Our Summer Cruise 2015

June 22

Charlevoix to St. Ignace - 53 nm/7 hrs.

We did hear the alarm clock going off this morning - Judy was awake much of the night anticipating it. Good looking sunrise which was positive and, although the NOAA forecast hadn't really changed much, it appeared we had a good weather window until around 4:00 pm to make the run north with "Wings."

We got the 6:30 am bridge opening out to the Lake and had a leisurely run at 7.5 kts alongside "Wings' up to Gray's Reef in bright sunlight.

"Wings," a Nordhavn 35 Coastal

After a sharp turn east around the abandoned lighthouse it was smooth sailing to the Big Mac. With a constant checking on the approaching storms, we were keeping well ahead of them and made the turn into the harbor at St. Ignace around 1:30 pm, several hours ahead of the "storms." The dire warnings of dense fog from the previous evenings were a bit off and we only saw fog in Little Traverse Bay and around the Island.

 

It turned out we were very fortunate compared to much of the State as the northern edge fizzled out and we just got light rain for a few minutes and very grey, stormy looking skies for the rest of the evening.

"Karissa Leigh" was in St. Ignace and we all dined at the Mackinac Grille before an early night.

June 23

A day to be in port with strong winds - the Homeland Security boat went out and came back! Caught up with washing and did some shopping. Doud's, the supermarket in town, has closed down so that means Family Fare at the top of the hill is the only game in town. We miss Doud's as they had a good deli and bakery and had a lot of hard to find foods - now the turkey comes in a package :(

Worked on getting the blog up to date and did a few boat jobs, plus a couple of trips to the hardware store but otherwise a quiet day. The forecast for tomorrow shows promise with west winds, 5-10 kts and <2' waves so we should be good to go.

Another Menorquin, a 120 came into St. Ignace yesterday. Quite a coincidence as we have now seen two of these relatively rare Spanish-built boats in three days.

June 24

Saw the sunrise this morning at around 5 am - noteworthy for me- and it promised a good day with some nice color. Unfortunately, the breakwall in front of us obscured our view except for the sky so I didn't get any photos. After a quick pump out, we took off with "Wings" and "Karrisa Leigh" for Harbor Island.

Non-boating friends often ask us how we know where to go and how do we keep track of where we are so here's a quick explanation.

All the waterways we travel have maps or "charts" as they are known nautically. They are much like a road map without the roads. They show the land masses (what's above the water) and water depths or "soundings" at periodic intervals. Near land they show contour lines much like a topographical map shows land heights. In addition, they show "aids to navigation" which are something in the water or on land that give us information or warnings.

Example of an Electronic Chart

Aids can range from a colored buoy marking the edge of a shallow area to a lighthouse to show a dangerous point of land. Charts can be paper or, more commonly now, electronic. The basis for many of the charts used today date back to early surveys done by explorers in the 1800s. Charts are often updated with more accurate information but in many of the areas we travel in Canada, the depths were measured in the early 19th century. Since water levels fluctuate year to year, depths are standardized on a low water point. This year we are about 18" above this point - good for us as there is more water than shown on the chart.

Unlike when driving a car (unless you really want to go off-road), the only constraints we have in deciding how to get from A to B are shallow depths and land in the way. In the chart below for today's route

we are going from the left at St. Ignace to Harbor Island at the right. obviously we can't go in a straight line but we try to go in as straight a line as possible. The route we are taking has seven straight sections - the first to miss the top of Mackinac Island, the next to clear Goose island, the third to miss Martin Reef, the next to enter Detour Passage, and the last two to wind our way to an anchorage in Harbor Island.

We could hand steer the course the entire distance, but this requires concentration for about 6 hours and frankly, it's tiring. Fortunately, we have an autopilot that is linked electronically to our chart. We can lay out the key points (way points) of our route where we want to change course and the autopilot will steer the boat with incredible accuracy from way point to way point using their GPS coordinates.. To give an example, we are approaching the Martin Reef Lighthouse south of Port Dolomite and we are only 8 yards off our course line. Setting the course up does require care as the autopilot would not recognize that the course we have input goes through land or a water depth less than the boat draft. Many groundings occur because the navigator did not check the length of the route carefully before handing over to the autopilot. We just heard that a sailboat had gone aground near Round Island just south of Mackinac Island. This is well surveyed with several aids so it's likely the sailor did not have a good fix on his position or set an incorrect course.

Our autopilot also has the capability to steer the boat on a chosen compass heading. This works reasonably well in calm water but the boat's course is influenced by wind, waves and current and, over time the boat will tend to drift of the intended course line. We can manually tweak the chosen course periodically to get us back on line but, for long distances, the fully automatic option is the best. Once we are on our course line, we will rarely be more than 10 yards off of our course line.

Like most modern electronics, we have much data available to us. Below is a shot of navigation system screen.

On the left half of the screen is our chart which can cover from 1/16 of a mile to 120 miles. It shows our position (the red boat symbol); the water depth (82'); the distance and time to our waypoint (22.66 miles); our deviation from the intended course; and our course. The upper right screen is our radar that shows any nearby boats, aids to navigation and land. We can typically pick up a boat as small as 14' and have even been able to track a low flying flock of birds. Radar enables us to "see" through fog and rain to identify things we need to avoid.The bottom right of the screen shows our autopilot information.

In addition to the navigation screen, we have a display that provides essential information on the engine and transmission such as temperatures, pressures, charging voltage, and fuel usage.

