Summer Trip

We are on the move again this summer. We are heading up to Mackinaw but we are stopping at some new places. The idea is to have stopped at every marina along the Michigan coast of Lake Huron. Our trip is from Friday July 24 to Friday August 7th.

Day 0 - Load in

We left the house around 4:30 which allowed us to get to the marina, get everything out of the truck and into the boat. I made dinner and then attended a Yacht Club Board of Directors meeting on Zoom. Once that was done we finished getting things put away and then watched a little TV. Our dock neighbors arrived with items to personalize their new boat. We talked with them for a bit and they wished us a safe and fun trip. We turned in early so that we would get a good night's sleep then up early and ready to shove off.

Day 1 - Marblehead to Detroit Yacht Club

We woke up, took Rudy out, had breakfast and then got ship shape. Our intended route will take 8-9 hours. It all depends on traffic and the current. We shoved off and cleared the fairway wall at 7:22am which is a little earlier than planned but that is just fine. It was "Just Us" out there as usual until we passed south of South Bass Island. The fish must have been over by Put-in-Bay because there was a large set of fishing boats that we weaved through. Once we were clear of them, and a couple fishing nets, we made our way toward the Detroit River. I had looked at MarineTraffic and there were freighters out in the lake headed for the Detroit River. We needed to keep an eye on the 2 that were last in line as those would be the ones we encounter. I did take a look at the other boats and I saw "Catch 22" south bound on the Detroit River. They are a Kadey Krogen 39 and are members at MBIYC. We passed about 2 miles from them and we hailed them and had a quick chat. They were over in Wisconsin and The North Channel. The smoke was too thick so they decided to head home. We crossed paths with them on their last leg home. We told them we were headed up to Mackinaw.

As we got near the Detroit River, the AlgoLuna was the first freighter that we had to avoid. Our AIS showed that we would pass within .2 miles of the freighter. That is a bit too close for me. So we slowed a bit to see how that would alter the intercept. As it turned out we were going to be ahead of the freighter because as we slowed the distance to intercept decreased instead of increase like I thought. Long story short we slowed even more and altered course a little. I hailed the captain on 16 and indicated that we saw him on AIS and we were on an intercept course so we will slow and alter course to give way. He got into the channel about 1 mile ahead of us and we got into the channel about 2 miles ahead of Algoma Intrepid. We stayed to the far right of the channel and the Intrepid crept by us. Those long freighters do not put out a big wake so that was something that we learned. We were monitoring VHF channel 12 so we could hear VTS(Sarn Traffic) keep tabs on the freighters and direct traffic. Both Luna and Intrepid asked for and received permission to transit the Livingston Channel upbound as there was no downbound traffic. So we followed them. A few cruising boats went by us. Their wakes are bigger than the freighter! We made it up the channel against the current which was about 2.5mph southbound. We were making 6.8 - 7.4mph over ground which was a heck of a lot better than I had planned. We made our way up the Detroit River and passed under the new Gordy Howe bridge and the Ambassador bridge. Their was a bit of freighter traffic that we kept track of on the radio and stayed out of their way. We called Anthony, the harbormaster at DYC, and got our assignment on the "Pool Wall". This had us front and center for the foot traffic between the pool and the club house. We got lots of compliments on our trawler. We got ship shape, had our arrival beverage and then made dinner. Pork loin and veggies as usual.

We were told that this particular Friday night was going to be a DJ at the pool until the weee hours of the morning. Yup! That happened. Luckily our boat is well insulated. We heard the music but it was not annoying. We turned in.

Day 2 - Detroit to Port Huron

The DJ went until the weee hours but we got some sleep. We got up araound 5:30 like we usually do and got going. Rudy went out for his morning relief and we made oatmeal and I made coffee. It is the morning of Day 2 as I am writing this so I will finish up after we arrive at Port Huron Yacht Club.

We made it to Port Huron Yacht Club 2 hours later than we had planned. The river was closed to recreational traffic at St. Clair, MI for the power boat races on the river. We had no clue those races were being run. We were monitoring channel 11 for the VTS communications with the freighters so that we new where they were and when they would make each check down point. Bella Vita was north bound and under commercial papers so when that captain hailed the Race Committee boat we wondered "What Race?" we googled it and found out. So we approached St. Clair, MI and had to anchor in the river current for 2 hours. Fun Fact........ The St. Clair river runs right up the border between USA and Canada. You are allowed to transit Canadian waters without having to clear Customs but the moment you drop anchor and touch Canadian soil, you must clear customs. So we needed to make sure that we were in US Waters when we dropped anchor. We did get entertained by watching the races but that did hold us up. Chris heated up dinner so we ate once we got under way and headed to Port Huron.

