Our Summer Cruise 2015

Aug 17

Blueberry Island looked just as good this morning with a sunny, hot day (90 deg.) forecast. A few boat jobs done and spent the rest of the day relaxing and taking in the spectacular scenery around us. It does not get any better. Think this area and Thomas are the prime anchorages in the North Channel.

The crews from "WIngs" and "Tug'n" joined us for hors d'oevres later in the day and a game of Sequence - the girls won the final match of the season but we had fun all the same.

Our highlight of the day was a bear sighting on the shore not too far from us, where Stephen had been cleaning his catch of the day earlier. It was a good size and he/she just ambled down the rock to the shore and wandered along the edge for a while before clambering up into the trees. Will have to find an alternate site for any future fish cleaning now.

Blueberry treated us to another fine sunset as we retreated from the evening bugs moving in on us.

 

Aug 18

Another day in paradise at Blueberry Island with boat jobs soon done early. The bear we saw last night was sighted again the same area. Fishing was unproductive, but just being out on the water in the sun was relaxing. The water here is warmer that it has been for most of the summer and Judy swam for a while.

Heard from Maureen and Clive, Judy's sister-in-law and brother in Florida, that he will be having open heart surgery next week. Our plans have changed again and we will be heading into Little Current tomorrow to get things set up for Judy to fly to Florida to be with them. Fortunately, Jan and Bob on "Wings" have their car available in Charlevoix for our use in getting Judy to either Traverse City of Pellston Airport.

Bob and I did a 2 hour walk on a trail I had found that leads over the mountain from the end of Fraser Bay to Covered Portage on the Lansdowne Channel. A lot of uphill on a good trail but we were soon at the top of the ridge overlooking Killarney Bay. The trip back was much quicker!

Killarney Bay

Ended our great summer in the North Channel with a dinghy ride around islands making up the end of Fraser Bay as the sun set to the west.

Another Blueberry Sunset

Aug 19

Blueberry Island to Little Current - 16nm

Said goodbye to Blueberry Island at the early hour of 7:00am to head for Little Current where Judy had a long-standing hair appointment. We got our favorite spot on the wall and, by early afternoon, had breakfast, washing/drying, and grocery shopping all taken care of. While we had good internet access, found a good flight to Florida for Judy from Traverse City and managed to take care of bills and over 200 e-mails. Facebook is a good way to keep track of people but they sure generate a lot of messages!

Even found time to get some Rollo ice cream while we were there and long hot showers with no worries about how much water we were using.

Bed early tonight with alarm set for 6:00am - these early mornings are not our favorite!

Aug 21

Not a great start to the day with very grey skies and rain falling as we cast off from the dock at Little Current at 7:00am to head somewhere west. As we got further out into open water the rain cleared up and we ran for most of the morning with 2-3' waves at about 45 degrees off the bow - not too uncomfortable but big spray about every fifth or sixth wave. At least the boat was getting well washed. By early afternoon we were getting to water that is open to Lake Huron with waves unbroken by land so we headed more into the waves for six or so miles (very wet boat) and then changed course to take the waves from the stern - much more comfortable! Several episodes of this got us to near enough to the Canada/USA border to report our arrival by phone - much less hassle than having to dock in Drummond Island.

Little Current to Harbor Island - 86nm

Things calmed down when we reached the north side of Drummond Island and its protection but the last leg south was in shallow water where the waves build quickly to 4' in a good blow - which we had. Our Harbor Island anchorage was soon reached though and we tucked into the shore with good protection and had a good night's rest after 10 long hours on the water.

Aug 22

Harbor Island to Charlevoix - 92nm

Left early at 7:00am in decent weather with a goal of at least St. Ignace about 50 miles away. As it turned out, once we got out of the Detour Passage, both the 2' waves and the wind were out of the west.

Detour Passage Lighthouse Marking the Entrance to the Detour Passage

We settled in at a steady 8.5kts for a long but comfortable day. Little in the way of traffic today out on the lake with the exception of the Phillip R. Clark, a 780' freighter on its way to Gary Indiana. It passed us close just before Mackinac Island and is probably the closest we have got to a freighter underway. Surprisingly, its wake was less than we get from many Sea Rays.

Just the Bow

The Whole Thing

As we made good progress for the morning, we revised our destination to Charlevoix and when we made the turn at the abandoned lighthouse, the waves cooperated by coming from the SSW right on the bow for most of the way. Unfortunately, we didn't have time on this trip to stop at Mackinac Island but we got a good photo as we passed by with the Canadian cruise ship in the center.

Mackinac Island With the Grand Hotel in the Background

This brave (or foolish) ferry tried to cut in front of the Phillip R. and was promptly told to get out of the way by the captain - size matters!

One of the Dreaded Ferries Who Give No Quarter

Unusually, Charlevoix Marina was full and Round Lake was quite crowded so we headed into Lake Charlevoix to Oyster Bay to anchor. The wind dropped around 8:00pm so we looked forward to a peaceful night's sleep. Not to be as the the wind switched from west to south and, by about 3:00 am, we had 1footers rolling down the Bay - not much sleep there.

 

Aug 23

Managed to get Barry on the phone and we worked out a plan for him to drive up from Traverse City tomorrow with the grand kids and take Judy back with him later in the day. Worked out well as it is their wedding anniversary so Judy will be able to baby sit Elliot and Cormac while they go out for a meal.

We got on the list at the marina as soon as they opened but no slips were available by 3:00 pm so we pulled anchor to go into Round Lake with our hopes up to get a slip later.

Full again for the night, so we settled in next to "Jubilee" with all 220' of our chain out. (Round Lake is 55' deep so you need 5 times that for your anchor rode). The consolation was that the skies were blue, the sun was out, and we had a 360 view of Round Lake.

A Couple of the Smaller Homes Ringing Round Lake

The Sunset Cruise Boat

Our peaceful night was disturbed when I woke around midnight to the sound of what I thought was a very loud generator nearby. After trying to block it out for half an hour or so, I dragged myself out of bed to see the "Madeleine," a 92' reconstruction of a 1800s Great Lakes schooner, passing about 20' away from our boat trying to lay a stern anchor right across the path of our anchor rode. Finally, I got their attention and they pulled their anchors and they spent the next hour trying to find somewhere to anchor in Round Lake before finally dropping their anchor right next to the Beaver Island Ferry. They were obviously hoping to get out early as they were blocking the Ferry!

Another sleepless night.

Aug 24

The Madeleine did manage to get out early at the 7:00am bridge opening and was quite an impressive sight.

 

The day started well with sun, a dinghy ride to the marina, and breakfast at Harbor View. Barry arrived about noon so we ferried all out to the boat where the kids did their usual driving the boat, switch flicking, etc. Good to see them again!

Another dinghy ride for lunch and the skies opened just as we were finishing up. Of course, the kids loved that - playing in the rain (Nichole had the foresight to send them off with rain jackets) and wading through the river of water running down the gutters. We had to strip them off in the boaters lounge and put all their clothes in the dryer!

 

Fun in the Rain

Everyone left around 4:00 so I spent a bouncy, wet night on the boat and actually slept quite well on the salon sofa with a few checks during the night to make sure the boat was still where it should be.