EverGreen

We left Cheboygan at 5:30 AM for a planned 14.5 hour trip to Frankfort Michigan today.  As we left the harbor at Cheboygan, it was obvious we were faced with another rainy, overcast day. 

After a couple of hours, we approached the Mackinaw Bridge connecting southern Michigan to Northern Michigan and marking the transition from Lake Huron into Lake Michigan.  At one time, the Mackinaw Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world; bridging a span of 5 miles of very deep water.  Normally you can see the bridge form about 15 miles away, but today the clouds were almost down on the water, so it didn’t become visible until we were almost up to it.  

So far, the only bright side to this whole day was that the weather chart looked like we might be getting some clearing of the weather shortly.

About an hour west of the Macinaw Bridge, there is a string of islands running southwest parallel to the western shore of Michigan.  A mariner going to the southern end of Lake Michigan has to decide whether to go down the eastern or the western side of these islands.  Since it is much shorter to go between the Michigan shore and these islands (called the Manitou Passage)……..it’s a no-brainer.  The bad news is that all the freighters heading for Chicago also take the inside route, so it’s a good idea to keep an eye on what’s coming up behind you.  These guys are 300 feet long and probably eat recreational boats for lunch! 

At 7:30 PM, as we exited the southern end of the Manitou Passage and entered the main body of Lake Michigan, we were only about an hour north of Frankfort.  But the skies had cleared, the wind was very light, with just a ripple on almost glassy water………these are the conditions that make trawlers go fast.  We decided we might as well go all the way to Waukegan at the south western corner of the lake…….so we plotted a course to Waukegan, turned on the autopilot, made some coffee, and sat back to watch a beautiful sunset.

A near-full moon was to rise about 11 PM that night, but wouldn’t provide enough light to see by until at least 2AM, so one of us was glued to the radar screen for most of the night.  We had two north-bound freighters pass about 3 miles to the east of us, and one small boat passed directly in front of us.  We first spotted it on radar, and then were able to see running lights.  We have no idea what it was doing in the middle of Lake Michigan in the middle of the night……….but he was probably saying the same thing about us.  About 3:30 AM the moon was high enough to light up the water enough to make the lake look beautiful.  I hope the picture looks as good on the website as it does full screen.

By morning, we had a beautiful sunrise in the east and a beautiful moonset in the west. I realized this would be the last day of our trip, and I wished that I could lock the beauty of this morning in my memory forever.  Would that Helen were here to enjoy it with us, as I know how much she enjoys sunrises.  Most mornings when we were in Florida, she would get up before sunrise, make a cup of coffee, and sit in the cockpit to watch the sunrise and to give thanks for our many blessings.

For all you boaters who enjoy your electronic toys, I have included a picture of our radar screen as we passed Milwaukee, WI.  This was the first time on the Great Lakes where we were actually in a crossing pattern with large ships.  The radar shows two ships crossing from our right-to-left (they actually cross behind us), and with each ships position shown every 5 minutes.  If you look closely, you will see that the car ferry (ship #2) which runs between Milwaukee and Ludington, MI, was doing slightly over 40 knots (46 mph).  You don’t want to cross in front of him if you don’t know what you’re doing!

By 6 PM we had Waukegan in sight, and by 7 PM we were tied up at our permanent slip, and finally home!  It was great to have old friends there to meet us at the dock when we arrived. Elisabeth’s husband, Jeff, had traveled with us on the Erie Canal, but it was nice to see Elisabeth meet us with a bottle of wine in hand.  The next morning, Jeff had pressed Joe into helping him install a new water heater in his boat…….and so it goes in this boating community…….friends of friends become friends!   And thanks to Joe for all the great pictures of the last leg of the trip.

Wednesday, June 18^th 

It started out clear and sunny as we left Harrisville, but with 15 knot winds out of the NNW, we knew it would be slow going, so we planned to travel a shorter distance.  We would have liked to go to Cheboygan at the northern tip of southern Michigan, so that we could be in Lake Michigan the following day.  However, on the charts it looked like all the Cheboygan marinas are up-river from a bridge which doesn’t open after 6 PM, and it looked like we couldn’t get there until after 7 PM.  Since the marinas are few and far between in that part of NE Michigan, we had decided to make a much shorter day of it.  Around noon, the Nordic Tug which we had met in Harrisville passed us (yes, they are faster, but they burn three times as much fuel).  I radioed to ask him to have drinks and snacks ready when we got there, and he said he would, but wanted to know where “there” is.  I told him where we were planning to spend the night, and he reported back that he planned to go to Cheboygan.  He said there is a marina on the river before you get to the draw bridge………so we changed plans and plotted a course for Cheboygan.  We arrived about 7 PM and the drinks were waiting for us.

