Great Lakes Cruising

A Winter Pastime

2008-12-06T13:10:00.000-08:00

Well, winter has a firm grasp on Chicago. There's snow on the ground, it's blustery cold out there and the marine forecasts typically require two digits to describe wave heights out on the lake. We've finally become used to our boating experiences consisting mostly of good memories and waiting for the boat shows to arrive.

So to fill time, Bernie has a new hobby that she's really excited about - a daily photo blog. She's roaming about Chicago, mostly during the not-quite-so-horrible weather days, taking interesting photos and posting them for others to enjoy.

Did you know there's a whole internet community out there that posts daily photos from various cities around the world? It's at City Daily Photo. Bernie first discovered it when she stumbled across Petoskey Daily Photo Blog and she's now a proud member.

Anyway, her new website is the Daily Chicago Photo. Check it out, it's really good!

'Twas The Night Before Autumn Equinox *

2008-09-23T21:36:00.000-07:00

At Crosswinds Marina,
Autumn Equinox.
All boaters were stirring ...
A party at the docks!

(OK, that's not what this poem is about. But it definitely describes "A" Dock.)

The lines were all tied
To the cleats with care,
As summer cruise memories
Danced in the air.

Meridian was nestled
All snug at her slip.
She was dreaming of summer
Gone by in a blip.

She thought of Chicago,
The cruise soon to wrap.
But what she really wanted
Was a long winter's nap.

When all of a sudden
There arose such a clatter!
It was Dockmaster Eric ...
What could be the matter?

"Meridian's sleepy",
He said with a wink.
"I've cheap indoor storage.
Now what do you think?"

Phil's eyes how they twinkled,
His dimples how merry.
"Sounds quite good to us,
September wind's scary!"

"Cheap indoor storage?
This is great, don't you know?"
Meridian cheered,
"No more sleeping in snow!"

A fam'ly owned bus'ness
For twenty odd years
Soon gave us to know
We would have no fears.

A blank storage contract
Appeared in his hand,
So we filled in the blanks
While standing on land

The storage is heated
Year 'round, fifty-five
They'll charge up our batt'ries
To keep them alive

Meridian's happy
She'll be cozy through Spring
Phil and Bernie now have to
Unload everything

Meridian exclaimed
As they drove off with some gear

"Happy Cruising to All

We'll see you next year!"

* With apologies to Clement Moore

White Lake, Michigan

2008-09-23T20:44:00.000-07:00

September 18 - 20, 2007

We left Ludington early (for us that means around 10:30am) because we knew it would be a long trip to White Lake, Michigan. Earlier in the trip, in Leland and in Canada, we had met Bill and Evelyn on their sailboat Inua. They were at White Lake waiting to get hauled. We got a slip at Crosswinds Marine at White Lake.

We had a very nice visit with them (and the rest of the people on our dock at Crosswinds) on Saturday night. We provided cookies for the Saturday dockside gathering. Thus making up for tormenting the whole dock on Friday night when Bernie baked chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies. She didn't realize that all the people from the neighboring boats were relaxing on the dock and could smell the cookies baking. She didn't hear them begging for cookies because she had the stereo cranked pretty loud. We also rode in a car to go to dinner at Hobo's Tavern in Muskegon. This was the first car trip for us since Drummond Island (before that, our last car trip was June 11.)

White Lake is right by the Hart-Montague Bicycle Trail. Hart-Montague is a 22 mile (44, round trip) bike trail and is notable as the first Michigan rail trail. It's a great trail - paved all the way with grades instead of steep hills. It runs through several towns including New Era, Rothbury, Shelby, and Mears. Each town has a small rest area for bikers (and there are many benches and picnic tables along the way).

New Era's stop is by their Elm Tree Project. One of their schools is maintaining young elm trees that are resistant to dutch elm disease in an attempt to reintroduce the trees to the area.

Shelby has an exercise station route off the bicycle path. We learned from this section that Bernie can't do chin-ups, cheats at push-ups and the horizontal ladder, and is a humorous sight to see doing the parallel bars. While Phil has her beat, hands up, at the horizontal ladder, she wins at all the flexibility and stretching stations. (No Phil, it doesn't count if you bend your knees while doing the toe touches.)

And you need to do those exercise stations because Mears has a great little bakery called Morat's Bakery. While they are apparently known for the muffin bread, we found their Turtle Cinnamon Rolls (Cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting topped with choc0late, caramel and pecans) well worth the 21 miles it took to bike there (and the 21 miles back).

There's also a large dairy, with ice cream, just off the trail near New Era. So, when you need that last burst of energy to get back to White Lake, just pull in to Country Dairy and get some ice cream. Surely after close to 44 miles, you've worked off more than enough calories to balance the ice cream.

The trail extends into the White Lake area and there are several art statues off the trail here. These metal origami swans are called Lake Spirits.

Montague has a farmer's market on Saturdays in the summer. Of course Bernie ran over there bright and early. She got late season raspberries and blueberries, peaches and plums, and, much to her surprise, acorn and butternut squash. She's always thought of those as autumn vegetables. It can;t be autumn already, can it?

Manistee, Michigan, then on to Ludington and White Lake

2008-09-20T13:35:00.000-07:00

September 15-17, 2008

We were a little worried when we started down the Manistee River and the Coast Guard blocked our path. Had they read our blog? Did they know that we had escaped from their blockade in Traverse City? Not to worry -- they were just returning from some maneuvers and not really stopping us from coming into Manistee.

And we were grateful for that because it was getting a little rough out there. Not anything Meridian couldn't handle. But the waves were picking up and being able to duck into Manistee was nice.

We hadn't been to Manistee since last year. One thing we knew for sure was that we were NOT going to visit the Manistee Historical Museum. Don't get us wrong. It is a GREAT museum. It's just that it has a lot of exhibits and artifacts about Great Lakes ship wrecks like the Carl S. Bradley, The Edmund Fitzgerald, and the Pere Marquette 18. The last time we went there, we read all those accounts of wrecks. Then headed out into a very windy Lake Michigan. All we kept thinking about were the wrecks in storms and suddenly being out on the lake in rough conditions got very uncomfortable and we had to duck into Portage Lake. So, no more maritime museum visits during windy conditions. But, if you're not going to be boating on Lake Michigan in stormy weather, definitely check out the museum.

But there is plenty more to do in Manistee. They have a great river walk that runs the length of the river/town. It gets quite a bit of use from joggers, runners, walkers, and strollers. Along the path they have pictures and stories about the history of Manistee. One of our favorites concerns a sand dune called Creeping Joe. In the late 1800s, Creeping Joe was a large stable sand dune. Stable, that is, until one of the political parties had a huge bonfire to celebrate an unexpected election win in 1884. The bonfire disrupted the plants that had stabilized Creeping Joe. So Joe started creeping, swallowed a couple of houses and threatened the whole town of Manistee. The town was saved when the railroad hauled away all the sand for construction, or cement, or some other such purpose.

We also took a kayak trip down the river into Manistee Lake, which is home to a very large, parked ship named the City of Milwaukee. There is a swing bridge right before Manistee Lake that only closes for train traffic. And there is also a very nice veteran's memorial park along the river.

For some reason that we've never figured out, Meridian seems to inspire people to recreate the "I'm King of the World" scene from the movie Titanic. It happens a lot. And Manistee was no different. A group of women were visiting Manistee and strolling down the river walk. They complimented us on Meridian. We got to talking and they asked if they could have their picture taken on Meridian. Only one of them, Marilyn, was brave enough to go through with it and here she is doing her version of "I'm King of the World". It's cute. We enjoy people having fun on Meridian.

And Meridian loves to get compliments and have her picture taken.

So a few blog posts ago (OK, way back in the East Jordan post), we mentioned that Bernie had stumbled upon a book called A Supremely Bad Idea, which is about a New Yorker who gets hooked on birdwatching as a hobby and his adventures while doing birding trips. It got Bernie interested in figuring out what kind of birds we're seeing and taking bird pictures through the binoculars (although that technique still hasn't been perfected yet). Then Phil read it and he got interested in birdwatching, too. Now he's tracking "life birds" (and debating whether or not he is allowed to retroactively count the ibis and roseated spoonbill we saw in Florida, which was before we even knew what a "life bird" was) and trying to study each bird's jizz (a shortened way of saying "general impression of size and shape"). He's poked around the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website, which has a wealth of birding related information as well as recordings of bird calls. We've a long way to go but it's a start.

So on this beach in Manistee, this poor turkey vulture was just trying to have a washed-up salmon snack. Not only did he have to contend with a seagull who was just waiting for an opening (no pun intended), but the poor bird suddenly had an audience of three people watching and documenting his every nibble. He just wanted to eat in peace.

A Supremely Bad Idea is a neat book to read. But be forewarned: It may unlock a deeply hidden "birder" tendency you didn't know you had.

It's kind of hard to imagine but we've been cruising for 4 moons now. Well, this is the 4th full moon we've seen on the cruise.

We had a weather window on September 17 that let us move down to Ludington for a night. But first we had to let the Freighter Calumet pass by. (This is a different Calumet than the one that was scrapped in December 2007.)

Hmmmm ... These freighters don't get much wiggle room on the Manistee River. Guess we've got no business commenting on narrow slips when we see the passages these guys have to maneuver.

We weren't in Ludington very long this time, so no bike rides to the state park like we had done earlier this summer. But we did eat at the Jamesport Brewing Company. We'd eaten there last year and Bernie located her tasting notes from the flight of beers we sampled last year. Their Hefeweizen (summer in a glass) and Nitro Stout (creamy and chocolaty) brews are still our favorites.

Another weather window on September 18 let us move down to White Lake, Michigan.

Northport to Leland to Frankfort

2008-09-16T16:09:00.001-07:00

September 8 - 14, 2008

We've visited Northport, Leland (this year and last year) and Frankfort (this year and last year) a few times so we'll just cover new activities and information in each place.

Northport, Michigan
(September 8-9)

Northport is a great community with a friendly and helpful marina staff. They also have great bakery called Barb's Bakery. Barb's is known for delicious cinnamon twists and as a local gathering spot for a lively exchange of opinions. On one of the mornings that we were there, the subject was nuclear power. Until someone got tired of that topic and changed it, rather abruptly, to the weekend's big college football game. Nuclear Power and Big Ten Standings all in one morning.

Earlier this summer, we biked over to Northport from Leland and were taken in by the painted doors that the area students had done. They were still on display so here are a few more of them.

We also took a bicycle ride out to the Grand Traverse Light. Grand Traverse Light is one of the finalists in an annual event sponsored by Jeld-Wen windows. Each year, Jeld-Wen selects a lighthouse and gives them new windows and doors. The effort is intended to prove how reliable their product is and in the process help preserve historic lighthouses. Good Luck Grand Traverse Light! (We also bought peaches from a roadside stand on the way to the lighthouse. We had to buy more peaches on the way back as we ate all the ones we bought on the way up. They were good!)

Leland, Michigan
(September 10-11)

Like many of the towns in this area, Leland is a big sky town. Meaning that you get an incredible view of the wide open big sky. Makes for great sunsets, sunrises, and every view in between.

We were able to go to one of the last of Leland's farmers markets. Bernie was happy to see that they were holding it at the high school and that the high schoolers were there tasting, talking to the farmers, and buying. OK, it's not like they were buying the carrots and the acorn squash. They were mostly buying cinnamon rolls from the Stonehouse Bakery but that's a start! (That's how Bernie got Phil interested in Farmer's Markets -- lure them in with the pastries and soon they'll be buying the beets and squash.)

Leland is a bit on the hilly side when it comes to biking so we opted for a hike along the shore instead.

All the hurricane activity in the gulf is sure playing havoc with the September weather. (Bernie, will you just give up and admit that September is cold and windy and not part of Summer?) Luckily we caught a half-day weather window and moved down to Frankfort before the winds picked up too badly. Trying to plan a trip around the weather and the Taste the Local Difference Guide to Northwest Michigan farmers markets is a challenge. But an enjoyable one.

Frankfort, Michigan
(September 12-14)

After last year's trip to Frankfort, we really wanted a nice relaxing trip. (If you don't want to follow the link to read last year's account of Meridian's trip from Leland to Frankfort in September, we'll sum it up:

Waves
Big Waves
Huge Waves
Gigantic Waves
Kite Boarders?!?
More Big Crashing Waves

Here's a nice fairly straight picture of the Point Betsie Lighthouse. It makes up for the horribly crooked one that we included in last year's blog. You can take a much better picture when the waves aren't knocking you all over the place.
We got into Frankfort about 7:30pm and went to Dinghy's for dinner. The next morning, Saturday, was the Frankfort Farmer's Market (coincidence? Nah!)

Even though it was a little rainy, we really needed some good exercise. Donning what all fashionable bikers are wearing nowadays, we headed off down the Betsie Valley Trail. The Betsie Valley Trail is a 22.5 mile path that runs from Frankfort to Elberta, through Beulah, through part of Pere Marquette National Forest and ends in Thompsonville. It's a beautiful, flat and winding trail over crushed limestone. Last year when we took it, we saw salmon meandering around in the Betsie River near Thomsponville. Apparently they never made it any further up the river because they were STILL there. Still meandering around in almost the same place. ;)

After a bike ride like that, we had no guilty feelings about taking advantage of The Cool Spot's end-of-season ice cream and fudge sale and enjoying the fried cinnamon rolls and cherry fritters at Crescent Bakery.

We think Hurricane Ike cause it to rain all day Sunday. But after a 45 mile bike ride, we could use a lazy day.

On Monday, the weather cleared up and Lake Michigan calmed down enough for us to run down to Manistee.

Petoskey, Michigan

2008-09-14T16:41:00.000-07:00

September 4-8, 2008

We spent several days in Petoskey last year bicycling, watching the weather, watching the salmon run, documenting the results of weather, and waiting for a weather break. Even though it was a bit stressful last year, we really enjoyed Petoskey and had to visit it again.

Now, on our way over we heard a little one-sided radio chatter. Specifically, a boater was calling into the Petoskey Marina requesting a slip but wondering about the "fire truck spraying water". We couldn't hear the response and didn't think much of it until we pulled into the Petoskey Marina and saw a fire engine shooting water into the lake. Well. Guess that explains why the lake levels are higher now. Darn nice of Petoskey to make that contribution to the lake. Of course, curiosity did get the better of us when we saw a different truck later in the day also spraying water. We had to ask. Turns out, they were testing the volume and pressure performance of the equipment for their annual certification.

We got the chance to go to the Petoskey Farmers Market. A few of Bernie's favorite vendors are there: Pond Hill Farms and Friske's Orchards.

We also visited some of our favorite retailers in Petoskey: Roast and Toast (while they don't have a Lake Effect, they do have Autumn Sunset and an Accidental Tourist coffee drinks that could give a Lake Effect a run for its money) and McLean & Eakin Booksellers. Petoskey now has a Life is Good store. We really didn't know how much Life is Good merchandise was out there. Until now.

Add to that, the Little Traverse Wheelway, a great bike path that links Petoskey with Charlevoix and Harbor Springs (both Woolly Bugger towns) and really, what more do you need?

Nice restaurants and friendly people, you say?

Well they have that, too. In fact, our waiter at Chandler's took time out of his busy night to talk to us about life in Petoskey. By the end of the evening, we were convinced that we should consider moving here.

So the next day, we got a list of properties for sale and wandered the neighborhoods.

So we talked to a real estate agent.

And, while it would have made for a great blog about us buying a house in Petoskey while on this cruise, we didn't find the right house.

Yet.

But we'll be back.

New Charlevoix Marina

2008-09-14T15:29:00.001-07:00

September 3-4, 2008

Hello. My name is Bernie and I am a Woolly Bugger addi - I mean, "fan" -- especially their Lake Effect. But Phil exaggerated in that last post. I did give the guy the stern line before I ran to the coffee shop.

Last year when we were in Charlevoix, the marina and park were under major construction. So we were curious how it had turned out.

It turned out beautifully. We think they did a great job on the marina building and the park around it. The marina building plays homage to some of the distinctive Earl Young "mushroom houses" that are scattered throughout Charlevoix. The harbormaster said that it was designed by Peter Pollock and mentioned that it took 27 masons to do the marina house and that they needed a little retraining to get them to make the curvy design. They were having trouble with the concept of someone actually wanting the edges not to be straight.

The park is also beautiful. You'd never know that about a year ago it was all torn up. It does make us wonder what progress has been made on the DuSable Marina building and bike path in Chicago in our absence.

They've also put in a shooting water fountain that, at night, puts on a colorful water display. It doesn't speak in first person like the one in Grand Haven. The boater's lounge is quite nice and comfortable, too. It has wi-fi for boaters, a television, nice laundry facilities ($1/wash; $1/dry) and a telescope for night time stargazing -- or just scoping out the boats in Lake Charlevoix.

Really a great job and a great marina staff.

It was easy for the harbormaster to direct us to our slip. This large boat, a 172 foot mega yacht names the Battered Bull, was parked at the end of the dock that we were to pull into. We heard a rumor that it was Kevin Costner's - batter, Bull Durham, makes sense - and that he, too, had stopped in Charlevoix to get a Lake Effect at the Woolly Bugger. (OK, so we just heard it was Kevin Costner's. We also heard speculation that it was Scotty Pippen's - now there's a battered (former) Bull - or maybe just someone who's been beaten down in the stock market - hey, does that make it ours?)

Phil feels the need to point out that it is now September. He knows this because it is very windy. All the time. As evidenced by these views of Lake Michigan from the Charlevoix breakwater. Bernie calls it a little breezy. There's plenty of summer left!

The next morning we went to the Charlevoix Farmer's Market. It is great to be back in the land of farmer's markets. Especially when one of the vendor's, Friske's Orchards, still has some late season raspberries, cherries, blueberries, peaches and cherry cobblers.

Now, our next stop may surprise some people who are familiar with this area. We're heading for Petoskey. Yes, we know that is north. Yes, we know we're supposed to be going back to Chicago. But we really like Petoskey and we missed it on the way up and skipped it on the way down. It didn't feel right to skip it. So we're going to go there next. And, what a coincidence, we'll be there in time for their Farmer's Market.

Bernie Goes to Charlevoix

2008-09-09T17:06:00.000-07:00

Ok, so in our last post we were leaving East Jordan for Charlevoix.

We had planned to stay in East Jordan for two nights, but suddenly Bernie asked to cut that to one night. She claimed it was because we had seen everything there was to see in East Jordan and she wanted to see the new marina and park in Charlevoix.

Phil didn't quite understand that. Sure, we'd seen all of East Jordan in about an hour or so, but that's the case with a number of these small harbor towns. What was so special about Charlevoix that caused her to suddenly want to drop her new hobby of photographing wildlife through the binocular lenses and rush out of town like a traveling salesman chased by the farmer who's unhappy about that little "sales meeting" with his daughter?

Like always, Phil just shrugged and said "sure, let's go."

And it was a nice cruise up Lake Charlevoix. The Labor Day traffic was gone now, so we mostly had the lake to ourselves. We made our way up the lake past all the unusual, quaint, pretty and, sometimes, grotesquely huge, boathouses. This is Lake Charlevoix after all.

All along, though, it just felt different. Bernie seemed almost giddy with expectation (and I don't think I've ever used the words "Bernie" and "giddy" in the same sentence before), as though she was REALLY looking forward to Charlevoix, and kept urging Phil to "hurry up, we'll never get there". Which is a bit unusual because, what with current gas prices, she's usually telling him to slow down. And she really unnerved him when she reached over and goosed the throttle. He would have pulled out his "I'm the captain" speech but she'd have just laughed at him (loudly and in a humiliatingly mocking manner) like she always does when he tries that.

So, anyway, we made it to Round Lake and the Charlevoix Marina in record time. Before Phil could reach for the VHF mike, she pulled out the little handheld radio and was calling the marina. Upon receiving the slip number, she looked at Phil and asked "Got that?"

