Michigan here we come!!

Well the landscape has changed!! We went from clear water and rocks to clear water and SAND!
So beautiful. The water is emerald green to blue-green. You think that you are in the Caribbean except that the water is 67 degrees! VERY SWIMMABLE!

We did go to Mackinac Island and yes, it is touristy but beautiful.  Gorgeous flowers, old homes, no cars, and The Grand Hotel with the biggest veranda in the US. You can look at it but can't go near unless you take a tour. We biked around the Island (8 miles) and walked through town.  The sidewalks were crowded, fun shops, five fudge stores, ice cream galore and souvenirs.

In contrast to.....Beaver Island which is 60 miles west of Mackinac.  We had heard about Beaver Island from our friend Larry in Ashland, and Janet, a nurse I worked with in Chicago.  She recently remarried and her hubby Keith has a cabin here. There is one grocery, a couple of bars and a restaurant called the Shamrock.  All the streets have Irish names and there are Irish flags everywhere.  We bicycled here too, about 20 miles out to their cabin and back.  Janet and Keith came to look at the boat and invited us to their cabin for dinner.  They said that a few friends might come over to play music, if that was okay.  Well of course! At the cabin, when we returned, were about 20 people(friends of their from Central MI), kids, fiddles, bass, guitars and a little girl named Claire who reminded me how to clog (I learned when I lived in NC).  What fun we had and sweet connections made!  Thank you Janet and Keith!

Thirty-five miles later we are on the mainland at Harbor Springs, MI. meeting up with several Looper couples that we have met and become friends with along the way.  One couple, this is their home base and others were having prop work done from problems with the rocks up north.  Geoff and I feel VERY lucky that we have had so few issues. A lot of laughs and good food and drink, of course!

From here we went the 20 miles to Charlevoix.  We actually had made a reservation for 5 days at a marina.  We usually anchor out but this weekend I was headed to Minneapolis for a Devine cousin reunion and Geoff's friends Vince and Dave came to keep him from  being lonely without me!  We both had fun and I got to stay in a hotel room with a huge comfy bed all to myself! The Reunion was planned by my sister Nancy and was a huge success. Many cousins I had never met, or were too little, or too much older for me to play with were there.  So nice to meet family.  One cousin has hand movements and expressions so much like my Dad it was uncanny!  He said that he only remembers seeing my Dad twice. When I returned to the boat, I brought Geoff a surprise of a jug of his favorite beer.  I swear that he turned a little green , his face fell, and he said, "beer???" I have NEVER seen Geoff react that way to beer.  I know how Vince and Dave kept Geoff entertained!

We boated around Lake Charlevoix for several days, resting from our weekend and anchoring out while awaiting a weather window to head the 65 miles to South Manitou Island.  This is a National Park off the east coast of MI.  Heaven.  White sandy beaches to explore, white cedar trees to hike through, shipwrecks to snorkle, a lighthouse to climb.  Ahhhh.  Could have stayed there for a week but the only bay is facing east and darn if the wind didn't change to that direction.  

Up until now, we have been mostly in protected areas.  Lake Michigan is a huge, open body of water that the wind loves to play with.  We have to plan our passages carefully.  Well, all for now.  I am waiting for Geoff.  He rode his bike to a Napa for fuel filters while I am at the library using the internet. Our kind of work day. We are having fun but we do miss you all!

GORGEOUS B&B ON MACKINAC ISLAND

JANET AND KEITH ON BEAVER ISLAND

MUSIC TO CLOG TO!!!

LOOPERS: DAWNTREADER, ALWAYS 5 O'CLOCK, MOORING DOVE, OSPREY

SISTERS

 

 

HIKING SOUTH MANITOU

LOOKING FROM THE LIGHTHOUSE...SO CLEAR

SOOOOO BLUE!

CLAIRE OFFERING ME INSTRUCTION

Back in the USA!

The beautiful Benjamin Islands

Sunrise as we head back to the USA!!!!

