NOT Charlevoix, NOT Leyland but Northport

(Monday July 30 - Dist: 40.7 mi; Avg Speed: 11.6 mph;
        Seas: 2-3 feet; TTT: 3:35 hrs)

It was a marginal travel day today but since we only wanted to go to Charlevoix a mere 17 miles away we decided to go for it.  Little Traverse Bay had some easy 2 footers so we even went trawler speed for the first 2 hours.  Charlevoix has a crazy system for booking a slip: Linda called first thing in the morning but the marina would not give any indication if room might be available and put us on a waiting list with the promise to call us by 10 AM.  Well we are still waiting for a call and it is supper time.  We did call the marina again to find out the bridge opening schedule and then learned that they had 50 reservations to deal with before getting to the wait list. 

We decided to head for Leyland but no answer on the phone.  The seas were getting rougher, more 3 footers than 2, and the angle was bad whether we were up on plane and pounding or crawling along and rolling back and forth.  Linda then called Northport which is about 4 miles down Traverse Bay and got a spot, no problem.  We changed direction and headed into the Bay and soon found much smoother water.  The last hour was a rather pleasant cruise once again.

So here we sit in Northport Harbor; quite a nice place actually.  The town is small but Stubbs Restaurant and Bar is very good and very popular.  You must try the Thai Dragaon Rolls, exquisite.  I don't think that I have used that term before but they were indeed exquisite.  Linda is actually hoping for rain so that we can go back for Tuesday's Happy Hour and order nothing but Thai Dragon Rolls with extra sauce.

Notice we are sitting on the wall overlooking the Bay.  It was a tight squeeze but we were able to do the parrallel parking/docking without a hitch.  We are getting more experienced for sure. 

Well we will see what the weather does and then decided where to go from here.  Have a great evening.

Petoskey Therapy

(Thursday July 26 - Dist: 58.0 mi; Avg Speed: 16.8mph;
        Seas: 1 foot; TTT: 3:25 hrs)

Linda is back to normal.  And why would she not be; the weather is beautiful and the town has a 2 day sidewalk sale.  This sale is so big that they close down at least 4 square blocks.  She is in her glory and I am keeping her company by checking out the bars.  Everybody is in the spirit even the barmaids.  At one establishment she is wearing a hot orange bikini and a light cover up.  Seven of us abondoned guys sitting at the bar were having a great time watching.... the Olympics of course.  At Mitchell's Pub the barmaid assured all the women that she would babysit the husbands for as long as they wanted to shop.  She told Linda that if she kept the beer flowing and the TV on it was an easy task.

Petoskey is a very nice town indeed; half way between the old money (eg. Harbor Springs) and the new money (eg. Bay Harbor).  At one real estate office window the cheapest property was listed a $1,750,000 with most being over a quarter mil.  This area is different than Fort Lauderdale however because there are no mega yachts here.  Expensive boats for sure but around the 60 foot range.

I know that I was not going to dwell on the Happy Hours but I must mention that we had our first official Looper Happy Hour of the trip on Saturday night.  We shared the fine hors d'ouevres and wine with a couple from Fort Lauderdale and another from Colorado Springs.  Neat.

Our neighbour in the Sea Ray surprised us on Sunday not by the fact that they lent their vehicle to us to get provisions at the Walmart Super Center but the fact that they lived in Canada, in the Soo.  Evidently Cindy has dual citizenship so they keep their boat in Petoskey.  What a great place to boat.

Damn!!  Saturday for my shower there was no hot water.  Damn.

On further investigation I discovered that the thermostat was over heating.  I noticed a loose connection, fixed it but no change.  I swapped this 4 day old unit for the spare that I purchased and so far (touch wood) things look good.  Someone is ensuring that I keep my cool on this trip.

We enjoyed our stay in Petoskey so much that we stayed 4 days and I would surely come back if given an opportunity; perhaps my next Loop.  Not sure where we are headed next but Charlevoix or Leyland are good possibilities.

Showers, Thunderstorms and Hot Water

(Wednesday July 25 - Dist: 0 mi.)

A series of storms are rolling through northern Michigan at this time.  Even the best sailors who ran the Chicago to Mackinac Island race, are sheltered here in the marina.  That is an interesting bunch to say the least.  Many of them live for racing; not anything like the Volvo around the world races but just as scary to me.  The top class departed on Saturday at 11 AM.  The winner did not arrive until about noon on Monday; a very slow race evidently.  I spoke to a crew member on one of the boats in this class and he said it was so boring; no wind.  His boat of about 45-50 feet had a crew of 10 for the race.  They race non-stop until they reach their destination and of course no engines.  This particular boat races every other weekend from May until mid-September.  Wow.

Good news, the water heater is fixed.  I took my first hot shower of the trip today.  No I was not getting ripe, I was just tired of cold showers.  I figured I needed to qualify this simple statement of fact in order to stop the nasties from being sent to me.

Oh good news, I see that a couple of sail boats are leaving so the thunderstorm cells must be behind us now.  It is still raining and breezy but sailors are a different breed.  We will leave in the morning for Petosky about 50 miles down Lake Michigan.  I have been advised that there is a great restaurant, City Park Grill, there which I need to check out.  We have been good so far, even fresh lake trout last night on the BBQ.  Being next to Bell's Fishery, we have indulged in one of our favourite brunch treats; smoked lake trout on pumpernickel toast with Philadelphia cream cheese and vidalia onions from Georgia.  Our first day here we had to settle for smoked white fish, not bad, but nothing touches lake trout not even salmon.  We are proud too, no fudge and no carmel corn, yet.  Now Wayne that is discipline.... take notes.