We left St. Clair Shores, MI at 5:30 AM and headed NE across Lake St. Clair.

We had to go about 15 miles across Lake St. Clair to hit the mouth of the St. Clair River which would take us to Lake Huron.  We hoped that by getting an early start, we wouldn’t meet any lake freighters on the river.  The river carries all the water flowing from Lakes Superior, Michigan, and Huron into Lake Erie.  The river is fairly wide, but we still expected approximately 2 knots of current running against us.  As we approached the entrance to the St. Clair River, our electronic charts, which we use for navigation, didn’t cover the river. 

We had to quickly plot our position on a paper chart, and use it to navigate the river which meandered with many opportunities to take the wrong turn or to go aground.  As we approached the headwater of the river as it reached Lake Huron, we came to a bridge at which point the river narrowed considerably to go under the bridge. We were told that the current coming under the bridge would be 6 – 7 knots, so we should try to go close to either the Canadian of the US end of the bridge, where the current would be less.  Naturally, that’s where all the fisherman decided to anchor their boats to fish, so we had to go straight through the middle and fight to make ground against the current.

As we got into Lake Huron, the weather started to get nasty.   Luckily, there was more rain than wind associated with this weather system. 

 We arrived at Salinac, MI around 5:30 PM.  The docks at the marina were a little rickety, but it was a pretty little town with a nice restaurant at the marina, so we enjoyed our overnight stay. 

Well, yesterday, I told Paul that every penny (or I guess, boat dollar.....which, for you not familiar with the term, is $1000 dollars) that he spent on his electronics was well worth it....we left Mentor Harbor at six am. and headed for Put in Bay, but had to change plans when some very bad weather started coming in to western Lake Erie....we were able to track the storm on his weather maps and as the storm got closer....Paul brought up the radar, and we were able to steer around all of the cells of thunderstorm activity......it was pretty amazing....and when we pulled into Cedar point for the night...we had not felt one rain drop.....we did have rain off and on until this morning....but the lake is calm at the moment and we are heading northwest toward Detroit.

Our two days in Mentor Harbor Yacht Club were fun....two of Helen's cousins were on the dock to meet us when we arrived and Joe's daughter and family also joined us for dinner....the next morning was spent giving the boat a good scrubbing...because during our overnight in Erie, PA, we picked up thousands of bugs....one type "pooped" green poop and if you smashed them, their body fluid was green....we opened the door to close our screen and at least one hundred or more came inside....Paul got out the vacuum to get rid of them....and we are still chasing a few we missed...

Someone mentioned that we don't have pictures of ourselves on the blog....so here we are at the Yacht Club in Mentor, we were having dinner with two couples we used to race against over 30 years ago......our boats were I-21's. which were a small keel boat....21 feet long.....any given race, there could be up to about 30 of us out on Lake Erie competing for the winner's spot.....

We will be back to the yacht club where our sailing days began late this afternoon....Paul was the yacht club member and I was part of his crew....and we both kind of got goose bumps when we got the boat onto Lake Erie....it was pretty neat....

For the last two nights we were harbored at Erie Yacht Club in Erie, PA.  Paul met up with an old Case University roommate who was also on the Case track team with him....Joe Kindling and his wife have been wonderful hosts....and this morning, Joe is aboard EverGreen with us to make the trip to Mentor....his daughter will return him back to Erie after the trip. Here are Paul and Joe on the bridge in the morning sun today...we left at 6-o-five this morning...

Yesterday, Joe took us to the Erie Marine Museum.....it is the summer home of a tall ship that is a replica of the ship that Commadore Perry was aboard when he won the War of 1812 in the battle of Lake Erie, against the British, in 1813.  She is a working sailing school, with a permanant crew of 18, and if you are hearty enough, you can sign up for a stint to learn how to sail a tall ship under pretty much the same conditions of the 1800's....the rigging still takes my breath away....here is a shot looking up into her forward mast....

Here is most of her.....we were told that if they strung out all of her lines, they would go for a distance of six miles end to end.....they still fire her cannons and raise all of her sails....in fact, she left port yesterday, and we spotted her in the distance this morning with full sail....it was awesome.....