We arrived at 7pm instead of 5pm at Port Huron as we had planned. We tied up on the wall and had some fun re-positioning the boat and getting power and water hooked up. It was cool enough and there was a nice breeze so we opened everything up and shut off the AC. We had a nice quiet night and got up and got going. We showered the night before so we just got up, walked Rudy and got going towards Harbor Beach.

Day 3 - Port Huron to Harbor Beach

We got going and there was zero traffic on the river so we could just get out and go. We had the current to contend with at the Bridge but we handled that better than I thought we would. It slowed us down to 4.5mph at one point but we pushed through and got out on the lake and half way up the channel the current was gone and we even had a bit of a southern breeze pushing us along so we were averaging over 9.5mph when our usual speed is 9.2mph. Every little bit counts when you are cruising distances. It was a beautiful day and we made it to Harbor Beach and took on fuel and got tied up in our slip. The harbormaster at Harbor Beach is very helpful. When we hailed the marina she gave us very clear instructions on how to approach the correct inlet and then to make a hard right turn to stay in the channel to the marina.

The couple next to us is starting the Great Loop so we chatted with them for a while. Dinner was Caribbean Jerk Chicken drumsticks(from our Fresh Fork food coop) that were cooked using the Sous Vide. We have super hot water as the engine heats the hot water tank with a heat exchanger loop. The water is heated to 176F - 181F depending on the conditions. So we filled the "tub" and turned on the Sous Vide heater to maintain the water temp for the 1.5hour cook.

That was an amazing flavor for that rub. We will remember that. We looked at weather as Lisa, the harbormaster, told us some wind was coming Tues and Wed. Looked like we would get ahead of it but there was mention of Thunderstorms in the area.

Day 4 - Harbor Beach to Harrisville - Saginaw Bay strikes again!!!!!!!

When you cruise the Great Lakes for more than a day you will run into weather. We know that Saginaw Bay is always where we see bad weather and this trip is no different. We got up and got going because we know the earlier we go, the farther across the mouth of the bay we get before the heat of the day kicks up the weather. Well this time the weather was Southbound out of the Harrisville area and we did not see the Special Weather Statement until well into our run. We were at the point where we just kept going. I was spraying the bugs off the foredeck when I heard 2 distinct "Booms" or what I thought were explosions. I asked Chris if she heard them too and she said Yes those are the thunderstorms..........

The sky was getting darker ahead of us and we looked at Windy, NWS and Weather.com and saw the line of storms developing and they were headed at us. We took a long hard look and figured we could dodge the oncoming line by turning west for about 15mins. That got us between 2 cells. It was the line behind that one that got us. The future cast weather radar was not correct and that line developed farther south and we took it head on. The clouds were very low, dark and swirling. I did not like the looks of what was directly ahead of us so I turned us north and went around that part of the cloud. Once we got under the cloud the wind shifted and immediately hit us at 40-50kts. You could see the pronounced dark ripple and and fine spray that was being blown along the water surface. Kinda like sand in a heavy wind on the beach. We made sure everything was closed up and turned on the AirCon and watched as we motored into the storm. The waves went from 1-2footers to 6-8footers in about 20minutes. We were taking them head on and the spray and hobby horse motion started to increase. Just about every cabinet was coming open and spilling its contents so Chris would get things back inside and close things up as I was keeping the boat negotiating these waves. We took two giant waves in succession on the nose and stuffed the bow into the second one and took green water over the bow. Come to find out later, that cleaned the mud ball off the anchor. when we anchored in the St. Clair river we had some residual mud on the anchor when we pulled it up. At that point, we decided that we needed to turn and take the waves a different way. Our boat has hydraulic fin stabilizers. So we knew that if we did it right the boat would stay up right and bob up and down like a cork. So we turned, headed straight for Harrisville and for the next 2 hours we were taking rather substantial waves on our starboard beam. We bobbed up and down and the fins did their job. They kept the boat from rocking side to side as these steep tall waves would come at the side of the boat. They would push us around but the boat stayed up right. We made it out the other side of the storm and the seas were very confused. The main waves were from the storm but they were mixed in with other waves from other cells. So we had waves from all directions. That worked out well since there wasn't a predominant direction so we just kept chugging along and the fins did their job. As time went on the waves subsided and when they were in the 2-3 foot range we kind of giggled a bit and said "these are pretty easy". We got to Harrisville, hailed the marina and got docked.

