East Tawas, MI August 8, 2016

It was a beautiful morning in Harrisville. No loud music last night, no spider infestation. It was cool, 53, so sleeping with a blanket and open ports was perfect. It was a very quiet morning in the harbor. The ducks got up first. QUACK Quack, quack quack. You know how they do - the first is the loudest quack then the rest taper off. That always cracks (quacks?) me up. Then the geese starting honking, and finally the seagulls added their voices. It was kind of neat really.

Breakfast was melon and Rosemary's breakfast bars. We were off at 7:55 for East Tawas. The trip was 31.5 miles at an average speed of 8.4 knots. We arrived at 11:45. We have traveled 213 nautical miles since we started home from Leland. Tomorrow we plan to go to Harbor Beach, 50 - 60 miles southeast. We will leave early again. Our next two ports should be about 30 mile travel days.

The trip today was very nice. We had a following sea with 1' waves to push us along. I enjoyed seeing mile after mile of sandy beach and all the homes along the lake shore. Many appear to be older cottages but some very nice ones are creeping in also. We bought fuel and got a pump out here. State marina employees cannot take tips, and this is a state marina. Kerry asked if we could make a contribution to their pizza fund. The young lady attendant said no, but if they found any money on the dock they would use it for that. You know what Kerry did then, of course.

The permanent dockers were most friendly to us when we arrived. Very chatty and informative. And they loved Annie. This is the third port in a row where we have pulled in and someone came by so complementary about Annie that we invited them on board before we were even fully tied up. She sure creates a lot of interest. And to think I thought everyone would think her an ugly duckling when I bought her. Amazing.

The only negative thing I could say about the marina is that it is a huge walk to get to the shore where the bath house is located. It must be 500 steps. They are starting a big project to build new docks much closer to shore which would be nice. The dock attendants gave us a dock as close to shore as possible because of Kerry's hurting knee.

The town is very nice. We came here in large part because there is a Ben Franklin's store here. Kerry loved them when she was growing up and wanted to shop one again. She ended up not buying anything, but I spent $.99 on some small wire-ties.

We had lunch at Mr Jerry's Sports Bar across from the store. I had whitefish fingers that were very good, better than our fish the other night, per Kerry. 

The downtown has a lot of legitimate businesses, by which I mean businesses other than t-shirt and souvenir shops. I took the opportunity to get a haircut while Kerry shopped. After that Kerry read and napped. I cleaned air conditioner filters, checked oil and filled the water tanks. Dinner will be Kerry's delicious chopped salad on Annie.

Harrisville, MI August 7, 2016

Well, the fish dinner did not match our expectations. I thought it was good, but Kerry rated it as marginal. I looked at our blog from our previous trip down Michigan's coast and saw that we did not stop at Presque Isle before. So, that could not have been the restaurant with the good whitefish. It must have been Port Sanilac where we will be in a few days. There is still hope!

We left for Harrisville at 10:00. Kerry slept in. I did a little walk and brought back a big, freshly baked, warm cinnamon bun. That got her up. The trip was 46.3 miles at an average speed of 8.7 knots with a top speed of 12.3. So, we have traveled 907 nautical miles and 182 on our way home.

We passed three light houses today, the Middle Island Light, the Thunder Bay Light, and the Sturgeon Bay Light. Lots of little islands and reefs make this a hazardous stretch of water to navigate apparently. Here are pictures of the three lighthouses..

At first the seas were 3' or so, left over from the strong winds yesterday. Then they moderated as forecast. I was able to sit out while motoring and finish the book I was reading. Once I looked up and saw Annie heading straight for the end of a fish net flag. Fortunately I was able to jump inside and hit the +10 degrees on the autohelm really quick so we steered away from a potential problem.

I followed the course of a smaller motor boat from Ohio on the AIS. It was in Presque Isle last night also. The captain ran really close to the coast, and took a short cut under Thunder Bay Island. I was afraid to do that as it appeared shallow and had rocks, so I did a few extra miles to go around the island. He also came to Harrisville also so I asked him about it. His comment, "Yeah, that wasn't too smart because it was pretty shallow." I guess I made the right decision.

The marina is very nice, but also pretty empty tonight.