TAKE CARE AND BLESS YOU ALL....WE HAVE VERY CALM SEAS TODAY AND THE SUN IS AT OUR BACK....MAY IT BE THE SAME FOR YOU!

We left Smith Boys marina yesterday....the marina parking lot was full of BMW's and vettes and the water was full of big  go fast boats....and tied up in Dunkurk Marina in New York State on Lake Erie last night where the marina was full of small go fast boats and the parking lot was full of pick up trucks....what a contrast....but one truth held....both places had lots of friendly people.....

We have pretty smooth water today....the plan for the rest of the week will be two days in Erie and two days in Mentor Yacht Club, where Paul and I started our sailing career....and then up to Detroit, where I again depart for Boise....Paul plans to do several long days after Detroit and hopes to sail into Waukegan about the first of July.... 

We had a busy but nice day today.....we are tied up just off the Niagra River.....yes, if the lines came untied, the current would take us over the Falls.....anyway....the marina is huge and full of speedboaters who are just taken with our boat....we have given several tours...and met some great people....when we called in for the reservation, we were told that we were to tie up behind this large sailboat.....well, we learned today that this sailboat is making her way home to Waukegan and will be moored very near our boat.....the new owners pickup her up near Baltimore and are on our same route home....so when Lois and Jack McDermitt pull into our harbor....know that they have already had a warm welcome....

The boys hoisted the mast this morning....they tell me it weighs several hundred pounds....washed bumpers....moved the dinghy.....cleaned up outside....

I met a friendly marina gal who offered a ride to the store after I gave her a boat tour....so I shopped and then cleaned up inside....

Tonight we are getting treated by Jeff's uncle and his family to a "Buffalo" dinner.....New York Pizza, Buffalo wings, and a special roast beef sandwich on a special bread....plus homemade pie....

Hi again....you didn't hear from us yesterday, but yesterday was a busy day....we finished up the locks....took on fuel and traveled further than other days....we were pretty tired when we pulled up to the city wall in Brocksport.  The visitor's center is staffed with volunteer's, and bless their hearts, they waited for us....but then they locked us out of the showers....but the ice cream shop made up for everything....

Jim and Barabara...you will appreciate this....we had crabcakes two nights ago...made from Maryland Blue lump crab that I bought while in the Solomans......the Old Bay mix was just perfect....but you have to appreciate the setting....it was Miller's Marina....a small little place that time has almost forgotten....the piers were rickety and the tie up cleats were made from old railroad rails with a metal bar soldered on so you could secure the lines....

The owner was pleasant and eager to please, and we just needed to follow the rules....for example, he didn't trust the integrety ofhis water pipes...so we had turn off the water shutoff after we hosed down the boat...and Jeff had to clean out the shower stall before he could step into the shower....but the little stream has a view of old bridgework that made the mooring absolutely charming....and I found this clump of water iris at the park across the stream....

The white stuff in the water are cottonwood "fluffs".....the float into the boat....and sometimes are so thick, it looks like it is snowing really big snowflakes in slow motion....the day before yesterday was bird day....we saw at least 5 golden eagles, at least two dozen blue herons, and we have lost count of the Canadian geese....their goslings are about one third of their full growth and it is so neat to watch them in the water....today is "lift" bridge day....there are 15 lift bridges on the canal....yesterday, when we came up to the first one....we didn't realize it was a lift bridge and Paul just pulled up to the city wall and started scratching his head.....in all of his homework, none of the bridges were as low as the one we were facing and he figured the trip was over....then a tour boat showed up on the other side of the bridge and as it lifted....we took a closer look at our charts and found out that we would encounter 14 more of these old treasures...we will exit the canal today and come out north of Buffalo on the Niagra River....

Our stop last night at Brewerton was very nice....the marina had a courtesy car, which enabled us to find a good dinner and buy more beer.... Geff is enjoying Corona Lite with limes...Our goal for tonight is Lyons, NY....a roughly 60 nautical mile trip, with five locks and the first of all those "Low bridge, everybody down" bridges.....here is the new map for today....  Lyons is located near lock E28A.....our first lock was only a 7 foot change in elevation, and by the way, the last three locks, inluding our morning locks....we have been going from high water to low water.....and it is a lot less work to manage the boat when they let water out of the lock as opposed to riding it out when they let water in to raise us up....