OUT OF THE RIVER AND INTO LAKE ERIE

Since Put in Bay was only 30 miles or so away, we took our time leaving Ford Yacht Club on Grosse Ile and headed out at 12:30. As we motored out of the marina, the depth sounder kept showing less and less water under our keel. Even though I followed the same path we came in on, we began to drag through the mud again. I wasn't going to stop this time. I kept pushing through the mud until we got to deep water. Even after we got to the deep water, the boat was still sluggish. The only thing I could think of that could be causing the problem was the seaweed. I slowed down, put it in reverse and then back to forward. Big globs of seaweed blew out behind the boat. I did this a couple of times and everything seemed to be fine. Another lesson learned. The sailors at Ford Yacht Club said that all we had to do was take a left into the channel and head toward the shipping channel light. That was probably good advice, but I found myself having to dodge around shallow areas to get there. The other problem was that the channel light was on the Canadian side, and I didn't have charts for that. After dodging all the shallow spots on the U.S. side, I certainly didn't want to go into Canada with no charts. I found a path that looked like it would take me to deeper water but, once again, I had to keep dodging the shallows and rocks. We finally made it to a private channel that led to the shipping channel and we were on our way. The Detroit Light House (pictured)is the entrance to the Detroit River.

The winds even started co-ooperating and we were able to turn off the motor and sail the rest of the way to Put in Bay. After a beautiful and QUIET sail, we dropped the sails outside of Rattlesnake Island and motored into Put in Bay. We found the moorings inside of Gibraltar Island and we had our pick, since they were not more than a dozen boats in the whole bay. Getting attached to the mooring was a bit of a challenge, but we managed to get settled in by 5:30. The fee was $30.00 per day but included free internet, showers and unlimited water taxi service. Not a bad deal, so we decided we would stay two nights to fully explore the island. Most of the island centered around the War of 1812 Victory over the British by Admiral Perry,(he "PUT" the captured British Fleet "IN BAY" at South Bass Island), Lobster Bisque and lots of bars and booze. The extra day gave us a chance to sleep in at anchor (sort of).

If you haven't figured it out, anchoring is our most favorite way to spend a night. Very quiet, nothing to bang against and you drift around with the wind, so you don't have to worry about waves slapping the boat all night long. The boat on the neighboring mooring had just come through the Erie Canal from New Jersy, so we wound up having lunch and they gave us some great tips, including a perfect little anchorage on Liberty Island by the Statue of Liberty. We can't wait! We rented a golf cart the second day and toured the island. We found a nice little "Key West" style bar that had great Mojitos and other refreshing drinks. We returned for dinner and some great acoustic guitar music then called it a night. We were off the mooring in Put in Bay and on our way by 10:30 the next morning. We decided to take the South Passage around South Bass Island and past Kelly's Island. Someone really made a statement with this house, or maybe it is just a really big boat on dry land! We saw this on our way out of Put in Bay on South Bass Island.

We had several options, with Cleveland being the furthest destination. The forcast had been for 10 to 15 MPH winds with 1 to 2 foot waves. Perfect, right? Nope. The winds were less than 5 and sometimes non-existant, so we motored the entire way. We did put up the sail, just in case and got a little boost in gas mileage every now and then. The temperatures were over 90 and it was cooler on the lake so we decided to just keep going to Cleveland. The skyline finally appeared around 6:30.

We had called ahead to the Edgewater Yacht Club to get a slip for the night. When we entered the marina, we couldn't raise anyone on the VHF and nobody answered the phone. We wandered into the marina and asked a few people where to go. The only place open was a guest dock and a power boat was sitting right in the middle of that. We had to slide our boat in behind him, with slips to our stern and about 6 feet to spare behind the boat. We looked like pro's as we slid in almost sideways into the spot and got tied off. Don't ask me how, but we did it. We wanted to get over to the yacht club for dinner before they closed and as we entered, we greeted by club members that were very welcoming. They wanted to hear about our trip, gave us free food and kept buying us drinks. In the meantime. we had cranked up the air conditioning on the boat. By the time we got back it was nice and cool inside. Time for another good night! They offered to give us the second day free, so we may just stay another night and explore the city. Only about 2/3rds more of Lake Erie to go and we're into the Erie Canal!