Without actually receiving confirmation, she said "Good" then mumbled something about getting money and went below. She reappeared as we were easing down the fairway to the slip. Phil was busy manuevering Meridian into the slip and didn't really pay attention as she dashed out to the bow to handle the lines.

That's when it got a little weird. As we moved into the slip, she grabbed the bow line and tossed it to the dock hand. Then, in one lighting-fast motion, she vaulted over the bow railing onto the dock with a display of agility and athleticism Phil had never witnessed before. Thinking she was going for the stern line or maybe the spring line, he smiled to himself and said "Now she's really becoming a boat person".

But apparently she had other plans. Instead of getting the other lines, she just yelled over her shoulder to the dock hand as she sprinted up the dock "Don't forget the stern line! And, Phil, please try not to hit other boats this time."

Then she disappeared into town.

As Phil and the dock hand looked at each other with puzzled expressions on their faces, she returned, strolling down the dock with a big smile and a Woolly Bugger Lake Effect (white chocolate mocha coffee drink) in her hand.

She REALLY likes her Lake Effects.

East Jordan, Michigan

2008-09-08T17:26:00.000-07:00

September 2, 2008

After word got around Boyne City about the goofy kayakers, and word does get around in a small town, we had to leave. People kept pointing, exclaiming "there's those KAYAKERS" and snickering uncontrollably.

Well, we had wanted to check out East Jordan anyway. So we headed over to the south arm of Lake Charlevoix. On the, way we passed through the Ironton Ferry route, a pleasant memory from a few days ago.

The south arm of Lake Charlevoix, which goes to East Jordan, is narrower than the north arm (which goes to Boyne City). So you get a closer view of some of the houses and boat houses. The Charlevoix area has been a resort area for a very long time. The history museum speaks of the trains and ferries coming up from Chicago for as long as people can remember and the Michigan auto barons all had huge houses up here. Along the lake, you see all sorts of houses and boat houses.

Classic (with wooden boats)
Quaint

Stately (with a fine example of local stonemanship)

And, of course, Exaggerated Excess (complete with a boathouse for a ... SAILBOAT?)

Anyway.

We continued down the river until we reached East Jordan.

You can't miss the marina. It's right next to East Jordan Iron Works. We had gotten the impression from the ports guides that East Jordan was more of an arts community. Not quite. It's actually one of the few towns we've encountered that have a non-tourism focus since they have the ironworks industry. There really isn't a lot for a boater to do here. (They do have a lot of nature-related activities but most are located more than a bike ride away from the marina.) Almost all the restaurants were closed for the season. There is an Arts Center but it seems to be open only for specific art compilations (and we were between shows). You can watch glass artisans at Jordan Valley Glassworks.

Sportsman's Park, across from the marina, is part of a wildlife sanctuary in the area (that includes the Jordan River and the Jordan River Pathway) and Bernie got to experiment with a digital camera technique she read about in a book called "A Supremely Bad Idea" (it's about a guy and his two friends who get deep into a Birdwatching Hobby).

She set up binoculars and took pictures through the lens. Now, in the book, they took pictures through a bird sighting scope which is very different from binoculars but this was just an experiment (one that needs a bit more perfecting). They're a little fuzzy but she insists they have a watercolor painting quality to them. Phil shudders to think what it would have been like up in the North Channel had Bernie read this book before encountering the taunting loons. Sometimes just the plain old zoom works well enough, as it did for this flying egret.
The East Jordan Iron Works makes, among other things, manhole covers. Along the sidewalk leading to the factory, they have embedded some of their more notable covers. Here are two we thought were very detailed and interesting. We got the impression that EJIW tries to be a good neighbor. They've done a bit of landscaping that, from the main street side, completely hides their operations and muffles the sound of the 24 hour operations (from the street. not from the marina).

Having seen East Jordan, we decided to re-visit Charlevoix. Last year, when we were there, they were in the middle of constructing their new marina buildings and park. We wanted to see the result. So off we went to Charlevoix.

Come on! Paddle Padddle Paddle Paddle Paddle

2008-09-06T15:18:00.001-07:00

September 1, 2008

So armed with a devil-may-care attitude, we headed off on the kayak for a trip up the Boyne River. Yes, we know that the standard way to kayak is to drive it up stream and kayak down stream. But, we could hardly portage the kayak via bicycles all the way up to Dam Road (a couple people mentioned this so we assume this is the "typical" starting point for kayaking down the Boyne River). Undaunted, we headed upstream.

The first obstacle was the culverts under the street. Phil was worried that they weren't wide enough and that we'd get the paddles stuck crossway in the culvert, thus getting ourselves stuck, no one would hear our cries for help, and everyone would wonder why that nice couple just abandoned that beautiful boat at the Boyne City Marina.

Bernie's fear was that spiders, lurking in the culvert would fall on us midway through and the ensuing commotion would cause us to capsize. Since we would be in the middle of the culvert, no one would see us or hear our cries for help, and everyone would wonder why that nice couple just abandoned that beautiful boat at the Boyne City Marina.

But it went smoothly and we were confident we could handle the river since the rapids had been removed (unless the marina people meant it was the dam that was removed).

OK. So the rapids weren't quite removed. But the dam was. And these rapids, while bigger than what we dealt with at Long Point Cove, weren't too bad. All it took was focus. We backed up a little and then paddled really hard and went right up and over them.

That's when we saw the next set of Mighty Rapids. Roiling, bubbling, churning, and swirling. Around a lot of rocks. Right between us and the smooth glassy water of the Boyne River that we wanted to get to. But our confidence had been built by successfully sailing through the culvert and the first set of rapids, so we attacked.

And were humbled. Grandly so.

Undaunted we tried again. This time sneaking up from the right side so as to catch the Mighty Rapids unaware. This time we were only pushed back 30 feet.

Again!

With Phil advising Bernie to "Paddle like the wind" we raced at the Mighty Rapids. Hey we made progress, only getting pushed back 15 feet this time. The Mighty Rapids are obviously tiring down and we'll be able to get through.

Again!

This time in order to maintain our focus, Bernie yelled our battle cry

Paddle! Paddle! Paddle! Paddle! Paddle!
Paddle! Paddle! Paddle! Paddle! Paddle!
Paddle! Paddle! Paddle! Paddle! Paddle!

And it worked. Instead of getting pushed back we got wedged in sideways in the rocks in the middle of the Mighty Rapids. Hmmm. This is quite a predicament. This time though, if the roiling water capsized us, we'd at least be seen by all those people eating dinner on the outdoor patio of a restaurant over looking the river. Presuming, of course, that they weren't rolling on the floor laughing their @** es off at the dunces in the kayak trying to get up the Mighty Rapids.

Somehow we freed ourselves - it involved Bernie crawling into the nose of the kayak so Phil could move his seat as far forward as possible to lighten up the back end. Just another amusing skit for the nice people eating dinner.

One more time!

Paddle! Paddle! Paddle! Paddle! Paddle!
Paddle! Paddle! Paddle! Paddle! Paddle!
Paddle! Paddle! Paddle! Paddle! Paddle!

Back to being pushed down the river. OK. Time to do some field research. We tied the kayak to shore and scrambled up the bank to look over the bridge to see if there was a path down on the other side that we could portage the kayak to and launch beyond the Mighty Rapids. No such luck. About this time we saw a group of kayakers gently floating down the river. Down the river. The way we know you're supposed to go. Anyway, we asked them if they'd noticed a nearby place to launch the kayak from the other side of the bridge.

They hadn't. Not willing to give up, we tried one last thing. We walked the kayak to the corner of the shore and the bridge, under which the Mighty Rapids flowed. We used the paddles to anchor/push our way through the rapids.

Paddle! Paddle! Paddle! Paddle! Paddle!
Push! Push! Push! Push! Push!
Paddle! Paddle! Paddle! Paddle! Paddle!
Push! Push! Push! Push! Push!

By this time the roar of laughter from the outdoor diners was louder than the roar of the Mighty Rapids.

But we made it through the Mighty Rapids! Well at least Bernie, in the front of the kayak made it through. She was so relieved to be through the Mighty Rapids that she stopped to raise her hands in triumph. Then, from behind, she heard

Paddle! Paddle! Paddle! Paddle! Paddle!

OOPS! Phil's end of the kayak hadn't quite made it through the Mighty Rapids yet, and he was paddling like a maniac trying to keep us from getting pushed back AGAIN, while "gently" reminding Bernie to continue paddling. Sheesh! What has he been doing back there? Napping? No wonder we couldn't get through the first six times!

So the paddling was on again and this time we BOTH made it through the Mighty Rapids. And when we get back, we're going to take one of those REI kayak classes so we can learn how to do this without creating a comedy show for outdoor diners.

It was a very scenic trip up the river. The river twists and turns and its bank has interesting tree and plant configurations. We saw a number of different water birds including snow geese and a green heron.

The trip back down the river was incredibly easy. A few paddle strokes here and there to keep the kayak straight was all that was required. That was good because we were a bit tired from all that Paddle! Paddle! Paddle! Paddle! Paddle!

We got back in time for one of Boyne City's pretty sunsets.

Boyne City, Michigan

2008-09-05T14:43:00.000-07:00

August 31 - September 1

After gently jolting Bernie out of bed before the sun was barely up, running to the Mackinaw Bakery, then zooming out of the Mackinaw City Marina, Phil settled into piloting Meridian on our longest journey since we crossed Lake Michigan back in June (has it been almost 3 months already)? We were headed to Lake Charlevoix.

After leaving the Mackinaw City Marina, it was a fairly uneventful cruise - well, except for almost hitting the breakwall. Those things are surprisingly hard to see when the windshield is covered with dew. Did we say we left really early? But weather was then much better than expected and we got to see one of Bernie's favorite lighthouses, the Waugoshance Light. We like the birdcage top. Plus it has a cool tale about the first lighthouse keeper, John Herman, a trickster, who mysteriously disappeared one stormy evening, but who continued to somehow play jokes on subsequent lightkeepers.

We reached the Charlevoix Bridge in time for its 1600 (that's nautical talk for 4:00pm) opening and cruised into Round Lake. The Emerald Isle, the Beaver Island Ferry, was on its way out. It looked like it takes up the whole channel but there's really plenty of room. We passed underneath the bridge at almost the same time. Then, after passing the bridge, we figured out where all the boats on Lake Michigan have been hiding. They're all in Round Lake and Lake Charlevoix. Every one of them. There must have been thousands of 'em - sailboats, powerboats, cruisers, skiers, fisherment, big, little, rowboats, you name it - and every one of them was out enjoying the beautiful Labor Day Weekend weather (80s and Caribbean blue skies). There were boats everywhere.

Sailboats were racing, jet skis were zooming, go fast boats were going fast all over the place. In fact, it was so busy that the wakes from all those boats made Lake Charlevoix more wavy and turbulent than Lake Michigan! Whew!
We had planned to anchor at Oyster Bay, one of the coves on Lake Charlevoix. But after seeing all the activity on Lake Charlevoix - as well as the 2000 boats already anchored in Oyster Bay - we thought about it for a couple of seconds and changed our minds. We decided to go directly to Boyne City and got a slip there. Boyne City is known in the summer for its series of summer festivals. Its festival season starts with its Morel Mushroom fest and includes a Poker Tournament, Farmers Markets, Car shows, and strolling musicians. The municipal marina is a nice little marina with friendly staff, nice grounds and facilities, and a beautiful sunset every night. Being a little tired from our long (9 hours) journey, we went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant called Red Mesa Grill. Service, food and margaritas were all good. As Red Mesa uses biodegradeable take-out containers, recycles, and on certain Thursdays donates a percentage of sales to the local food pantries, they seem to be good business citizens as well.

Labor Day was another beautiful day so we took a bike ride to explore the area a little. A good biking road (Front Street which becomes Lake Shore Road) runs along this side of Lake Charlevoix. It has a pretty wide shoulder and the cars are very bike-friendly. This was the first time since Traverse City that Bernie has biked on any hills. She now loves to ride UP steep hills. But, true to her contrary nature, she is not the least bit embarrassed to stop her bike and walk it DOWN a particularly steep hill. When she doesn't do that, she definitely rides her brakes all the way down. When she goes too fast, Phil yells "Use Your Brakes" (instead of "Use Your Gears" as he did last year). We road our bikes over to the Ironton Ferry (it wasn't the planned destination -- we just kinda happened upon it). The Ironton ferry is a cable ferry that runs across the south arm of Lake Charlevoix at one of its narrower points. When we first read about the cable-based Ironton Ferry, we pictured something like the little hand-cranked ferry in Saugatuck. As usual, we were mistaken. This is a real ferry capable of carrying as many as four cars. We couldn't resist a short trip to the other side, after all it only cost a dollar for bicyclists and we didn't bring the sheep with us (see sign to the right) so there would be no extra charges. There's a little sign by the ferry that mentions that one of the earlier ferry boat captains got into Ripley's Believe It or Not for "having travelled a distance equivalent to the circumference of the earth without ever being more than one quarter mile away from his home in Ironton." The current ferry boat captain was nice enough not to laugh at us for taking the return ferry about ten minutes later.

Returning to the marina, we decided that a bike ride wasn't enough. No, we had to take the kayak out for a spin as well. After all, the Boyne River looked so inviting and the entrance (or exit depending upon your perspective) was very near the marina. Ok, so the entrance is really just a culvert (you know, those round tunnel things that allow water to flow under roads).

But the marina staff told us that they took out the rapids that used to be at the turn by the auto parts store. Or did they say they took out the dam and created some rapids? We probably didn't pay close enough attention. Oh well, you only live once - we decided to go for it!

Mackinaw City, Michigan

2008-09-01T20:19:00.001-07:00

August 29-30, 2008

Don't you hate it when dense fog rolls in and turns a routine trip into a slow, "blow your horn every two minutes" trek? We left Cheboygan in the sun. But 4 miles away from Mackinaw City, this dense pea soup rolled in, not on little cat's feet, but on big tiger paws. Really, this is the view from the helm. Not good. Thankfully, the pea soup cleared up before we got anywhere near the ferry boat routes.

But it was slow going for awhile.

We've visited Mackinaw City before, so we won't retell any of the previous stories. Except to mention two of our favorite places.

Mackinaw Bakery and Coffee Shop Cinnamon rolls, raspberry sticks, buttermilk sticks, donuts, cream and jelly filled delights. Enough said.

JoAnn's Fudge Fudge and Ice Cream. Enough said.

We also like Sheplers because they always have an "End of Season" sale going on long before the end of OUR boating season. And the staff of the Island Bookstore is always helpful and knowledgeable.

Last year, we biked down to the Wilderness State Park. So we had to take a different bike trip this year. Last fall (2007), a new route was completed called the Gaylord to Mackinaw Rail Trail. Apparently the funding came from an MDOT grant and local contributions. We took the trail from Mackinaw to Cheboygan (which is only 32 miles round trip -- but we're still converting from kayaking to biking so aren't quite ready for the 50+ mile trips. Yet.) It is a wonderful trail. Pretty flat, great crushed limestone, and scenic. Along the way we found a very large turtle that apparently was passing his day by watching riders, runners, and walkers go by. Being so much more camera-friendly than any loon we found in the North Channel, Bernie spent several minutes snapping pictures. He seemed to be posing (Actually, Phil thought he was preparing to launch at Bernie, like the rabbit in Monty Python.). Bernie thought he needed a manicure though. Can you see those nails?

That evening, Mackinaw City had a huge fireworks display celebrating Labor Day and the 51/50 Bridge Walk. Last year was the 50th Bridge Walk, true. This year is the 51st Bridge Walk, but it is the 50th LABOR DAY Bridge Walk. We suspect that next year might be 52/51/50. The 52nd Bridge Walk. The 51st Labor Day Bridge Walk. The 50th Bridge Walk that started after 7:00am. The possibilities are endless.

The next morning, quite early, Phil roused Bernie from a deep, pleasant-dream-filled, relaxing sleep and dragged her to the bakery to load up on sweet treats for the very long trip to Lake Charlevoix, Michigan. "Not a moment to lose", he harangued, "Could be some weather moving in! Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance. Let's get moving, sleepy girl! Andale! Andale! Arrr!"

Cheboygan, Michigan

2008-09-01T19:10:00.000-07:00

August 28, 2008

You can't really miss the entrance to the Cheybogan County Marina. There's a large Coast Guard cutter right across from it. At first we thought it was the same ship that tried to stop us from leaving the harbor in Traverse City, so we quickly ducked into the marina.

The Cheboygan River is pretty busy as it is the entrance to the Inland Waterway, a stretch of water that runs the width of Michigan from Cheboygan to nearly Petoskey.

There's a fixed bridge along the way that has a clearance of about 15 feet. Meridian is too tall.

But Cheboygan has a number of things to enjoy besides the Inland Waterway. During the summer, they have weekly concerts at Washington Park. We were able to see the last concert of the year. A performer named Billy Jewell. He has a CD out with mostly originals. He most notably covers "Sylvia's Mother" on the CD. (A song of the type that will always get stuck in your head as soon as you hear the phrase "And the operator says 40 cents more. For the next (pause) three (pause) minutes PLEASE!") Aside from that, he's a good performer and the kids were all dancing in front of the stage. The crowd must have been very familiar with the show he and his partner do. They kept requesting the song "Picture" (the Kid Rock-Sheryl Crow duet). He and his male bongo playing partner do the song -- with the bongo player singing Sheryl Crow's part in a rather high voice. It was fun to see. (OK - so maybe it loses something in the re-telling but LIVE, it's entertaining.)

The Big Dipper is the local hand-dipped ice cream parlor. We're now back in the land of House of Flavors Ice Cream. The Big Dipper has a large wooden carved ice cream cone outside complete with a cherry on top.

Downtown Cheboygan seems to be losing some downtown businesses. A number of empty store fronts were on the main street. Don't let that stop you from visiting (shopping isn't everything.) There are a lot of restaurants and watering holes to visit. We ate at Libby's. A fairly new restaurant on Main Street that has good food and an amazing selection of pies. They boast the availability of 75 combinations for orders. The day we were there, they had options like Cherry-Blueberry, Blackberry, Peach, Blueberry, Peach-Strawberry, etc. And a choice of crusts are available to (standard or an oatmeal struedel style). They also do cooking classes. It's good to see a business like that!

It's also a stop on the new Gaylord-Mackinaw Trail. A multi-use (bikers, runners, walkers, horseback riders) trail that is packed limestone. It's a rail trail so pretty flat and a good way to work off the pie and ice cream. (We actually road back to Cheboygan from Mackinaw which we'll talk about in the next blog.)

And they are very artistically oriented, too. Ottawa Park, one of the two downtown parks, had displays of classic artwork done with a local twist.

Starry Starry Lighthouse?

The Mackinac Bridgewalk Scream?
(Probably due to the lines for the buses to go back over the bridge)

American Salmon?

On Friday we headed out of the marina and channel to go to Mackinaw City. Two Blue Herons provided an escort for us.

Bicycling on Bois Blanc

2008-09-01T05:33:00.000-07:00

August 27, 2008

When we had arrived on Bois Blanc yesterday, the Harbormaster/Deputy Sheriff had told us of a good bicycle ride that we could take to see the island. Start by taking Bob-Lo drive from the marina, go right to Baseline Road. Central (aka Baseline) Road runs through the island to the opposite shore. From there you take the only road that is there to Bible Road. From Bible Road you can take Lime Kiln Road right (to the tip of Bois Blanc) or left (back to the Marina). It sounded like a good trip so we headed off. He had warned us that there would be some muddy spots due to the recent rains.

His directions were right on and the biking was mostly nice. Bob-Lo and Baseline are well used roads so the riding is good (like a rail-trail). There aren't a lot of cars on Bois Blanc, but every car we passed - no matter if they were passing us from the front or from the rear - waved at us as they went by. It is a very friendly island.

