08-11-09 Charlevoix, MI

[Rick] We left Petoskey, MI at 1030 for the short 20 mile run to Charlevoix, MI. Charlevoix is one of the busiest marinas in the Michigan system. The town is considered a must-see for loopers, since it has a huge boating community. Also, the marinas are very well protected by a breakwater and a long canal leading to Lake Charlevoix.

The ride, though short, was slow since we had the 2 ft waves on our starboard beam. This makes for some back and forth, and is not really comfortable.

Once we arrived in Charlevoix, we had to wait for about two hours for a slip. The marina is busy, but they don’t take phone reservations, and there was a flotilla of sailboats coming in today. They had to wait to see who was leaving before assigning a slip. While waiting, a gentleman came over and indicated he had a Glacier Bay 2690, 2005 much like ours. We went over and found that even though the two boats were made in the same year, there are some differences. He had a very pretty and clean boat, not at all like ours at this time.

Betsy rode her bicycle down the bike path to the mushroom houses. Earl Young began the design and construction of these unique homes in the 1930s. He built over two dozen of them. Today, they are in a very exclusive neighborhood on the water.

One of the public spots at the marina includes a dancing fountain. Kids are encouraged to play in the fountain during the day. At night, the fountain puts on a waltzing waters show from 2100-2300. Once again, this city has many parks, many flowers and very green grass. We have agreed that the flowers and grass is due to the fact that it does not get so hot and parch the greenery.

This evening, we attended the weekly concert by the Charlevoix Community Band. They played a variety of music, including show tunes, marches, classical pieces, and the crowd favorite, the theme from “The Lone Ranger”, The William Tell Overture. There was quite a crowd on hand and all seemed to have a good time.
Tomorrow, off to Leland or Frankfort, depending on the weather. Right now, it looks great, but you can never tell.

(Betsy adds): I played flute and piccolo in the high school band and have always loved band music, so I really, really enjoyed the band concert! Brought back great memories.

08-10-09 Petoskey, Michigan

Betsy speaks: After filling up with gas we left beautiful St. Ignace, Michigan, this morning at about 8:30 and headed under the Mackinac Bridge, through the Straits of Mackinac and down to Petoskey, Michigan, a total distance of about 60 miles, a run of about 3 hours. We were slightly concerned about fog first thing, but once we were under the bridge and actually onto Lake Michigan (St. Ignace is actually on Lake Huron), the fog lifted and we had a perfect run on flat, glassy seas. After the day after day of high seas, wind and rain on the North Channel, we were certainly due for some smooth water, and we had it Friday on our run to St. Ignace and again today.

We had hoped to stay in Harbor Springs tonight. Harbor Springs is on one side of Little Traverse Bay, while Petoskey is 3 miles away on the opposite side of the bay. Several of our friends were headed for Harbor Springs. Problem is they don’t take reservations…it is strictly first come, first served. We called a couple of hours ahead of time (and ahead of our friends since we are much faster than them), and they said the chances of our getting a slip for the night were slim to none, but they couldn’t tell for sure until we stuck our nose into their harbor. I was able to call Petoskey and get a confirmed slip, so we came here without even trying Harbor Springs. Once we arrived here, we listened on the VHF radio as all of our friends got slips at Harbor Springs. By then, I was already glad we had come here instead. And now that we’ve been here all day I must say Petoskey may be my favorite stop yet on this entire trip.

The marina is very comfortable and is nestled right in a beautiful park. In fact, it seems there is a park on every block. The shopping district is large and colorful with beautiful flowers everywhere, and is an easy walk from the marina. This town doesn’t seem as touristy as some of the towns we’ve been in. It has a real homey feel.

Like much of Canada, I am amazed at the beautiful flowers everywhere. Their cool climate must be just perfect for growing annuals, and they just don’t look parched and dry like annuals do in our part of the country by this time of the summer. There is beautiful color everywhere…in front of both businesses and homes.