A common question we get is how much fuel do we have and use. We have two fuel tanks which hold a total of 320 gallons of diesel. We normally run well below our top speed of 18 knots (20 mph) - typically from 7 - 9 kts for both comfort and economy. At these speeds our consumption is roughly between 2 and 4 gallons per hour. If we really eked out our fuel., we have a range of about 1700 miles. Other questions we often get involve water and the holding tank for our toilet. We hold 140 gallons of water and can store 45 gallons in our holding tank. To give you a rough idea, we can stay out at anchor for about 10 days without skimping on using water.

If you have any specific questions, you can send us a message by using the "Contact Us" link on the left.

Back to our run today.

We had an uneventful run today in beautiful weather past the Detour Reef Lighthouse, below, before heading north into the Detour Passage and the short run to Harbor Island.

Detour Reef Lighthouse

As usual for us, we saw no other boats until we reach the Detour-Drummond Island Ferry which is heading out (We can't avoid them Dean!)

The Ferry!!

We entered the Inner harbor ar the Island to have our pick of an anchorage with no other boats ther - a first for us. Bonnie and Jim on "Ingomar" showed up a little later to join us. The dinghy woes continue to haunt us as we had a flat starting battery so were boat bound until Mark and Sandee ferried us to hors d'oevres on Wings. A calm and peaceful night followed.

June 25

We awoke to a light rain but a miserable sight as we looked at the top of the boat which was covered with an overnight hatch of mayflies that we had to clean up before we could leave. A hosing down was in order!!

The Boater's Bain - Insects!!

Today's route took us and "Wings" to another achorage, Anderson Bay in the St. Joseph Channel, where Randy and Audrey on "Heart Tug" were waiting for us or so we thought. We had to check-in with Canadian Customs and Immigration and planned to do so at Hilton Beach to be met there by R and A who had dinghied over from the anchorage to join us for lunch at the Tiltin' Hilton Restaurant. We thought we may be in trouble as the Constable Carriere, a newly launched Canadian Coastguard Patrol vessel, hove to in the middle of the Channel. They were not a bit interested in us.

Randy Socializing With the Constable Carriere

It was only a few miles then to reach our destination, a small, well protected bay on the north side of the channel. Along the way, we started to see the first of the typical Canadian lighthouses we see in the North Channel.

"Wings" Avoiding the Lighthouse

 

A More Modern Lighthouse on our Route

 

"Heart Tug" at Rest in Anderson Bay

Still dinghy-less with the battery not taking a charge, Randy was kind enough to ferry us to and from HT for our nightly hors d'oeuvres.

June 26

A big day for the group as we had both a birthday boy and girl in the group - Randy and Judy.

Judy was worried she might have been Randy's twin and had been seperated at birth, but they are not the same age! She was relieved. (LOL)

We weighed anchor under a beautiful clear sky - it was going to be great day - and headed up the St. Joseph Channel to Sault St. Marie, CA.

Today's Run - Anderson Bay to Sault St. Marie

We were not challenged by any freighter traffic - in fact we didn't see one boat apart from a ferry (as usual we had to wait) crossing to Sugar Island. The current coming down the River was very strong in places, up to 4 kts, and we were down to less than 6 kts at relatively high rpm for us.

A Good Example of A Range Using Two Traditional Canadian Lighthouses.

(From a distance, you line up the two lights one over the other and steer to keep them lined up. This ensures you stay on course in a tricky area)

We docked in the Roberta Bondar Marina on the Canadian side for the very reasonable rate of $1 Canadian per foot - the best deal going. The marina is right across from the American Locks so we were able to see many freighters locking through to Lake Superior.

The Back Third of a Freighter (about 200') Entering the Lock

The dinghy battery issue was partly resolved by a long walk to Canadian Tire and back carrying the battery. Fortunately, I could catch a bus for part of the way. I say partly because, while the engine turned ove,r it would only run for a few seconds before spluttering to a stop. After a number of telephone calls, I found out that the motor has an electric choke that is only activated when you press the ignition key in and turn it. The manual for the motor is silent on this so how would you ever know! Once that was figured out, the motor started and, after warming up, just purred like a Honda should :) :) :)

The rest of our day was spent in some boat chores, shopping, etc. before watched the parade of decorated tugs which passed right by our marina.

 

 

Our day was capped with a birthday celebration meal at the Embers. We would highly recommend this restaurant which had excellent service and high quality food. The menu had a large choice of daily specials and some more exotic meats such as bison and kangaroo. Prices were reasonable by Canadian standards.

June 27

Today was spent in Sault St. Marie with the highlight being the Tugboat Races from down the River with the finish line just by our marina. Those tugs take a while to get moving but, once on their way, can move at good speed for their size while pushing a huge amount of water and leaving a massive wake.

A Close Race Here

After after hors d'oevres and drinks on our boat we all went out to Muio's, an italian Restaurant, for dinner. This is an institution in Sault St. Marie and has excellent food, service, portions, and prices. Highly recommended!!

 

June 28

Today's Run - Sault St. Marie to Milford Haven

After a leisurely start to the day, we took off to return down the River (with the current this time) past Anderson Bay to Milford Haven, a long, narrow, well protected bay, where we met up with three other boats from the Bondar Marina - just the start of running into boats we know.

The Lone Residence in Milford Haven As the Sun was Going Down

The good news was the dinghy started up with no problems so we were able to cruise around the bay and begin to to get the engine "broken in" before we can run it at any speed. Nine hours to go!!