Along the way we noticed some numerical markers that seem to go along with an interpretive historical trail. We didn't have a map so we made up our own interpretive guide. Some were easy. Number 1, for example, is the Bois Blanc Historical Marker Signs right at the Marina.

Number 19 is about a study being done on the effects of deer and rabbit grazing on a forest. In 1956, they fenced off a few areas on Bois Blanc so the deer and rabbit couldn't graze. These would be comparison points for the rest of the forest. Don't know if the picture is clear enough but without the deer and rabbits, Bois Blanc forests would be dense jungles!

Number 14 was an open meadow and it really threw us. What could it signify? Then we saw the large turkey and realized THAT must be what #14 is. Although how they get the turkey to stand in the field all the time is beyond us. It must be really tough to maintain this site around Thanksgiving.

When we got to the opposite end of the island, the road splits to go towards the lighthouse or toward Bible Road.

We attempted to go to the lighthouse but the road doesn't seem to be used much at all and we hit three big mud pools in a short distance. So we turned back to go the opposite direction toward Bible Road.

Along this route there are places to camp and picnic. One clearing provided another loon a chance to taunt Bernie by swimming around just out of good camera range. She takes pictures anyway!

Bible Road is marked with a cross so you can't miss it. We THOUGHT the cross was why it was called Bible Road, but then we passed the site of the Bible Family Farm...

The dwarf lake irises along the shore (an endangered plant species that ONLY grows in the Great Lakes region) are a little more cooperative when she brings out the camera.

A few signs we saw really confused us.

We know Halsted Street is long, but didn't know it ran all the way to an island in northern Michigan!

Just like you can buy pink tools, you can also purchase pink flowered cases to carry your hunting rifles.

We stopped for ice cream at Hawk's general store on the way back and ran into the Harbormaster /Deputy Sheriff. We thanked him for the tip on the bike route and he seemed to be glad that we had enjoyed our stay.

The next day we left for a long and arduous 4 mile trip to Cheboygan, MI. The angle of the wall and a boat to our stern made getting out a little trickier than expected. We had to push off with the boat hook, and help from a boat neighbor, to get enough distance from the pier. Having safely turned around, only using the dinghy as a fender once, we said "So Long, for now" to Bois Blanc Island.

Trip to Bois Blanc Island, Michigan

2008-08-28T21:45:00.000-07:00

August 26, 2008

Not that we're anything close to experts but in the three times we've been on Lake Huron, we've never seen it like this.

On Tuesday, August 28, we had a good weather forecast and decided to move from Lime Island down to Bois Blanc Island (pronounced locally as "Bob-Lo") which is four miles off of Cheboygan, MI. We had initially planned to go to Whitney Bay for another day of anchoring before moving to Bois Blanc but a very windy (20+ knots from the wrong direction) made us put Whitney Bay on a future cruise list.

After the fog lifted from Lime Island and we felt safe venturing out into Freighter Alley, we headed out. Our plan was to fuel up and get a few provisions (coffee and fruit) in Detour Village then head over to Bois Blanc. We hadn't been out of Lime Island very long before this big guy started chasing us. "Who are those guys?" we kept asking each other. As it turns out, it was the Stewart J. Cort, a regular St. Mary's River commuter. We slowed down even more than normal as we were afraid our wake might be giving him a rough ride. Hopefully he appreciated our gesture.

We'd never been this side of Detour Village and saw an interesting sight.

We asked about this at Detour and they told us that a guy had purchased it with plans to turn it into a Bed and Breakfast. The original foundation, though, wasn't strong enough to hold it and it collapsed to the ground. The person is currently living in a tent on the property but says that the funding exists to turn his plans into reality. Go Big or Go Home. Good luck to him!

After finishing up in Detour, we headed out again to a very calm sea. It was, at times, difficult to discern the sky from the lake. At one point, a passing boat's wake created a false horizon line. It was pretty cool to see. Even in the North Channel, we never saw the water this calm (OK - maybe at 1:30am when Bernie was out watching the stars and saw them reflecting in the water).

Before getting to Bois Blanc, we added three light houses to our list.

Pipe Island Lighthouse

Spectacle Reef Lighthouse

Poe Reef Lighthouse

At 6 cruising hours, it was a long trip (compared to the short hops we've gotten used to). But soon we saw the gigantic flag that marks the Bois Blanc Dock. We pulled in by ourselves and even moved Meridian a little to ensure that we were not obstructing the ferry dock (marked by dark blue posts). We'd read in the GLCC notes that the Bob-Lo Tavern was a good place to eat and that they kept a courtesy car named Hester, keys in ignition, in Slot 27 in the Township Parking Lot. Alas, Hester seems to be no more. She wasn't at the parking lot (and some pretty tall weeds in Slot 27 led us to believe she hasn't been there in awhile) and she wasn't at the Bob-Lo Tavern either. (We will do some updates to the Harbor Report for Bois Blanc.) So we biked over in time for Tuesday Taco night. Dessert was ice cream at Hawk's General Store (which also has wi-fi.)

When we returned to Meridian at the Dock, we were just in time to meet the harbor master/deputy sheriff who stops by to collect marina fees each evening. We had a nice chat with him about boating adventures and the island. He gave us a recommended bike route and some general island information (including how to contact him in emergencies). It was a nice welcome!

Lime Island, Michigan

2008-08-28T12:58:00.001-07:00

August 25, 2008

Lime Island is a little spot north of Detour Villiage, MI, on the St. Mary's Navigational passage. It has a long concrete dock, previously used as a refueling station for the big freighters. Now that the freighters have larger capacity for fuel, the pier is used for pleasure boat transients and as a gull conservancy.

Lime Island has quite the history. At one point there was a beautiful hotel that was frequented by Mae West. A Victorian house that now serves as a museum was moved to the island across the ice when the superintendent of the coal company that ran the refueling station needed a fancy house to live in. (It was such a traumatic transport that, legend has it, the movers needed to go to nearby Raber for whiskey after getting the house to the shore, leaving the final placement on the shore site to the next day. That's remarkably similar to a longstanding nautical tradition that we on Meridian faithfully keep after the more unpleasant rough water crossings.)

Currently Lime Island is managed by the Michigan DNR and the island caretakers, Howard and Janet, manage the island from May to September. And they work! Howard drove a John Deere tractor down to the dock as we were coming in and helped us with our lines. Janet was working on fixing up the museum (scraping lead paint and repainting with non-lead paint). They always were working on projects when we were there. There are a number of guest houses on the island that rent for $65/night. (Dockage is $15/night which is the same as the nightly rate for rustic campsites.) The island is all solar powered: each house has solar shingles that power a bank of batteries at the caretakers house. The guest houses are wood-stove heated but do not have indoor plumbing. Guests use outdoor facilities and it is BYOS (bring-your-own shower).

There are several hiking trails, which don't require hiking boots but give you a great leg workout. One goes to the old lime kilns used by the old limestone quarry. The other path goes to Little Lime Island at the far end of Lime Island.

It wasn't too long before we remembered we were in Freighter Alley. Larger freighters passed by day and night. We didn't mind the southern-bound freighters. The wake from the northern bound freighters, though, create a little movement at the dock so we added extra fenders. It still is cool to watch the freighters go by. They are so quiet except for a subtle hum. Meridian looks so tiny -- like a little toy boat -- next to this freighter.

A cool front moved through overnight and the resulting dew on the spider webs were rather artistic.

We planned to leave early the next morning to stop in Detour Village for gas and a few supplies before heading on to Bois Blanc. The weather had other plans. Just about the time we were ready to leave, a dense fog moved in. We knew it would burn off fairly quickly - and we definitely didn't want to be out in the middle of the freighter traffic with zero visibility - so we just enjoyed our coffee and the surreal appearance of the shore line and sun in the fog.

Harbor Island, Michigan

2008-08-28T12:20:00.000-07:00

August 23-24, 2008

We had briefly visited Harbor Island back in July and were enchanted with its wooded shores. We were looking forward to anchoring there. Harbor Island is a National Wildlife Refuge so it wasn't surprising to see a deer grazing at the edge of the shore as we pulled in (just like the first time). We went to the inner harbor as it was forecast to be a bit windy and we wanted the extra shelter that it would provide. The first thing we noticed was that the inner harbor looked much bigger than the first time we were there. Guess all those smaller anchorages in the North Channel has changed our perceptions. We can just imagine how HUGE some of the upcoming places like Petoskey are going to appear to us in comparison to the bustling communities of Meldrum Bay, Gore Bay, Killarney, Spanish.

Taking advantage of the stormy-turned-summer day, we jumped in the kayak and paddled the circumference of the inner bay. We tried to go in the outer harbor but the winds were pretty strong for our little kayak. There is a clearing near the entrance that allows a short hike through the forest. We also walked along the cobbly shoreline. Many of the rocks there have fossils so we spent a little time breaking open rocks. Bernie found a very nice one on her first attempt ... then spent the rest of the afternoon cracking more rocks open. Phil finally convinced her to go back to Meridian after pointing out that it was too dark to see the fossils if she found one.

We stayed two nights at Harbor Island, enjoying the peacefulness, before heading off to Lime Island.

Harbor Island, Michigan

N46 03.080

W83 45.570

Back in the US - Drummond Island, MI

2008-08-28T11:24:00.000-07:00

August 22, 2008

After leaving Cockburn Island, we headed back to the US and checked in with US customs at Drummond Island Yacht Haven. Checking in was a painless process for us. We think our infamous rickety old boarding ladder caused some anxiety for the US Customs agent, though. She was a little leery about climbing up even though we had assured her that it had been "stress tested" by the Canadian Customs agent in Gore Bay.

Having checked-in and paid the $27.50 for the re-entry fee, we considered taking off for an anchorage on Harbor Island. That's when we realized that staying up all night with the Cockburn Island ghosts had been pretty tiring. We decided to take it easy and stay the night. Drummond Island Yacht Haven provides rental cars for boaters. For $55 you can rent a car and wander the island. For $12, you can rent a car to go to the "Four Corners". Guess which one Phil picked. Four Corners is the main shopping area of Drummond Island and also has a nice little casual restaurant called Northwoods. The special was all-you-can-eat whitefish. So Phil and I ordered all we could eat! We had a very decadent chocolate torte dessert, too. While dining, there was a one man band playing a concertina in the next room. The dinner and service was good. It seems to be quite popular with the residents and visitors as well as it was quite busy and a line was forming as we finished.

The next day (Saturday) we planned to leave for Harbor Island. The weather was a little iffy as thunderstorms were forecasted to come through. The Drummond Island Yacht Haven is quite accommodating, though. They told us we could stay as long as we wanted, if we stayed abother night then we could settle up tomorrow. The storms moved through by 1:30pm so we undid our lines and left for the short trip to Harbor Island.

Tolsmaville, Cockburn Island, Ontario -- A Lively Ghost Town

2008-08-28T10:37:00.000-07:00

August 21, 2008

Sometimes you can't trust the guide books.

All the guidebooks we read talked about Tolsmaville being a ghost town, with absolutely no businesses, many abandoned houses, old rusting jalopies parked by the marina, and a handful of former residents returning in the fall for hunting season. So we pulled into the Tolsmaville Dock on Cockburn Island expecting to handle our lines ourselves (like we have to when at our homeport in Chicago but nowhere else). As we were coming in, though, a pick-up truck appeared out of nowhere, and a guy jumped out to help us with our lines. Another guy from a neighboring boat came over to help as well. Then, after ensuring we were secure, they quickly left, barely giving us time to thank them.

OK so there were two people on the island.

After we were safely tied to the dock, we settled in for what we expected to be a quiet and lonely afternoon.

So much for expectations . . .

Throughout the afternoon, there was a steady stream of people driving down to the marina, coming and going in boats, canoeing and kayaking, sunbathing, and just generally enjoying the summer day. As for the rusting jalopies, well yes, there were a number of vehicles, mostly pickups and SUVs, parked by the marina but we are almost embarassed to say that most of them were younger than Meridian.

After a while, we decided to take a walk through the "ghost town" to see all the deserted and abandoned buildings. Surprisingly enough, we couldn't find many deserted homes. Most were currently occupied and kept in good repair.

Some were getting new porches, new roofs, and there were various home improvement projects going on. And there were streetlights! There weren't even streetlights in Meldrum Bay.

As we walked further into the island, cars kept passing by. And they all used their turn signals! We were wondering where they were all going. Then, as we passed by a very nice looking place, clearly someone's summer home called "The Last Resort", a bunch of people piled into a jeep and took off, waving as they passed. us by. We began to think maybe there was a WalMart or something further up the road.

Finally, we just shook our heads, baffled by it all, and returned to Meridian where we continued to watch the parade of people and vehicles passing by the marina.

Then, in the early evening, things really started to pick up. A crowd of people came down to the marina and gathered out on one of the finger piers. One of the residents recently purchased the strangest water toy we have ever seen - a "water bird" - and they were trying it out. The best way we can describe a water bird is to say "think of a pogo stick on the water". It seems to be incredibly difficult to use and half the fun is laughing at the person who is trying it out. We just had to go over and join in the fun, as did some of the folks on the catamaran that was anchored out in the harbor. Bernie took some photos, promising to email them to the brave souls who tried out the water bird. And that's when we met Joe, Beth and their friend Dave.

After the fun at the docks, they were kind enough to invite us over to their cottage for the evening. And, as it turned out, they owned "The Last Resort". It is a beautiful log cabin - the oldest existing home on the island - that has been modernized. And the grounds are really beautiful.

We enjoyed a lovely evening around the stone fire pit, staying much longer than we should because it was one of those nights that flew by because of the fascinating conversation. Joe had lived in Meldrum Bay either full time or summers since the 70s. He told great stories about summers "back in the day" when there would be 60 boats in Meldrum Bay (hard for us to imagine). His father still lives in Meldrum Bay and is the owner of the rooster we heard in the morning when we were at the marina.

Suddenly, though, at the stroke of midnight the fire went out and Joe, Beth, and Dave magically disappeared without a trace leaving us alone in the silent stillness of Cockburn Island with only the basket of freshly picked oyster mushrooms that they had given us as a hint that maybe it had been real. We looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders, and said, "Well, I guess the guidebooks were right. It really is a ghost town."

The next morning, Darren the Harbormaster - the guy who drove down in his pick-up to help with our lines - appeared out of nowhere again to help us with our lines again. As harbormaster he also collected the dockage and we bought a Cockburn Island Flag to remind us of our great stay. He faded away waving us a farewell (even now, we aren't sure he was real), as we headed off for Drummond Island.

Dockage at Tolsmaville is $0.85 per foot, and electricity is available (new this year) for $6.00 or $8.00 per night depending on boat length. Not many people come here when cruising the North Channel but we found it to be a delightful stop. The people we met were incredibly friendly and hospitable and it was definitely a stop full of pleasant surprises.

Cockburn Island is the smallest "organized township" in Ontario. "Organized" means that the tax money they collect is all budgeted and spent locally. They are very proud of that. And, from what we saw, they have reason to be proud. It was a wonderful place to visit.

Click on image to read the Cockburn Island Poem
that is posted on the Telephone Building
(a public telephone - one of two telephones on the island)

Must ... Have ... Butter Tarts

2008-08-28T10:13:00.000-07:00

August 20, 2008

Despite Bernie's admonishments about fuel consumption and gas prices, Phil raced to Meldrum Bay - repeating, over and over like a mantra

Butter Tarts ... Butter Tarts ... Butter Tarts ... Butter Tarts ... Butter Tarts ... Butter Tarts.

He didn't even notice that they were starting to construct a breakwater around the Meldrum Bay Marina!

He wanted Bernie to call in and say

Meldrum Bay Marina. Meldrum Bay Marina. Meldrum Bay Marina.
This is Meridian,
We'd like overnight dockage and Butter Tarts to go.

Anyway.

The big news in Meldrum Bay since our last visit, is that a 700 foot limestone breakwater is being constructed for Meldrum Bay Marina. Marina staff already noticed a difference during a recent northerly storm from the partially constructed breakwater. They are looking forward to protection from the ice that the breakwater will provide in the winter. They also have requested funding to remove the big cassons that are at the end of the marina docks.

Our second visit to Meldrum Bay enabled Bernie to visit the Net Shed Museum. It has many artifacts from Meldrum Bay's earlier days and large books of newspaper clippings concerning Meldrum Bay life, which are neat to look through.

We dined at the Meldrum Bay Inn and took the Butter Tarts to go. There is an interesting story about the current owners of the Meldrum Bay Inn that we learned about while on Cockburn Island. The current owners, Shirin and Bob, bought the Inn last year, sight unseen, based on the internet ad that was accidentally left on the real estate website after the Inn was sold two years ago. They plan to keep it open all year this year -- hoping for the snowmobile and winter sports enthusiasts. We hope they are successful because the people are great and provide a welcoming atmostphere. The food is great, too. If you ever find yourself in the Meldrum Bay area, we highly recommend the Meldrum Bay Inn.

Butter Tarts safely stowed away, we headed off for Cockburn Island and the Tolsmaville Ghost Town.

Returning to the Beginning in Turnbull

2008-08-28T09:55:00.000-07:00

August 19, 2008

Turnbull was our first anchoring stop in the North Channel so it seemed fitting to revisit it on our way back. The first thing we noticed when we came back was that the two deadheads had been removed. The deadhead police had apparently removed them while we were gone. They must have read our blog, saw there were deadheads lurking about, and rushed to Turnbull, lights blazing and sirens blaring, to remove the dangerous deadheads. Although that didn't mean that all the obstacles were cleared. After setting our anchor, Phil noticed some long dark ominous looking projection just under the surface and well within swinging distance of Meridian. Armed with the handy-dandy boat hook, he attempted to figure out what it was and remove it. Try as he might, he wasn't able to snag it -- well actually he was able to snag it but it kept freeing itself from the boat hook. Whatever it was was both bouyant enough and flexible enough to be moved with the boat hook which seemed to indicate that it wouldn't be a major hazard. Satisfied that Old Sam Peabody, a North Channel cruising legend who was also in Turnbull, wouldn't shake his head in despair and disgust at the novices, we settled in to Turnbull.

Revisiting our first anchorages help us realize how much better kayakers we are now as opposed to the first time through. We did a lot more kayaking through Turnbull's islets and coves than we were able to do the first time. We also found the time to do a shore party, weighing the dinghy down with wine, grill, food, and campfire materials. Bernie tested our her new fish on the propane grill recipe creation with rave success.

All this reminiscing about our first North Channel anchoring spots got us thinking about our first Canadian port.

Which got us thinking about Meldrum Bay.

Which got us thinking about the Meldrum Bay Inn.

Which got us thinking about the Meldrum Bay Inn Butter Tarts.

So the next morning we wasted no time, hauled anchor, and headed off to Meldrum Bay for a Butter Tart Run.

Turnbull Island
N46 09.281
W82 45.679

Re-tracing our steps to Long Point Cove

2008-08-23T09:09:00.000-07:00

August 17-18, 2008

It was easier to find Long Point Cove the second time we visited. We knew that in addition to the the secret password, you also had to release the lever (cleverly disguised as a spike) on the top of Navy Rock to get the entrance to Long Point Cove opened.

There were about eight boats in Long Point cove when we arrived. It surprised us a little as we expected most of the other cruisers to have left the area already. As we later discovered, a few of these hardy souls were just starting their North Channel cruising. In any event, due to the "tight quarters", we dropped anchor near shore and tied to a tree. This reduces the circle that Meridian swings around our anchor in so we don't get too close to other boats. One of the things we've learned on this trip is that most of the North Channel cruisers use more chain than line for their anchors so they have less anchor rode to swing around. Next time we come here, we're going to be adding more chain so Meridian doesn't swing as much.