ST CLAIRE SHORES

We're back from our trip home. Everything was fine. Teresa, Lee and Wendy, along with the whole crew at the office are doing a great job. I got back to the boat on Thursday, or should I say Friday morning on the 22nd of June at about 1 AM. Of course, the boat was riding against the dock so the first thing I had to do was get it straightened out in the slip. Easier said than done at in the dark at 1 AM! An hour later, I'm finally ready to go below and get some sleep. Up at sunrise and started off doing some work on the computer. I had to meet Denise at her brother Richard's house to return the car he had loaned us. His son Michael was getting married and that was one of the reasons I had to make it back on Friday. Denise's daughter, Kim, had also come in for the wedding and was going to be staying on the boat with us. It's amazing how three people could get ready for a wedding in a 38 foot boat and still making to the wedding...well, about 5 minutes late, but we made it. The wedding was beautiful and so were Mike and Jennie. Denise was able to spend time with her mom, brothers and sisters. We had a great time! Our plans for Saturday was to recover from the wedding, take care of a few chores on the boat and decide what our next trip would be. Richard wanted to go sailing with us and we were trying to figure out the best way to take him and Kim on our next leg of the trip. We needed to make arrangements for Richard to get back home and for Kim to get to the airport for an early flight back to California on Tuesday. We tried all different scenarios, and nothing seemed to work, since there were not too many places to drop them off in Lake Erie that was convenient. The weather was the other factor. The forcast called for severe thunderstorms (again), so we finally just decided we would stay another day in Jefferson Beach Marina and take everybody out for a nice day sail on Lake St. Clair. Our friends Grant and Diane, our slip neighbors on their 50 foot Hinckley, also wanted to go sailing with us so we would wait for the weather to go through and take everybody out on Sunday. Grant and Diane plan to take their boat crusing soon. We had a late lunch at Brownies, one of those 'meat market" places that blast the music til one or two in the morning. Afterwords, I went over to talk to Grant and Diane and the rum began to flow along with the appetizers. Denise and Kim joined us and Diane wound up making a wonderful jumbalaya for everyone. Brownie's was having a bikini contest that night and Beach Grill was having a Hottie Fest, so we opted for the less expensive Bikini Contest. We had a good time, even though the contest was a little disappointing. Sunday Morning, while I was in the showers, Denise decided we should go out before the storms came through and started rounding everyone up. When I got back, we decided that it would be better to wait until after the storms, since there was a high pressure system behind it that usually means good weather. The way it worked out, the storms dissipated before they got to us so we were on the water around noon. The winds were gusting up to 30, but with our crew of 6, we handled it all and had a great sail that let everyone experience a variety of sailing extremes. We had high winds, no winds, confused winds and wind from the wrong direction when we were on our way back. Why, we even sailed from the US to Canada and back! Richard appeared to really appreciate the sail. We had another nice evening on the boat. I played the guitar and sang while everyone had a few cocktails and relaxed. We capped off the night with a trip to Mike's Grill for dinner. We got a picture of the crew (minus the photographer Denise) On the way home, the winds really kicked up from the North. We had to re-tie Manana to keep her off the dock. Of course, I still had to get up at least three times in the middle of the night to adjust the lines as the winds increased and continued to push us onto the dock. Another good reason to anchor out! You might drag the anchor but at least you won't be banging against a dock. We were supposed to be leaving early the next morning, but, apparently we slept in a little late as Grant and Diane returned the favor to Denise and came knocking on our boat around 8 to say goodbye. It was a good thing they did. We problably would have slept til 10 or later. The winds continued to howl and push us on the dock as we prepared to leave. We had decided we would try to get to Toledo Beach on Western Lake Erie by the end of the day. We had a difficult time trying to figure out how to get out of the slip with all that wind without breaking anything, but with the help of Kim and a couple of boaters from the marina, we were on our way by 10:30. The wind was blowing even stronger on Lake St. Claire but as we motored down wind, the waves and wind pushed us forward faster and our ride smoothed out. It didn't take us long to get down to the Detroit River entrance. The Grosse Point Yacht Club below was a picture worth taking. Along the way, I realized we probably should have topped off the fuel before leaving, but we figured there should be someplace we could stop along the way. We planned on taking the Detroit river and go starboard to the Trenton Channel rather than the shipping channel to port, in the hopes that one of the marinas would be deep enough for us to grab some fuel. Although Detroit has an impressive skyline, we really enjoyed the St. Claire River passage much more than this one. We went around Grosse Ile to starboard also and encountered one of our first swing bridges on the way. Our charts or the guide book did not give us the names of the bridges, so we had a little confusion trying to hail them so they could open up and let us through. We finally talked to the first one, which was known as the Grosse Isle toll bridge, but they were having the bridge worked on and we had to wait 20 minutes while the work barge disengaged from the bridge. We didn't realize how strong the current and wind was until we turned around and tried to stay in place away from the bridge. We were motoring at 2 to 3 knots and were still going back toward the bridge. Strange feeling. The bridge finally opened right when they said it would and we headed down to the next one. We tried to hail this one (without the proper name) and got no response. We motored closer and a sign said there was no attendant and that we would have to call a number and give them a 5 hour notice! We tried to call the number, but it was disconnected! We hailed the first bridge again and she gave us a new telephone number to call. This time, someone answered. Apparently the sign was for the winter operation of the bridge and the bridge tender was a little confused as to why we had turned around. He opened it and we were on our way. Whew! Now we called the Humbug Marina that was one of the last ones before we entered Lake Erie. They said they had 8 to 10 feet of depth and gave us directions on how to get in. We even gave some thought to grabbing a slip there, since there were small craft warnings on Lake Erie. We came in, following the directions exactly as he told us. About 50 feet from the gas dock, we were stuck in the mud! The person we had talked to kept saying we have sail boats bigger than yours in here and they didn't have a problem. We gave up and called Towboat US. As we waited, we began to move a little so I began wiggling us around and broke loose. We headed out, dragging mud behind us, to deeper water. The tow boat had just arrived as we were breaking free and came out to help us. The boat felt sluggish, but we finally got her to feeling somewhat normal under power. The tow boat offered to pilot us back in to get fuel, so we followed, but got stuck again. He wound up dragging us to the gas dock and then back out again to deep water. He suggested we follow him to the Ford Yacht Club and we could get a free slip there with our yacht club reciprosity. So, here we are. In a beautiful, quiet marina looking out over Lake Erie for the night. Tomorrow, we'll finish our trip to Put In Bay. We have finally figured out how to put the pictures on but are still trying to figure out the new format like how to put captions on ect.,. Hope you enjoy!

