of fuel or roughly $200.  Dam, I guess my days will be a little longer.  The good thing though, with Otto driving Linda does not mind taking her fair share of watches so I can get a little shut eye now and then.

Life is grand.

Leland, MI

Within 15 minutes of arriving in Leland this was the view from our table at The Cove restaurant.  btw, the seafood chowder is excellent.  

This section right by the marina is called "Fish Town" and has authentic shanties from earlier days.    They are now speciality shops for the tourist but very neat none the less.  There is still much fishing going on and we have been availing ourselves to both fresh and smoked lake trout each day. 

I broke down on the trip over from Charlevoix; I got tired of the 2-3 foot waves hitting us on the beam and rolling us back and forth so I brought Q up on plane for the last 11 miles and skimmed into harbor in less than 30 minutes.  It was only 11 miles so I am still showing some restraint.

Other good news, I got the NAV portion on Otto (remember 'auto' pilot) working finally.  Now I can enter a waypoint or even a route into my chartplotter and have Otto steer the course for us.  This is all new for me that is why it excites me so.  The problem was that the proper Raymarine plug adapter was no longer available so I had to juri rig the connection.  I could not find the proper size connectors for the chart plotter so had to juri rig those as well.  Once that was done I connected them to the 2 leads that George had left out of the autopilot processor and voila it worked the first time, sort of.  The quirk was that when Otto corrected for a XTE (cross track error) he went the wrong way.  After reading the documentation I discovered that there is no standard for XTE so ComNav smartly had a simple fix for that eventually.  Everything is working fine now.

Bad news, the Leland Country Club would not allow Linda and I to play golf.  I guess the size of your boat means dick all to a golfer.

We have had to take another weather day.  The waves were 4-7 dropping to 3-5 later today, Saturday.  We and a fleet of other boats hope to get out on Sunday and head for Frankfort.  Until then there is a beer waiting for me at the Cove.

Just a couple more pics, the tug is for Ron.

  

Charlevoix, MI

This is a beautiful marina in a very nice setting on Round Lake.  Hal the Harbormaster is super friendly and a wealth of local knowledge.  If you want some info, talk to Hal.

We walked the town and found the "mushroom houses".  These were builtin the early 1900's by Earl Young who built a number of irregual stone houses with wave-like rooflines.  Even the modern buildings in this area have the stone work down in irregular patterns; few straight lines in this town.

Then there are the boat houses.  Some of these are larger than the actual cottages and then some are just plain big.  Look at the size of the boats in the boat houses. 

We took the dinghy out a number of times to look at the mansions and explore a bit.  What we did not do, which we will save for next time we visit the area, is go onto Lake Charlevoix other than by dinghy.  It is a large lake and has some nice scenery that we missed.  After another weather day because of high winds we are planning to go to Leland on Thursday morning.

Excusez Moi

Harbor Springs is the Cape Cod of Michigan; yachts everywhere, kids running around in nicer boats than Wayne's of Westsport (sorry Wayne I couldn't resist even though you are not here), tennis courts galore (with people playing in their whites.), cafes at every corner and people dressed in their best preppy wear at all times.  There is no doubt that we are part of the ordinary people that are just visiting. 

The gated community at the point is supposedly the "old money" here, mostly from the automotive gaints of three generations ago.  Of course, we couldn't get in with our bikes, in fact vehicles are not allowed in the community.  People get "taken" to their mansions via horse drawn carriage, excuse me.  Even the owners park outside the gates and then have to take the carriages to their places. 

As for my dock neighbors, I am rubbing elbows with the big guys.  The 80 footer behind me, Chateau Thierry, is owned by the owner of Charles Industries, actually Joe Charles, who offered to help me with my bikes when my bicycle air pump gave up the ghost.  For a time there was another 80 footer in front and then this nice looking Hatteras beside me.