We had our arrival beverage and took a break. That was something else..... I have only been scared like that 3 times in my life and that was one of those times. The boat is an ocean rated boat and it proved that to us on this day. We know what to do but we will be more careful of these warnings and the moment they get issued we will turn and head for "safe harbor". The boat can handle it but that does not mean that you should!

Day 5 - Still in Harrisville

We decided to stay put as there is definitely wind still blowing. Small Craft advisory with the wind out of the North. That means waves on Lake Huron. The Lake is a North/South Lake. So we made the requisite changes to our reservations. We will head to Roger's City tomorrow and cross over to Detour the next day. We cancelled St. Ignace and will head directly to Mackinaw after Detour Village.

We spent the day doing some maintenance on the boat. We needed to install the lifting cable onto the hoist so we got that done. We had to deflate the dinghy as it was in the way because it had shifted on the cradle in the storm. So we deflated it, and with the help of a fellow boater, we lifted it back into the proper place. That allowed us to lower the boom and thread the cable through the new pulley at the end of the boom and get it secured and wound around the hoist drum. Once that was done we got it all back and secured in its place for travel. Now we can lift the dinghy off and back on the boat. We will do a test lift of something that has weight but will not cause damage if something goes wrong.

Since we got that done we figured we had earned ourselves a bit of a treat so we had the marina shuttle take us to the Alcona Brew Haus. We had some yummy pizza and some beer brewed by the Haus. We had the shuttle stop at the hardware store so that we could buy ratchet straps to hold the dinghy firmly in place. When we got back from lunch, we took Rudy for a walk into town, got some ice cream and then came back to the boat. We installed the ratchet straps. The Dinghy should stay put even in some nasty weather.

We are not particularly hungry so we will eat a little later. We have an 8 hour day tomorrow so we will get up and go as close to 7:30am as possible. The boat next to us is headed to the same place but they are faster than us. We will see them there.

Day 6 - Harrisville to Roger's City

The wind is still blowing but no where near as hard as it has been. We got going as early as we could and nosed out the inlet. There were 1-2footers so not bad at all. As we got out into deeper water we turned and headed Northeast toward Thunder Bay Point. That is when the wind freshened and we had 2-3 footers for the next 2 hours. We encountered fishing nets and their markers off of Sturgeon Point. We maneuver around the markers and take note for our return trip. As we approached Thunder Bay Point we were in the lee of the land mass and the waves subsided a bit. As we made our turn to head Northwest and along the coastline the wind and waves picked up again. Nothing bad just makes it a little lumpy. Rudy does not care for it but submits to the rhythm. We made good progress and as we got closer to Rogers City the waves were 1 footers. The wind was still blowing which made docking interesting. We were stern in, starboard side tie and there were big pilings between the slips. So I had to spin the boat around so that I could back the boat into the wind which makes the final movements much easier. The old crusty dockhand was impressed with how we got turned and into the slip without any drama.

We had to get things secured quickly because we needed to get downtown and buy bacon, brats and sausages at two places that were recommended by our neighbors at Harrisville. We stopped at Plaths and then across the street to Nowickis and bought some bacon and sausages. Just in time too as Plaths closed at 5pm and it was 4:50pm. We went back to the marina, put our groceries in the fridge and freezer then made dinner. We took the bikes back out and looked around. We will stay at Rogers City again.

Day 7 - Rogers City to Detour Village.

You could not have asked for a better day. The lake was flat as a pane of glass. It was almost an optical illusion and we looked like we were not moving at all. We saw a freighter on AIS off in the distance. The Paul R Tregurtha. That is the freighter that Jonathan and I followed down the St. Clair river on our delivery trip. Nice to see an "Old Friend" out on the lake. The Trgurtha is the largest freighter on the Great Lakes. 1016 feet long! Even at 6miles distance it is huge.