Having safely set our anchor and tied to shore we took a kayak ride around the harbor. Actually, last year's marathon bicycle rides have evolved into this year's marathon kayak trips and hikes. We kayaked almost 6 miles -- checking out the neighboring Teschereau Bay to see its anchoring potential (somewhat open and exposed but would be nice and scenic in dead-calm weather).

The second morning we were there, a beaver swam to the shore behind the boat and had a breakfast of reeds.

Click on the picture to read the beaver's thoughts ;)

We also took a hike up the bluff that was right in back of our anchoring spot. In addition to great views of the area, we got a good view of the Reuss Lime Company quarry operations. The first time we were here we would hear the quarry operations and think it was either helicopters or thunder. We kept forgetting about the quarry operations. This time, though, there was thunder in the background, too. You can vaguely make out some of the storm clouds building in the quarry picture. We hurried back down the bluff and luckily made it back to Meridian minutes before the rain came.

After the rain came through, the wind picked up a bit. A particularly strong gust blew through the cove and suddenly we noticed we were almost on top of a bunch of rocks. Big, solid, propeller busting rocks. Where did THEY come from ?!? Suddenly tying to shore didn't seem like such a good idea. So we cast off that shore line, let Meridian swing around re-set the second anchor so we'd stay off those rocks and away from the other boats. It's always something!

Undaunted by our little anchoring adventure, we packed up some wine, old newspapers and set off to make a fire in a little fire pit we found in the rocks on shore. While there, the beaver returned for dinner (or dessert?) The beaver didn't seem too thrilled when Phil made fun of his noisy eating habits because the beaver slapped his tail on the water and swam away.

The next morning we took a short hike down the center of the cove. You can hike pretty far along the rocks.

As we left Long Point Cove, setting off to re-visit Turnbull Island, the loons continued to taunt Bernie - staying just out of camera range and laughing like a ... like a ... like a crazy loon!

Long Point Cove

N 46 10.589 W 82 41.321

Beardrop Harbour, North Channel

2008-08-20T17:03:00.000-07:00

July 19, 2008
August 15-16, 2008

We accidentally forgot to post a blog about Beardrop Harbour when we were there the first time through. This blog will combine both visits as well as some pictures from the Whalesback Channel. We will mainly let the pictures speak for the area as words just don't do justice to the scenery.

Beardrop is a very well protected harbor. Our second visit was under much windier conditions than our first visit, so we were the beneficiaries of its protective elements: small islands surrounding the entrance and a natural breakwater at the entrance. As soon as we passed the entrance, the waves died down.

Both trips included hikes and kayaking throughout Beardrop Harbour, Bear Fall Cove and Bear's Bottom Bay.

Hiking in Beardrop Harbour

Beardrop Harbour (from Beardrop)

Beardrop Fall Harbour Shoreline

Two Views of Beardrop

Whalesback Channel

Abigail Island

Frasier Rocks

Whalesback

Turtle Rock

Berrypicker Rock

Abundance of Blueberries

Sunset at Beardrop Harbour

Beardrop Harbour
N46 09.650
W82 37.696

References for North Channel Cruising

2008-08-20T12:48:00.001-07:00

Here are some of the references we discovered along the way that may be helpful to others planning trips to the North Channel.

Boating and Cruising References

Great Lakes Cruising Club
As novice cruisers, joining this club gave us a wealth of information about the North Channel, Georgian Bay, and all the Great Lakes. Their Harbor Reports, with technical and informational coordinates and summaries, are key guides to finding anchorages, safely navigating passages, and learning about marinas and ports. We also received much valuable information, tips, good advice and great stories simply by talking to members that we met along the way.

Richardsons' Chartbook and Cruising Guide: Lake Huron including Georgian Bay and North Channel, 6th Edition
Charts for US and Canada. Distances, depths, and navigational aids

A Well-Favored Passage
Originally by Marjorie Cahn Brazer
Updated by Pixie Haughwout and Ralph Folsom
Although not a technical reference, this book presents a long-time cruiser's perspective of different anchorages and ports in the North Channel.

Ports Cruising Guide: Georgian Bay, The North Channel and Lake Huron
Detailed information on what services and facilities can be found in each port. Includes phone numbers and other basic information.

Factual Fiction and Fictional Fact

The North Channel and St. Mary's River: A Guide to The History
Andrea Gutsche, Barbara Chisolm, and Russell Floren
Lynx Images 3rd Printing, May 2008
A great book to get a feel for the history of the area. Stories about the towns and the people who've lived The North Channel way before you discovered it.

Mysterious Islands: Forgotten Tales of The Great Lakes
Andrea Gutsche and Cindy Bisaillon
Lynx Images 5th Printing, August 2004
Great stories about "Island Life" on the five Great Lakes.

Great Lakes Lighthouses: Ameerican and Canadian
Wes Oleszewski
Avery Color Studios, Inc., 1998
Organized by Lake, lists name, construction, status, location, style, access, and a summary of the light. Space provided to record the date the light was seen or visited by you. Includes a schematic of the location of each light on each lake. Also has a good narrative tale about one of the lights on each of the lakes.

Flora and Fauna

Up North: A Guide to Ontario's Wilderness from Blackflies to The Northern Lights
Doug Bennett and Tim Tiner
McClelland & Stewart, Ltd. 1993
Detailed descriptions (everything from size and identifying marks to scat descriptions to trivia and statistics) of the types of flora and fauna you may encounter in the North Channel area. Categories include: Amphibians, Birds, Creepy-Crawlies, Fish, Mammals, Reptiles, Plants, Trees, Day Sky, Night Sky, Mother Earth.

Up North Again: More of Ontario's Wilderness, from Ladybugs to The Pleiades
Doug Bennett and Tim Tiner
McClelland & Stewart, Ltd. 1997
More detailed descriptions (everything from size and identifying marks to scat descriptions to trivia and statistics) of the types of flora and fauna you may encounter in the North Channel area. Categories include: Amphibians, Birds, Creepy-Crawlies, Fish, Mammals, Reptiles, Plants, Trees and Shrubs, The Heavens. Also includes a Nature Almanac, Field Checklists, Recommended Readings, and additional Resource Guide

Miscellaneous

The grocery stores up in the North Channel tend to sell milk in plastic bags. You need a container to put it in.

Spanish, Ontario

2008-08-15T08:36:00.000-07:00

It's Friday morning (8/15/2008) in Spanish. We've stayed here for two nights now, and it's a beautiful day - warm, sunny and calm. But instead of being on the way to our next anchorage (probably a return to Beardrop Harbor), we're spending another morning in Spanish. We'll get to the reason later.

Spanish is a nice place to spend a couple of nights, although it's pretty slow here and the marina is a half-hour walk from town. But it's very scenic, with the marina situated just beneath a large bluff (stairs lead up to a scenic overlook), and they have very nice facilities. We also finally have good internet, and the short layover is allowing us to completely catch up with our blog, email and news/financial matters. Now, if we only had cell phone . . .

[In case anyone has been trying to call us, our cell phones have been virtually useless since entering Canada. Phil's is nothing more than an expensive timepiece, while Bernie's works sporadically but costs an arm and a leg. Luckily, we have a few bandages left from Traverse City.]

As you can see from the photo, the marina has a large wind generator at the top of the bluff. We had read that it is used to provide electricity to the marina and adjacent complex, but we have yet to see the blades turn. When Phil inquired about that from marina personnel, he was informed that "it's broken, out of warranty, and the current owners likely will not pay to fix it because the marina complex is for sale." In case anyone is interested, they seem to be asking $2.4 million. You get a marina and a "Four Seasons Complex" that includes a health club, lounge area, various space that could be used for retail, and conference/meeting facilities. The laundry facility has large, new machines ($2C/wash; $2C/dry) that dry quickly. The showers are great as well. On the one hand, while anchoring, you realize how little water you really need to use for non-drinking purposes. On the other hand, you really appreciate a real shower! The laundry and shower facilities are available from 6:00am to 9:00pm daily.

Unfortunately, when Bernie tried to use the health club, she was quickly informed in a matter-of-fact tone that it is "for members only and marina guests are not members. Goodbye now, off you go."

Our only negative experience here.

Well, except for Meridian's starboard engine, which is acting up again. When attempting to leave our slip yesterday, and after having let all lines go, the engine died and would not start. Luckily, we hadn't really moved away from the slip yet, so we were able to reattach the lines safely.

After repeatedly failing to start the engine, we called a mechanic in Spanish, Tony Diodati of Motive Power, who came out to Meridian yesterday and pronounced our distributor cap unworthy of further operation. He should have new ones (we're replacing both as well as doing more tune up work) today and, if all goes well, we should be on our way later this afternoon. Otherwise, we may be here through the weekend.

Our stay here has been very pleasant though. We've walked into town a couple of times, and eaten twice at Vance's Motor Inn. We also had ice cream (quite ample portions) at a small stand while in town. To work off the calories, we took a hike along the Shoreline Discovery Trail that is located at the top of the bluff. It provides some great views looking out over Spanish Harbor and the Whalesback Channel, and it also has a number of interpretive signs that provide information about beavers - their important role in Canadian history and their habitat and activities. Bernie also got to FINALLY shop at an honest-to-goodness Farmers Market! She purchased a box of tasty plums, strawberries, green beans, some creamed honey, and dill pickles. Also, Bernie took advantage of our time here to replenish our cookie supply (an oven is a wonderful thing to have on board!), while Phil did some much needed cleaning down in the engine room.

Yesterday morning in the marina, we experienced something new . . . a seaplane landed and came into the marina, pulling into a slip very close to us. We've seen seaplanes tied up to docks along the shore, and we even saw one land outside of Killarney. But we've never seen one motor into a marina and tie up in a slip just like a boat.

The other bit of excitement here was the hailstorm yesterday. A thunderstorm came through and although it wasn't particularly severe (no wind to speak of, and not a lot of lightning/thunder either) it started hailing REALLY hard. It was pea-size and did no damage, but it bounced all over the place. It would hit the toe rail along the aft deck and come bouncing in under the canvas all the way to the companionway.

Well, that's about all for now from Spanish. If we don't post for the next several days, that means our engine problems have been solved and we're off doing the "anchoring thing". Otherwise, we'll be posting daily about life here in the slow lane.

Through Little Detroit Passage and on to Spanish, Ontario

2008-08-14T19:28:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday morning (8/13) we left Hotham anchorage for the town of Spanish. That meant a trip through the narrow and twisty Little Detroit passage. Unlike some of the other narrow twisty passages in the North Channel, this one isn't scary but, rather, is downright fun. You get to give a Securite' radio call just like the big boats do when entering/leaving major harbors. Then you pass through a 100 foot wide passage surrounded by cliffs, making a turn as you are in the narrowest part.

Of course, just as we were about to enter, two sailboats were approaching from the other side. But word must have already reached them about "those two on Meridian" because they seemed more than happy to stand off at a very safe distance and let us pass through first!

Once safely through Little Detroit, it was a quick trip up to Spanish. But, of course, with Meridian, nothing is straightforward.

To reach the Spanish Municipal Marina, you must travel through a very shallow area. A narrow channel that is about six feet deep runs for about a mile through three and four foot shoals. If you have more than a four foot draft and you stray outside of the channel, then you will hit bottom. That's not really a problem for Meridian, but some sailboats can't even make it in the channel without hitting bottom and don't even attempt to come to Spanish. And the channel is extremely narrow - defined by the red and green buoys in this picture . . .

As we were going down the channel, we noticed a sailboat (the one behind the Canadian flag in the picture) was stuck. So, in a momentary delusionary fit of self-perceived competence, we offered to tow them. Not that we actually knew what we were doing. They must have been sitting there in the hot sun for a LONNNG time because they accepted our offer (WHAT were they thinking?!?). But Meridian was up to the challenge, and after a couple of minutes of churning up mud they were back in business and on their way . . .

Wonderful . . . due to high fuel prices, we just spent all summer trying to convince Meridian she's really a trawler. Now she'll have none of that - "I'm a tow boat, does anyone need my services?"

Oh well.

Oak Bay (or is it Hotham?)

2008-08-14T18:23:00.000-07:00

On Monday morning (August 11) we decided it was time to leave the seclusion of Dead End Bay and head to an area where we'd be among other boaters. When we listened to Cruiser's Net that morning it seemed as though every other caller was checking in from Oak Bay. Since that was only a leisurely one hour cruise away, we hauled anchor, navigated out of the narrow twisty passage leading us out to McBean Harbor, then made our way over to Oak Bay.

Once there, we found that all those "Oak Bay" callers were actually in our old friend Hotham Island West anchorage. We'd been there a couple of weeks ago (in 60 km winds) and wanted to see it again. So we motored in and dropped anchor among the sailboats.

This time around, it was a much more pleasant (and calm) anchorage. In fact, it is now one of our favorites. It isn't as "bluffy" as some of the other star anchorages of the North Channel, but is beautiful in its own way. There are enough rock outcroppings to keep it interesting, you get a great view of Mt. McBean, and there is wildlife to view from your boat. While we were there, the resident beaver kept pretty busy going back and forth in the harbor during the morning and evening hours to feed. One of the mornings, we got a really good view of him as he ate reeds about 100 feet from Meridian. Did you know beavers ate reeds? We didn't. Also, the loons continued to actively taunt Bernie as they magically appeared out of nowhere when she didn't have her camera, then dove into the well known "disappearing loon dive" just as she reached for it. Although we have no close-up pictures to prove it, Oak Bay seemed to have more loons than any of the other places we've been. They were EVERYWHERE. But they're wily. Some people say they're shy. We don't believe that. We think they enjoy taunting all those camera toting cruisers. And they have an amazing variety of calls - from hauntingly beautiful to laughingly playful.

We stayed in Hotham for two nights, and on the second morning the water was perfectly calm, showing an almost perfect mirror image reflection of the surrounding trees and sky.

During our stay at Hotham, we took two long kayak rides out into Oak Bay. They were long because we paddle slow. But that's another story. This is a very scenic area of the North Channel, with rock outcroppings, bluffs, small islets, coves, channels, etc. virtually everywhere. And since Oak Bay is very protected, it makes for some exceptional kayaking - probably the best we experienced since Thomas Bay in Georgian Bay. On one kayak ride, we startled a beaver who made a lot of noise as he ran down the hill, jumped into the water, and swam away. He seemed downright annoyed with us.

While we were at Hotham, the Perseid meteor shower was at its peak. Bernie has made it a habit to wake up at about 1 am and go to the foredeck to watch the stars. This time Phil joined her. Well, he did for a couple of minutes anyway. But the wet dew on his bare feet, the cold wet canvas of the cushion covers, the ravenous mosquitoes (that Bernie had assured him were never there after midnight), the lack of a sleeping bag that somehow Bernie had managed to zip herself snuggly into and was in no mood to share, and the constant "Shhh, you're whispering too loud" drove him back to the warmth and drowsy comfort of the aft stateroom. Maybe he'll see the Perseids next year.

While we really didn't want to leave, we decided to head over to the town of Spanish on Wednesday (8/13) to replenish water and electric and to empty out our holding tank. So off we went . . .

Dead End Bay (Anchor Island)

2008-08-13T20:33:00.000-07:00

August 9-10, 2008

After a bumpy night at South Benjamin, we were looking for a well-protected harbor as some stronger winds were forecast for the area. Everything we read about Dead End Bay at Anchor Island seemed to meet our needs. As with many of the anchorages up here, the entrance is a little tricky. There are some twists and turns that you have to navigate. But as with most of the other anchorages in the North Channel, we've found that the entrances are seldom as difficult as they first appear to be when studying the charts.

Dead End Bay is just off McBean Harbor and lies in the shadow of Mt. McBean. It is a very picturesque anchorage. We had a nice stay there even though the weather didn't always cooperate. It was cloudy and rained often for the two days we were there. But in between rain storms, we did get a few dinghy and rock climbing excursions in.

We had the anchorage entirely to ourselves. One of the local fisherman would go by every so often and wave. He did stop to chat with us once. But other than that it was just us and the rain. We probably needed a weather day though. . . since we'd been pretty busy with hikes and kayaking, we ended up napping most of the days. We worked "Weather Days" into our cruising schedule. But we left out "Sleep Days".

Phil stumbled upon a radio station - 97.5FM that we could get while in Dead End Bay. This station was unusual in that the DJ actually TALKED between songs. Long dissertations about songs about cities (the theme of the show that evening). He really was just like Chris the DJ on Northern Exposure. He talked about how his father used to play Midnight Train to Georgia. He started singing a Chicago (the group) song, with piano accompaniment. But that got him on the subject of Chicago so he played Paper Lace's "The Night Chicago Died", a very historically and geographically inaccurate song. And then that song got stuck in Phil's and Bernie's heads. You all know the song ( "Daddy was a cop/on the east side of Chicago/Back in the USA/Back in the Bad Old Days/In the heat of a summer night/in the land of the dollar bill/When the town of Chicago died/and they talk about it still/When a man named Al Capone, tried to make that town his own ... NaNaNa NaNaNa") and now it is stuck in YOUR heads too. You're welcome. Just another service of greatlakescruising.blogspot.com - getting those annoying songs stuck in your head. ;)

After two restful days, and with our heads finally clear of that terribly annoying sony, we weighed anchor on the morning of August 11 and headed over into Oak Bay to revisit the Hotham Island anchorage where we rode out the high winds several weeks before.

Little Current Revisited

2008-08-13T15:04:00.000-07:00

August 7, 2008

Everyone kept telling us to give Little Current a second chance, as our description of it wasn't typical (remember, the town was over-run with racer sailors on our last visit.) Apparently, Meridian had heard Little Current deserved a second chance as well and she wanted to visit again. (If you haven't read the blogs in order, Meridian's starboard engine wouldn't engage when we were at Covered Portage Cove so we were going to Little Current to have a mechanic look at it.)

The cruise from Covered Portage to Little Current did give Bernie a chance to get a picture of the REAL Hole-in-The-Wall. We also found that Meridian handles pretty well on one engine. It also confirmed what a fellow Chris Craft owner had said -- that running on one engine can reduce fuel consumption.

We were particularly concerned about hitting the bridge schedule just right. Having had to idle on one engine previously (last year at our favorite Amtrak Bridge), we knew it could be tough. However, we timed it just right and cruised right through the noon bridge opening. We hadn't noticed it before, but the bridge opening creates quite a whirlpool when it swings.

Our second entrance to Little Current hinted that things weren't going to be all that different. We were headed for Boyle Marina, since they seem to have the most boat work available. As we passed the Town Docks, a sailboat cut in front of us. The two people on it were screaming at each other. We have no clue what was going on - whether they were racing another boat for that perfect slip or if this was their normal style of entering a marina - but other boaters were talking about it as well. One boat was communicating with the marina office about a slip assignment and just radioed, "You now, I think I'm just going to stay out here until the chaos ends." And, for once, they weren't talking about Meridian's crew.

Things did improve after that. We got to Boyle Marina and two other boaters helped us into our wall assignment. Usually, there would be Boyle staff to help. This was a particularly rough day for boats, though. So two of the staff were working on a tow/salvage of a boat that had hit a rock and sunk in the Benjamins area and other staff were dealing with a troubled sailboat.

We did notice a different feel in the town. People did say hello and it was much more relaxed than during Racer Weekend. While Phil met with the mechanic, Bernie did laundry and a violent storm came through. It kicked up very strong winds, thunder and lightening. One lightening strike hit a sailboat and created a hole in it (above the water line) and also took out the electric systems for 4 other boats.

We were very lucky. Our problem was just an exposed wire. They didn't even charge us for the electrical tape. Since it was still a bit windy and stormy, we stayed over at Boyle for the night. We did a little provisioning, posted some blogs and had dessert and coffee at the Anchor Inn (where we had an interesting conversation about rocks and local geology with the server).