We are still in Lake Huron but headed west and south.  MICHIGAN! We are excited for this portion of the trip. We were MARRIED in Michigan so it has a special meaning for us. Tomorrow we are going to Mackinac Island, Upper Michigan and will bicycle all around as there are no cars on this island. I hear it is touristy but gorgeous so we will let you know.  From there we go to Beaver Island where a friend has a cabin and can give us the insider's tour.  On to Charlevoix after that, where I will leave the boat for four days to go to a Devine cousin reunion in Minnesota and Geoff has a few buddies (Vince and Dave) joining him since he would be soooooo lonely without me! Hmmmmmm. Should I be worried????

Don't you worry though, your tax dollars are hard at work.  The Canadian Customs patrol talked to us at Little Current and lectured us about not having the proper numbers, so they issued us one, THEN we got boarded by Homeland Security while heading towards the US border (yes, picture an aluminum boat with flashing blue lights and men with guns), AND THEN once we were docked, another officer did the official check-in and confiscated our tomatoes, peppers and mangoes. Whew...they got the fruit and vegetables but missed all our criminal activity!

We will miss Canada and the beautiful anchorages but I have taken a lot of pictures to remember them by.  One of the most beautiful was BENJAMIN ISLAND.  One of the most exciting was John's Island, I looked up to see an otter swimming across the harbor we were in.  Never knew they were such fast swimmers......only compared to THE BEAR I saw about a half an hour later swimming across in the opposite direction  in the distance.  All I could see was this huge black head floating across.  Way cool but no pictures! That night when I got up to check for the Northern Lights, about a dozen bats were circling the boat.  I haven't seen any before or since!

Today we are in Les Cheneauxs or the Snows as locals call them. Just one more group of beautiful islands with cabins on them for us to explore.  I tried to swim today.  Got on my suit, pushed down the swim ladder, stuck my feet on the first rung and STOPPED.  The water is gorgeous green and clear and sooo inviting but 63 degrees.  Sixty-seven I could do briefly but I chickened out on 63! In fact, I am sitting in the boat right now with my fleece on and I added an extra blanket to our bed last night.  But alas, no smoke from fires.  I am sorry for the condition of the Rogue Valley and remember when it has been socked in, even at Squaw Lake.  I hear that it is even worse this year.

Well, my current goals are to see the Persied meteor showers, the Northern Lights, and a piliated woodpecker.  Any tips for any of these items, send them my way.

Now that we are back in the States we have our  phone back on so we feel a bit more with the program.

All for now.    Patty

Fireworks at the Haweaters Festival almost right over our boat!

Good Morning Earth

THE NORTH CHANNEL

8/3/13

We made it through Georgian Bay without a hitch (that means not hitting a rock!)and now are headed into less charted waters. Today we are in Little Current for the Haweaters Festival.  The Hawberry is a local berry used for jam (I haven't tried it yet) .  There were vendors, bake sales, ventriloquists, jugglers and the main road was lined with vintage cars during the day.  We have seen the vintage car thing a lot in Canada and each time think how Jack Deckwar would love to be here!!

We have not seen too many other "Loopers" but are now coming across people from Michigan who come up to these beautiful waters to play for the summer.  For some reason, I hadn't expected that. 

The weather is still rather cool and we are dodging afternoon thundershowers.  We leave early in the day to hunker down in a safe spot......hang out with sailboats whose masts are taller for the lightning!!  We try not to let the weather deter us from a good swim.  Yesterday we hiked up to a beautiful mountain lake, called Topaz.  We didn't swim around the boat because as soon as we anchored two hungry 24" snapping turtles came over to the boat for a hand out!! Geoff said that he for sure wasn't going to skinny dip there although locals told us not to worry. I kept explaining to the turtles that I was taught NOT to feed wild animals but they hung around for several hours, looking as imploringly as any  snapping turtle can, until they finally gave up on me.

All for now. P

A snapper!