We pulled into Detour Village and got docked. It was a short run so it was early enough that we could ride our bikes and check things out. We stopped at a food truck and had authentic Bao Buns and then stopped at a couple souvenir shops that line the street where cars and trucks line up for the ferry over to Drummond Island. We stopped at the local food store and bought fixin's for pancakes to go with the bacon that we bought in Rogers City. We saw another Kadey Krogen on the dock. A 48 Whaleback. We met the owners and talked with them for quite a while. A rather adventurous couple. That boat was their first boat! Talk about jumping in with both feet! Our 44 Wide body is our 7th boat as a couple. Anyhow, they indicated that they were headed to St. Ignace and we said that we were headed to Mackinaw. They said that they usually get an early start. We usually get going around 8am.... Detour is a cute little village and the next time we are there we will have a "Whitefish Dinner" at the Main Sail restaurant. Some folks on the dock were telling us about it. Next Stop Mackinaw!!!

Days 8 and 9 - Detour to Mackinaw City

We got going at our usual time and there was zero traffic so we just got out there and ran our track. A few boats eventually passed us but it was flat until we got within 10miles of Mackinac Island. The wind picked up and the waves were about 1-2footers. No problem. We saw the 48 Whaleback "Last Mistake" on AIS and they were ahead of us by about an hour. We watched them go through the Round Island Passage on their way to St. Ignace. We went through Round Island Pass and encountered only 1 Shepler Ferry. The wind has picked up so we are looking at 2-3 footers but that is nothing compared to what we saw a few days ago. The cruise ship Viking Octantis is anchored off Mackinac Island. They are using thier life boats as tenders to get people off the ship and over to the Island for a look around. we arrived at Straits State Harbor and we docked at A7. We are here for 2 nights.

Dinner tonight is Bacon Cheese burgers with hand cut fries cooked in the bacon grease and bush's baked beans. Yummy but quite the indulgent dinner. We bought charcoal at Mickey's Mini Market across from the marina. Cheap charcoal so it took 2 hours to cook the meal but it was worth it! The fries take the longest amount of time. Yummy! Left over bacon for breakfast as we are having pancakes and bacon. Oh yeah, we had to go back to Mickey's to get syrup. Log Cabin! That is what we had when I was growing up every Saturday morning. Family Traditions!

Woke up and Chris went for a run and I made my coffee. When she got back we made pancakes and got ready for our trip over to Mackinac Island.

We got our bikes down from the top deck and rode over to the Shepler Ferry service port. We bought tickets online and got on the ferry. We were on Miss Margy the BIG ferry boat. When we pulled into the harbor at Mackinac Island we saw the marina and figured that we would go over and take a look after we went up to the Grand Hotel. Our tradition is to go get a couple of drinks while sitting in the rocking chairs on the veranda at the hotel. So we got off the ferry and took our bikes out to the main street and rode our way to the Grand Hotel. Half way up the road that leads to the Hotel, I shifted down a bit too far and the chain came off the cogs on the rear axel of the bike and jammed into the space between the cogs and the wheel guard. No recovery from this!! So I walked the bike the rest of the way to the racks that are across from the hotel. We walked over to the main entrance and were informed that there is an "Admission Fee" of $14 per person to get in the hotel including having a beverage or two on the veranda. Can we afford it? Yes. On principle I said Hell NO! So we moved on and walked down the stairs to the Woodland area of the property. We were able to buy a beverage there and get pictures in the Secret Garden. My dad gave us some money to buy drinks at the Grand Hotel so we thank you dad for buying us beverages at the Secret Garden. A nice couple offered to take pictures of us so we texted them to him so he could see us over on the Island in a nice setting.

We coasted back down the hill to the "Town Center" and bought a small piece of art from a local gallery and then a couple of items at the General Store. We headed back to the ferry service to head back to the main land. We had tried to get the bike fixed at one of the rental places while on the island but we were told that it was a 3 hour wait. No thank you. I had enough of the people on the island and was ready to go back. We got back to the the marina in Mackinaw City and I tried to fix the bike myself. I had pretty much all the way apart when I found that needed a special tool to remove the cog assembly from the rear axel. I do not have that tool. So we put it all back together and will have a bike shop fix it when we get home.