It was a very bumpy night at the Boyle wall but at least we knew that Meridian was all set to go. We lingered in Little Current a little the next morning (one last ice cream). We did have a bit of a scary launching. It was very windy and the Little (RAGING) Current was in high gear. A couple helped us with our lines but as we were backing up the wind and the Little (RAGING) Current caught us and we almost slid into the dock and the shore. Phil gunned the engines and beat a hasty CHARGE (Retreat would have put us on shore) out of there. It was close though.

We had planned to go a short distance to the Rous Islands or Bedford Island. Once away from the Little (RAGING) Current, the water was good so we pushed on further. Phil wanted to try South Benjamin again. While it was less crowded, the surge that comes through South Benjamin when the west/northwest winds bend around the point and into the harbor is very strong and unpleasant.

We've changed our view of Little Current (much more favorable now). But, we've decided that the Benjamins just don't suit us -- it must be that magnetic field.

South Benjamin does have some interesting rocks. They appear to be a patchwork of different type of rocks.

Covered Portage Cove

2008-08-13T14:39:00.000-07:00

August 4-6, 2008

When we last left Meridian's Crew, they were revisiting the tidal wave tossed, dangerous and treacherous, shoal-strewn, narrow and winding Lansdowne Channel (cue the scary music -- again). What fate awaited our inept - er - intrepid duo?

Strange. The LAST time we went down the Lansdowne Channel it was MUCH narrower. Barely wider than Meridian. The shoals were all over the place and jagged rocks would suddenly shoot up out of nowhere right in front of our bow. At least they SEEMED to.

This time, it wasn't nearly so nerve-wracking. They must have tamed the weather, widened the channel, and excavated all the rocks in the last week. It was actually very enjoyable.

After experiencing the pleasant protection of Thomas Bay (probably the first fully protected anchorage we've experienced since Long Point Cove), Phil was bound and determined to maintain that streak. Again, using the Great Lakes Cruising Club (GLCC) notes as guides, we cruised into the inner harbor of Covered Portage Cove. We did a surveillance cruise to check out the whole harbor before selecting a tucked-in little spot in the corner. Basically, the second most protected spot in the most protected section of one of the most protected harbors in the very well protected North Channel. We would have taken the MOST protected spot, but it was already taken. We dropped anchor and Phil took a line to shore. This time only switching trees
once. Well, OK, then he added a second line when he saw that rock 100 yards away that we'd run into IF the wind was from the wrong direction when the anchor dragged and the shore line got gnawed through by beavers.

Covered Portage Cove is surrounded by bluffs, the least of which can be described as spectacular. There is a very good hike that goes up to the top of the highest bluff in Covered Portage Cove. From there, you can see the whole harbor, as well as into Frazier Bay. Blueberry season is waning but you can still find a few to provide energy for the hike.

GDay, the sailboat, along with its crew of John, Joan, and Waylon the Mountain Climbing Wonder Dog arrived on the second day we were there. They invited us for dinner and we had a very tasty chili dinner. A rainstorm came through and we waited that out on their boat. The only
drawback to that was that it was almost 2200 when we headed back to Meridian. Since we didn't have the dinghy safety bag, we had to borrow their flashlight to navigate the little cove. Bernie was certain she could navigate by the stars, but Phil wanted a back-up plan just in case. Other than trying to tie up to the wrong boat ("Hey, what are you doing? Oh. Don't worry honey it's just the "power boaters" lost again. Your boat is over THERE! The one that doesn't have a big mast on it!"), everything went well.

The next morning we planned to head out to go back to the North Channel area west of Little Current. But Meridian had other plans. She seemed to be liking this spot so she refused to let her starboard engine start. We thought it was a battery problem, so we ran the generator and port engine to up the charge. That didn't work. Every now and then she'd start but the engine would die quickly, so Phil changed the agas filters. Still no luck. After trying various things throughout the day and getting no where, we decided to go on a hike and just set off for Little Current the next day (Thursday, August 7) to get a mechanic to look the situation over.

We picked up John from GDay and took a hike through the woods that lead to Frazier Bay. At this end of Frazier Bay is a little anchorage called Blueberry Island that we are putting on the list for our next visit. It seems to be one of those anchorages that can be restful or sleepless depending upon the wind direction.

The next morning, we weighed anchor (it is lighter now -- Bernie can lift it by herself) and limped off to Little Current.

P.S. Phil didn't want to include this but when we first anchored, he pulled the line too hard and Meridian ended up on shore. I think he was pretty happy with that location since we wouldn't be getting any waves. But then all the other boaters kept coming over to ask us if we needed help getting off the shore, so he let Meridian go floating in the water again.

Trip to Covered Portage

2008-08-13T14:28:00.000-07:00

August 4, 2008

After three days at Thomas Bay, we needed to move again to give the batteries a decent charge. Since we hadn't gotten to any of the anchorages off the Lansdowne Channel, we thought we'd give Covered Portage Cove a shot. (After the first weekend in August, things quiet down a little in the channel as the windy weather starts to be a factor.) Getting to Covered Portage Cove meant passing through Killarney again. With thoughts of cinnamon rolls, butter tarts, and that great fresh whitefish in our heads, we thought we'd be daredevils and attempt a quick tie-to-a-dock to get some baked goods and fish. Almost all of the Killarney businesses, you recall, have courtesy docks just for this purpose. We had taken pictures of the docks on the way out of Killarney and referred to them to see which ine might work the best. It wasn't a difficult choice! The sturdiest courtesy dock in Killarney: The LCBO (liquor store) dock!

Bernie set up the lines and the fenders and Phil coasted Meridian close to the dock, jumped off, caught the lines, and secured Meridian. Onlookers were quite impressed and never would have known that we've only pulled into a dock unassisted three times in the last year. It would have been rude to use the dock without a purchase, so while Bernie ran to the bakery (Gateway marina) and Herbert's Fishery, Phil hit the LCBO (liquor store) for some rum and to Pitfield's General Store for some Diet Coke.

Since the fishing boat had just come in (after we docked), they didn't have any filets available yet. So we enjoyed fish and chips from "The Bus" while waiting for them to clean and filet the fish that the boat just broought in. Then with butter tarts, cinnamon rolls, fish, rum, and diet coke safely stored away, we threw off the lines, lifted the fenders and set our course for Covered Portage Cove.

This meant another trip down the dangerous and treacherous, shoal-strewn, narrow and winding Lansdowne Channel (cue the scary music -- again).

Thomas Bay, Georgian Bay, Ontario

2008-08-13T13:52:00.000-07:00

August 1 - 3, 2008

Killarney generally marks the crossove point between the North Channel and the Georgian Bay sections of Lake Huron. As we headed eastward out of Killarney, we got a good view of the customer docks. We also got a great view of the Killarney East Lighthouse to which we had hiked. Whereas the North Channel geology is mostly white quartzine, granite, and limestone, the Georgian Bay coast is pink granite and veins of white quartzite. There are also various other types of rocks that the glaciers deposited. This area has some of the oldest rocks on earth -- created by some billion year old geologic and climactic events.

Georgian Bay is sometimes referred to as the sixth Great Lake. It probably would have been made it to Great Lake status if they could have worked the "G" into the HOMES acronym (HOMES = Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior).

We had two possible anchorages selected: Dufois Bay and Thomas Bay. Both offered good protection from wind and waves and seemed to have good hiking and kayaking potential. Bernie voted for Dufois since the Great Lakes Cruising Club (GLCC) Notes said that bears have been seen on the shore. Phil was voting for Thomas Bay because the GLCC Notes said that bears have been seen on the shore of Dufois Bay. Thomas Bay seemed to have more all-around protection and be a little more scenic so we chose Thomas. Thomas Bay's entrance is tricky and the GLCC notes, charts, and GPS certainly helped out. As we have become "experts" at tying up to a tree, we started setting up for that anchoring style again. After we finished anchoring and tying to shore, we noticed that the sailboat GDay was there. We'd been running into them (figuratively, not literally) periodically since Long Point Cove. Since they'd seen us anchor before, they wisely took off in their dinghy when we started to anchor -- not wanting to witness the Meridian's crew's latest anchoring escapade.

At least Phil has stopped fiddling with the anchor. Now he fiddles with the shore lines. At Thomas Bay he decided that one of the trees didn't look strong enough to hold Meridian so he moved the line. Then he added another line to a different tree just in case beavers came and toppled the first tree. You can never be too careful! He only stopped to take a periodic BLUEBERRY break.

When we were done and it was safe for the other boaters to return to the bay, we dinghyed over and introduced ourselves to the GDay boat. John, Joan and Waylon the Mountain Climbing Wonderdog are from Michigan in the summer and Georgia in the winter. That evening we did a campfire with them on one of the small rock outcroppings.

Although no bear or moose were sighted, wildlife abounds in the Thomas bay area. On one of our hikes, we saw a ruffed grouse. We also saw a mink along the shore one morning. Although, it wasn't until after we bought a book entitled "Up North" (and its sequel "Up North Again") that we were able to figure out what we saw. Both books give great detailed information about mammals, birds, fish, insects, plants, trees, and weather in this area. A fellow cruiser recommended it and now we recommend it, too.

Thomas Bay is not far from the Chikanishing River in Killarney Provincial Park. We had heard there was a river a little ways up and we tried to find it in the kayak without benefit of GPS, but instead, kept finding inlets that we THOUGHT were rivers but turned into coves. We also saw a good number of campsites where people had canoed or kayaked in. We went back with John and Waylon the Wonder dog using our dinghy, their speedy gas engine, and a GPS and found it.

The Chikanashing River access point seems to be a launch site for some organized canoe camping trips. We saw a group go off on their adventure. There is a very nice hiking trail that can be done with non-skid sandals but would be easier with hiking boots, that goes up the bluff and along the river out to Georgian Bay. It offers spectacular views of the Georgian Bay area.

Thomas Bay can fill up, though. When we arrived, there were only three boats, including us. By the time we left, there were over a dozen.

Thomas Bay is a great introduction to Georgian Bay. We enjoyed it so much we spent three nights there (or maybe it was just all the effort we knew was waiting for us when it came time to untie all those shorelines that Phil kept adding). It made us want to explore more of this area perhaps next year.

Snug Harbor - No Vacancy Covered Portage Cove - No Vacancy Pine Island - Vacancy then Tidal Waves. Let's Go To Killarney!

2008-08-07T18:51:00.000-07:00

Well after pulling up all the lines, which entailed Bernie keeping Meridian in the middle of the channel while Phil dinghyed to shore, removed the lines from the trees, dinghyed back to Meridian, lifted the dinghy and tied it off, we set off for the dangerous and treacherous, narrow and winding, shoal-strewn LANSDOWNE CHANNEL (cue the scary music!) which would lead us to a safe anchorage such as Covered Portage or Pine Island. (HAH!)

At the beginning is Hole-in-the-Wall. At its narrowest, Hole in the Wall is an 8 foot wide boat passage. Most local boaters take their out-of-town visitors through the Hole for thrills and excitement. We're not quite ready for that kind of manuevering (hey, we're from the southern edge of Lake Michigan, to us, the Chicago River is narrow and winding!) This is not Hole in The Wall. Bernie doesn't always identify the landmarks correctly. But it does give you an idea about th shoals and upcoming landscape.

Once in the channel itself, the high cliffs of white granite, quartzite, and pine trees, are picturesque and indescribable to behold.

Beautiful, that is, once you get passed all the shoals that you have to dodge. Always remember that the first rule of boating is "Don't boat where the birds walk." The Canadian Coast Guard has to put buoys all down the channel, though, because they can't trust the darn cormorants and seagulls to stand on the shoals all day and night as a warning to all boaters.

The channel is well marked with buoys but the first time through was a little nerve-wracking. Plus, of course, the wind was starting to pick up. Although there are a couple of fully protected anchorages off Lansdowne Channel, we didn't know how full they'd be. Passing Snug Harbor, the boats looked snugly fit in there. Covered Portage Cove, next on the list, was so full that the boats were spilling out into the outer edge of the outer harbor. THAT wasn't promising. The last one on our list was Pine Island. There was only boat in there and it looked like a pretty little spot, although not as protected from the winds. So we set about putting down two anchors and getting further stabilized by tying to a tree. Having honed our tie-to-tree skills at Heywood, we were able to get that done in less than a half hour this time. We'd have some pictures of this but the North Channel Tropical Storm winds were moving in to Hurricane wind territory and it was too hard to get a steady picture.

As usual, the one direction that Pine Island doesn't really protect you from, west/northwest, is the one direction that the wind decided to blow from. The wind funneled down the little inlet opening (where have we experienced THAT before ... Port Sheldon, Fox Harbour, Hotham, etc. etc, etc.) and threw some rolling waves. We started to ask ourselves if this was REALLY where we wanted to wait out the never-ending series of tidal waves that was taking over this little inlet. About that time, the other boat in the harbor weighed anchor and headed off. We took the hint, pulled out the charts and set a course for Killarney.

We were going to Killarney anyway, so we just adjusted our schedule. Undoing the shore lines and the two anchors in the wind conditions was a thrill. Good thing we didn't go through Hole-In-The-Wall -- too many thrills in one day would be way too taxing. It only took a few minutes to undo all this. It's amazing how a little wide-eyed terror improves your boating skills. But Meridian was in agreement with our decision to leave so she cooperated.

Although Pine Island was pretty and looked like there were some good kayaking opportunities, it is not the place to be in any kind of westerly winds, especially if they are strong enough that the surfers start gathering. Here is the tree we temporarily tied to.

The Killarney West Light marks the entrance to the Killarney Channel. Of course, this picture doesn't show the tidal waves themselves, more the backsplash from the waves.

Approaching Killarney, we radioed the Sportsman's Inn Marina on VHF 68 and were told we could have the last available slip on the gas dock. We snapped that up! It worked out well because boats our size usually get put on the other side of the channel and dinghy or use their Tinkerbell Ferry to cross the channel. Those docks are a little old but are to be redone soon. The fuel dock is nice and sturdy and would allow us to gas up and pump out when we left without having to move (oh how lazy we are!)

We were one of only three boats that came in without reservations. The marina was almost full. Immediately, we had a good feeling about Killarney. There is a very friendly and welcoming atmosphere about the whole town and especially Sportsman's. (We later learned that Sportsman's is under new management and the new owners have worked to restore the main building. The showers are really big for a marina and well maintained. The Sportsman's Inn Marina restaurant recently re-opened for breakfast and lunch. They aren't serving dinner yet. The bar does serve bar food (nachos, wings, burgers) including the most economical pizza we think we've ever had. For $16, you gat a very large medium crust cheese and pepperoni pizza. It's $1.50 per extra topping, as long as the topping meets the approval of the chef. We ordered a pizza with mushroom and brocolli. The poor bartender had to come back and tell us that the chef couldn't do brocolli because he would have to blanch the brocolli first and that would add extra time (Chefs can be sooooooooooo persnickety.) We changed it to mushroom and green pepper, which apparently got the chef's OK. It was a very good pizza!

Killarney is one of our favorite towns. At first glance, it looks like the town is entirely marinas. But, upon closer inspection you find that each marina is more than a marina. As mentioned previously, Sportsman's is also an inn and restaurant.

Gateway Marina is also a bakery and restaurant. They open at 6:30am and have amazing fresh-baked Cinnamon Rolls, Butter Tarts, Granny Cakes (sugar, spices, pineapple), muffins, and breads.

Channel Marina is also the ice cream shop, which opens at 11:00am.

The other interesting part about Killarney is that all the businesses have docks for customers to tie up to. This goes back to the days before 1962 when there were no roads to Killarney. The only access was the channel. The businesses developed along the river and the docks enabled customers and supplies to get to the businesses. Pitfield's General Store has docks for customers to tie up to when they are shopping or doing laundry ($1.50/wash; $0.25/ 7 minutes and 50 seconds of dryer time. All washes are cold because they "are saving the planet one load at a time.")

Even the LCBO (liquor store) has a courtesy dock. We noticed that theirs seemed to be the sturdiest.

Herbert Fisheries was the "must stop" place. Whether it is for fish and chips from the bus or for fresh-off-the-boat white fish (filleted while you wait), we've never tasted better fish. Ever! Anywhere!

The Quarterdeck is a nice little shop for artisan crafts and souvenirs. They also have interpretive maps of two of the hiking trails accessible from downtown Killarney: The Lighthouse Trail and the George Island Wilderness Trail. We took the Lighthouse Trail, saving the Wilderness Trail for next time.

The Lighthouse trail is a 2.5km hike to the Killarney East Lighthouse. It is well-marked and rugged (hiking boots strongly suggested). The trail winds through forests, marshes, and the shores of Killarney Bay. It is all part of the Killarney Provincial Park. It is supposed to be a 2 hour hike, but ours lasted 3 hours because we took some side trips and stopped, periodically to eat BLUEBERRIES.

We hated to leave Killarney, but wanted to stick our bow into Georgian Bay before starting the return trip -- a circuitous route we haven't quite decided on yet.

Browning Cove on Heywood Island

2008-08-07T16:31:00.000-07:00

After going through the Swing Bridge, we headed toward a little anchorage called Browning Cove on Heywood Island. It is supposed to be a little-used anchorage between the Little Current and Killarney areas.

On the way, we passed Strawberry Island Lighthouse.

The Browning Cove entrance was reminiscent of our arrival to Long Point Cove. That is, we almost missed it. Funny how an opening can blend in to the far shore and not look passable ... until you pass it, look back and say "Oh THERE it is - er - was."

Browning Cove has a large bay and an eastward channel that most boats anchor in. This is where the GLCC information really paid off. We had very good depth and bottom information about a little finger cove by Stanley Point that enabled us to confidently cruise in pretty far, drop anchor and begin a tie-to-shore maneuver that we hoped would work this time. The cove was very well protected from the wind -and there weren't many other boats around to watch - so we thought we'd practice again.

Two and a half hours later, here we are, successfully tied to shore for the first time! For that reason alone, we decided to stay at least two nights. But Browning Cove is worth and extended stay. There is great kayaking, and some land-based exploring to be done. On one of our kayak trips, we found the legendary Browning Cove Totem. We returned to the totem the next morning and made miniature inuksuits of Phil, Bernie and Meridian. We even found a blue rock to represent the Kayak and a grey rock to represent the Dinghy. We also made our first call-in to CruisersNet (9:00am daily, July and August, VHF 71) from the island. That's why the VHF Radio gets included in this picture.

In the cove where we anchored there was a beaver den (home? lair? condominium?). Shortly after we arrived and finished anchoring, two beavers came out of the den. They make an interesting noise -- somewhere between a purr and a growl. We suspect they were saying "There goes the neighborhood!" as they swam toward our anchor line. We thought they would try to dissuade us from staying by gnawing through our anchor line. But, then they pulled out some measuring tape and we got the feeling they were eyeing Meridian as the centerpiece of their new Beaver Dam.

Although Browning Cove is written up as a little-used anchorage, it was quite busy while we were there (July 28-30). At one point there were almost 20 boats (primarily sailboats) in the bay and a few more in the channel. Though most leave by 10:00am, it starts to fill up again in the mid-afternoon. Boats come in small groups on the hour-- kind of like the schedule that the Little Current Swing Bridge has.

Oh, by the way, it looks like Phil is finally "there"!

On Wednesday morning, we debated staying a third night. It was very tempting and if we had heard about the tidal wave forecast for the North Channel, we would have stayed. However, we pulled up anchors and shore lines (if you think it's complicated tying TO shore, wait until you try untying FROM shore! Sheesh!). We headed off east with several potential anchorages outlined on the charts and programmed into the GPS.

Little Current

2008-08-07T16:01:00.000-07:00

We had considered a second night in West Hotham -- if you discount the 60 kilometer winds, it was really a nice little anchorage and we were re-assured that our anchor would hold when it was set. We decided that we'd visit Hotham again on the way back and went over to Little Current to do some errands (laundry, provisions, boat cleaning).