DOWN THE EAST SIDE

We had a nice peaceful night at the gas dock at Rogers City. We took our time leaving and were on the water by 10 AM on Wednesday, June 13th. In stark contrast to the day before, the winds were less than 5 and the lake looked like glass. I guess the forecasters got it right for a change. The only problem is, we would probably wind up motoring all day. We wanted to get as far south as possible so that we could be in St. Claire, Michigan on Lake St. Claire by Friday, June 15th. We thought we might be able to get all the way to Port Huron, but we knew it would be a long day and probably most of the night. Going around the "Mitten" and headed for the "Thumb" of Michigan was interesting but very little to see. It was shallow for quite a ways out so we couldn't go right along the shore, but we did see a lot of lighthouses and islands along the way. Motoring makes the day very boring. We had to make a choice of continuing on into the night and possibly arriving at Port Huron about 1 or 2 AM or stopping somewhere in between and getting an early start the next day. We decided to stop at Harrisville with the idea of getting up at 3 AM on Thursday and proceeding on to Port Huron. Harrisville was a very quiet little marina, with very few boats and some fairly rickety docks. It was about two thirds of the way down the "mitten" of Michigan. In many harbors in Michigan, you have the option of renting a slip at a very reasonable price or anchoring. We love to anchor, but, in order to get to shore you have to launch your dingy, put the motor on and then get it back on the boat when you are ready to leave. Taking a slip is simpler. We settled in our slip and went to bed early with the alarms set for 3 AM. I was up at 2:20 and decided to just stay up. By 3:45, we had our coffee, cast the lines and were out on Lake Huron. Wow! What a beautiful morning! There was a crescent moon and virtually every star and constellation was clearly visible, including the milky way. Every night sail I have ever had reminds me of how beautiful it is once you get away from land and lights. Over the years, we have seen thousands of sunsets, but the sunrise over Lake Huron was amazing. It started hours before with hues of red painting the sky as the sun began reflecting off the clouds. Sunsets signal the end of the day in a beautiful and awe inspiring show, but this sunrise showed the power and beauty of nature as it lit up the Eastern skyline for hours before it finally peeked it's brilliant light above the horizon. Amazing that it happens every morning and we rarely get to see it, especially over the water. We had a good day on the water and made good time. We had to motor at first but later on, we put out the genoa and motor sailed. We got across Saginaw Bay to the "thumb" and finally hoisted the mainsail and began sailing. It slowed us down a bit, but it was so great to have the quiet and relaxing feeling of the wind moving our 11 ton boat across the water. Of course, the wind never co-operates the way it is supposed to. It was very close on our nose, so we could not sail directly to where we wanted to go. As we got across the bay we still had to tack to the East to get us around the "thumb" and headed towards the St. Claire River entrance. While we were traveling, we were charting our next planned course. It seems that Port Huron would require us to go up a river and wait for two or maybe three bridges to open before we could get to a marina. This seemed like a waste of time, so we decided to stop at Lexington, which was the last stop before entering the St. Claire River. Unfortunately, they had some shoaling and could not accomodate our 5'7" draft. We decided to take the next port North, which was Port Sanilac that is about two thirds of the way down the "thumb". Once we got past the thumb, the wind was directly on our nose so we dropped all the sail and started motoring again. There were at least nine freighters on my AIS at all times, but I happened to see a sail boat up ahead of us. As we closed on it, I realized it was going the same direction as we were and we eventually passed it by. We made it into Port Sanilac and got fuel, pumped out and grabbed a slip for the night. Later on, the boat we had passed by came in and grabbed a slip right next to us. They had just left Bay City and were planning an extended cruising voyage too. We wound up showing off our boats and going to dinner together, with the main topic of conversation being sailing and cruising. A beautiful evening. We left Friday Morning around nine and headed for the St. Claire River. There was a parade of freighters before and after entering the river. Denise snapped lots of pictures down the river before we finally got into Lake St. Claire. We made a bee line for Jefferson Beach Marina and got a slip next to our friends in the beautiful ketch Monarch. Jefferson Beach Marina is a huge marina with hundreds of go-fast and large motor yachts. There were lots of bikinis and drunk boaters in loud boats. We really appreciate those quiet anchorages with nobody else around. Denise's brother is going to let us use his vehicle to get back home and we will leave our boat here, next to our friends and with Denise's family close by until we get back. P.S. We are having trouble loaded pictures. I will add them as soon as we get it figured out. You can also subscribe to our blog and, I believe, you will get notifications when we post a new blog.

