On to Georgian Bay

We will depart Little Current on Tuesday and head for a one night stay in Killarney, ON. We've been there several times before and look forward to the return. After that our first planned stop is now going to be Tobermory on the Bruce Peninsula. This was originally going to be our last destination before returning to the North Channel but we decided to follow a counter-clockwise route around Georgian Bay since that's the direction all the guides we are using appear to take. I've attached an overview map that shows our tentative route that will follow the shoreline of the bay. Georgian Bay has been called the 6th Great Lake since it's quite large. I'm anticipating that it will take about 2.5 weeks.

UPDATE 6/30/2009 - We left Little Current this morning and saw a rare site on the Great Lakes and that was a cruise ship. The Clelia II was moored to the city wall early this morning for a fun filled four hour stop in this very small town. This particular vessel will sail from Toronto to Duluth and back every 10 days or so during the season. In case you are considering booking on this boat it only has 50 staterooms and starts at about $5500. It must be very special because a Caribbean trip is half that much and much more scenic. http://www.greatlakescruising.com/clelia/

In any case we are tied up in Killarney tonight and will strike out for Tobermory in the morning. Below you will find a few shots of Killarney.

Let the Relaxation Begin

Well, we've finally made it to the heart of the cruising grounds of the North Channel and Georgian Bay and are ready for some real easy days. We left off last time with our arrival in Blind River, ON and mentioned that we had a couple of anchorages ahead of us before we arrived in Little Current, ON which is the commercial hub of this area. We decided to change our first anchorage to a new location which was beautiful Beardrop Harbor that lies just north of Whalesback Channel. The story goes that the locals (indians) would drive the bears off the cliffs that are found around the harbor for some undetermined reason since we believe bears can swim. In any case, it was a picture perfect way to spend our first night on the hook. After dinner we launched our tender and took a ride around the shoreline which is very inaccessible to foot traffic. After we returned from our ride our next boat neighbor stopped by to chat and believe it or not, they lived in Inverness, FL and of all places on Turner Camp Road for those of you who have visited that garden spot. It's amazing what a small world it can be sometimes. They had been Citrus County residents for 32 years. Bellow are some shots from Beardrop.

Anyway, after a pleasant day following the Whalesback and McBean Channels east we stopped once again at the same small bay on the north shore of Hotham Island we visited two years ago. On the way there we passed through a really cool passage named Little Detroit narrows where there's really only room for one boat. I'm attaching a video to show what the brief passage looks like in real time.

It was also a pleasant anchorage although the mosquitoes were there in force. We also were expecting a storm overnight and it arrived about 4AM and lasted until we left at 1PM. Our trip to Little Current was uneventful under mostly sunny skies. It's rather windy tonight but we're at a dock and don't really care as it will keep the bugs away. Below are some shots from Hotham Island and Little Current.

Arrived in Canada Today!!!

After a two day stop at Drummond Island we headed north across the channel to scenic Blind River, Ontario. They have a small but very friendly marina and a town that has a grocery and hardware store. Al also got his hair cut today at the same salon that he used two years ago. Tomorrow we will head off for our first anchorage at Turnbull Island. It's a quiet and well protected cove that is a good start to anchoring. From there we will anchor again a little further east and then head in the bustling metropolis of Little Current on Sunday where we will stay a couple of days and then start our journey down the east side of Georgian Bay. We plan to be in Canada until the end of July.

On to the North Channel

An early start fron St. Ignace got us on the way to the cruising grounds of the North Channel and Georgian Bay. Our trip over was uneventuful and bug free which was areal treat. The entry to the North Channel is marked by the DeTour Reef light and also marks the southernmost point of the St. Mary's River that leads up to Lake Superior. The shots at the bottom are from Drummond Island.

After a two day stop at Drummond Island, which is the last U.S. port, we will be off to Canada on Thursday for a month or so. Our first stop in Canada will the the quaint town of Blind River, Ontario which lies on the north shore of the North Channel along CA-17.

Crossed into Lake Huron today

After five days in Charlevoix we were ready for a new locale. We were also anxious to exercise the engine repairs and make sure all was OK before we really leave civilization for a while or at least that's how I classify Canada. We departed this morning and made the 9AM bridge before entering some light fog for a few hours. We have all the tools (radar, etc.) necessary to deal with fog so I was ready for it.

About 2PM we crossed under the Mackinac Bridge and entered Lake Huron. We made port in St. Ignace which is just north of the bridge. On Monday we actually boarded one of the many ferries that shuttle "fudgies", as the locals call them, over to Mackinac Island for a day of heavy tourist imersion. At 5PM, and after smelling fudge and horse crap for many hours, we wearily headed back to the relati

ve calm of our boat. As always it is always a spectacular view from the Grand Hotel from the water.

Back in business!!!

Well, Alan spent all day with the Caterpillar mechanic solving the engine problems we developed on Tuesday as we arrived in Charlevoix. It was very involved and should be fixed for the foreseeable future. In any case it was almost 100% labor and took about six hours to resolve. We took it on a test drive with the mechanic just to make sure. Here's what the area he was working in looked like.

