North Channel into Lake Michigan

We are just about to enter Lake Michigan from Lake Huron. It is a beautiful sunny day .... cold and breezy ... but then it is September! Already! We feel as though we are advancing into a whole new leg of our journey, since we are now heading south. I took a picture of our GPS, showing where we are and how the lakes intertwine at this juncture. Georgian Bay can be seen off to the far right, with the North Channel at the top. These bodies of water belong to Lake Huron, which is the large lake to the right. Then Lake Superior is at the top left side, with Lake Michigan to the left. We have just come from two days on Mackinac Is., which was delightful and as different as night and day from where we were in the North Channel.

We loved our four weeks at the cottage. Had not thought we would have so much time there, so it was a treat. Geoff & Jaimee made it from Boston for 10 days and Sarah made it from Los Angeles for 5 days, with Deb & David back for a 4 day long weekend. Huge effort on everyone's part, and we appreciated it immensely! Geoff wanted to show Jaimee all the special sights of GB, so we picnicked on the far side of Franklin Is., lounged on the rocks in front of the cottage, played shuffleboard at the MacNaughtons .... with Deb & Geoff winning the tournament ..... travelled around in the dinghy to our favorite bays and inlets, and even took a trip on Moon Beam around Franklin and out to the Mink Islands. Sadly, there was no waterskiing, and on those evenings when the water was as smooth as glass, several pairs of eyes were very sad, due to the fact that we had chosen not to take our runabout out of storage.

Sarah had one extra day after G & J left, so she helped us start to close up the cottage. Once everyone was gone, we moved back to Moon Beam, which was now equipped with a new relay switch for the refrigerator (thank you Geoffer for getting that in !), a brand new battery charger for the house batteries .... actually two new chargers, one being an auxiliary charger we needed to get until the Master Volt replacement could be shipped to the cottage..... and a new Garmin chip of the Canadian waters which actually showed the buoys! (The first one we ordered didn’t!)

On Saturday, August 22, our friends Audrey and Alex came on board, and we steamed out of Snug Harbour on our way north. Alex grew up summering in GB and is an accomplished boater, so he was able to take the helm and help navigate through areas which were new to us all. By noon we were cruising past Pointe au Baril and the lovely Ojibway Inn, out to the open water on Georgian Bay. We chose to take the inside passage named Hangdog Channel, which was a navigating feat with rocks, narrow channels and confusing buoys, but it was worth it to see the inlets and homes along the way. We stopped at Britt in the Byng Inlet for the night and reached Killarney, which marks the beginning of the North Channel, the following day. Alex and Peter kept a fishing line off the stern, but fortunately no one had to clean any fish, and we ate at the Killarney Mountain Lodge that evening. The next day we motored west and then back east into Baie Fine, which people say is reminiscent of fiords with its tall quartz cliffs, and we anchored at the far end in a cove called The Pool. Beautiful spot .... but not exactly unknown to anyone else. We had about 14 neighbors that night. After lunch, we embarked on a climb up one of the hills, through woods and streams and onto the quartz slopes. Tigger and I stayed at the top of the woods, while Alex, Audrey and Peter scaled the rocky slope to the top where they were rewarded with a fantastic view of the bay. Tigger would have liked to have gone the whole way, but he stayed with his mom to discourage any visits from the local furry inhabitants. Good thing too .... as during the night A & A said they heard quite a commotion with the howling of wolves. When it came time to hoist the anchor the next day, we found we had to contend with huge gobs of vegetation which clung to the chain and anchor. Alex bravely chopped away at it from the dinghy, and after about a half hour we were freed and on our way. Sadly, we were headed back to Killarney, where we were dropping off A & A for their trip back to their cottage.... which turned out to be an adventure in itself. They had made arrangements to be taken from Killarney Mountain Lodge out to Rt. 69, which was a 40 minute ride on a road that was made just for the lodge. Once they were dropped off, they waited for the bus from Sudbury, which they had to flag down as it travelled south. Certainly wish we had a picture of that! But all went well, and they were back in their cottage that night. What fun we had with them aboard! We have so enjoyed their company over the years at the Bay (I first met Alex when I was 16), and to have them share part of the North Channel with us was very special.

From Killarney, Peter and I travelled west to Little Current and then Blind River. We mostly kept to the wide open waters and were surprised that we hardly saw any other boats. We did duck into the Benjamin Islands, as we had heard they were special .... and we were not disappointed. We would have anchored there, but it was early in the day, and we decided to keep going. From the north shore of the North Channel at Blind River, we turned south and re-entered the US of A on Friday, August 28th at Drummond Is. before spending the night in DeTour, MI. A very nice customs officer greeted us warmly, and we were on our way in no time.

Saturday dawned with high winds & rain, so we elected to stay put in DeTour rather than heading back out onto Lake Huron. Good thing, as later in the morning we had white caps in the harbor, and from what we heard from other travelers, it was no picnic out there on the Lakes. We still had no Internet or phone service, as had been the case for the past week, so I finished my book and Peter puttered. We were unable to get shore power through our electric cord and therefore had to run the generator for a few hours several times that day. Peter had all the schematics for the electrical system out, and tried in vain to find where the problem might lie. As is usually the case, the problem had appeared at 5:10 pm the previous night ….. a Friday. Sunday morning we headed for Mackinac Island, arriving early in the afternoon. Apparently the harbor there had experienced 4 foot waves during the storm and cleats had been torn off some of the docks with the pulling of lines from boats. One boater, who helped us tie up, said they had opted for a pet friendly hotel, rather than spend the night in the harbor! But we arrived in cool but vivid sunshine. Before we left to explore the island, Peter decided to pull apart the end of our 50 amp power cord, which he had not been able to do the day before in the rain. After an hour and a half, having disassembled the plug with parts all over the dock, he had it all back together. He connected us to the power source on the dock, asked me to throw the breaker, and we both stood back. TA DA! He had done it! One of the 4 terminals inside the plug had become recessed, and he had fixed it! My Hero! And off we went, knowing our food would stay frozen/refrigerated for another day.

We had come from the beautiful isolated North Channel into this very busy harbor, full of people and lovely hotels. It was almost a culture shock. All transportation on the island is by horse & buggy, bicycle or foot. And the street by the harbor was full of every kind. Ferries run all day, bringing visitors from several points in MI into the town which has a kazillion fudge, t-shirt & ice cream shops. On Monday, we took a tour of the island by horse & buggy, which introduced us to the state park as well as the history & lore of the island. Then in the afternoon we biked the circumference of the island (8 miles) and saw completely different views. 80% of Mackinac Island is a MI state park, and it is one of the most well maintained places we have ever seen. After a short nap and several Advils, we dressed for dinner and took a horse & buggy up to the Grand Hotel for dinner. We walked along its enormous front porch and dined in its huge dining room, which was full to busting on a Monday night. After dinner, we walked back to the harbor along very pretty quiet streets. What a change from the rural area just north and east.

And today we are headed to the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. We plan on stopping tonight in Harbor Springs, MI in Little Traverse Bay. We shall take our time heading down the lake, as we understand there is a bottleneck in Chicago. Apparently they are trying to keep the Asian Carp in the Illinois River out of the Great Lakes, and in so doing have erected an electric fence in the waterway. Recently they have increased the voltage, and they do not know what the impact will be to boats, other than those with steel hulls, so they are not letting any boats through. Hmmm..... we shall give them a few weeks to figure things out. The last thing Moon Beam needs is more electrical problems!