I went and took a shower and am now catching up on the blog. Dinner is brat stirfry and then we get ready for an early departure so that we can get to Presque Isle early enough that we can play ball on the beach with Rudy. He will enjoy that. The beach is sandy and the water is crystal clear up here. That will wear him out and he will be ready for the long haul from Presque isle to Tawas. Another place with a sandy beach.

Our run to Presque Isle looks to be a bit lumpy but that is why this boat has stabilizer fins. See you in Presque Isle, MI.

Day 10 - MacCity to Presque Isle

We woke up to some weather. Wind and rain. We decided to delay our departure so that we could let the rain pass us and clear up. I think we shoved off around 9:30 or 10am to a light chop in the Straits of Mackinaw and clouds off in the distance headed south and clearing over Cheboygan. As we made our way down bound, we were sheltered by Boise Blanc Island. That shelter lasted for 2 hours. As we cleared Cheboygan that shelter disappeared and we had waves on our Port. That is why this boat has stabilizer fins. Not much traffic but there was some definite wind and it was much stronger than forecasted. The waves kept building to the point where I was not exactly happy with the conditions but what are you going to do. We had been in this kind of stuff before and the boat is designed and built for this, so on we went. 6 hours of some pretty good waves. constant state of about 4 feet with the occasional big one. We had learned from our previous experience to get things fully stowed and supported so that nothing would roll around. Mainly the YETI tumblers. Jam a towel or two in there and they don't move or clang in the wave induced movement.

We finally made Presque Isle and the shelter of the bay that it provides. The red entry marker that is on the chart is missing so we just followed the chart as we had done before and made our way in and hailed the marina. We arrived at the dock and got tied up and then took Rudy out for his relief. After Rudy got back we walked over to Ida Mae's Portage and Deli. It is a rather nice store in the middle of no where. We bought some sundries and half pound of sliced turkey for sandwiches. We went back to the boat, warmed up some left overs, burgers and beans, and then got Rudy ready for "The Beach and Ball". He knows those words so when we asked him if he wanted to go to the beach and play ball, his eyes lit up, his tail went from zero to one hundred and he started his happy dance. We got him on the leash and headed over to the beach. The beach at Presque is just like the beach at East Harbor. Shallow and soft sand. The water was cool but not cold. I waded in to check depth and it was up to my shins as far as we could throw the ball so we played fetch with Rudy in the water for 45mins or so. That is his absolute favorite thing to do. Play Fetch at the beach. He was done and so were we, so we headed back to the boat. We got Rudy toweled off when a couple came walking up the dock. We struck up a conversation. They are locals and said that they come over to the marina and offer to take people to either Rogers City or Alpena in their car if they need supplies. What a nice thing to do. Off to bed and thoughts of Tawas our next destination.

Day 11 - Presque Isle to Tawas.

In stark contrast to the previous day, it was a nice cruise down to Tawas. There was a fair amount of cruising traffic and we saw our new acquaintances Compass Rose as we rounded Thunder Bay Point at Alpena. We tried to hail them but they did not respond. We continued down bound and we encountered the fishing nets just off Sturgeon Point as we had when we were North bound. There was a boat behind us that left Presque Isle about an hour after we did. They were on AIS and so are we so I am sure they were wondering about our sudden direction changes. Once we passed the nets we saw them encounter the nets and they did similar direction changes. I hate fishing nets........

We made it to Tawas, hailed the marina and we got fuel and a pump-out. Then we got docked and Rudy off for his usual. We made dinner and then headed out for a walk over to Walmart to get a few things that Ida Mae's did not have. On the way, there was a local concert band playing in the park. We caught the last piece.

We walked back and decided to go up and down the main street that has all of the shops. As usual, the Ice Cream shop was the most popular. We went back to the boat and started looking at weather for the next day. We need to cross Saginaw Bay again. First Thing!

Day 12 - Tawas to Lexington - Saginaw Bay strikes again "part deaux"

I got up to let Rudy out and I opened the weather app on my phone. It updated and I saw the Small Craft Advisory. Oh Boy! Go take Rudy for his walk and then look at weather when I get back. When I got back Chris was up and getting dressed as she had looked at the weather and we have some serious wind in the forecast for later in the morning and the rest of the day. From Tawas north to Mackinaw it is a small craft with waves predicted at 5 feet or more. So let's get going right now! It is 6:00am and another couple are doing the same thing down the dock on their Grand Banks trawler. Chris feeds Rudy and takes him out one more time and I get set for departure.