We ate lunch in a downtown pub that overlooked the water…it had a dog friendly outdoor seating area, but we had left Beamer the psycho dog behind to guard the boat so she wasn’t there to terrorize the restaurant. This is a very dog friendly town, with a special area in one of the parks to let dogs run free and swim in the beautiful water.

You can walk on the breakwater out to the lighthouse, which appeared to be a favorite gathering place for the local teen set. Today is one of the first days it’s been warm enough to really get out and enjoy the water and swim, and the teens were all jumping off the breakwater and having a blast.

I loved the beautiful clock in the park that framed the lighthouse in the distance, as you can see in this picture. The clock chimes loudly on the hour and half hour, a beautiful sound.

There is a wonderful museum right across the street that has a lot of history about Ernest Hemingway spending his summers here as a boy. His family owned a summer cottage on a nearby lake, and it is this area that he describes in some of his novels.

There is a bike/pedestrian path that runs the entire length of the waterfront all the way to the next little town…nice and flat, so I went for a long bike ride and just took in the beauty of this place.

Right next to the marina park area there is a softball field, and Rick and I enjoyed a fast pitch softball game late this afternoon…final score 14 to 2. Then we enjoyed a glorious sunset on the opposite side of the Bay, right over top of Harbor Springs where our friends are staying.
So I’m sure our friends will be raving about Harbor Springs, but I’m glad we’re here at Petoskey! In fact, Michigan’s state rock is the “Petoskey Rock” which is plentiful here. It is actually fossilized coral deposited by the glaciers, and I found several pieces of it at the water’s edge. Many of the jewelry stores sell necklaces and pins of polished Petoskey Rock.

Bear River runs right through town, a beautiful babbling waterway which draws many fishermen. It is the focal point of several of the parks.

There is an Indian casino nearby, but I was enjoying Petoskey so much I didn’t even make an attempt to go! That should tell you something!

Tomorrow we’ll head to Charlevoix, less than 20 miles south of here. Weather reports for the next several days sound perfect…it’s about time!

08-09-09 St Ignace and Mackinac Island

[Rick] Today is the day we finally get to go to Mackinac Island. But first, several things happened.

Yesterday, there was a big wedding at the marina. The marina has semi-permanently installed white tents for special occasions, and in fact, has bands on Wednesdays and Thursdays during the summer. There are about 5 of these white tents, with aluminum poles, anchored down by spikes and tethers. This morning, about 0700, during a huge rain, the wind got so bad, that the poles holding the tents gave way, bent, broke, etc and the tents went flying. One ended up on a neighboring sailboat, hitting it so hard the boat nearly capsized and the occupants were thrown out of bed. Of course, the chairs were everywhere. It was quite a site the first thing in the morning.

We decided to go the Episcopal Church. It was a little walk. The church is quite small, and in fact, including the minister, there were 15 people in the building. There is a lot of reading and reciting in this denomination, but it was a refreshing change. Of the 15, 4 were visitors, and 4 were going back south next week. All were very friendly and cordial. It was communion Sunday, and in this church you go forward and kneel, and they shared a common cup, not what we are used to but we just did what the others did.

At 1330, we finally boarded our “Big Cat” to Mackinaw Island. The ride was about 20 minutes and very smooth. We passed several landmarks on the way, including the Grand Hotel on the bluff overlooking Mackinac Channel. There was a huge yacht in the harbor and a crew person was suspended over the side in what looks to be tough job.

We opted for the 2 hour carriage ride and tour to see what we could in the afternoon we had allotted. Since there are no cars allowed, except police, fire, and the ambulance, the place is alive with bicycles of all description. Golf carts are allowed on the golf course only. Skateboards and skates are not allowed so as to not spook the horses drawing the carriages. The company we rode with has 400 horses and there are several companies. The taxis are horse drawn carriages.

One of the stops on the tour was the Butterfly House. In this building, the butterflies are flying free, landing on you, etc. Butterflies are insects and as such, have very short life spans, usually 10-13 days. They are born, they mate, they lay eggs, and they die. The colors were spectacular.