It was a pleasant stay here.  We rode our bikes up the hills to view some of the newer mansions and to see some of the country side.  We have now officially rode our folding bikes on the Loop  more than our regular bikes in the last 4 years in Windsor.  We have been using the dinghy as well.  Yesterday we spent some time anchored on a sand bar, swimming and watching all of the boat traffic. We also broke down and got a half dozen cookies from Tom's Mom's Cookies.  They are to die for, especially the oatmeal raisin. I hate to say this, even better than mom's.

On Monday we decided to stick our nose into Bay Harbor.  It is an old quarry that has been converted into an exclusive, I mean really exclusive, waterfront community.   The Yacht Club is private, even to visiting members from other Yacht Clubs and dockage is probably the priciest on Lake Michigan.

We then continued our journey to Charlevoix.  It was an easy cruise as it was only 18 miles in good conditions.  We got the noon drawbridge opening and were in our slip by 12:15.  Another impressive destination.  The marina was redone in 2008 and all conveniences are right near the marina.  The marina is actually located on Round Lake with the huge Lake Charlevoix just through the small strait to the east.  We will likely stay and enjoy this place for a few days.

Darn, the big guys keep following me. 

Virgin Territory

Our last night in Mac City was a tough one. At 1:03 AM Linda was all over me but not in a good way. Without warning a bolt of lightning and a very loud crack of thunder scared the bejeezus (?sp) out of her then me. We got up to see if there was any damage or fire nearby, it was that close. Seeing none and comforted somewhat by the fact that there was a sailboat with a high mast a couple of slips over, we fell back to sleep. More thunder and lightning but no big deal for the next couple of hours, then….hail. Poor Q getting pelted by hail for a good 5 minutes and there was nothing we could do but watch… and so we did til 3:15 AM. There does not appear to be any damage, thank heavens.

The wind was still pretty strong when we got up but it was supposed to ease up some and change direction from west to north to northeast throughout the day. That was good news for a bunch of us who have been waiting to leave since Monday. We all decided to leave late that morning encountering 3 footers for about an hour then as we made the turn to head south down Lake Michigan they were down to about 2 feet and behind us so it was quite smooth and enjoyable, sort of. As an experiment Linda and I decided to travel with a couple of other boats at about 10 mph. Now usually we cruise at 20-22 mph which meant that we could have made the 60 mile trip in 3 hours. Both of us were getting antsy as we still had not reached our destination by cocktail hour (that is 4 PM for those not boating out of Westport Marina). The other captains convinced me that the difference in fuel usage would be dramatic especially over the length of a 6,000 mile trip. I guess 5 years retired is not enough to feel comfortable at that slow pace. But I may still try this for a number of stops because they are rather close together and I did not see the needle on the fuel gauge move. The theory for those not familiar with gas guzzlers: To travel 60 mi at 20 mph it takes 3 hrs and since I burn 26 gal/hr I would have used 78 gal of fuel. Now if I only burn 6 gal/hr (I have yet to confirm this but this is what others have determined) at 10 mph, I used 36 gal (6 hrs at 6 gph) for that same trip. Less than half. We may want to use our heads a little since we have more time than money.

Harbor Springs, MI

On rounding the point to Harbor Springs I was totally blown away by the scene in the huge bay. It looked like a vacation paradise. People were swimming in water that was a beautiful turquoise color, the beach were a nice white sand, people were sail boarding, all kinds of boats were anchored in a mooring ball field and boats, lots of boats, big and small were motoring every which way. I will look for a postcard with that view because it was that awesome I am sure they must have some. The dock hands were very knowledge. When Linda handed them a dock line they asked if it was a spring line or a bow line. The admiral?, after checking with the captain, properly informed them that it was a spring. We came in like professionals. The docks here are the composite (fake) wood and well maintained. A first class marina. And there is a patio bar just at the end of our dock. How great is that?

Another thunderstorm is ripping by as I write this update this Friday morning. I see that Windsor and Detroit got hit again last night. There seems to be a lot of storms, serious storms this summer. I hope that is not an indication for hurricanes. As for now, I am anxious to get out and do some more exploring but until then I will run up to the office to send out this update.