Lake Topaz, Baie Fine, Ontario

Beautiful clouds

A red car for Jack Deckwar.

WONDERMENT

I was out  skinny dipping for the second time this evening and realized....I am out in nature, checking weather conditions, dependent on the wind, rain, sun every day.  How awesome is that???  For a year!!! I am truly lucky.  Thanks to everyone for their support.  Much love, Patty

DRAGON FLY LOVE!!!

Georgian Bay AT LAST

Testing our new anchor light- visible for 250,000 miles (full moon over the OSPREY)

We are finding Georgian Bay to be all that we anticipated and more.  The water is fantastic, it is crystal clear and a perfect temperature for swimming.  Since the water is clearer than any other fresh water we have encountered so far on the trip, it is a bit unnerving to see the bottom even when we are in relatively deep water.  Our boat draws almost exactly four feet, and for peace of mind we like to have at least two feet of clear water under the keel, which adds up to six feet of total water depth.  In six feet of water you can see EVERYTHING on the bottom, a situation that is new to us, so we have been consulting the depth meter more frequently, just to be certain we are safe.  The other considerable change for the transient boater is that the bottom, for the most part is no longer mud or sand, but solid rock.  In Florida a grounding (when moving slowly through shallower waters) might be inconvenient but the soft bottom meant no damage to the boat, here, even at dead slow a grounding on this rock is going to take a chunk out of the hull. 

Beautiful.....and rocky

After leaving the Trent Severn Waterway we have spent several days at Beausoleil Island (a National Park), several more days at unnamed anchorages, and now two days at a marina in Parry Sound.  For the most part we plan to follow the small craft channel, which is a charted path leading vessels that draw less than six feet (and generally less than 40 feet in length) through the maze of islands along the east and north coasts of Georgian Bay.  Taking this route gives us a close up view of the spectacular area that claims to have 30,000 islands.  The Canadian charting has proven to be very reliable, so we have deviated from the small craft channel on occasion to explore some less travelled places and it has been very rewarding.

Two crazy Canadians, Bob and Mary (aboard FORFAR), showing us how it is done.....

We had heard that John  and Kathy Sager (a physician that Patty has worked with over the years in ACH plus neighbors of ours on Neil Creek Road in Ashland) frequently visit an old family haunt on Georgian Bay, the Iron City Fishing Club, so once John sent us the GPS co-ordinates, off we went to track down ICFC and the Sagers.  It was a lovely trip through a maze of small islands, islets, granite rocks, and little unmarked channels.  Without a chartplotter and digital charts for the area, it would have been a fools errand, but with a blend of eyeball navigation, an occasional bow watch for boulders, and the chartplotter, we found the ICFC.  We had a wonderful time visiting with Bill and Sue Sager (John's Dad), Laurel and Ben Sager (daughter and son of John and Kathy) plus John's sister Mary and family- her husband Dennis and their daughter Alice. Since, the legend goes, ICFC was founded by fishing aficionados from Pittsburgh in the 1880's, Patty had fun asking around to see who was still a resident of Pittsburgh (her place of residence through college).  She found a few !!!

Bill and Sue Sager aboard OSPREY

 As we head north from here, the coastline will have fewer cottages, the man-made facilities less frequent, and from what we hear, the blueberries juicer. We are approximately one-third of the way through Georgian Bay, once we reach Killarney- which signals the end of our journey through Georgian Bay, about 80 miles distant- we enter The North Channel, another spectacular route of about 125 miles straight west towards Michigan.  Our plan is to be in Charlevoix MI by August 15th, so that Patty can board a plane in Traverse City MI to join a mob of her cousins for a weekend reunion in Minneapolis.

A Georgian Bay Sunset

BOATS AND PLANES.........COULD GEOFF BE HAPPIER ?????????????