Another stop on the tour is Arch Rock. This arch was carved by running current against the rock during the time the rock was underwater during the last ice age. It is very interesting and based on its erosion rate, will not be here in 5-10 years, most likely.

We returned to St Ignace on the Big Cat. Betsy promptly went to the casino, and I went to work on catching up the blogs. So there, you are caught up. We are on the move tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be good (except for possible thunderstorms), the winds down, the waves down. The ride should be enjoyable.

(PS: Betsy just returned early from the casino…playing 3 card poker she hit a royal straight flush on her second hand! Yippee! (Payout is 40 to 1, plus a 5 to 1 bonus since the dealer qualified).

08-08-09 St Ignace and Rain

[Rick] The morning was particularly awful as it poured rain all morning. We finally got out after lunch and walked around. St Ignace is a really pretty city, has plenty of the stuff you want to see and not too much touristy stuff. I guess most of that is left for Mackinac Island.

There is a very pretty lighthouse at the entrance to the marina. It anchors a massive breakwater that was built to protect the marina occupants from the wake of the many ferry boats that go by each day. The ferry boats go at full speed as their living is at stake. So, it does no good to complain about the wake.




You will recall that last week, we started out from Gore Bay and returned when the weather was just too rough. The 47 ft, 49,000 lb vessel Theresa told us that they took waves over their bow for only the third time in 14 years. Here is Betsy standing in front of Theresa. You can see that we would have had a bad day if we had stayed out that day.





At 2200 each Saturday, the town of St Ignace has a fireworks show over the channel. We have seen many shows and were not expecting much as it is quite an expense to do this each week. We were pleasantly surprised. Although the fireworks started out kind of wimpy, the finale was as spectacular as we have ever seen, in any show. Unfortunately, we did not have a good camera, so we do not have pictures of the fireworks. Just close your eyes and imagine the best fireworks finale you have ever seen.

08-07-09 St Ignace, MI

[Rick] Well, it is a special day. It is our anniversary. That’s right, 38 years ago we were married in Durham, NC. I remember this date since it was one year ago that I forgot it. (Just Kidding). I say congratulations to us both……

We left Drummond Island at 0900 headed for St Ignace, MI. The run is to be 53 miles. As we left the Detour Channel, we were very pleasantly glad to see that Lake Huron was absolutely FLAT. Yes, it looked like a mirror out there. We passed the Detour Channel lighthouse, put on the autopilot, and sat back for the next 2 hours.

We arrived at St Ignace, got our slip, took a walk around the waterfront, and settled in for a couple of days. St Ignace is an island about 2 miles from Mackinac Island, the tourist mecca of this area. We decided not to stay in Mackinac since there are lots of ferries, little space, and very expensive. We plan to go to Mackinac by ferry tomorrow, take the carriage ride, eat some lunch, check out the stores, and return to St Ignace. I think Betsy has a shuttle to the local Indian Casino already booked. We understand that the The Grand Hotel, whose porch was featured in the movie Somewhere in Time will only allow you to go onto the porch if you have a coat and tie and pay $10.00.

The marina at St Ignace is owned by the city and is part of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. A few years ago, it was run down and had very limited facilities. What a difference. Today, there are over 200 slips, modern facilities, including bathrooms/showers, laundry, wi-fi. And the landscaping is very nice. The docks are first class, and this is one of the nicest marinas we have visited. Also, the cost is only $30 per day for our boat.

There are at least 5 looper boats here, and we all went out to dinner. Had a great time.

08-06-09 Meldrum Bay and Drummond Island(USA)

[Rick] Today was a big day, a long day, and a tough day. It started innocently enough at 0600 when we departed the Gore Bay Marina. The sun was just coming up and there was no wind. It was picture perfect. The wind reports for 0500 were for 7 knot winds and 4 knot for 0800. So, we figured the waves would be laid down and make for an easy run to Drummond Island. As soon as we got out there, we realized this was not the case. But, after a few minutes of 2-3 ft waves, straight on the bow, it did start to lay down and for a while, we were on auto pilot at 20 mph. We decided to bypass Meldrum Bay, our escape strategy in case of bad weather. However, less than a mile later, we could tell it was getting worse again. So, we turned left and went to the Meldrum Bay Marina. This is a very small place with one Inn/restaurant, a general store, and the marina. We arrived at 0930.