Entrance channel to marina

After settling in, we walked downtown. It's pretty small, but there is a nice grocery. We stopped at a yard sale on the way back to the boat and purchased several treasures. Kerry reheated the leftover fish from last night, and it was actually better today. She also made her delicious black bean and soy salad. We plan to go to East Tawas tomorrow, a new port for us. Kerry wants to leave early, 8-ish. 

Presque Isle, MI August 6, 2016

We knew last night that we had to get out of Rogers City. If we thought the Oom_pah band was loud the night before, that was nothing compared to the country western band last night. I was in bed nice and early, sleeping like a baby until I wasn't at 11:00. I awoke to the loudest music I ever heard while I was on a boat. We closed the hatches, then the windows. We turned on Kerry's DC fan. Then we turned on the air conditioner fan. Then I got out the earplugs I had purchased for Jim's visit (which I did not need as he does not snore anymore). With the earplugs I only heard the thump, thump of the base. I don't know when they stopped, but at 1:00 when I awoke I thought they were done, until they came back from break. I decided that if we could get into Presque Isle we were out of here. Can you imagine what is in store for Saturday night? So much for Nautical Fests! Note: Big Jim says I should have put country boots on and joined them!

The wind was blowing about 14 when we left, with a forecast to build later. The seas were running behind us at 3 1/2 feet. Annie was doing her downwind tour of the lake, but it did not bother me because I had my face in James Patterson's book, "Sail." We left at 9:00 and arrived at 11:00. The trip was 17.6 nautical miles with an average speed of 8.3 knots. Highest speed was 11.3 surfing.

Before we left we watched the start of an Olympic bicycle race. The television has been working well on this trip. Because it works so poorly in Vermilion I thought I had a problem, but now think it's just Vermilion's location that is the issue. We watched the end of that race after we returned from our bike ride in the afternoon.

Presque Isle is very pretty. Gorgeous actually. The entire Michigan shore line is beautiful, with miles of deserted sandy beaches. Presque is French and means almost an island. We took a bike ride after lunch. They have two lighthouses here, a 30' old one and a 113' newer one still in use. We rode to both and I walked up the 130 steps of the tall one. We rode to the seashore too, and I visited one of the many swimming beaches here. Lake Erie got so cheated of bays, harbors and sandy beaches. In addition, Michigan has invested in their natural assets and you can tell.  Here are some pictures of our day.

Bell buoy marking the entrance to Presque Isle. It's neat to hear the bell ringing as you pass.

Tall newer lighthouse from the water.

Kerry on the ground view from the top of lighthouse.

Steps going down. I got a bit dizzy!

Older 30' lighthouse.

In the small world category, Jeff Stockard's old boat, French Kiss, docked near us. We chatted with the new owners who live in Tawas MI. They tried to get us to stop there on our way home. Kerry was sold when they said there is a Ben Franklin's store there. I tried to talk them into cheering for the Buckeyes when we play Oklahoma. They said they would have to pull the shades down if they did!

There is a restaurant right near the marina which is famous for their whitefish. I think it is the one we stopped at on my retirement cruise in 2007. I still remember that whitefish dinner. I hope it is as good as I remember. Tomorrow we set sail for Harrisville, 42 miles from here. Mild winds but rolling leftover seas are forecast. No rain or storms are forecast for the near future. We roughed out an itinerary over cocktails that should have us home around the 15th.

Rogers City, MI August 5, 2016

We went to bed about 8:30 last night. I guess we were tired travelers. But did we go to sleep? No - instead we were serenaded by an Oom-pah band playing polka music. They were actually pretty good and we enjoyed the music.  A lot of it sounded the same, but I did recognize the old standby favorites, Roll Out the Barrel and She's Too Fat for me. The band is part of the harbor fest activities going on here. It's a big weekend in Roger's City for sure.

I walked out on the pier to get a marina picture this morning. There is a very nice sitting area there too. We may do our cocktail hour there tonight. BTW, I am happy to report that we were not invaded by spiders last night. I did find a big dead one on the dock lines I sprayed with bug killer.

After breakfast we took a bike ride. Wayne picked a couple of nice marina bikes for us so we did not have to unpack ours. There is a nice trail that goes to a lighthouse 6 miles away. We did not make it to the lighthouse, but stopped a couple places along the beach and had a great time walking and choosing special rocks to take home to Aubrey and the boys. It was a very, very nice morning.