ON TO LAKE HURON

At 4:30 in the morning on Monday, I checked the weather and the radar. The front was pushing through over Wisconsin with some pretty severe looking storms. That was it. No sense in putting ourselves in harms way, we'll just spend another day in Mackinac Island. Of course, the storms that were coming across from Wisconsin seemed to dissipate before they got across Lake Michigan, so the day was turning out to be quite nice. Imagine that! Denise pulled out her special birthday present from her daughter Kim. It is a well built and designed folding bike. Since we only had one bike, I was going to rent one and follow along. At $7.00 per hour for a 7 speed, it was better than walking! We started our tour through the downtown area and continued on around the entire island along the shore. Denise forgot her camera, so we didn't take many pictures. The road took us through the state park and we saw many beautiful sites, including the British invasion site in the war of 1812. Most of the island is made of a type of limestone rock that is sort of like a lot of small rocks cemented together over thousands of years.  Thousands of years ago, the lake levels were much higher and part of a cliff that is now a hundred or so feet above the shore, has a beautiful arch that was carved away by erosion from the water. We made the entire 8 mile trip around the island and were able to return the rented bike in two hours. We made our way back to the boat to dis-assemble the folding bike and get it back on board. Denise went to pay for the slip fees just as the downpour hit. It rained heavily with the winds shifting to the Northwest for quite some time. Denise had asked me to make a cocktail for us, so I did, and pulled out my guitar and started playing and singing "in the rain". By the time she escaped from the dock office, her cocktail was watered down and mine was almost gone. We decided to take a walk downtown and find a reasonable place for dinner. Of course, in a touristy town, not many things are reasonable. The Seabiscuit Cafe was fairly priced, with good food and a nice atmosphere. After dinner we wandered around town sampling ice cream and fudge. Before calling it a night we went to the Pink Pony to see if they would sell us some ice. We wound up with much more than we could use at no charge. Back at the boat, we checked the weather again. They were calling for Northwest winds from 10 to 15 in morning, going more Westerly in the afternoon and increasing to 15 to 20. The waves were predicted to be 1 to 2 feet almost all day. That was good. We went to bed to get ready for another early start.

The Pink Pony from the water

The Catholic Church all lit up

When the morning came, the winds seemed to be blowing a little harder than 10 to 15, but we were ready to leave. By 7:45, we were racing to get out of the way of about a half dozen ferries that all seemed to be racing to Mackinac Island at the same time. As we turned to port and headed to the South Channel around Bois Blanc Island we got a full blast of the winds that seemed to be at 20 knots already. The waves were also up over the 4 foot mark and we estimated 6 foot or higher. I assumed this was just in the Mackinaw Straits area and that everything would calm down as forecast once we got into Lake Huron. Our destination was Presque Isle, which was about 60 miles away. Motoring downwind with the wind and the swells, we hit up to 10 knots at times. We were going to get there sooner than we thought! The wind continued to build, but we still thought it would change and let out the genoa to help us along. The swells were so strong and the wind was gusting so high, we could not keep the boat on course or the wind in the sail, so we had to furl it. This was no easy task! Running downwind, you really don't realize how strong the winds are so we had to turn into the wind to get it back in. As we continued to motor, I noticed the true wind gusting well over 30 knots. The waves were getting well over 6 foot. We decided to hop into Rogers City and get out of the lake before it got any worse. Rogers City has a narrow entrance to the marina with a hard starboard turn and then another hard port turn before you are inside the break wall. We had been told to tie up to the gas dock, which was another starboard turn once you are in. In order to maneuver a 38 foot boat in a narrow channel, making all those turns, you have to go relatively slow. By the time I was turning into the gas dock, the wind caught us and turned us completely around. I was having a hard time shifting into forward, which only complicated things more. I finally figured it out, but the channel was so narrow, I could not get enough speed up to turn back into the wind. I opted to just back it down the opposite side of the gas dock and we got it tied off.  As we were fueling up and taking care of the bill, I glanced up at the wind instrument and it was gusting over 50 knots! That's almost hurricane strength! No wonder we were having a hard time. With that kind of wind, there was no way I could get up enough speed to make a u-turn around the gas dock and into the main area of the marina. So here we are, snugged up to the gas dock for the night. The winds have continued to howl consistently at 35 and 40 knots and gusting close to 50 all afternoon and still into tonight. We were, however, able to finally do our 2 + weeks of laundry and had a nice oriental meal from a Thai restaurant in town.