Linda and I love the comments, well most of them anyway.  The classic about my first post:  "Sunk by wine, eh!!" 

Lisa, I realize all my blabbering is not to your liking, so I'll send some special photos just for you.  ;-)

Until Petosky have a great day.

Smooth Sailing and Sailing and Sailing

(Sunday July 22 - Dist: 187.4 mi; Avg Speed: 22.1 mph; TTT: 8:45 hrs)

Again another perfect day on one of the Great Lakes.  Lake Huron was angry at us in 2008 but sure made up for it these past two days.  Other than the small annoyance of having to fuel up ($1200 worth) after yesterday's hard run, we fed the "Twins" for a second day and managed to reach Mackinaw City a mere 187 miles.  That is about the same distance that we travelled across the Gulf in 2010 from Carabelle to Clearwater, FL. only this was easier... no crab pots just a few fishing nets around Thunder Bay.  For my geographically challenged friends that is not a town in Ontario but rather a bay just north of Harrisville, MI.

We decided to stay at the new Straits State Harbor.  A nice harbor with some fancy friends.

Well tomorrow I get to order my parts for the water heater and should be good to go by Wednesday or Thursday.

In the meantime we will enjoy both smoked and fresh fish from the fishery which is just next door. 

Great Loop Re-Runs

Linda and I have taken off again, headed for the Florida Keys to spend the winter on Q's End. I am using my old broadcast lists from our first Great Loop trip and by popular demand, will be starting up the blog once again. We are taking the same route as before. I will try not to repeat all the same things but I make no promises. If you find the updates boring or tedious, please let me know and I will remove your email address from my list. I will also be keeping the Looper Locator up-to-date on my position but for now I am having trouble separating the original trip from the current trip so it is very confusing. Once I get that issue resolved, I will send out more comprehensive instructions on how to use this very neat tool to track us.

We are supposedly experienced Loopers but one would never know by the way our preparation has progressed for this trip. To begin with we departed 5 days later than planned. It seems that everything that needed to be done had complications that took 2-3 times longer than normal to resolve. Everything from a leaking roof on the condo to a seized steering mechanism on the dinghy to a broken (and evidently nearly impossible to replace) door handle on the main door to the head. Even as I write this on Monday (Day 3) the water heater is not working. I am used to cold showers but Linda is not impressed. We await parts at our most favourite place to get stranded, Mackinaw City, MI.

Let me add the Day 1 Update to this notice.

Taking on Water

(Sat. July 21 - Dist: 161.4 mi; Avg Speed: 18.8 mph; TTT: 9:05 hrs)

We were supposed to depart on Monday but I had to deal with the roof on that day. We were going to leave on Tuesday but Linda called a time out on Monday about 6 PM saying she would not be ready and that she was taking a break... for the rest of the day. We did move on board the boat on Tuesday only to discover late Wednesday that the hot water tank was not working and the satellite PVR was still not yet connected and not working. Fortunately, Wayne and Betty rescued us and made us forget, not only the frustration, but the fact that we wanted to leave in the morning. Thursday, I searched for parts, got the water heater working but was frustrated with the PVR set up only to discover that the $20 connector that I had purchased was defective. Friday the winds were up over 25 km/hr and a barge and tug had sunk earlier in the morning and the Coast Guard was asking boaters to stay away. That area was only 4 hrs away along our path. So we had another BBQ and party at the Marina.

2012 Homeport Send Off

Saturday we got an early start in perfect weather. Got across Lake St. Clair and then Linda screamed: we are taking on water.   The water in the cockpit was over my shoe tops. It was bubbling out of the starboard scupper. I immediately cut the power and it fortunately drained away. We apparently are too heavy. One would think that we would have learned. After bailing about 6 pail fulls of water out of the compartment in our cockpit, I went below to investigate. All of the thru hulls and lines were sound. What was happening was the swimplatform went underwater and was pushing water into the cockpit drain with such force that it was bubbling out of the scupper and also overflowing the drains to the cockpit bilge entrance hatch. On closer inspection, I also discovered that I had done an excellent job of balancing the boat for this trip. For 9 years Q has always listed to port. When we went up on plane, I adjusted the trim tabs as usual until I thought that the boat was level. When I took out a level, my level by eye was not level. We were now leaning to the starboard. That combined with the fact that we were travelling a little slower than normal meant that we were not fully on plane... the result: taking on water.

I got everything figured out and continued on our/my merry way. Linda was stressed. No amount of explanation or re-assurance would convince her that the boat was as safe as before. So she kept a watchful eye on the drain and would not take the helm for me to do some of my Captain's duties (eg. my afternoon nap).

Despite the panic, we made good time and reached Lake Huron in about 4.5 hours. The Lake was flat so we pushed on and decided to go to the tip of the thumb. Since we have a broad selection of followers let me explain. Lower Michigan is shaped like your left hand. Put out your left hand plam facing away from you. Saginaw Bay is that area between your thumb and your fingers. We spent the night at Port Austin which is located.... at the tip of the thumb just in Saginaw Bay.

This is different from the first Loop.... we did NOT have a Happy Hour. I was too busy moving a bunch of stuff from below the cockpit to other places more forward on the boat. I filled the bow locker and moved 18 liters of wine to the master stateroom. Hopefully we will ride higher in the stern.

I took Linda to dinner in the hopes of improving her spirits and I think that and a couple beers did her good. We will see what Day 2 throws at us.

Thanks Chris; At least I am not totally neglected.

Scene at the sunken barge and tug site.

Found Memories from 2010