Entering Little Current requires paying very close attention to the buoys that mark a narrow channel to the town. The channel runs close to the shore, so watch the buoys carefully. The name "Little Current" is something of an understatement. The current that runs under the slips in the marina is not little at all. Between the current and the wind, the dock hands had their hands full helping us in. They say that this current can change at a moment's notice but the only current we experienced was the raging current from the west that seemed intent on pushing Meridian into the next marina.

Little Current is the "big town" in the North Channel. It is a bustling, provisioning stop that was made a little more bustling this particular weekend (July 26-27) because the Mackinac to Manitoulin ("MacMan") race had just ended. There were a large number of "racer sailors" (not to be confused with "cruiser sailors") running around in matching boat-logo shirts. They were on missions, dispatched by their captains to carry out specific tasks. So focused are they on fulfilling the captain's orders, that they don't have time to smile or say hello to people who aren't wearing shirts that match theirs. If you don't match their shirt, are you "the enemy"? It didn't quite have that welcoming feel that other towns have. Plus we were at a slip that was a little short for us and at the end of the dock where it was the windiest (Future reference: if you can get in on the wall, there is better protection and you're closer to everything. For all these reasons, we decided to stay just one night and forego the boat cleaning. We quickly did laundry ($2.25C/wash; $0.25/5 drying minutes) and provisioned as best we could (fruits and vegetables are not key items carried in grocery stores near marinas).

The laundromat was a little scary. The guy that Bernie got change from had mentioned he'd heard "Horror stories" about doing laundry there. But it wasn't bad at all. Aside from one dryer that didn't dry, it was acceptable. And the people doing the laundry there were obviously cruisers (since the shirts they were washing were all different colors ... and besides, don't racer sailors just pack 10 sets of underwear, 5 pairs of shorts, and 50 matching boat logo shirts?) because they told you which machines would give you hot water, which ones only had cold, and which dryer to avoid.

There are a couple of notable businesses in Little Current.

The Anchor Inn serves a good dinner (whitefish - yum!), has internet available, and also plays host to "Cruiser Net", a daily morning show for cruisers at 9:00am in July and August on VHF 71. They give a news and business summary, weather forecast, and a brief summary about an anchorage, town, or notable site. Cruisers then call in with their boat name and location. We finally started to remember to listen in (Bernie set her phone's alarm -- alarms, time, and some internet are the only things that work on our phones up here. Which is odd because the internet doesn't work with the aircard.) In the five years they've been doing Cruiser Net, they've gone from 414 call-ins in 2005 (they didn't keep stats in 2004) to over almost 3,000. They expect to get to 4,000 in a few weeks.

LocoBeanz Coffee Shop

Turners carries books, art, souvenirs, boating supplies, and a little bit of everything else.

There's a Farquhar's Ice Cream stand by the Town Docks, where we stayed. They give VERY LARGE Ice Cream servings.

Hayden's Meats & Confectionery further up the street has local smoked trout, housemade sausages, local dairy cheese, and other specialty food items.

Valumart and G&G are the grocery stores. There is also a post office, medical office, two banks, two other restaurants, and two sports clothing stores (running attire, t-shirts) on the main street.

Town Docks (officially Port of Little Current) has wifi so we were able to post several blogs to keep everyone up to date. Now that Bernie's PC is getting WiFi again, Phil's has begun to act up. Technology is a wonderful thing -- when it all works. ;)

To leave Little Current to go further east, you have to go through a swing bridge that opens every hour on the hour for 15 minutes but does begin to close after 8 minutes. We caught the 11:00am bridge opening on Monday July 28 and headed off to Browning Cove on Heywood Island.

West Hotham, North Channel - A Well Protected Anchorage -- Really!

2008-07-27T20:23:00.000-07:00

There were three anchorages that we were considering: Oak Bay, South Hotham and West Hotham. We checked out all three mainly to get practice going through this tight passage near Goat Island

... and because we were trying to get a picture of these loon greeters.

This is the inner cove of Oak Bay. We did not choose this area because there was this channel that we thought might be a wind conduit during high winds (because now we are wind experts - yea, right).

We looked at South Hotham but it was a bit crowded (and for us that means there were more than three potential targets ... I mean ... other boats ... enjoying the anchorage) and there are some cottages right on the shore (can we BE pickier about our anchorage sites?!?)

We checked out West Hotham and, although there were ten boats in there, we selected it. (But not before re-visiting Oak Bay one more time to re-evaluate its scenic potential.) We noticed that there were no boats in the far inner point of the harbor of West Hotham. We thought about going in there for more protection but were wary about why no others had taken those spots.

We probably should have gone in and checked it out given what happened with the -- you guessed it -- winds in the afternoon.

We'd been listening to the Environment Canada radio updates (since we lacked internet) and the forecast had been for 20 kilometers in the afternoon changing to 30 kilometers in the evening. By afternoon, we were quite nervous because these "20 kilometer" winds were feeling pretty strong and we were not feeling very "protected from all winds". Especially when the winds were to INCREASE to 30 kilometers by evening. So we were back on "Anchor Watch" along with many of our neighbors. The winds died down a bit so we dinghyed into shore to stretch our legs, do a little hiking and look for some blueberries. A few more boats came in and we could now see white caps forming on the waves in the "protected channel".

About this time, we checked our kilometer-to mile calculation because these winds were feeling way stronger than the 20 kilometer forecast. (we had calculated 20 kilometers to be about 13 miles per hour ... but maybe we were supposed to double the kilometers and add 35?) If these were 20 kilometer, what the heck were 30 kilometer winds going to feel like? Maybe we're not ready for this anchoring business.

Around this time, we listened to another Environment Canada forecast -- one for the current conditions. Oddly enough, we were relieved to hear that the current wind conditions were NOT 20 kilometers but 40 kilometers with gusts to 60 kilometers. Whew! That made more sense for the wind gusts we were experiencing. Plus, they said that the wind would be calming to 20 kilometers overnight. (Since these were 40 kilometers, not 20, "calming to 20" sounded darn good to us.) Feeling more relaxed that our anchor had held in 40 - 60 kilometer winds (but also feeling kind of dumb for not being able to tell the difference between 20 kilometer winds and 40 kilometer winds, we relaxed over a dinner of homemade meatball sandwiches and adult beverages. Phil then climbed to the bridge of Meridian to join the rest of the boaters in the anchorage who were celebrating with a resounding chant of

"We're Alive
We're Alive
Thank You Anchors
We're Alive"

Then everyone went back to trying to get pictures of the loons.

Bernie sets her alarm for midnight every night to get up and look at the stars. Oddly enough, most nights it is either hazy, cloudy, or a full moon is out to make stargazing difficult. Tonight, though, the sky was clear there was no moon, and there were a gazillion stars out. We could even cleary see the Milky Way (the astronomic one, not the chocolate bar), There were so many stars, it was hard to find the usual constellations. We did fined the Summer Triangle (Cygnus, Lyra, Aquila), Pegasus, Cassiopeia and Delphinus.

TOTALLY makes up for those 60 kilometer wind gusts in the afternoon!

Eagle Island, North Channel

2008-07-27T20:20:00.000-07:00

Our next stop was Eagle Island. There were stronger winds forecast for Friday (July 25) and Eagle Harbour is protected from all winds by its bay and Frechette Island. Needing a calm night for a change, we checked into Eagle Island.

Eagle Island is a wide open bay but really is very protected. There isn't a lot to do (minimal hiking), so you are prone to the "Boat Lazies" - evidenced by the chronic symptoms that include

(a) sitting with your feet up on the aft deck
(b) sleeping
(c) watching Blue Herons hunt
(d) dozing
(e) making blog notes

There is nice kayaking around the whole bay which gives a close up view of the island. We thought it was similar to John Harbour but with a more scenic mix of rock and forest shoreline.

Having had a good rest, we weighed anchor (still a little on the heavy side) and pulled out for a trip to Oak Bay or South Hotham or West Hotham. There are some strong wind warnings in effect - again - and these three areas are noted to be well protected from all winds.

Fox Harbour, North Channel

2008-07-27T19:53:00.000-07:00

Having gone to where we thought was "there" - the Benjamins - deciding it wasn't for us, we went looking for a new "there" that we could get to. We looked through the GLCC books and A Well-Favored Passage and decided that Fox Island, Eagle Island, and Hotham Island were all possibilities. We plotted courses to all three just in case we encountered any over crowded anchorages.

Before we left Bay of the Benjamins, we watched the sailboat LOON navigate the cut between North and South Benjamin. The cut is very narrow and shallow and requires bow spotters who we heard yell "A little left", "More Left", and "Just be ready to jam it in reverse".

On the way to Fox Island, we stopped at Croker Island. We'll probably stop at Croker on the way back as it looks like a nice, interesting anchorage. We believe, though, that we interrupted the daily morning meeting of the Meridian Spotters Club, those daredevil souls who plot potential Meridian cruise courses based on sightings and notify others to keep clear.

At the entrance to Fox Harbour is O'Connor Island.

The entrance to Fox Harbour itself is hidden and requires lining up small rock outcroppings by Eagle Island and then winding through some shoals and small islets.

It has a fairly long, narrow opening and most of the boats anchor and tie their sterns to shore. It is easier to do this on the EAST side of the harbor as the trees on the WEST side have scrub, brush, and thicket that block a clear path. We know this because we tried to do the "tie to shore" thing on the WEST side.

It seems like a fairly simple thing. Drop your anchor, tie a line to your stern cleat, dinghy to shore, tie to a tree or a boulder. It's a little harder than it looks. Especially when it is windy ... and your boat weighs 14 tons.

Phil readied the lines, including a few extra in case it was farther to shore than it looked.

He dinghyed in and discovered the scrub and thicket obscuring the trees. So much for Plan A. So he tried Plan B: Tie to a boulder.

But the line slipped off. So he went to Plan C.

After about an hour, he got hungry and tired so we went to Plan D which was coming back to Meridian and setting a second anchor in the Y formation.

As it turned out, it was good that we hadn't tied to shore. Our sailboat neighbor had been tied to shore but when the wind shifted, his anchor gave so he undid the shore line and re-anchored further west and in the middle of the channel. At least that's what he SAID happened. He may not have felt safe anchoring near a boat who's crew couldn't even manage a line-to-shore anchor technique. Come to think of it, he may have been part of the Meridian Spotters Club that we interrupted on Croker Island. We think we heard him on the radio saying "No, seriously, they are right here in Fox Harbour -- I'm looking right at them!"

On the east side of Fox Harbour you can hike along the ridge almost the whole length of the harbour. We found lots of wild blueberries that we ate while we hiked. This is a rougher hike than the walk to Bridal Veil Falls so hiking boots are recommended.

Fox Harbour is protected from all winds, but less so if there are southwest winds. So, of course, the winds started coming from the southwest right after we got there. It still is a very protected harbour but a little bumpier than if the wind was from another direction.

As we left the next morning, we saw the sailboat SOLUTIONS tucked away in one of the snug little coves off the main Fox Harbour channel.

Bay of the Benjamins, North Channel

2008-07-27T19:49:00.000-07:00

It may be blasphemous to say out loud and in mixed company, but we really didn't like The Benjamins. Oh, the scenery is quite lovely -- pink quartz rocks with veins of other colors and interesting rock outcroppings on land and in the water. But ...

We had joked that the way people talk about the Fabled Benjamins, that they were probably filled with boats rafted together like the "Play Pen" at the Grand-Ohio Beach in Chicago. While it wasn't quite like that, it was quite noisy and not as relaxing as other anchorages that we've visited.

There is a cool magnetic field around the Benjamin Islands that you have to be careful about. It causes a compass deviation of about 20 degrees.

South Benjamin was quite full when we poked our bow in -- over 20 boats were there -- so we went over to the Bay of the Benjamins and found a spot. That's when we started noticing the buzzing. People were zooming their dinghys around like jet-skis. Prior to this, the loudest we ever heard a dinghy was a quiet putt-putter-putt-putter. And new boats, arriving at the anchorage, would send people on dinghys in to find "the best spot". Unlike us, who think any spot that allows our anchor to get a good bite is "the best spot". We're just happy if we aren't dragging our anchor as we drift toward shore, boulders, or big expensive boats.

At least the roaring wind and thunder from the storm that moved in drowned out the karaoke from the rafted power boats. Yes, of course, a front moved through and picked up some major wind and waves, putting us on "Anchor Watch" as we had Port Sheldon flashbacks. We had set two anchors but Phil kept fiddling with one of them until a gust of wind broke it free. (That's not true! It must have landed on that flat rock that the GLCC Cruising Notes warn you not to run into. We didn't run into it, we just tried to anchor to it.) The main anchor held tight, though it was a scary time as the wind tried to decide from which direction it would blow so as best to dislodge our remaining anchor.

A duck family swam out to visit during the storm which provided a nice distraction.

The storm moved on, after probably less than a half hour, though it felt like two, and it was a very nice sunset.

Can't Go Wrong in Kagawong, Ontario

2008-07-27T19:31:00.000-07:00

While filling up the gas tank at Gore Bay, we continued our attempts to contact the Kagawong Marina (previously known as Northern Marina of Kagawong). When we called the number listed everywhere -- the 2008 Ontarion Boating Guide, the GLCC Info, Ports Guide, Lakeland Boating, and the Gore Bay Marina -- the number just rang repeatedly, beeped, then disconnected. We finally called the Kagawong Tourism Board and got a new phone number: 705 - 282 - 8800. Now, the Gore Bay Marina has the correct number, too! The Kagawong Marina staff were very helpful, said they had plenty of space and we should come on down.

There is a bit of a tricky passage between Gore Bay and Mudge Bay at Maple Point. It requires some tight maneuvering for the inexperienced passage-goers, such as ourselves. You have to make sure you stay between the markers and keep the markers on the correct side. As we were going through this section, we encountered a 55 foot Chris Craft going in the opposite direction. As we passed, we saw that they had a GLCC burgee that indicated they were a commodore in the club. This likely explains why he was comfortable zooming along the channel while we were creeping along at slower-than-trawler speed.

Once past the tricky section, we were into Mudge Bay and headed toward Kagawong. We contacted the marina on VHF 68 and they let us know the dock we'd be in and the side we would tie up on.

The marina is right by the public beach and kids jump from the pier into the water. But, they also compliment and comment on your boat ("Hey! Nice Boat." SPLASH "Ooh they're from Chicago!" SPLASH). The Kagawong Municipal Marina, as it is now known, has a new harbor master, Bill Prescott, who came out to meet us and personally welcome us to Kagawong. The enthusiasm is contagious. A boat that got in just before us, Patriot from Sister Bay, was already in their space and swimming but they helped the marina staff get us in and their kids helped us tie fenders on Meridian.

Kagawong is small but there is a full day's worth of things to do.

* Bridal Veil Falls is a less-than-one mile hike from the marina. No need to take hiking boots - flip flops are fine and prepare you for walking in the falls. Along the way is an Ontario Hydroelectric facility designed to fit into the rustic scenery.

* St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church. Also known as The Sailor's Church, it is quite nice with anchors and lighthouses making up the stained glass window scenes, a life preserver hanging from the loft ceiling, and an anchor above the pulpit. The pulpit is the salvaged and restored bow of a boat that sank in Mudge Bay 43 years ago.

* An Outdoor game board and two mazes (one stone, one hedge). We did the stone maze but not the hedge maze. We both remembered that stone hedge from the Harry Potter book and didn't want to take any chances.

The marina sells Farquhar's ice cream (How Convenient!) and meat from a local farmer. They also have a good selection of spices and soaps, lotions, and clothing from Manitoulin.

There are just a few shops in town: Manitoulin Chocolate (Chocolate and Coffee), River Mist Gallery (local artisan products), Hunts of Kagawong (general store), and Chase's Restaurant (formerly Needles). Although Chase's was not open when we were there (we overheard some townspeople say that they had run out of food), an article in the Manitoulin West Recorder indicated that it serves lunch and dinner 7 days a week and has applied for a liquor license.

Phil insisted on sticking his nose into the town's business.

We found a boarding ladder that is more rickety than our own!

There is a small farmer's market on Wednesdays that we stayed for. The market has Butter Tarts (that was how Bernie convinced Phil to wait around for the market -- he wanted to leave so we could get "there"). We were also waiting for the wind to die down a bit as getting out of the marina requires some quick turns -- kind of like that tricky passage you have to go through at the entrance to Mudge Bay.

After stocking up on Butter Tarts, we headed off to find an anchorage in the fabled Benjamin Islands.

Gore Bay, Ontario

2008-07-27T19:08:00.000-07:00

After 4 nights of anchoring it was time to set foot on dry land again. When we anchor, we go into "conserve" mode. We did well with maintaining fresh water and the holding tank. We still need to work on balancing electric usage. No, we're not leaving the lights on all day and night! It's our refrigerator/freezer that is the battery drainer. We had thought that the cruises between anchorages would give the batteries enough charge but since the distances are small, we only cruise for a couple of hours and sometimes less than that. That isn't enough time under power to get the batteries up to full strength. So we've had to run the generator more than expected. We have a quiet generator but we try to wait until someone else starts THEIR generator before we start ours. Or we'll run it when everyone is dinghying around. There's a quiet time at anchor: early and mid morning and early evening where everyone is just chilling and enjoying the birds calling and water lapping that just shouldn't be disturbed.

When we do run the generator, we try to make use of it as much as possible. We also use the time to do baking/cooking (otherwise we use a Coleman Propane stove that is working really well for us), heat water, take showers, charge up any electronics that need a boost, back-up PCs, type blogs for later posting.

Next time we anchor, we're going to try shutting down the refrigerator for six hour stretches (midnight to 6:00am and noon to 6:00pm) to see if that helps lengthen our battery power. The anchor light, which MUST be on from sundown to sunrise when at anchor also pulls the battery down. No wonder we 've been seeing so many boaters use a solar-powered "Malibu Light" as their anchor light -- crafty devils! We're also noting that some boaters don't even put an anchor light on (not good)!

Of course, even if we had unlimited battery power, we'd still have to stop by a marina every so often to drop off garbage. We've noticed that most of the Canadian marinas we encounter often do recycling and have separate receptacles for paper, plastic, and glass. Hope that spreads to the marinas in the states!

We were able to get ready to leave Beardrop Harbour and head for Gore Bay by 7:30am -- the earliest ever! We were so proud of ourselves ... until we got to Gore Bay and saw that Bill and Evelyn (in Inua) and the sailboat armada they were with were already there. They beat us again -- they must have been using that racing sail they have.

We got to Gore Bay just in time for the Customs Inspector to come through. In addition to checking in with customs, an inspector must also inspect your boat. You get a little ticket that you can display on your window after being checked. The Inspector asked us a few questions from the dock, all the while looking for another entrance to our boat -- one that didn't involve climbing up our Rickety Old Boarding Ladder. Not seeing another way, he sighed and announced he was going to come aboard and look around. We assured him that the ladder was sturdier than it looks, to which he responded, "Well I guess we're going to give it a stress test today."

He was very thorough and professional in his search. Anything he opened or moved, he took care in putting back as found. Toward the end of the inspection, he asked us where we'd been and we mentioned Meldrum Bay. He asked if we'd eaten at the Meldrum Bay Inn. We said we had and thought the food was good but really liked the Butter Tarts. At the mention of "Butter Tarts", his face lit up, his eyes twinkled and he said "OOOH aren't those good? I had one yesterday!" We think the idea of getting another Butter Tart gave him the resolution he needed to go back down the Rickety Old Boarding Ladder, giving it the SECOND stress test of the day.

The marina is large and busy, being that Gore Bay is one of the septet of urban towns in the North Channel (and also a Canadian Customs Check-in point). The marina has internet service for $10 for 48 hours. Since we've started to have access problems now that we're roaming from AT&T into Rogers Wireless territory, we took advantage of their fast access and very reasonable fee.