Tomorrow's forecast call for light and variable winds with waves 1 to 2 feet. We'll see how that works out!

Ferries Racing to Mackinac Island

Poe Reef Light at Lake Huron going out of Cordwood Passage from South Channel

Even the Big Boys were crashing through the waves

40 Mile Point Lighthouse-Just West of Rogers City

OFF TO MACKINAW

As we went to sleep on Friday night, the forecast for Saturday was for severe thunderstorms for most of the day. We resigned ourselves to spending another night in Harbor Springs, rather than risk a trip through Greys's Reef in bad weather. Mackinaw was about 60 miles away and there was no place to duck in if the weather got bad. So, we slept in kind of late on Saturday morning. I did hear a little rain early, but when I got up and opened the companion way, I was greeted with a beautiful morning and clear skies. The 60 mile trip would have required an early start, so we stuck to our plan of waiting until Sunday to leave very early. We spent the day doing small things on the boat and revisited Harbor Springs. Most of the stores closed up very early and the only things left open were a couple of bars and restaurants. We had dinner at Stafford's Chart House and then headed back to the boat. Before the sun went down we prepared everything for the next day's trip. We took the motor off and hoisted the dingy onto the deck and called it a night.

Sunrise at Harbor Springs

Last Look at Harbor Springs

The sun was just peaking over the hill above Harbor Springs and I was up pulling the anchor up. By 6:30, we were on our way. We motored out of Little Traverse bay and raised the sails once we got out into the more consistent winds on the lake. We set a course for the freighter channel and had a nice down wind run most of the way. By the time we got in the channel, the winds had lightened up and we decided to motor towards the Grey's Reef Channel. Grey's Reef is a very treacherous area of  rocky shoals that cover most of the area across the Northeastern tip of Lake Michigan as it connects to the more open water that leads to Mackinaw. As we approached the Grey's Channel, the water became very shallow but the channel was well marked. The wind and water seemed to have squeezed together into that narrow channel. The wind increased with gusts over 20 and we surfed on huge swells through most of the channel. As we reached the lighthouse at the end of the channel, we made a turn to Starboard (that's a right turn) and began to sail on a beam reach to Mackinaw. We could already see the bridge in the distance but the winds didn't last very long, so we cranked up the motor once again. The AIS kept good track of the freighters and tankers for us and it wasn't long before we were passing under the Mackinac Bridge. No matter how often you go under a fixed bridge, it always gets the adrenalin going because the bridge never looks high enough. Mackinac Bridge is over 100 feet high, but my 60 foot mast still looked like it was going to hit until we went past that first section of bridge. We made a slight turn to Port (that's a left turn) and headed for Mackinac Island. We got settled in our slip and and went to visit the historic town. If you've never been there, it is very interesting. Ferries bring people back and forth from the mainland all day long. There are no cars, trucks or motorized vehicles allowed on the island (except for emergency vehicles) so the main transportation is bicycles, with horse drawn wagons and carriages to do the heavy work of transporting freight and people. The town is full of fudge, ice cream, antique, gift, and souvenir stores, as well as a few hotels and bars. There are beautiful homes and bed and breakfast places everywhere. Fort Mackinac overlooks the town and is garrisoned with troops and families dressed in period costumes dating back to the 1800's. Oh, and don't be alarmed when the cannon goes off every half hour or so.  It is well worth a tour.

Grey's Reef Light

Close for Comfort

Going Under the Mackinaw Bridge

Mackinac Light

Downtown Mackinac

Transportation

One of those beautiful houses

The end of another day

After checking the weather, it looks like the missed forecast for Saturday has been moved to Monday. 60% chance of thunderstorms that may be severe. This means high winds, damaging hail and lightening. We'll wait til tomorrow, but it looks like we may be weathered in again!

GOING AROUND THE "MITTEN"

Charlevoix is a beautiful! Every sign in town says "Charlevoix the Beautiful" and they are correct. From the entrance into down Pine River to Round Lake, the downtown area, and then Lake Charlevoix, the town lives up to it's name in more ways than one. Pine River is short but scenic and it opens up into Round Lake that is surrounded by the Town , beautiful homes, condos and boat houses.  All this makes Round Lake an excellent anchorage with protection from just about every direction. We woke up to a beautiful morning as the only boat anchored in the middle of the lake. We dingied into shore to check out the town and tied up to "shopping docks" that are provided for boats to come in and spend time visiting and shopping in Charlevoix. We had lunch at the Weather Vane along the Pine River and browsed some of the shops and then headed back to the boat. Beyond Round Lake is a channel that leads past the Coast Guard Station into Lake Charlevoix, which is a deep and very large inland lake. Not realizing how large it was, we thought we would take the dingy through the channel and see what was on the other side. We were amazed at the size of the lake and the beautiful setting. It was surrounded by cliffs and green hills with the East side of the lake fading from view into what looked like a deep valley. Impressive! We dingied along the shore, realizing we would not be able to go too far. Denise took a lot of pictures and then we headed back into Round Lake. We had planned on getting some Kilwin's Ice Cream and then do some grocery shopping. Luckily, the grocery store was very close to the "shopping docks".  Even though we took the "small" shopping cart, we soon realized that, even though the dock was only 2 blocks away, we were going to have a hard time carrying everything back. We talked to the manager and they allowed us to take the shopping cart to the dock to unload. We had a really nice dinner floating in the middle of the lake and then went back to see the sunset at the lighthouse on Lake Michigan. On our way back, we, of course, had to sample the local Oyster Bar. After one drink, we decided we had enough excitement for the day and went back to the boat for an extremely peaceful night.