We are now in virgin territory, everything from this point forward is new territory for us.  It is getting more exciting.

Have a great day.

Stuck in Mackinaw City Again

We arrived in Mackinaw City on Thursday, it is now Tuesday and we are experiencing are second weather day. Gale warnings (ie. winds between 39-54 mph) have been posted for the past 2 days. Waves are 5-8 ft. Golfers would have seen the earlier, lesser wind conditions while watching the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits on the western shore of Lake Michigan. We are across the lake from there and since the winds were coming out of the west, the worse waves were on our side of the Lake. When things become more pleasant we will head for Harbor Springs in Little Traverse Bay along with about 5 other Loopers. Yes, we not only met our first fellow Looper but we also met Loopers who we knew or had met at the Fall Rendezvous last year in Alabama.

The biggest surprise was Monday morning. I was sitting at the galley table sipping my coffee as usual, Linda was still asleep as usual and I was preparing to write this update when I heard this boat coming into the harbor. I had to get up to see what idiots were out in these horrible conditions. OMG, the id//// nice boaters where Scott and Marlene from our old marina, Crysler Park on the St. Lawrence River near Ottawa. We discovered that they decided to do the Loop and had left Mackinac Island earlier that morning with the intention of getting to Harbor Springs. They wisely abandoned that plan when they realized how sloppy the conditions were. We have been catching up ever since.

Another couple of Loopers came in on Sunday and wouldn't you know it, we sat with two of them, Richard and Pam, for one of the sessions at last year's rendezvous. It is a small world....at least when you are not on one of the Great Lakes in 5-8 footers. Also here is a trawler from Mobile, AL and an aft cabin from Houston, TX. We feel that we have now officially joined the Looper experience.

For those following behind us (and Chris and Gerry who never asked) our favourite place to eat is the Keyhole Bar. The bakery has great cookies and if you like people watching, the Caboose is the place to grab a beer. Ocean Breeze if you do decide to come to Mackinaw City there is a new harbor called the Straits State Harbor. We checked it out with our dinghy, after our visit to the beach, and it is very impressive. Nice long slips with plenty of room between the finger docks.

I have a few more chores that I want to get done even though I have been unusually handy these past few days. Minor stuff but we have avoided some costly calls for help. I miss the helpful, knowledgeable gang from Westport. Our cocktail hour discussions solved many issues and provided some good advice. I got the fresh water pump going again, patched another tear in the dinghy cover, mounted a flagpole (with mismatching components) for the AGLCA and TIYC (Thousand Islands Yacht Club) burgees and reorganized our storage. We need to get more organized. I got everything stowed onboard but it takes me forever to find anything and I have discovered I am going through the same search pattern for every little project. I am starting to make lists; under the master stateroom bed ....., engine room...., cockpit storage area......, etc, etc.

Had enough for today?? so have I.
Until next time.

Tom and Linda

That is All for Lake Huron

Well we did not want to linger on Lake Huron and we certainly did not want a repeat of 2008 when 4-6 foot seas was a good day for us to travel, so we took advantage of the flat water and here we sit in beautiful Mackinaw City.  We are at the old marina because we were not aware of a brand new state run marina, called Straits State Marina, right next door.  They have floating docks and new facilities all around. 

We are going to spend a few days here to get caught up on things, such as, these updates now that WiFi is available and also the looper locator.  I can't stand the complaints so hopefully the problems have been rectified.  Other more important things like checking the fluid levels on the engines and getting the fresh water pump working will get done before the heat of the day tomorrow.  We also plan on getting the dinghy out to do some swimming and general beach relaxation.  The water is so clear up here that Linda was warning me of rocks that were 20 feet below the water.  It was a beautiful day to travel until, you guessed it, more fog patches.  Fortunately the fog lifted before we got into the heavy traffic areas around Mackinac Island.