We had lunch on Annie's top deck. The tops to our sandwiches kept blowing off. It is really windy today, and much cooler. I even wore a sweatshirt for cocktails. We are so glad we left Mackinaw City and came here yesterday. It is supposed to be just a little less windy tomorrow, then go light for several days. If we can, we will go to Presque Isle tomorrow to enjoy their nature trails. It's about 15 miles south of here.

We visited the library's book sale and the arts and craft show, then the grocery. Our only purchase was a bunch of books from the library, and groceries of course. Kerry took a nap when we got back to the boat. I started to read James Patterson's book "Sail", which I got from the library. Kerry's knee has been really painful. She called her doctor today to get evaluated for a knee replacement.

Dinner was Italian sausage and fries from the carnival which we enjoyed on Annie. A pleasant after dinner walk was the end of a very nice day in Rogers City.

Rogers City, MI August 4, 2016

Annie tracked straight and true today. She must have read the blog and not liked what I said about her wandering about with big following seas. We had planned to stay in Mackinaw City today, but changed our mind based on the weather forecast. Today was good to travel to Rogers City, 45.1 miles away. Tomorrow's forecast includes 25 knot gusts. It took us about 5 1/2 hours for the trip, averaging 8.4 knots. Top speed was 13.1 knots when I was letting Annie blow some carbon deposits out of her engine. Sarnia Coast Guard said Environment Canada issued a high wind warning as we traveled, so I was glad we decided to leave.

Our day started with the decision to leave, then laundry. Three washers and dryers made short work of it. We traveled SE through the Straights of Mackinaw, turning more S when we entered Lake Huron. I must have missed the sign saying you are now leaving the Straights of Mackinaw and entering Lake Huron.The winds and seas varied all day in direction and strength, but it was a nice trip. I sat outside for a large part of it, reading boating magazines. I brought a large pile with me and Kerry wants them all gone. Kerry prepared a nice fruit lunch for us while traveling, followed by more fruit (Jola's peach pie!) for desert.

Rogers City has a series of 4 sets of red and green buoys to guide boaters into the Harbor. I saw them and was reminded of the last time I was here, 9 years ago. Lew Myers and I followed Kip on Royal Eagle into the harbor in total fog. I think we came from St. Ignace to Rogers City in total fog, so thick we could not even see each others boats. Kip did a fabulous job of navigating us here and arrived at the buoys perfectly for a safe entrance into the harbor.

We pulled to the fuel dock when we arrived. The Harbormaster, Wayne, greeted us. He loved Annie. We invited him on board and had a nice chat as he toured. The marina has bikes and a car boaters can use while they are here. We bought 51 gallons of diesel. We used 3.5 gallons an hour this last tank, higher than normal, but we have been traveling faster than usual. Our depth sounder worked most of the time on this trip. We have traveled 843 miles so far, and 118 miles since we started home yesterday.

Wayne warned Kerry that she will be shocked tomorrow morning when she sees the spiders all over our boat. I guess they have an infestation here. That will be a bummer because it is still so clean after Jim's washing. I sprayed our dock lines and fenders with bug spray to see if that will help.

I grilled hamburgers for dinner. We sat on Annie's upper deck and had a great view of the lake and marina. It is very pretty here. One of Rosemary's chocolate chip cookies proved to be an excellent dessert. We took a walk after dinner. There is some kind of a fest doing on. The marina has a big tent with a polka band in it, There is a carnival right outside, and they are setting up an arts and craft show downtown. This street leads to the marina.

We had planned to turn the air conditioners off, but it is still 85 at 7:45. It has been very hot and humid lately. Three days of temperatures in the 70's are promised, starting tomorrow. We hope to do a nice bike ride tomorrow, so we hope the weather cooperates.

Mackinaw City, MI August 3, 2016

We have officially started home. I estimated that the trip home would be 400 miles or so. Today we did  72.8 miles traveling from Leland to Mackinaw City, so a big chunk is behind us. We left at 8:10 this morning and it took us 8 hours and 20 minutes for the trip, averaging 8.8 knots. Our top speed was 10.4 knots surfing down a wave.

