Comin' Home to Lake Michigan

Last we left you we were contemplating going to Hessel, MI - in the Les Cheneaux Islands - weather permitting.  We had visited there 2 yrs ago when we brought Miss Hattie over from the Detroit area and we wanted to stop there and sample the fare at the new culinary school.  There was no problem, we entered the Les Cheneaux through the 'middle entrance' and went past one of our favorites sites, the eccentric house on Dollar Island (they bought it for $1), see pic. We did indeed eat at the culinary school - review:  'they're still in school'.

Then we set out to St Ignace, another of our favorites on the last trip.  Well, the weather was just barely permitting for that short hop (18 miles) - we had head winds and waves of 3' with occ 4'ers, but since it was directly on the bow it wasn't a problem.  We did shore chores, shopped, did wine tasting and listened to live music while there for 2 days.  A good stop!

We have always said:  the most dangerous thing to have on a boat... a schedule.  Well, we had made plans to be in Grand Haven for the holiday weekend, getting together with Brian and Jan.  So, we decided to make the move down to Charlevoix from St Ignace - it turned out to be a long but uneventful day - just nice cruising.  It was good to be back on Michigan Lake!  We anchored in the Charlevoix harbor for one night.

From Charlevoix we went to South Manitou Island.  A very nice cove that protects you from winds in all directions but SE - it was great. The water was crystal clear, the shore was round stone and sand, the island has no inhabitants except campers who came over on the ferry.  We wish we could have stayed longer but the winds and waves dictated differently.

We next spent 2 nights on Portage Lake, another pleasant anchorage but in a much more populated area.  We spent time cleaning Miss Hattie and touring the lake in the dinghy.

Now we're in Ludington, a truly interesting and pretty harbor.  The SS Badger, the last of the coal powered steamships to ply the waters of Lake Michigan - it makes a daily trip to Manitowac, WI and back, carrying cars and people.  The ship is 410 ft long and is at least 4 stories tall;  it's docking maneuvers are quite impressive, using an anchor to pivot around into place.  While here we met up with some loopers we first met back in November on the Tenn-Tom waterway and we spent two hours coaching prospective loopers on the ins and outs of making the trip.  Ludington is definitely a great harbor and town to visit - don't pass it up on your next trip north.

We'll be going to White Lake next - a couple of nights on the anchor - and then on to Grand Haven.  After the holiday weekend we expect to travel just a few days - getting back home in Michigan City around Sept 7-9.  YAY!

Lenore's favorite animal, the black bear

Dollar Island, Les Cheneaux Islands

Dinner at the Culinary School in Hessel, the wine was good

moderately high seas on the way to St Ignace

St Ignace

Honey, I think we took a wrong turn

Mackinac Bridge

Yoko, the bonsai, goes to Charlevoix

Sleeping Bear Dune

South Manitou Island, one of the baby bears

Big Sable point light

SS Badger, Ludington, MI

Georgian Bay

Dave and Sue Wright took us to our first Gerorgian Bay anchorage, Wana Keta, a cove on Little Beausoleil Island.  It has a Provincial dock and camping site.  Dave, his cousin Chris, and Chris' parents all docked, along with about 3 other boats - we anchored, b/c we wanted to save the $35/nite and it was better being out in the bay anyways.  After 3 nites and 4 days of playing with those folks and enjoying the surroundings, we moved on to a beautiful spot called Port Rawson Bay.  It was wilderness camping, without the bears or deprivations of camping.

Oh, did I say bears can't swim Lenore?  Look who is swimming from island to island - there must be berries over there.

The views were spectacular, the fishing was spectacular, the water was spectacular (clear and 75°) - we hated to leave.  Next stop, Parry Sound - neat little town - it had large Great Lake cruise ships and seaplanes that took off about every half hour (it seemed). The seaplanes offered scenic tours with a dinner stop at a famous, water-access-only fish restaurant, Henry's (that we passed up because of bad reviews). 

Two more anchorages, the second of which was Bustards Islands Harbor.  See for yourselves - once again: "Spectacular"

Next stop:  Killarny, a small town that until 1960 did not have a road into it.  All the facilities have docks, including the liquor store, and there is a small town airstrip.  The Sportsman's Inn Marina Resort was a neat marina/inn/restaurant.  There was a guy there who was canoeing from Vancouver to Cape Breton, NS - he started out in April and expects to finish by October;  he has a set of wheels in the canoe he used to drag it over the Rockies.

Two more anchorages, the second of which was Meldrum Bay.  The small, small town of Medlrum Bay (pop. 41) has a marina, an inn with restaurant, a small campground with dock, and a closed general store.  The water was crystal clear and the shore was made of limestone shale.  The restaurant at the Medrum Bay Inn was a gem, with food as good as any Chicago restaurant we've experienced.

Today, we checked into the US Customs at Drummound Island, Yacht Haven and now are anchored in a cove at Harbor Is, just a couple miles north.  Weather permitting we'll go to Hessel, MI tomorrow - but we may have to wait out some storms.