For lunch, we went to the local “hotspot” for lunch and free wi-fi. This would be the restaurant in the Inn. The food was very good, the service exceptional, and the wi-fi was a dish, so it was kind of slow, but it did work.

Around 1500, three sailboats came in and said that it had laid down to less than one foot. We are sure that we can handle this, so the kind marina lady refunded our money, and we lit out Drummond Island.

08-06-09 Drummond Island (back in the USA)

Drummond Island is the closest and most logical place to clear customs for returning to the US. A marina there has a customs officer, and there is usually very little wait.
The first hour of the 43 mile trip was very nice. Waves were 1 ft or less and we let Beamy (the autopilot) drive the boat at 20 mph. Then within a span of 15 minutes, the waves were 2-3 feet, coming from all directions. The last hour was miserable. Along the way, we saw and photographed the USA behind a small sailboat. We finally turned into a bay on Drummond Island and headed for Drummond Yacht Haven. This is a full service marina. In fact, the US Customs maintains an office on the lot and a Homeland Security Officer comes to your boat and executes your entry process. For us, he sat on the gunwale, completed the paperwork, asked a couple of questions about vegetables and fruits from Canada, gave us an inspection number and bid us good-day. However, it was too late as we were already beaten up and tired from starting at 0600 and battling the waves for several hours.

In the spirit of a full service marina, they have something I have never seen. A live bait vending machine.

Several of our friends from the loop are here, including Riff Raff, Pookie II, Morningside, Spey and Theresa.

Betsy adds: GOD BLESS THE USA (even though the weather is still cold and miserable).

08-05-09 Gore Bay

Betsy speaks: We’re still holed up in Gore Bay due to high winds on the North Channel. One 28 foot sailboat made an attempt to leave this morning but came back quickly. We did hear that our friends (3 boats) that left very early yesterday made it to the next port safely, although beaten up and scared to death. The fourth boat, Theresa, that left just before us is a huge trawler with a very high bow…much higher than the typical trawler. She made it to the next port as well, but had water over the bow and all the way over the top several times. So we know more than ever that we were right to return to Gore Bay rather than fight the waves.

We probably wouldn’t have done a blog today, but I had a picture I just had to share. I rode my bike out to Janet Point lighthouse late this afternoon. After visiting the lighthouse I walked to the water’s edge. There were two women there picking up rocks, just like we pick up seashells on our shore. The moral of the picture is: always look over your shoulder to see if anyone is there before you bend down! I took several humorous pictures and these ladies never knew I was there!


The Janet Point Light is typical of lighthouses all along Georgian Bay and the North Channel. This one has a family living in it. They lease it from the town. I’m not sure if any money is involved, but the family takes care of the yard and basic upkeep, and they have it open for tours from 1 to 4 PM Tuesday through Saturday. The lease has been handed down from generation to generation in this same family for about 4 generations. They only live there during the summer. During the winter it is vacant, not suitable for year round living. Although the woman describes herself as the keeper of the light, the actual light is cared for by the Coast Guard.

The coastline of the North Channel is covered by rocks of all sizes and shapes. So different than the sandy beach we are used to. Although normally smooth and calm according to people we’ve talked to, this week it has looked just like the ocean with waves washing ashore.

On my ride back from the lighthouse I noticed several rock walls made out of the native rock. They were very beautiful, and I can't imagine how hard people worked to pick the exact rocks and place them so well.


Everyone is marveling over how bad the weather has been this summer. Many Canadians say this is the worst summer they’ve ever experienced…just our luck! Today was beautiful and sunny but the wind has not let up. Tomorrow is supposed to be much better and we intend to leave at the crack of dawn. Wish us luck!