We shove off and round the marina wall and are met with 1-2foot swells in the bay! This is going to be fun. The GPS shows 4 hours to cross the bay and find shelter from the land mass on the other side of the bay. Off we go with stabilizer fins on and doing their work. Saginaw was not as bad as we thought it would be. 2-3 footers instead of 4-5 which is our experience with that stretch of water. Saginaw is No Joke. Always be prepared when running that part of the lake. The forecast is always wrong and not in a good way.

Half way across, not kidding, we encountered fishing nets. Half way across, right on the rhumb line route across the Bay mouth. They were hidden in the low morning sun reflection so I think we ran through the first one without knowing it and found ourselves about to go over the second one. There were 3 in a row and we passed nets 2 and 3 to the south of them. I hate fishing nets but how else are you going to have a local perch dinner at a restaurant?

We made the shelter of Port Austin area and started to turn south to head down the coastline to Lexington. We made Harbor Beach by 12:30 and had our lunch then continued on down to Port Sanilac and then our ultimate destination of Lexington where we are planning on having dinner at The Wind Jammer. Their Sushi is great! We encounter some up and downbound traffic. The wind is blowing pretty strong on our bow and the waves are building but the wind is such that the waves are steep chop that are close together. So we are just plowing through them like they are not there. I do love that aspect of the boat.

One of the downbound boats was a sailboat that we saw at a distance and gradually approached as we were going a little faster than they. Much Respect for the sailor! They had a full compliment of sails out, no reef in the main and I am guessing a 150 out front. The wind direction made it such that he was sailing just about the same course we were motoring. We passed him at about 1/2 mile distance. I remember sailing like that with my dad on the Finger Lakes. Full Sails and gunnel in the water. I loved that! If you know what you are doing and can read the wind on the water, that kind of sailing is very exciting and a ton of fun.

We hailed Lexington Marina and made our approach. The wind is blowing so we docked and fought the wind a bit to get the boat in its ultimate position. Once we did Chris went and showered and I took Rudy out. Time for the Windjammer. We walked off the dock and made the turn around the back of the bath house and we could see that there was NO ACTIVITY at the Windjammer. Is it closed? Do they close on Tuesdays? We read the sign on the door. "Closed for forced renovations due to a Fire" the sign reads. DAMN! No Sushi. So we decide to walk into town and find a restaurant. We encounter a local and ask where is a good place to eat. We follow his advice, and him, to the Cadillac House. We have the Perch Fish Fry and a bottle of wine. I guess this is why those nets are out there. To catch Perch for the Restaurants.......

Back to the boat, let Rudy out one more time then turn in for the night. Short day tomorrow. We are headed to Algonac Harbor Club. 5-6 hours and then take a break. Time to get Ship Shape and shove off out of Lexington.

Day 13 - Lexington to Algonac Harbour Club

We shove off out of Lexington and it is a beautiful day. Smooth conditions with a little breeze out of the south. We are watching and listening in on VTS for the freighter traffic and we are clear for a freighter free trip down the St. Clair river. There was plenty of cruising boat traffic and a rather stiff wind kicked up out of the south. There is a south bound current in the river. A rather strong current. Our usual cruise speed at 1800rpm is 9.1 - 9.2 mph. Under the Blue Water Bridge where the current is strongest, we ALMOST made 14mph. The gps showed 13.9 a couple of times. Once we were on the main portion of the river we were in the high 11's low 12's for the rest of the day. When the current is opposed by wind, a chop develops. So we had the wind/current induced chop with boat wake on top. We made use of the stabilizer fins to keep things steady. Chris did most of the piloting on the River. We made short order of the St. Clair river and arrived at our turn off point right on time. Maybe even a bit early. We hailed Algonac Harbour Club and made our way in. We docked next to the entertainment area which had ball courts, a pool and a restaurant. We just wanted to get off the boat and into the pool. So we got all set, let Rudy off for his usual and then made our way over to the pool. We hung out there and struck up a conversation with a couple in the pool. They have a 31foot Sea Ray and they had all sorts of questions about cruising for multiple days like we were.