Geoff is looking for boats that would be fun up at Howard Prairie. Here are just a few.  And Steve G., he has found a plane for you.  Seeing LOTS of float planes.  Only in Alaska have we seen as many.  Vehicles on the water have also made this trip fun.  Police boats, Navy ships, Coast Guard vessels, antique boats, sailboats, partially sunken boats, nuclear submarine station with a degaussing station (look that one up!), aircraft carriers, surveillance blimps, dragon boats, Osprey and Cobra helicopters, canoes, kayaks, dinghies, simple to very expensive power yachts and fishing boats. So interesting!

Canals, Locks and Bridges, Oh My!

7-15-13

Well....today will be a sad day.  The part of the trip that we have  talked about and explained to so many people, The Rideau and the Trent-Severn Waterway, will be behind us. We have completed around 100 locks. The canals and locks are part of the Canada Parks System. Connecting towns, rivers, and lakes, we have experienced much and met many friendly and open Canadians.  We bought a season pass which means that we could tie up at any lock for the night and be ready to lock through in the morning. We could then get off the boat and bike or hike for exercise or get supplies, and we could also use their bathroom facilities. This translates to less holding tank pump-outs which is a charge in Canada, even as much as $25  .

We would definitely do this part of the trip again.  For locals trying to squeeze in fun on a weekend, it can be frustrating to have to wait for a lock to fill.  But for us, we got to talk to the lock masters and other boaters around us and enjoy the mostly beautiful park-like setting.  One person I met in a lock said, "I remember you, I took a picture of you and your boat locking through in Ottowa!"  I gave honey to one lockmaster that I had bought at a farmers market so he gave me HOMEMADE MAPLE SYRUP.  Did you know that it takes forty gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup?  He has a big kettle in his driveway that he heats with wood and just keeps pouring in the sap!! Yummy!  Geoff and I make blueberry pancakes on a regular basis.

Of course, like anything government run, the lock system doesn't pay for itself.  There is current controversy about raising the fees. This system was originally built for commercial reasons but now is basically used for pleasure boaters.  However, it is not just functional, it is historic, artistic, and recreational.  How do you put a price on all of that? So hours have been shortened and lock tenders occasionally run more than one lock so boaters may need to wait longer while tenders drive to the next lock.

The locks are amazing, many hand cranked to open the doors or the vents to let the water drain.  There is the huge Peterborough Lift built and engineered in 1896.  Your boat is lifted in a "bucket" of water while the other "bucket" of boats and water go down. Check it out online. I believe I read there are 160 dams on these waters in Ontario. 

Ahhhh, the weather.  It has been cold and rainy up until about two weeks ago! Now IT IS HOT!! We cannot complain though.  As you travel up the Intracoastal and end up in Waterford, New York, a choice is made whether to take the Erie Canal or head north as Geoff and I did.  The poor folks who chose the Erie have been stuck INSIDE a lock (for their safety) due to flooding. They have been there about a month and are lovingly calling it, for example, "Lock 11 Yacht club".  So Geoff and I feel very lucky and blessed by all the wonders we have seen and though we may have been a little moldy the sun is curing us now.......right as we enter Georgian Bay with the most clear and swimmable water. YAHOO!!!!

Just a quick note to say that we were recently joined on the boat by our friends Judy and Mark and they made it home without a hitch.....so if anyone is thinking that they are interested in joining us you can ask them how they were treated or if they were tortured in any way! Let us know when you might meet us and we will see if it can work.

Carillon lock-65 foot lift!! That's Geoff in the picture.

Bridge on Ottawa canal

Homemade boat with us in Ottawa lock. This man is from Nova Scotia and was on the Erie. Got out while he could and trailered his boat  to Kingston to travel the Rideau.

Ottawa locks-series of eight "steps". Beautiful capitol.

Osprey docked in downtown Ottawa canal next to jazz festival!

Beautiful farm along the way....clouds, our usual!

BigChute Railway Lock (Lifts you out of the water!!) and OVER a road!

Rural 2-step lock

Judy Blickenstaff and Mark Sell

Titanic?????