I'll let you know what else this stop brings in a couple of days.
 

Another Campbell's Day

Soup. It was another soupy day with reduced visibility for 4 of the 5 hours that we travelled. So far the scenery sucks on this trip. Oh well, there is not much to see anyway. We only went 120 miles so at least half of the trip was at trawler speeds, about 7-8 knots. When we did get out and past Thunder Bay Island, the fog lifted but then we ran into numerous fishing nets. They were scattered about a mile or so off shore for most of the way to Middle Island. So again / still we had to concentrate on the waters ahead of us.

We did make it to Rogers City by 2 PM and were all settled in when the showers hit. Fortunately, I got the satellite connected but still no WiFi for Internet access. You will get a number of reports when we get to Mackinaw City later today. Right now as we were ready to depart more fog came rolling in and we decided to wait it out this time.

Good luck to our friends on Ocean Breeze who are starting their Great Loop on Thursday.

Salute Canada

Since we were at Sarnia Bay Marina and since the Desmond Fuel dock is just across the St. Clair River we of course decided to fuel up. The difference in cost was $3.029 in the US as compared to $4.40 at Sarnia. For you non boaters out there, this deal only cost $719.70 USD.

Linda, of course, checked us into the US. We will now be foreign visitors in the US for 183 days (ie. the maximum allowed). The interrogation went like this:

US Customs and Immigration: Where are you coming from?

Linda: Sarnia Bay Marina.

US: Across the river??

Linda: Yes, we need fuel and it is cheaper here in Port Huron.

US: Are you getting lots of fuel?

Linda: Oh yeah, 200+ gallons.

US: …..chuckle, chuckle, snort. Are you ready to write your arrival number?

Linda: Please go ahead.

I guess everybody knows that Linda and I are no threat to anybody, certainly we are not terrorists, so they welcomed us without any reservations. So now with the cruising permit that we received last week from the Port Authority, we are good to go for our whole trip, or at least 183 days; but who is counting.

From Port Huron we headed out onto Lake Huron and my-O-my it was fairly flat; less than 2 feet. EXCELLENT. Of course, it was flat because there was no wind. Since there was no wind the fog was as thick as cotton. At the best of times we could see about 1.5 miles, but through the fog patches visibility was down to 200 yards or so. We learned to appreciate the radar unit and of course, Otto. Otto is our new best friend who is taking the pressure off the captain and the first mate. Thanks Dave, George and Grant. We never realized how useful an autopilot can be (Otto for auto for autopilot). For six hours we could not see anything; nothing but fog and haze. We took turns watching the radar screen and the water in front of us and let Otto take us to Harrisville. Even crossing Saginaw Bay north of the thumb (for those not familiar with Michigan, the lower part of the state looks like the back of your left hand when extended in front of you) the seas where calm. It was a long day but we wanted to take advantage of the calm seas and since we have been by these waters a couple of times already, we were anxious to get to new territory. We are about half way up Lake Huron. Our target is Mackinaw City.

The Adoration Continues

This is starting to look like I am a Facebook freak because I have to "tweet" at every little thing. (A joke, one doesn't mix apples and oranges or Facebook and Twitter).

Our good friend, BM, who wouldn't come back from her vacation spot for our send off yesterday actually stopped by today here at the Sarnia Bay Marina. It was a very pleasant surprise. What makes it even more special is the stress and risk she took in getting here to drink our wine. The trip from her cottage, which would take 35 mins normailly, actually took her 2 1/2 hours. She blames her GPS ???? She ended up crossing the Bluewater Bridge to the US with minimal id. I am sure that the near tears helped her get assitance to get her turned around and headed back to where she came from. She was a nervous wreck when she arrived but much, much mellower when she left this evening.

We are leaving in the morning with the hopes of reaching Harbor Beach (61 miles) , Tawes (?) or Harrisville (140 mi) sometime tomorrow. Lake Huron should be quiet but who knows.