We got out, cleaned up and made our way back to the boat. We had been talking about launching our dinghy since this was a protected harbor and there was plenty of space. So we decided to give it a go. We had successfully replaced the hoist, pulley and lift cable. We tested it with the bikes, now it was time to put it under load. The dinghy is 400 pounds so we were crossing our fingers that everything would hold. And it held! We were able to lift it, manhandle it and get it over the side and down to the water. The outboard fired right up and off we went for a little tour of the harbor and then out onto the river for some fun going fast. What a blast! Back to the boat for dinner then out again for some more fun.

We got back to the boat and now it was time to do things in reverse to lift it up and get it back in position. That was easier than I thought it would be. We need to do it a few more times to really get proficient but we can launch and retrieve our dinghy.

We got cleaned up and went to bed. We have our final day ahead of us and it will be a long one.

Day 14 - Algonac to Home port(almost)

we shoved off out of Algonac Harbour Club and we were watching AIS and listening to VTS as there were 2 cruise ships and 5 Freighters that we needed to watch. The Viking Octantis passed us southbound before we even got out on the main river. The other cruise ship passed northbound just as we got to the main river. 2 down...... As we turned south to get on the main river we saw the Clyde S. Vanankevort ahead of us and he was moving faster than we could. Another one we don't need to worry about. We got headed south with the current and encountered the upbound Edwin Gott(1000 feet long) at a turning point so we hugged our side of the channel and watched this behemoth just go by without any fuss. We continued south and got out on Lake St. Clair. It was very hazy so the Clyde S was hard to see in the distance. We could see a couple more on AIS and hear their "Check Downs" with Sarnia Traffic. We kept chugging south and eventually got off the Detroit River and onto Lake Erie. Again with the current flowing south against a wind that was blowing to the north. So the mouth of the river was a choppy mess but the Lake was pretty flat. Once we got out onto the Lake we started looking at weather in Marblehead. Home Port. Rain. Some looked like it would be heavy. So we kept watching the radar update on Weather.com and Windy and finally decided that we should probably avoid the rain. We thought about pulling into the Middle Bass Island Yacht Club to wait it out but in the end we decided to spend the night. We had been texting with the dockmaster and there was plenty of room for us. Being on the Board of Directors of the yacht club has it's advantages. We opened DockWa and made the reservation. Mark approved it immediately so all we had to do was motor for 1.5 hours in a slightly different direction and go to the MBIYC.

we arrived in a bit of a drizzle rain and hailed the Yacht Club. No Answer. As it turns out I do not know our week night hours. Dock Master is off duty at 5pm. We had 2 people come over and help us dock the boat. Chris took Rudy for his relief walk in the rain, which he would usually not want to do but he had to go! I finished getting things set and ready in the rain. When Chris got back we opened our special bottle of wine that we reserved for the end of the trip and I made steak stir fry for dinner.

We cleaned up after dinner and then watched a little TV as it was still raining...... All Night actually.

Day 15 - Back to Home Port for real

We got up and I took Rudy out for his morning walk and when I got back Chris was up looking at weather. we should delay our start until 9:30 at the earliest. I made some potato hash and scrambled eggs and heated up the leftover pancakes. Chris had bought Orange juice so we mixed Screw Drivers instead of Mimosa's. After breakfast and a trip to the club house we got ship shape and shoved off. While I was cooking Chris started to get things organized for unloading upon our return to our slip at Skipperbud's.

The wind was blowing a bit so there was 1foot chop. we ran the stabilizers to keep things steady and made our way. A few random idiots out on the water that did not really know the conventions of crossing or passing head on. We also encountered a fishing boat in the middle of the narrow channel in East Harbor. There were 2 boats in the channel headed in our direction and we were all going to meet at this Fishing boat. Rule 9 states that you are allowed to fish a channel but you are not allowed to obstruct upbound or downbound traffic while fishing. He was obstructing both directions AND not paying attention to his surroundings. So I gave the danger signal which is 5 short blasts of our horn. He did not really show any haste in getting out of the way so I slowed us a bit and gave him time to use his trolling motor to ease himself out of the way. We usually wave to folks as we pass. He got the cold shoulder. If you are going to fish a channel PAY ATTENTION!

we got back to our slip and docked. With power and water hooked up we started the process of unloading 2 weeks worth of dirty clothes and other stuff we used for the trip but don't need for normal weekend boating.

We loaded up the truck and headed home.......... Another trip in the books.