We were able to get some groceries that we needed at the Gore Bay Co-Op. Most importantly, Bernie was able to get a new camera at The Source, and electronics store. (Her CyberShot finally gave out after 5 years -- probably a good run for electronics now days.) There is also an art gallery (Art for You) that carries the works of local artists, a coffee shop --Loco Beanz -- that has internet, two hardware stores, an LCBO (which either stands for Liquor, Coors, Booze, and Other stuff or the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, an automotive supply store and a Shell Station, a convenience store, a "five and dime type variety store and several other small businesses.

The laundromat (Econ-o-wash) is open 25 hours in the summer. Canadian quarters are available for purchase from the convenience store (Betty's).

The Island Pantry is a health food store that carries a large selection of spices, flours, dried fruits, and nuts. They also make delicious frozen yogurt concoctions. We made up - and enjoyed - Blueberry Ginger, Blueberry Cherry, and Cherry Ginger. They also have melon, strawberry, peach, banana, and mixed berries.

We ate, twice, at the Twin Bluffs Restaurant, once with Bill and Evelyn and some people from the sailboat armada. Phil thinks the crooked "W" in the sign gives this a very Northern Exposure look. The food is good and the prices are reasonable. They even give a senior price if you are in that age group. We keep thinking we should make up some fake AARP ID cards.

The Twin Bluff Cinnamon Rolls - plain, raisin nut, and raisin apple - are quite tasty and took the place of our daily ice cream. No, wait, the frozen yogurt took the place of the daily ice cream. OOPS! We may start weighing as much as that anchor of ours.

The Janet Head Light is about a 2 mile walk from the marina down a paved and set gravel (not loose) road. It's a nice walk that gives you views of the bay, residential homes, and the bluffs. The lighthouse is private now, but has tours from 1pm - 4pm on Tuesdays through Saturdays.

We saw two deer while in Gore Bay. One walked down the sidewalk to a shady spot in a front yard (but this was before Bernie got her camera). We saw this little guy in a side yard on our way back from the lighthouse.

Everyone keeps asking us if we've been to the Benjamins (aka "the Benjis"). We haven't. I guess that means we're not "there" yet.

Our next stop is either Kagawong (if we can get a phone number for the marina) or "the Benjis".

Long Point Cove, North Channel

2008-07-22T03:38:00.000-07:00

After Turnbull Island we cruised a short way over to an anchorage referred to as Long Point Cove. This name isn't used on charts and it does require using a specific route and identifying Navy Island. Sounds easy. But remember -- you are looking at a few dozen islands from eye level and comparing them to a chart, which shows the "birds eye view" version of an island. Not so easy. The GPS helps and Bernie is using a handheld compass to take readings (Phil thinks she learned how to take a compass reading from watching Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates movies.) However, any little identifier you can find helps. We found a reference to this passage in a book called The Well-Favored Passage. It noted that Navy Island could be identified because there is a spike in the lower rise on the Island. When we found that, pictured above, we were pretty sure we knew the way. Of course, we did take another turn a little early and initially thought that Long Point Cove was completely deserted, much smaller than the books indicated, and very shallow. When we saw another boat head out, we realized that we were in a little indentation and the real cove was further back. (Of course, Phil won't admit to making a wrong turn. He was "exploring" a new gunkhole and didn't hear Bernie as she shouted at him from two feet away "STOP! TURN AROUND! WE'RE GONNA RUN AGROUND! ARRRGH! SOMEONE HELP US!")

Long Point Cove offers a lot for people who are anchoring. It is a relatively small anchorage, very well protected and, during our visit, there were never more than five other boats anchored. But that might be because there are "Meridian spotters" out there, posting sightings to warn other boats away. ;) The scenery is spectacular, with high bluffs and large rocks all around the anchorage. There is kayaking, hiking, and swimming. Although this summer has been a little cool and the water still chilly, our sailboat neighbors partook in some swimming exercise. The gentleman swam around his boat a few times a day. We always knew he was starting his exercise routine because when he got in the water, he triumphantly would yell WHOO! WHOO! WHOO! The first time this happened, Bernie thought our anchor had broke free, and they were trying to get our attention to let us know we were about to float into their boat. She looked up, expecting to see them on their bow, boat hooks and fenders out -- just like everyone at the marinas when we come in to dock. Instead, she saw him enjoying the lake and a safe anchorage. Phil wasn't paying much attention though. He just thought he was having a flash back to a Cubs game in the days of Ronnie WooWoo.

Once anchored, and somewhat confident that the anchor had set (ok, both of them), we set up our flotilla for kayak launching and away we went. The kayaking is generally smooth and affords you a great view of the archipelago that makes up this area. However, we did find a waterfall and rapids that seemed just our speed. See how adventurous we are?

Shooting the Long Point Cove Rapids

We hope he finds another anchorage. This one is full!

There is good, slightly steep hiking along and around the large boulders that provide a different angle for viewing the cove. Phil found some blueberries while hiking and they were our dessert one night after dinner. We saw cormorants, loons (never close enough for a picture, though), herons, and a beaver family. We stayed at Long Point Cove two nights. This is our favorite anchorage ... until we get to the next one!

Long Point Cove
N46 10.526 W82 41.325

Turnbull Island - Are We "There" Yet?

2008-07-21T12:00:00.000-07:00

Turnbull Island was our first planned anchorage spot. We had heard that navigating the North Channel required careful piloting so we made sure we were prepared. Hopefully, two GPS units, two compasses, a depth sounder, binoculars, and charts are enough.

Turnbull Island was a good first anchorage for us. We had a nice spot close to shore and it wasn't too crowded -- perhaps ten other boats, all sailboats except for one other power boat.

Turnbull Harbor has two anchorages: North and South. The North Anchorage, where we anchored in about 10 feet of water, is well protected, not weedy, and has depths of 8 to 10 feet, shelving to 5 feet. You do have to be careful of at least one deadhead that is near the shore. (No, this is not an old fan of the Grateful Dead who sings Scarlet Begonias all night long. A deadhead is a large log, left from the old timber days, embedded under water. Very nasty.) The South Anchorage is more exposed to the southwest winds and has depths of 10 to 14 feet, shelving to 5 feet.

We found the north anchorage to be sufficiently secure -- even without a second anchor -- although we never want to be too complacent as the "Port Sheldon Incident" is still fresh in our minds.

It was also the first real test of the kayak launching procedure that we practiced in Meldrum Bay. In Meldrum Bay, we still had the dock to keep us steady, but this was the first afloat launching.

It was easier than the dock, as it turned out, because we didn't have to worry about banging the kayak onto a hard surface -- it splashed gently into the water as we lowered it. We then took the kayak for a walk around to Meridian's stern, secured the kayak to the dinghy and boarded it from there.

(Sorry, Bill, but your suggestion of sitting in the kayak while it's still on Meridian's bow and pushing ourselves over didn't work too well. The kayak's keel stuck in the bow rail and we were left dangling over the side at a 45 degree angle. We had to unceremoniously crawl back up the kayak into Meridian as all those sailboaters at anchor laughed at us.)

After getting it situated, we kayaked around Turnbull Harbor and out among the surrounding islands. Turnbull is at the eastern end of a small archipelago of islands, all very rocky and picturesque. Phil doesn't get to see the view all that much though, because when kayaking he sits in the stern and must focus on continually adjusting his paddling speed, stroke and direction to whatever Bernie happens to feel like doing at the time.

Turnbull Island is a narrow U-shaped island, and if you look carefully enough, you can find some hiking trails that lead from the sand beach area of the anchorage to the other side of the island. Phil was lucky enough to notice one, and it led to a beautiful little bay with a small gravel beach surrounded on either side by boulders and bluffs.

We decided our next stop would be Long Point Cove. The cove does not have an official name, but everyone seems to know it by this name. It's a hidden cove that requires identifying a certain island to find the entrance. Then you have to knock 3 times on a pink rock and yell SHAZAM for the opening to appear.

Phil thinks that when we get to Long Point Cove, we might finally be "there".

Meldrum Bay, eh?

2008-07-20T18:34:00.000-07:00

When the winds finally showed a calming trend, we headed out of Detour for Meldrum Bay (which Phil calls Mulder Bay). Actually, almost everyone headed out of Detour on the same day.

Harbor Island
On the way to Meldrum Bay (which Phil calls Melrose Place Bay), we did a side trip to Harbor Island. We had considered anchoring here for a night but decided to do a quick check of the area instead and perhaps anchor here on the way back. It's a beautiful anchoring spot with an inner and outer harbor. We found that we would be able to anchor in either location (the current water levels in the inner anchorage are greater than the charts indicate). While at our brief
anchorage, we saw a deer and two sandhill cranes.

Moving on beyond Harbor Island, we encountered wind that was at the higher end of the ranges forecast and coming from our stern. That gave us a nice little push and allowed Meridian to surf a little. However, this also required more handling to keep Meridian from turning sideways and catching the waves broadside (definitely not fun).

All the stern wave action we were taking caused one of our dinghy davits to break free from the swim platform and go diving into Lake Huron. Unfortunately, there was no opportunity to yell "davit overboard" and toss a life preserver to Mr. Dinghy Davit, so we bid him farewell somewhere, we think, around Mississagi Strait.

With the davit gone, one side of the dinghy was dragging in the water and occassionally attempting to do some surfing itself. This was not a good situation as it was placing extra stress on the other davit and the securing lines, risking a "Mr. Dinghy Overboard" event. So it was Bernie, the Zen Knot Master, to the rescue. With the agility of a newborn giraffe (note significant sarcasm), she crawled across our spacious and scary aft deck, somehow strung a line through the dinghy handle, and valiantly secured the dinghy with a - TAH DAH - Clove Hitch with two Half-Hitches. Of course, not too long after that, we turned into the shelter of Meldrum Bay (which Phil calls Mulholland Drive Bay).

It was hard to believe the two sections were even connected but we were relieved to be in calmer waters. Entering Meldrum Bay Marina is quite the experience. Each dock has a HUGE steel casson at the end of it. The docks are not the traditional slips we're used to. They are docks that you tie up alongside. Depending upon the length, two or three boats can fit on either side of the dock.

The dockmaster, Bill and Evelyn (from the sailboat Inua, who left Detour AFTER us but arrived BEFORE us -- certainly because we stopped at Harbor Island -- yes, that must be the reason) helped us tie up. In the future, when we visit Meldrum Bay (which Phil calls Milky Way Bay), we will probably hang some fenders low off the side we're tying up on to make it easier to keep Meridian off the docks.

Although very small, Meldrum Bay (which Phil calls Macaroni Bay), has an inn/restaurant (Meldrum Bay Inn), a small general store/post office, nice marina staff, a museum (The Net Shed), and, of course, a Canadian Customs Phone.

Checking in with Canadian Customs was painless. Phil provided our Coast Guard registration number, passport information, and ATF information. Bernie's approval was initially on hold due to all the herb plants she was bringing into Canada, but she was eventually cleared. They do laugh at when you tell them about the safety flare guns on the boat, even though all our rule books stress that we should declare them. They didn't deem our alcohol amount worthy of a duty fee, so we were good to go.

Meldrum Bay Inn (which is a wi-fi hot spot) has a brief menu but all the food is quite good. We had dinner there with Bill and Evelyn and can recommend the Whitefish, Smoked Trout, Fish and Chips, and BBQ Chicken. They had an incredible Broccoli Soup (big chunks of tender broccoli) as a soup of the day.

For a to-go dessert, we had a Butter Tart. The Butter Tart is a tall tart filled with buttery caramel, nuts and brown sugar. We think this is a creation of the fabled Meldrum Bay Pie Lady (who sold pies out of her car every afternoon) but are not sure. Doesn't matter, the Butter Tarts are amazing.

The general store/post office has a little of everything: alcohol, first aid supplies, pantry items, local jellies and jams, dairy and some packaged meat and cheeses.

The marina has a vintage lounge. Unfortunately, the historic building which currently houses the lounge and marina office is in danger of being re-done. Hopefully, they just restore and reinforce it as it is a quaint old building.

We were planning on leaving on Tuesday, July 15, but a questionable weather forecast "kept" us enjoying Meldrum Bay (which Phil calls Malted Milk Bay) for another day. We took advantage of the stay to (a) make cookies (b) attach a new Dinghy Davit and (c) christen the Kayak (which, according to some faint and barely readable markings on its hull is apparently named Joe Vazzano ;) )

The maiden voyage of the Kayak went well -- no one got soaked, no one got hit with a paddle, and we didn't turtle ourselves.

We paddled around Meldrum Bay (which Phil calls Margarita Bay) and found some stone pilings. We believe these to be ancient Jenga games, abandoned mid-game when Blueberries came into season. They were so interesting (to us at the time) that we almost ran the Kayak aground in fascination.

Phil likened Meldrum Bay (which he is FINALLY calling Meldrum Bay) to the towns in Northern Exposure or Men In Trees. Everyone was friendly, perhaps uniquely quirky, and welcoming. Oh, and they do end their sentances with an "eh?" But I think it may be just for the tourists ... eh?

Touring Detour, Michigan

2008-07-20T17:53:00.000-07:00

After leaving Cedarville, we continued sliding through the last part of "The Snows" on our way to Detour Village, Michigan, a 27 nm trip. Waves were in the 3 - 4 range but coming from southeast. It was particularly turbulent when we got to the entrance to Detour -- where the St. Mary's River meets Lake Huron. This area is marked by the Detour Reef Lighthouse and, remarkably, there was a boat tied up to the lighthouse!

The area has quite the interesting names for islands. Here, for example is Frying Pan island. Of course, it's really supposed to be Saute Pan island but ...

As we were entering the Detour Marina, they radioed us to change our slip assignment. Apparently, upon seeing that it was THE Meridian and HER crew, they wanted to put us in a slip that had not boats in "striking" distance. Really it was due to the strong wind gusts that were accompanying us in. The dockhands at Detour are very experienced, professional, and highly skilled. They worked hard at getting us into our slip.

Once settled in, we were able to enjoy the "Freighter Show" that passes by regularly. Since Detour is on the St. Mary's River, which connects Lake Huron and Lake Superior, freighter traffic is pretty heavy. Our favorite was this lime green one with the fluorescent orange stripe.

Detour is not a big town, but it has the basics within walking distance of the marina: Sune's Grocery Store, North Country Outfitters (charts, boat, camping, fishing and hunting supplies), Timberdoodles (specialty food items, art, cards, gifts) and a few restaurant. A ferry shuttles cars and people between Detour and Drummond Island. They even have a shoe tree. This is becoming a trend -- South Manitou had a bottle tree, if you recall.

The restaurant we frequented while in Detour was the Mainsail Cafe. It is a restaurant with a bar that also serves ice cream. It is quite the experience to sit at a bar eating an ice cream cone. (It is also quite the experience to be told "Sorry, miss, I can't sell you this beer because it is only 11:30am. Can't sell you this until noon." Too embarrassed to return, Bernie made Phil go back to get the Bell's Oberon.) The Mainsail Cafe also serves locally caught fish and we'll personally vouch for the broiled whitefish!

Across from Detour Harbor is a statue of The Passage Keeper. This had been a cottonwood tree that had been hit by lightening. The owners had a chainsaw artist carve The Keeper in the trunk.

Detour Harbor also has a resident otter family. They played on the docks one evening to an audience of boaters.

We stayed in Detour for three nights. A little longer than expected but strong winds (20+ mph with 30+ gusts) were forecast, and experienced, in the area. A few sailboats had attmepted to leave (they had schedules to keep), but returned after encountering very rough waters! We took the conservative approach and stayed -- nothing wrong with hanging out on the aft deck watching the freighters go by.

While in Detour we ran into (figuratively, not literally) Bill an Evelyn in their sailboat Inua. We had met them "way back" in Leland and it was nice to see them again. They, too, are headed for the North Channel for a few weeks of cruising.

On Monday, July 14, the forecast seemed good for a trip to Meldrum Bay, where we would check in to Canadian Customs and, perhaps, finally get "there".

Sliding through "The Snows" (Les Cheneaux Islands)

2008-07-13T09:31:00.000-07:00

Well after the wild ride to St. Ignace, a good breeze was making us nervous. However, we "sailored up", fueled up, pumped out, and sailed off for the "real" start of our cruise. (Like the stuff we'd been doing so far was just practice?!?) We left under intermittently overcast and sunny skies for the 25 nm trip. The seas were somewhat kind to us. Bernie didn't notice anything as she has decided to spend her cruising time practicing different knots. She was so intently working on the clove hitch with two half-hitches that she didn't notice any of the 4 foot waves. She started spouting off about the zen of knots and Phil just kinda tuned her out as he was focusing on the zen of waves.

But soon enough the entrance to "The Snows", the abbreviated name of Les Cheneaux Islands, was in sight and we started our trip. There are several interesting aspects of Les Cheneaux Islands. The constant flow of small boat activity (the residents' mode of transportation); the little islands (like Dollar island, pictured here) and the boat houses with old, but exceptionally maintained, wooden boats; the narrow channel and the constant chirp of our depth sounder alerting us to the shallowness of the area. We used both GPS and the charts to make sure we wouldn't miss a critical turn - especially knowing Meridian's propensity for exploring reeds and cattails ;)

Oh and the wildlife is abounding as well. We saw our first moose. It seemed a little stiff but it was probably still trying to thaw out after the long cold winter.

There are two small towns in the area: Hessel and Cedarville. Hessel has a big wooden boat show festival in August and is, by all accounts, a great little stopping point. We chose Cedarville, also a great stopping point, because our cruising guides hinted that we might be too long for Hessel's Marina. The Cedarville Marina was a tight fit for us as well but they have knowledgeable and helpful dockhands to help. They also have very economical rates: $28! That's almost as cheap as anchoring!

We had dinner at Pammi's Restaurant, yummy sweet treats at the Hightop Bakery and visited the Cedarville Maritime Museum. The Cedarville Maritime Museum has some nice displays of the nautical history of the area.

Early wooden racing boats (the first jet-skis?)

Every year at Hessel's Wooden Boat Show, they auction off a cedar strip canoe. Here is the builder working on this year's prize.

The Cedarville Maritime Museum has a collection of the Wooden Boat Show Posters

We're off to Detour Village, Michigan now. Maybe Detour Village is where the cruise really starts.

Three Quick Trips - Suttons Bay, Harbor Springs, St. Ignace

2008-07-12T18:55:00.000-07:00

As much as they hated to see us go, we finally left the Duncan Clinch Marina in Traverse City to continue our cruise. Our Go-Fast neighborss waved goodbye and wished the best of luck to "Crash" as we pulled out of the slip.

Not that we went far. We revisited Suttons Bay (about 20 miles) to anchor again. But this time we buttoned up Meridian tightly so we wouldn't end up with an aft full of bugs. After a fairly uneventful anchoring (no grounding, no boats fleeing in fear, no sailboats being rowed around), we settled down for a relaxing overnight stay.

Here's a photo of Meridian anchored off the Sutton's Bay public swimming beach. We didn't notice at the time, but it appears to be "bathing suits optional" :-)

In the morning we weighed anchor (and learned the anchor has been eating too much ice cream -- it's gotten pretty heavy) then headed off for Harbor Springs.

We've visited Harbor Springs before and Bernie was looking forward to visiting the Woolly Bugger Coffee Shop for one of their Lake Effect coffee drinks. It was as good as she remembered it. We also stopped by the Touring Gear bicycle shop to have them do a quick check of her bike, post-accident, to make sure everything was working OK. They did and we then took an 8 mile ride along Little Traverse Bay. It was great to be able to ride again. (A side note, Bernie stopped in at the Touring Gear after the ride to let them know that everything was working OK on the bike. When she told them that we had done a short ride, the first thing they asked was not "How did the bike work?" but "How did you do?" That's a sign of a great bike shop!) As we left Harbor Springs to head for St. Ignace, the Harbor master radioed us to wish us safe travels.