Dinghy tour with Sue and Dave

time for ice cream

Inukshuk (the first nation 'garden gnome')

Wana Keta beach with shade for the elders

Camp Kikikiwitcha for boys and girls at Wana Keta

Pickeral (pike) from Port Rawson Bay

Parry Sound

Da Bear can swim

Loon

Rocks of Northern Georgian Bay, Bustard Islands

Dinghy expolorer, Bustard Islands

Dinghy expolorer, Bustard Islands

Fisherman Bob, Bustard Islands Harbor

17" Bass, Bustard Islands

Killarney, Sportsman's Inn Marina

crossing Canada by canoe, awareness of the troops

what a difference a day makes (after the tornado)

tornado forming west of Little Current (it got bigger while we we

Moonrise over Meldrum Bay, bella luna!

Meldrum Bay Inn (entertainment)

Meldrum Bay Inn 

placid North Channel cruising

Trent Severn 2

When we were about to start our voyage through the Trent-Severn Waterway, we met Dave and Sue at the fuel dock in Trenton.  They have a beautiful aft deck trawler, Manaña, that they brought back to life after it suffered hurricane damage in the Gulf.  Dave was the one who told Bob we'd be stopping for the night after only doing 8 miles - and 6 locks.  He was right.  And then we pretty much traveled with them and another couple, Bill and Bobbie Haag of Mist.  It was great fun to have others to share our experiences with and it was especially good that Dave and Sue acted as our guides - Orilla, some two-thirds up the system, is their home port. While in Orillia we enjoyed getting together to dine with the the Haags and the Wrights and with Tim and Theresa of Home Office.  We had met Tim and Theresa at various place along the way - in a lock, in a port - and it happened that they were docked next door to us for the 4 days we spent in Orillia.  Tim drove us around town to help us do our 'shore chores' and Theresa treated us to a night of song and guitar music - front row seats, doesn't get any better.

Here are some more pics from the Trent-Severn

Big Chute rail car and cable system

The Big Chute (that the rail takes us around)

Man-made canal.  You call 'securité, securité ..... ' before entering.

Dave's family: Sue, mother Maureen, Dave, Loretta, and Stephen O 

Tim and Theresa, Home Office, lunch outing in Orillia

Dave, Sue and Kobie Wright of Manaña

Back in the USA

We haven't been able to blog for a while because the WiFi has sucked when we were in port and because we tried not to be in port very much while going through Georgian Bay.  Today we reentered the US and signed in at the Customs Station at Yacht Haven, Drummound Is, MI;  it is now manned by official, jack-booted Customs and Border Patrol personnel who boarded the boat and conducted a search!  (Good thing we stashed the limes and lemons!)  We are now in another anchorage just a few miles north, Harbor Island;  it's lovely, but no where near the spectacular beauty we enjoyed in Georgian Bay.

I'm publishing this blog without pics.  The ones that follow will be loaded with scenes from the past 2 weeks.

Trent Severn Big Chute Rail Portage

If you'd like to see the whole process of the Big Chute rail crossing on the Trent Severn click on the Big Chute video link that is below the archive list and hit PlayAll when the YouTube site comes up.

Trent Severn Lock Videos

See the typical manual lock on the Trent-Severn Waterway:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6A9MGPlwt4

Use the link below to see the Kirkfield Lift Lock in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR1Jw7VKYmA&list=PLUqfc-lhkF6AJjqWpvSThhE0hrE48gRPH

No More Locks

We've completed the Trent-Severn - no more (expletive) locks - YAY!!  As we finished the last part of the TS we entered some beautiful country:  Lakes lined with pine, spruce and cedar;  rustic boat houses on islands;  loons waking us with their melancholy melody;  clear water.  It all reminds once again of the places where we vacationed as we grew up:  the Adirondack Mtns and the St Lawrence Thousand Islands region.  Now we're in Georgian Bay and looking forward to more beauty as we once again spend more time 'on the hook' rather than dockside.

The Trent-Severn Waterway has some unique features in the canal system.  Manually operated locks at which the doors and valves close by cranking turn styles and lift locks which consist of 2 giant bath tubs set on hydraulic lifts;  the boats enter one tub, the gate is raised to close it and then the tub rises as the one on the opposite side lowers.  And most uniquely:  a cable operated rail system with a flat bed car on which the boat is placed, with straps, and the whole is transported across the hill, down some 58 ft.  I've tried attaching a couple of videos but the WiFi we've been experiencing is very sketchy and our phone service doesn't allow much data usage;  so the videos and pics will have to wait - I'll edit the posts when we can add the pics.

We've been traveling with 2 other boats for the past 10 days. Tomorrow one couple will vear off and head for Chicago via a relatively direct route.  The other couple is from this area of the Georgian Bay and they are going to show us some of their favorite spots before they call it quits.  We met many others along the way and we expect we'll be running into them again over the next 700 miles.  We must say, as we enter this leg of our journey, we're getting a bit homesick and we're looking forward to returning to Valparaiso, "our home town", and all of our friends we've left behind.

Talbot Lock 38, waiting til AM 

TS, between lock anchorage, Campbell Lake

TS, between lock anchorage, Campbell Lake

Lift Lock, lower tub on right, upper in cntr, note hydrlic post

Lift Lock, lower tub on right, upper ion lft

in upper tub, ready to decend

manual gate opening crank

attendants at manual valve crank

wooden gate doors of manual lock

cranking gate open

8-boat lock through