Engine problems are more involved than expected

We're is still trying to figure out what is up with the engine not operating correctly. After changing out all the fuel filters on Wednesday, which indicated we do have dirty fuel, nothing really changed so we will have to proceed with seeking further assistance for further expenses. We scheduled a service call $$$$$ for Friday by the local Caterpillar outlet and will hopefully get to the bottom of the problem.

After six flawless years this is the first issue of any kind from what we felt was a reliable power source. At least we are stuck in a nice place, Charlevoix, and should have no trouble staying here a while if need be. This would have been a real disaster if we were in some remote spot farther up north and we had these problems.

We will keep you posted.

Ludington to Frankfort to Charlevoix

On Monday morning we departed early and in fact followed the S.S. Badger out of the Ludington harbor as it headed west on its morning run across the lake. The leg to Frankfort was uneventful and we arrived in the early afternoon.After we secured the boat we headed of to the local lumber store to pick up some hardboard sheets that Alan had ordered earlier that morning. The boards were needed to provide a rigid backing to a 5X8 area rug that was purchased before we launched and was needed to protect our main cabin floor which is also carpet. The reason we are relating this story is because last year we tried a larger area rug and fought it all during the cruise as it bunched up and wandered all around the cabin. At the end of our 2007 cruise it was the first thing that went into the trash when we were unloading the boat. We still wanted to have a rug in the cabin and thought the new one would work just fine. Unfortunately it started the same bunching and wandering behavior that we experienced before. Alan came up with the idea that if it had a rigid backing it would probably stay flat and lo and behold after gluing two sheets of hardboard it appears to have worked. It still wanders a bit but the bunching was the greatest annoyance. The two sheets were needed to allow it to be folded in half when we needed to access the areas below the cabin floor.

Now on to our trip. After our finishing the carpet exercise we had a leisurely dinner out in Frankfort, walked to the beach, and settled in to an evening of watching some TV. The marina in Frankfort is one of only a few that has cable at the dock.

We departed early on Tuesday and headed towards our next port of call, Charlevoix, Michigan where we plan to spend two nights. The trip up was once again perfect with near calm conditions . When we reached the harbor entrance to Charlevoix we started having engine problems after increasing our speed in order to try and make the opening of the draw bridge that you must pass under as you exit Lake Michigan. In any case, we got an emergency opening of the bridge and safely found our way into a slip at the new city marina. The problem appears to be some clogged fuel filters which I will swap out on Wednesday. This was somewhat expected based on the boat sitting in storage for almost two years and the diesel fuel growing some contaminants building up. This should resolve itself after the maintenance since diesel is continuously filtered during operation.

This a beautiful spot and for those of you who might remember, Charlevoix was the summer home of JonBenet Ramsey's family which we could see from the marina. In any case, we enjoyed the downtown area and had a great dinner of whitefish on the local economy.

Let the Cruise Begin

We departed Saugatuck at 10:20 AM after a rainy and restless night. The anxiety of finally leaving was in play, but once we were on our way, everything settled down and we really started enjoying the moment! It was a beautiful day with sunny skies and calm seas. We have found that the departure side of this is way more stressful and involved than the return. Once underway, Sheri was able to really concentrate on getting the cabin squared away and all of our provisions stowed properly.

Our first day has traditionally involved a long leg to really get the trip underway. This year we decided to go to Ludington, Michigan on our first day. We arrived at the harbor entrance just in time to see the S.S. Badger (very old Lake Michigan car ferry) as it pulled out for its 8PM run across the lake to Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

Ludington is a very nice town with equally nice marinas. We liked it so much we decided to take a real day of rest and spend an extra day. On Sunday morning I saw a first and that was a seaplane pulling to the gas dock for fuel. I guess this particular model did not need aviation grade fuel. On Monday we will head up to Frankfort which is about 50 miles north.

Provisioning Day

Today we spent most of our time finalizing our shopping for our two month trip. This meant many trips back and forth to Walmart and Sam's Club in Holland, Michigan. At the end of the day on Friday we had a wonderful dinner by Lake Macatawa in Holland with an Allstate friend Mike Mark and his wife Sherri. It was fun catching up and more importantly relaxing. We don't have any pictures of us shopping so I hope you don't mind.

Launch day arrives

Sea Y'all is still on its cradle but is attached to a trailer that is used to move the boat to the launch site.

This is our boat as it hangs in the travel lift just before it is lowered into the water.

After we launched we decided to take the boat for a spin on the lake to make sure all was OK and since it had been sitting for 22 months this was not an option. Everything checked out just fine and after an hour we returned to our slip at the marina. The picture to the left is Sheri at the wheel as we transit the one mile channel out to the big lake.

This is our boat tied up at our departure marina in Saugatuck. It rained our first night but has been nice since.

Arrived today in Michigan for the pre-launch activities

As you can see our boat is just where we left it two years ago and is fresh as a daisy.