Jim and Jola stayed overnight on Annie last night. After a breakfast of scones from the tea party, they packed up and went to Northport, Petoskey and then Mackinaw City where they caught our dock lines. They are staying overnight here and returning home tomorrow. Jola took this picture last night in Leland.

Jim took this picture of Annie coming down the channel in the Mackinaw City Marina. The foredeck hand is ready for docking as you can see.

The depth sounder on my Garmin chart plotter did not work 1/3 of the time, and worked fine 2/3 of the trip. Strange. I did pick up a radio transmission from a boat 22 miles away, so it looks like the AIS/radio combination may be OK. I will not know for sure until I am able to determine how far I can transmit.  Jimbo can help me with that when I get back to Vermilion.

Driving Annie downwind with big waves drives me nuts. It's like gybing downwind all the way. First a wave comes and swishes Annie about 30-50 degrees to port. Then the autohelm senses that we are too far left, so it steers right to offset the amount we went left of the rhumb line. Then a wave comes and the process starts all over again. Whenever I am following someone I think they must be amazed about the course I am steering. Excalibur tracked straight which is what I am use to. I hand steered around the abandoned lighthouse marking Grey's Reef!

I traveled up the lake with a big freighter, Bace Comeau, a 275 meter ship. I knew it's identity and size from my AIS. Even way out in Lake Michigan we had company. Besides that freighter there were many sailboats and a car ferry coming and going to Beaver Island.

We went under the Mackinaw Bridge again today as we said good bye to Lake Michigan. It's a great sight and I still cannot resist taking pictures of it.

We are staying 2 nights here, mainly so Kerry can recharge her batteries and catch up on laundry. She slept today the first four hours of the voyage and the last 2. The shower and traveling has her exhausted.

Barb sent me two pictures of the crew from the shower today. Pretty attractive and happy shower goers. That is Stephanie with Anne.

Leland MI August 2, 2016

Jim and I had our morning coffee, along with cereal and white powered donuts. This was our last breakfast "bacheloring" it. After that it was time to clean the boat. I must say that Jim gave Annie a scrubbing like I don't think she has had before. He really worked hard, especially on the top deck. I was mighty impressed. Later in the day he vacuumed the carpet. He is a cleaning machine! I washed the windows too. Annie is at least as clean (read cleaner) as when Jola and Kerry left.

I got in the kayak and scrubbed the sides on Annie. The burgundy stripe had what appeared to be little mineral deposits on it. It was like rain water that had dried into little circles of deposits. Jim had run into this with his boat. He discovered that a mixture of water and white vinegar would remove it. Soap and water would not remove it. I made up a batch of vinegar and water and cleaned the stripe with it, which worked very well.

We were watched by the cat on the boat docked next  to us. It was kind of a cool cat. It traveled with the couples 3 dogs, but it knew that it was the king of the heap. The cats owner asked if we were skiers because we looked so fit. I told her we were cleaning because our wives were coming back today. "Oh," she said, " I thought you were gay."

There were a lot of empty docks when we finished washing Annie. The harbormaster said we could take a different one if it was empty. So we moved Annie into a dock that will be much easier to get out of. There was no wind at all this morning, so it was a perfect time to get a better dock. A bit later a big boat came in and docked next to us. I told one guy that a moment ago I had a big boat, and suddenly now I do not!

It seems like I might have a propane leak in my storage locker. Jim and I spent some time trying to find it. I had smelled it before and thought a small disposable tank I had in the locker was the culprit. But I threw it away this morning and the smell persisted. 

Kerry and Jola arrived about 5:30. They said they had a nice trip and the scenery was beautiful. Jola was nice enough to bring BLT sandwiches and a fresh peach pie. We enjoyed both after our proper happy hour. Rosemary sent a huge batch of delicious looking cookies, which should last us the rest of our voyage. Thanks, Rosemary!

We took a nice walk after dinner. Leland is a nice town with good shopping. many of the shops were closed including Kerry's favorite art and sculpture shop. But she and Jola still found several stores to visit. Jim and I sat on park benches and visited.

We have decided to leave here tomorrow because of favorable traveling weather Wednesday but not Thursday. We plan to go all the way to Mackinaw City, 70+ miles. We may see Jim and Jola there tomorrow night. I received a text from Marianna saying they are back in Vermilion and were driving home.