And we needed those good wishes! The trip to St. Ignace was rougher than expected. The wave direction was not in our favor and Meridian felt the need to slam down on all the waves. It made for a very long 55 mile trip. For an smoother ride (and to get the trip over as quickly as possible), we actually went much faster than our normal 7.5nm speed. Oh it hurts to see what high speeds do to our gas gauges. Even at the higher speed, the ride was so rough that the refrigerator door opened. Luckily we noticed it early on and the only things lost were a carton of eggs and a half pint of blueberries. However, smashed eggs and crushed blueberries are a pain to clean up. For the record, our refrigerator has never popped open during a trip -- even last year's infamous Frankfort Trip. And we have, previously, tied up the refrigerator door but we weren't expecting such a rough trip. LESSON LEARNED: Always secure your refrigerator door.

There's only one remedy for that kind of run and that kind of clean-up: ICE CREAM. And Bentley's B-N-L Cafe is the place in St. Ignace to get that!

Meridian in the St. Ignace Marina, with Mackinac Island in the background.

On Thursday 7/10 we left St. Ignace for Les Cheneaux Islands, a short trip of about 25 miles.

Last year's related posts: Harbor Springs, Michigan - Just a Short Bike Ride in St. Ignace - A Stroll over the Bridge ... Episode 1 - A Stroll over the Bridge ... Episode 2

Traverse City ... A Restorative Spot

2008-07-10T17:42:00.000-07:00

As many of you may remember from last year, Traverse City is one of Bernie's favorite places because there are at least three days of great farmer's markets, wonderful biking, numerous wineries, and an overall good town. So when we cruised into Duncan Clinch Marina, she had a bunch of things she wanted to do such as going to the Farmer's Markets at the Traverse City Commons and Downtown, bike around Old Mission Peninsula, and maybe visit a winery or two. Of course, this was all going to happen after we got all the bugs off the boat. We weren't planning on staying for the Fourth of July festival, the Air Show, or the National Cherry Festival.

Well... best laid plans. As boaters, we always say "The Weather Doesn't Care". The bicyclists' version of that saying is probably, "Steep Hills Don't Care". While going down a particularly steep hill (one we later learned is well known in the area as "Ohhhhhh THAT one !"), Bernie picked up way too much momentum, hit some gravel, and took a bad fall. She's fine, but wasn't quite as mobile as she used to be. So we stayed in Traverse City a few more days than expected.

Now that she has her memory back, though, she's ready to continue blogging.

Things we figured out while resting up in Traverse City

10. Next time we are in the area, Phil is renting a car and driving Bernie around Old Mission Peninsula.

9. Neosporin is great for abrasions but it doesn't work as a hair gel.

8. There is now medical proof that part of Bernie's brain is entirely devoted to '80s music. The doctor said he'd never seen the cover of Journey's Infinity album show up on a CT scan. (Rest assured she will continue to be able to get those annoying songs ... you know which ones ... stuck in your head!)

7. Pleasanton Bakery Cookies help abrasions and contusions heal much faster.

6. Only Go-Fast boaters would have the wry sense of humor needed to see Bernie hobbling down the dock, knees and elbows bandaged, and start calling her "Crash".

5. It is amazing how energized Bernie can get when there is a farmer's market to get to. Especially when Phil gets to carry all the stuff she buys home. (This is Phil by a Champion Tree of Michigan -- it is the largest Black Willow Tree in Michigan and is in the Traverse City Commons.)

4. There's still a whole slew of good samaritans and nice people out there. From the people in the house near where it happened, to the couple on a winery tour who stopped to drive us to the clinic, to everybody at Munson Medical Center (especially Nurse Joan), to the great people (boaters and staff) at Duncan Clinch Marina.

3. The abrasion on Bernie's right knee looks like an anchor. The left knee looks like South Manitou Island.

2. Contrary to what you see on television, ER doctors don't look like McDreamy or McSteamy. But a few of them out there look a bit like Dr. Greene (from ER)

1. You better never let Bernie see you riding a bicycle, skateboard, roller blades, scooter or Segway without also wearing a helmet. (If you think she gets on a soapbox about local food, wait until you hear her about helmets.) Always Always Always ALWAYS wear a helmet.

Three pictures Bernie likes but couldn't fit into the story

Sliver Moon on July 4, 2008

Sign in a Traverse City

Fireworks image from Traverse City's Display. Am I the only one that sees a bear and a rabbit?

Last Year's Posts: Traverse City, Traverse City Wineries, Traverse City - Farmer's Market Heaven

Call out the Troops, Meridian wants to anchor!!!

2008-07-08T14:36:00.000-07:00

It looks like our anchoring and docking prowess is becoming well known up here in northwest Michigan. While in Traverse City, we noticed a large number of boats anchored just west of the marina.

A party!!! Let's go join it!

Unfortunately, we made the mistake of mentioning to someone at the marina that we planned to drop anchor. The next thing we knew, a large Coast Guard boat was patrolling, clearly on "Meridian blockade" duty.

Not to worry, we'll just run the blockade. They were a step ahead of us though, because that's when the air support arrived.

OK, we waited out the air support, but it looks like they were still concerned we'd try to leave. They sent another smaller Coast Guard patrol boat into the marina to monitor us.

Seeing we were still thinking of anchoring, they went all out and called in support from local law enforcement agencies. They had us surrounded.

Just to ensure we stayed safely in the slip, they then blocked the marina entrance.

Somewhere along the way, they put a man "on the ground", maintaining tight surveillance on us to ensure we stayed in the slip.

That's when we just gave up, settling back to watch the Air Show!

Overnight Anchorage in Suttons Bay, Michigan

2008-07-08T06:53:00.000-07:00

On the morning of Thursday 6/26/2008 we left Leland Harbor (with a little "assistance" ) for Sutton's Bay, which is in the west arm of the Grand Traverse Bay about 20 miles north of Traverse City.

A couple of miles out of Leland, it became very foggy. Our typical cruising speed is slow enough that we didn't need to slow down, but we had to blow the horn every minute or so to let any other boats that may be in the area know we were around. Here's all we could see.

At one point we came upon a sailboat, passing it safely to our port side. We were able to see it clearly enough that we finally felt comfortable about visibility. Then, once we rounded the point into Grand Traverse Bay, it began clearing up. By the time we reached Northport for a quick fuel-up (at $3.90 per gallon, we couldn't resist topping off) it was warm and sunny.

We continued our trip down to Sutton's Bay, reaching it in the early afternoon, where we anchored without too much difficulty - at least by our standards. We then settled down for a very pleasant afternoon and evening.

It was almost dead calm while there, and a swam wandered over to check us out. After satisfying himself that we were safely anchored and wouldn't be blowing aground over his nest, he continued on his way.

We've sometimes wondered what it would be like to have a sailboat, especially with fuel prices the way they are now. But after seeing these guys out in the bay, we decided it's just simply too much work. Trimming sails, paddling, keeping watch, it just seems to take too large of a crew for even a small boat!

The night was uneventful - except for the bugs that came swarming in because of the lack of wind - but the next morning we awoke to an incredible sunset. Here are a few photos of the sun rising over the mirror-like water.

Phil spent over an hour clearing the aft deck of bugs prior to leaving for Traverse City the morning of 6/27. We got a slip in Duncan Clinch marina for the next several nights, and spent the rest of the day giving Meridian a thorough cleaning of the bugs that we once again brought to share with our fellow marina residents. This time, though, they quickly dispersed and we didn't get the same "looks' that we had been receiving in Leland.

Bugging the Good Folks of Leland, Michigan

2008-07-05T10:28:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday morning June 24, we left South Manitou for a short cruise over to Leland. The weather was perfect - sunny, warm and no wind - and the lake was a glassy calm that we've never seen in the Leland area. We slowly motored over to take a closer look at North Manitou Island and to see if we could find a shipwreck that's off the island in about 16 feet of water.

By the time we got to the wreck site, the lake had stirred up a little - just enough to put some ripples on the surface that prevented us from seeing the wreck. Oh well.

But there was still very little wind, and the bugs soon began finding Meridian. They seemed to think, as we did, that it was a perfect day to head over to Leland. And they used us as their favored mode of transportation (the lazy little "buggers"). As word got out among the Manitou Straits bug community, more and more of them joined us until the whole boat (except for the inside which was tightly closed up) was entirely covered. Here's what it looked like from the helm on the aft deck . . .

We pulled into the Leland marina doing a rather good impersonation of the Peanuts comic strip character "Pigpen" . . . with a really impressive cloud of bugs surrounding us.

But the nice lady who runs the gas dock just smiled and said "Don't worry, this happens all the time, they'll dissapate soon". So we walked into town, hoping they'd leave before we came back.

They didn't, and we spent all afternoon clearing out the aft deck, closing it up, and cleaning out the dead ones. But the bugcloud was still buzzing around on the outside. And to make matters worse, we started getting "looks" from the poor boaters who suddenly found themselves infested with the little creatures as we shared our good fortune with them. The man in the nice shiny boat next to us seemed particularly affected. He walked around his boat relentlessly with a rag and a spray bottle, constantly fighting them off one by one, and muttering something about "transients" and "infestations".

But he was actually very helpful to us. In fact, early the next morning we awoke to a knock on our hull. There he was, standing with our dock lines in his hand . . . "Here, I thought I'd help you leave. I've got the bow and spring lines. If you can just handle the electrical cord and the aft lines, well then, off you go!"

He didn't seem so happy when we told him we were staying for another day.

On that second day though, things got better. Well, they did for us anyway. We stayed away from Meridian the entire time, so we didn't see the bugs.

Bernie went to the Leland farmer's market (part of her plan she hatched on South Manitou).

Phil went over to the Stone House Bakery and Cafe to get internet access - our AT&T card stopped working on the Leelanau Peninsula. We were later informed that it's because AT&T is upgrading the network as a result of the merger with Cingular, and aircard service is really bad at the moment. But Stone House is a very good bakery - they are at a number of the local farmers markets. Also, a recent news article reported that a black bear was spotted in Leland and, after a short chase, climbed the tree beside the bakery and stared back at all the onlookers before eventually leaving. Phil didn't want to miss seeing the "bear tree".

After that (we couldn't go back to Meridian yet!), we took a bicycle ride up to Northport. Northport is one of our favorite towns on the peninsula and we didn't expect to stop there on this trip, so it was good to have a chance to see the town. They currently have an "exhibit" at the marina park of doors painted by local students. If you have a chance this summer, it is certainly worth a visit.

And it was really worth a visit for us this time . . . we found that gasoline at the marina was selling for an unbelievable $3.90 per gallon. We made a mental note to stop at the marina for fuel on our way down into Grand Traverse Bay the next day.

On our ride back to Leland, we stopped at Omena Bay, which is eight or ten miles south of Northport. We may anchor there one day, so we wanted to see it up close. Bernie was pleasantly surprised by the herb garden across from the public beach and Phil had a difficult time getting her to leave. Or maybe she was just stalling because of the bugs back at Meridian.

But we eventually made our way back to Leland where the cloud of bugs, greatly diminished but still there, welcomed us again. But bugs or no bugs, we enjoyed another of those great Leland sunsets that evening.

Early the next morning, our "neighbor" was taking no chances. We awoke just in time to notice the coffee maker shut off in the middle of the brewing cycle. We went outside and there he was, juggling our unplugged electrical cord in one hand and all six dock lines in the other. (ok, not really . . . he had enlisted his neighbor in the next slip who was gladly helping) "Here, we've got you all set - have a safe journey!" We barely had time to start the engines as they pushed us out into the channel!

But we were safely underway. The bugs quickly left us (maybe they liked the shinier boats better!), so off we went with our next destination being an overnight anchorage in Sutton's Bay before a planned multi-day stay in Traverse City.

Two Perfect Days on South Manitou Island

2008-07-01T07:19:00.000-07:00

On Sunday 6/22/2008 we headed out to South Manitou Island, a distance of about 30 miles from Frankfort. South Manitou is part of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, and there are no marinas - or any modern facilities - on the island. There is only a scenic crescent bay on the east side of the island that can be used for anchoring.

After our experience in Port Sheldon, Bernie was a more than a little apprehensive about anchoring overnight on an island about 15 miles from the nearest marina (Leland). And last year’s experience on South Manitou didn’t help. It had taken us a couple of tries to anchor due to a weedy bottom, the anchor line kept snarling on the way down, and then the generator wouldn’t work because, unknown to us, the intake was clogged with mud from Meridian’s stay on the Chicago river.

But we really wanted to see the ancient cedars that are on the west side of the island. It would be a long hike from the anchorage, so we left Frankfort early enough to get to South Manitou in time to anchor, hike to the cedars, and return that afternoon. We then planned to head over to Leland the next day.

As it turned out, our experience that first day (and the weather) was so good that Bernie suggested we stay in the anchorage for a second night. So we did. Here’s a description of those two perfect days on South Manitou Island.

The Trip Over

We left Frankfort early and the weather was beautiful - sunny, calm and perfect for being on Lake Michigan. During the trip over, we had several freighter sightings. Two passed by each other less than a mile away, then one of them crossed our bow about a quarter mile away. It seemed closer than it looks in the picture - we slowed Meridian down in order to give them plenty of room.

As we neared South Manitou, we got a pretty good view of an old ship wreck - the Morazan - which is off the southwest coast of the island. We would hike to it and see it from South Manitou later that day.
Anchoring

As we rounded the point and headed into the anchorage, we got a really good view of the old lighthouse.

We were the only boat in the anchorage, so we got to pick our spot. We chose the sand shelf that is about 2/3 of the way around the crescent from the lighthouse. We've had trouble with the windlass in the past - the anchor rode doesn't fall into the locker at a good angle and sometimes it kinks up and snags when trying to lower the anchor. However, we had earlier received some really good advice from the great folks at the Chris Craft Commander Club and everything went smoothly. However, after our experience at Port Sheldon, we were taking no chances. We set a second anchor for additional safety and to reduce swinging. Here's a photo of Meridian safely at anchor, with Pyramid Point (and some thunderclouds safely moving away in the opposite direction) in the background.

The Cedars

After becoming comfortable that Meridian was safely at anchor, we immediately rode into shore on the dinghy and began our hike. The cedars are some of the oldest and largest in Michigan - virgin Cedars that were never logged for timber back in the 1800s. They are on the opposite corner of the island, a hike of about nine miles round-trip, so we took plenty of water and snacks.

The hike was well worth it. It took us past many points of interest (that we'll describe in later sections). When we finally reached the cedars, the trail was a bit rough and a little buggy. But there were many photos taken - here's only a few . . .

The Shipwreck

On the trail to the cedars, there's a short turn-off that leads to an overlook where you get a good view of the wreck of the Morazan. The wreck is covered with cormorans and seagulls and looks very foreboding.

The Farms

There are a number of abandoned farms on South Manitou. We took a slight detour on our cedar tree hike to swing by the farms. A couple of them have been preserved pretty well, with many of the buildings still standing and farm implements scattered about. There are other sites on the island that we visited last year that contain ruins of old buildings that have fallen down. We didn't go to them this time, as the hike to the cedars was long enough.

The bottle tree . . .

After we returned from our cedar tree hike - which took about six hours - we relaxed on the aft deck of Meridian. We were fairly exhausted, but it had been a good day. This is when Bernie really surprised Phil by suggesting a second night at anchor. As it turned out, she had an ulterior motive. Yes, she was really enjoying South Manitou, but Phil later realized that staying here a second night just happened to place them in Leland while a Farmers Market would be in progress!

Hiking the Dunes

The next morning was extremely foggy in the anchorage, but it was expected to clear up by late morning. It did, so we took a hike along the crescent beach to the north side of the island. The walk took us through an area of dunes and led to a nice sandy beach.

Boats at Anchor

During both days and nights at anchor, the harbor was exceptionally calm. Other boats came and went, and the second night we were one of six boats spending the night. Here are a few photos of the anchorage . . .

Our favorite . . .

Various scenes

Here are some miscellaneous scenes from our stay at South Manitou

A loon making it's way through the anchorage. Not the best loon photo, but this was the first time either of us has actually seen one, so we were excited about it!

Florence Lake, in the center of South Manitou Island, which we passed on our hike to the cedars.

The crescent shaped beach that lines the anchorage. It's a sandy beach - sort of. The first ten feet or so is completely stone. Then the sand begins.

A view of Pyramid Point on the mainland.

After our two really excellent days on South Manitou, we hauled anchor and headed over to Leland on the morning of June 24 (Tuesday).

Summer Solstice in Frankfort, Michigan

2008-06-30T08:57:00.000-07:00

On June 20, we left Ludington and made our way up to Frankfort where we stayed for two nights.

When in Frankfort last September, it was cold and windy, the beaches were deserted (except for surfers flocking here for the big waves) and the town was empty.

It's now summer in Frankfort, and this is a completely different town. We were able to walk out the breakwater to the lighthouse this time - Bernie didn't even know you could do that because last fall the breakwater was always covered by waves and flying spray. The beaches are full of sunbathers and swimmers, and the town is full of summer tourists. It was great to see. Bernie even got to go to the Frankfort Farmers Market!

We took advantage of the nice weather and took a bicycle ride down to Beulah (pronounced "Byoolah"), which is on Crystal Lake about 10 miles from Frankfort. Unfortunately, Bernie has developed a habit of going back in time to the 1980s and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" every time we encounter a place such as "Byoolah", Michigan or "Byoofort" South Carolina. Phil had to listen to her flat, monotone voice as she repeatedly chanted "Byoolah, Byoolah, Byoolah, . . . ".

Along the way to Beulah, we passed the old Elberta Municipal Marina, which has been abandoned due to low water levels. It looks like at least some of the slips are being used now by boaters . . .

Speaking of Elberta, they held their annual Summer Solstice festival while we were there. Elberta is just across Lake Betsie from Frankfort, about a two mile bike ride, so we rode over to participate. We expected to see lots of carousing around (maybe even pagan rituals with naked people dancing around bonfires . . . ) but, apparently we were too late. Looks like the party was pretty much over and the pagans were all "flat out" tired by the time we arrived.

While in Elberta, we also found the solution to our anchoring problems . . . if we could just find a way to get this on the deck of Meridian . . .

There's a really great art gallery/cafe over in Elberta called the Trick Dog. It sits on a steep hill overlooking Lake Betsie. The Trick Dog has a great view with unique and interesting art items scattered about the grounds and for sale inside. It's definitely worth a visit if you are in the area (and want a quick tasty sandwich, or just some ice tea).

Oh . . . we finally met another member of the Great Lakes Cruising Club while in Frankfort. When we first arrived, a very nice man came over and greeted us, complimenting Meridian and making the kind of pleasant conversation that often accompanies an arrival to a marina. We didn't notice until later that he had the "25 year member" Great Lakes Cruising Club burgee on his boat (the Marie Rae). Bernie thinks he was giving us the secret GLCC hand signal and, when we didn't respond, he just went away muttering "newbies, hah!" to himself!

A Quick Update

2008-06-30T08:49:00.001-07:00

If you've been wondering why we haven't been posting lately, you can blame Bernie. Apparently, by reporting about how great the AT&T connection has been, she jinxed us. We haven't had a usable signal for quite some time now.

But all is well, and since the last blog post we've been to Frankfort, South Manitou Island, Leland, Suttons Bay (after stopping in Northport for the best gas prices we've seen since last year) and are currently (6/30/08) in Traverse City, Michigan. We plan to spend a bit more time in the Grand Traverse Bay area before heading on.

We'll be posting in more detail about where we've been when we get a usable internet signal. Here in Traverse City, we can use an internet cafe and hope to get a few posts out today and tomorrow.