At Anchor in Round Lake

Pine River Entrance

One of the Unique houses on Round Lake

We awoke to another beautiful morning. Denise cooked a good, hearty breakfast and we pulled up the anchor. The anchor had held flawlessly, even in the 58 foot depth. Our CQR anchor and 100 feet of chain has not failed us yet. In bringing up the anchor, however, when the rode transitioned from line to chain, the windless got hung up. In the past, all I had to do when this happened was too loosen the tension on the windless and pull out the chain or line, tighten her down and start again. This time it didn't work. I loosened it again and began pulling the chain out as far as I could. Unfortunately, some part inside the windless came out with it. We found out from the manual that it was the tension arm that helps it transition for line to chain. It would still work for the chain but not as well for the line Our first stop was to the gas dock where we could pump out the holding tank and top off the fuel. With that done, we were on our way to the next stop North. Denise has some high School and Michigan State University friends that live in Harbor Springs and we had promised to stop by and visit with them along the way. After we got out in the Lake and headed north for a little ways, we headed Northeasterly into Little Traverse Bay. The winds were perfect for a nice run downwind. The winds began to build and soon we were gliding along at 6 knots and better. By the time we got to Harbor Point that lead into Harbor Springs Bay, the winds were clocking over 20 from the West which created a little challenge dropping the sails, but we're getting pretty good at it now. We found a perfect anchorage at the deepest point of the bay in about 40 feet of water. The wind was howling but our little corner was as smooth as glass. We picked up Denise's friends next to the beach and packed our four bodies into our 8 foot dingy to head back to the boat.  We probably looked comical pulling the boat off the beach, especially when we the life guard informed us we should use the dingy dock that was just around the corner.  We had some sun downers on the boat while Denise caught up with Dave and Susan on what has happened since their college days. Dave had been in the Coast Guard and had some experiences in boating, diving and survival skills and we had some good conversations. They took us to their favorite Mexican Restaurant for a nice dinner and a great evening of Denise getting caught up with her old friends.

Manana at anchor Harbor Springs

Our Mermaid and interior of Manana awaiting guests

Historic and Beautiful Homes in Harbor Spring

Part of Downtown Harbor Springs

On getting back to the boat, we checked our batteries and found them to be down to 25% of charge. We had noticed they weren't lasting too long and became concerned. We ran the motor and they charged up right away. We turned on the anchor light and conserved any other power usage, but, in the morning, they were down to 50% again. Time to look at new batteries. First we had to have our coffee looking out on the beautiful glass like bay. Another perfect anchorage. We went into town to find some Internet to check on batteries. It was disturbing. $300 to $800 each, and we needed two! We decided to walk to the Irish Boat yard to talk to them about our problem. Every time we mention the age of our batteries, everyone tells us to throw them out. This is the first time, however, that we have had a problem. In Fish Creek, we spend over two days at anchor and never had to charge them. The Irish Boat yard found identical batteries for only $175 each, but we still wanted to make sure ours were bad. We pulled our boat over to their docks and gave them a full charge and waited for someone to test them. They tested good!  We were still confused. The then asked us to turn off the charger and they would come test them again in about a half hour. They tested good again, but after explaining to this different technician what we had experienced, he decided to disconnect them and test each one separately. There was the problem. Testing them together showed good, separately they were OK but showed they were on their last legs. We decided to err on the side of caution and replace them. The bad thing is, we didn't get to take our next leg of our trip. The good thing is, the quiet little anchorage is still quiet and, storms or not, we will have another pleasant night at anchor.