Have a great evening.

Tom and Linda

R & R Finally

The Adventure Begins

REST AND RELAXATION.  We have decided to spend a couple of days here at Sarnia Bay Marina.  We arrived at 2 PM and within 40 minutes we were all set up and sitting by the salt water pool with a few beers. It feels great.  It was even better after a BBQ and a bottle of wine.  The trip up the Detroit River, across Lake St. Clair and up the St. Clair River to Sarnia was uneventful, even pleasant thanks to Dave, George and Grant;... the autopilot is a neat concept and it worked great.  The only down side was that there was a high wind warning.  It was blowing 30 km/hr when we arrived at the marina.  Fortunately our slip assignment on "Y" dock was easy to get into.

WOW, WOW, WOW  What a send off.  There was a crowd to see us off; flag waving, bell ringing, and horns blowing.  I suspect that Linda and I had more people with us than there were at the Sunday morning service.  I hope that the Big Guy is not mad.  We even had an escort of boats as far as the Ambassador Bridge.  I will post some of those photos when I get them.  People on the shore were waving and shouting... well Clara and Alex were shouting and their grandparents were waving.  It was a very memorable send off.  Thanks to all who have made the start of our journey such an event.

1 day down, 419 days to go.

Aground

I did not stay we "ran aground" but I think my boat is on the bottom here in my slip. This is the absolute most that has been put on the boat; probably 10 fold more than normal. We have most everything, I mean everything, onboard but have not yet found places to put it all. Still, I think that we are actually doing better than I thought we would because we are putting things in holes and spaces that we never did before. Right now the boat boat looks like hell (I owe little Alex next door a dollar) but it is true. Three years planning and now we are running are as!#^...heads off in the last few days.

Just over 24 hrs to go. The last load of laundry is in, the fridge is being emptied, and the furniture is covered. I have to remove the battery in Linda's car, turn off the water to the condo, empty the hot water tank, turn off the gas and lock up. Then we go to the boat and store the last of the provisions, swap the permanent dock lines for our transient / travel lines, get my hoses and power cords organized and then with any luck we can join the marina for their usual 4 PM cocktail hour (or 3).

Sunday 10 AM is our target departure time. Many of our local friends want to ensure that we are actually leaving so it has been necessary to set a schedule (pressure). I will be sooooo glad to finally start our 12 month vacation. Linda and I have earned it just in the past two weeks alone.

My next message will actually be sent from somewhere on the America's Great Loop.

Bon Voyage.

Tom and Linda

Bon Voyage Party Extraordinaire

Wasn't It a Party

Our friends at Westport Marina threw one heck of a party on Sunday.  This beautiful plaque is now posted above the bar in our salon on Q's End.  We will treasure it always. 

The party started early and after numerous toasts (ie. 2 bottles worth) of Grand Marnier and a fabulous BBQ with birthday boy (ie. the BIG 60 ) chef Sir Charles, 13 of the 27 party goers came aboard Q to escape the mosquitoes.  It was a great afternoon; the salads were superb, the drinks plentiful, and the company great.  Linda and I will miss this bunch.

The party only resulted in a minor setback for us this morning(unlike the Mayor of Westport who acquired a suspicious flu bug).  Today,we acquired a new US satellite receiver and have it hooked up to our VuQube sat dish.  It is currently downloading information onto our system, hopefully.   On Saturday, the install of our new autopilot went well.  There is only a small problem in obtaining a discontinued NMEA connector for my Raymarine chartplotter but I have already found a workaround if need be.  Regardless the autopilot works in pilot mode and will steer the boat in the direction that I point it.  Finally, some relief for the Captain when underway.

The house stuff is proceeding as well.  With any luck, we can move onboard come Wednesday or Thursday and shut the condo down.  We are still looking at departing on Sunday but I have yet to see the long range forecast. 

It was a great weekend.  

" The Destination holds very little for the voyage is everything. "