Part of the Marina where we had our boat looked at

Out with the Old

In with the New

THE PERFECT ANCHORAGE - THE WORST MARINA

We took our time leaving Fish Creek. Since we had paid for the slip to avoid the rough weather and anchorage, we decided we really wanted to explore as much as we could from there. Denise had heard a lot about the Cana Island Light House and wanted to see that. We also had Peninsula Park that we had hiked a few miles in the day before that had some spectacular things to see, if we could only figure out how to do it all. Cana Island was on the other side of the peninsula and I didn't want to sail south again and the park was 10 to 20 miles to see most of it. Denise was asking the one of the workers at the town marina if there was a place to rent a car. He didn't know of one, but told us to take his car. He had to work until 7 PM and wouldn't need it, but asked us to lock it up because his wallet is over the driver side visor! Wow! We gave him his wallet before we left but we wound up being able to see everything we wanted to see. What tremendous hospitality! Cana Island Light house had been abandoned by the Coast Guard and gave it to Door County. They charge to tour it so they can restore it for historical purposes. Bailey's Harbor was where we would have to sail to (without the car) turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. The Peninsula State Park had some fantastic light houses and spectacular views. We drove the whole length of it and was still able to get the car back by 6:30. We offered to pay him for the gas we used and the use of the car, but he refused. We left the money, regardless. We could not help rewarding such wonderful and trusting hospitality. The wind and waves kept shifting in Fish Creek, but in the end, we were glad we were in the slip and had a really good night's sleep.

Cana Island Lighthouse

A last look at Fish Creek

Eagle Point Lighthouse

Cliffs along the way

We took one last walk through downtown Fish Creek (or "Crik" as the locals call it) on Sunday morning and took some Cherry Stuffed French Toast back to the boat. The White Gull had won an award on Good Morning America for this famous treat. We finally cast the dock lines and headed North around the Door County Peninsula. We had a bit of excitement coming out of Fish Creek, but we would rather not talk about that. After visiting the park in the car, we were able to identify many of the impressive sights from the water. The islands off to the West were also impressive, but unapproachable due to dangerous shoals surrounding them. With light winds, we motored around the peninsula and into Nicolete Bay. It looked a little touristy, even though it was a campground area. Across from the bay, however, was Horseshoe Island. It is a deserted island that once housed an outfitting company that helped the sailing vessels with their supplies as they worked their way down Green Bay supplying the towns with their much needed cargo. With the Bay being in the shape of a horseshoe, it provided perfect protection from everything except a South wind. When we first went in, there were 4 boats in the bay. One left as we anchored, (almost running us over in the process) and the rest left as the winds began to kick up from the South. We took a hike as far around the island as we could go. We uncovered one mystery of  the perfectly bored holes in many of the trees we had seen as we hiked in other areas. We were walking past a tree with those holes in it, when we heard some chirping from little babies. Mom came screaming as we kept taking pictures and knocking on the tree to get the kids to chirp. Mom was a Clark's Nut Cracker. Apparently, they bore holes in diseased trees and make their nests in them. When we got back to the boat, a trawler came in and we were impressed with their anchoring techniques. They asked us our scope (the amount of anchor line for the landlubbers) so that we could swing together, which most people would not think to ask. They invited us over for a cocktail after dinner and we had a enjoyable evening talking boating with the owners of Liberty Blue. They had done several Great Loops and we really enjoyed the evening. The wind eventually shifted to where it was supposed to be and the anchorage became a peaceful place to spend the night. We went to bed early and was up with the sunrise. It was exceptionally beautiful. Total silence, except for the wildlife, and the most beautiful views from every direction.

Horseshoe Island bay from the Peninsula

Manana at Anchor in Horseshoe Island Bay

We reluctantly left Horseshoe Island and headed towards Death's Door. We enjoyed the scenery as we motor sailed, dipping into every little bay, just to make sure we didn't miss anything. We called ahead to Sister's Bay and they said we could tie up for a couple of hours and explore the town. We found this in most of the places we stopped at. They usually charge something per hour, but, since they were not too busy with tourists, we were not charged anything. The main attraction in Sister's bay was Al's Restaurant which features a grass roof with goats on it that keep it mowed. Really! I guess it is a Swedish thing.

A Swedish thing. Goats on the roof.

We continued on to Death's Door. It gained that name due to the large amount of shipwrecks and deaths that occurred due to foul weather and treacherous shores leading from Lake Michigan into
Green Bay. The first ship that was lost in the area was  in 1697, and there have been many more since. We had planned on spending our last night in Wisconsin at Washington Island. It is in the middle of Death's Door and supposedly had a lot of sites to see. The charts were a little disturbing in that they showed a lot of dangerous shoals and only a small narrow channel to get in. We were trying to avoid marina fees and wanted to anchor out for the night. We had been told that we could anchor off Detroit Island or in Detroit Bay. When we went into the Channel to Washington Island, it was very confusing and poorly marked. All we saw were a lot of work boats and some ferries. The channel to Detroit Island was not even marked, and our chart plotter only showed a narrow channel with 3 feet on each side. Kap's Marina had told us it was too shallow to go there, so, we had no other choice to pay their $2.00 per foot for the night. We were the largest boat in the marina and the put us next to the coast guard boats. We were the only non-locals in the marina. The marina was very spartan, except for their price.

Moonrise over Washington Island

A "Dead" island outside " Death's Door"
Destroyed by birds (like the movie)

We left Washington Island at 8 AM after topping off our fuel and headed due East for Charlevoix, Michigan. Unfortunately, (and as is often said to be the case), the wind was right on our nose and we had to motor all the way. Motor or not, it was a beautiful day. We are now anchored in Round Lake, which is right in front of the Downtown area of Charlevoix. This is the deepest water I have ever anchored in at 58 feet. I usually like something in the 20 feet or less category, but, the view is worth the risk of dragging anchor in the middle of the night.

The Guardian of Charlevoix Harbor

A view from our Anchorage

EGG HARBOR AND FISH CREEK

We spent Wednesday the 30th exploring Sturgeon Bay. Although it is one of the larger towns in the area we got around to seeing most of the older downtown area along the bay. Sturgeon Bay has a lot of history, but one of the most impressive part of that history is still going on. There is a massive ship building facility on the bay that built many of the battleships during World War II. There is a large maritime museum and, of course, lots of tourist like shopping.  We were accumulating information where we could anchor out as we went along, since the marina fees can get expensive after a while.

On Thursday morning we were on our way out of Sturgeon Bay. We got a great view of the ship building yard from the water and saw about a half dozen huge tankers and freighters in different stages of construction. Door County is famous for the lighthouses too, and we got to see our second one on the way into Green Bay at the point by the Potawatomi State Park. We turned north with a destination for Egg Harbor with, of course, the wind on our nose. We adjusted our course and pulled out the sails and shut down the noise maker (motor). The wind still wasn't very co-operative. It kept shifting, dying and then gusting in different directions. We got in about an hour of sailing until we had to alter course to avoid some commercial fishing nets, and decided to just drop the sails and motor, since we were fairly close to Egg Harbor.

Light House near Potawatomi State Park

The marina staff in Egg Harbor were very friendly and helpful and let us tie up for free to the municipal dock to explore the town. It was fairly small and was, once again, mostly tourist oriented shopping. We were back to the boat in a couple hours and decided to go on to our next stop, which was Fish Creek. Supposedly there is some decent anchorages there.

Egg Harbor

Fish Creek was only a short hop up the coast so we were in well before dark. We were told we could anchor anywhere outside of the mooring field as long as we weren't blocking the channels. We found a nice spot just outside the mooring field buoy and dropped the anchor. It held on the first try with plenty of swing room all around us. After checking several times to make sure we weren't dragging, we decided to get the dingy into the water and go explore some music we heard coming from shore. When we got into town the only place that seemed to be busy was Bay Side Bar and Grill.  We had an appetizer type meal and, of course, a few cocktails. We had a good time watching the people and some of them came over to join us in conversation. After 10, there was supposed to be an open mike, so I was preparing to play a few songs, but it turned out to be a jam night for some of the locals.  The music was good and we enjoyed the people but were ready to head back to the boat for a good night sleep. The anchorage was nice and calm when we went to bed, but by morning, the wind had shifted to the Northwest and was blowing straight into the harbor, bringing the waves with it. The forecast, at first, said it was supposed to shift to the South and calm down, so we decided we could hop over to Nicolette Bay after we were done exploring Fish Creek and get another calm anchorage for the night. There are very few anchorages on the peninsula that are protected from the North, Northwest or Northeast winds and waves.  We wandered through the town and a few shops then walked over to the Peninsula State Park and hiked through the woods for a couple of miles. The weather was not improving, in fact, it was getting worse and starting to rain. You probably figured out by now, the forecast was wrong. It seems there was this stubborn low that was spinning over Northern Michigan and that was not co-operating with the forecasters.  Nicolette Bay was out of the question. When we got back to the Bay, the boats were really rocking out in the anchorage. We checked with the Town dock and they said we could hop into a slip if it got bad (at $74.00 per night!). The forecast said the winds were supposed to calm down, so we decided to go to the famous Fish Boil at the White Gull Inn, knowing we still had the option of grabbing a slip. The boil was interesting and the meal was great.  It was still raining when we left but the winds seemed calm in town. My friend Steve had called to see how we were doing and I was talking to him when we turned the corner and could see the bay. I probably said something like Oh S----t! The winds were blasting and so were the waves. We decided we should try to get into a slip, however, it was dark, there was no-one around to help and the wind would make it difficult to get into the slip without a lot of drama. And of course, that anchor that was holding on so tight was probably not going to give up easy, especially in the dark. We stopped in the Bay Side Bar and one of the waitresses and her husband offered to help if we needed it. Back on the boat, it was uncomfortable and noisy, but the anchor was holding good and we decided to ride it out and move in the morning when there would be people around and we could see what we were doing. Denise decided it would be quieter and more comfortable to sleep in the cockpit, so she bundled up and did the anchor watch. We got Manana moved into her slip this morning and we are nice and comfy right now, as the nastiest of the storms are just beginning.


First sunset at anchor in Fish Creek Bay

Lady Slippers on our hike through the woods

The "Final" boil at White Gull Inn