7/20/24- 8/3/24 - Great Lakes - 2024 (Gore Bay, ON, to Racine, WI)
After spending a month navigating north/northwest through Wisconsin, Michigan Upper Peninsula and Canada, it was time to plot our return home. The best part of this leg of our journey was having our Great Loop Buddy Boat, Kayak, meet us in the UP and relive our Looping days for a week!
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| Leanne & Leslie - Big Blue |
Drummond Island Yacht Haven is a family-owned and run resort property. Two of the teenage daughters and their dad were on the fuel dock when we pulled in. It was immediately clear, that the 2 daughters were in charge, and they had that place humming. Two fuel docks, transient cruisers coming in, boat and jet ski rentals, 12 cottages and a campground. Those girls were managing it all, and their little brother was running his but off too. Impressive!
Our dock neighbor was a Gold Looper, Online. We enjoyed sharing stories of our respective trips. They are now 1/2-time liveaboards, and 1/2 RVers - they have life figured out!
We dined on the boat and anxiously awaited our friend's arrival on Sunday.
Sun, 7/21 - Drummond Island - I started the day with laundry. It was the first marina that had a legit laundry mat, multiple machines, and huge commercial dryers. Obviously, the campers and cottage dwellers use it too.
Brian and I walked the long road out of the marina. It's an impressive operation, with 3 huge buildings for winter storage and lots of construction equipment, in addition to the resort amenities mentioned earlier.
We were so excited to see Kayak in the marina when we got back!!!! John and Kim left Duluth 6 days earlier and finally made it to us, after making the loooong eastern passage of Lake Superior.
A few hours later, Walt & Leanne came in on Journey. We met them at Springbrook in August 2022 and cruised the rivers with them at the beginning of our Loop.
We chatted briefly with Laney Tunes who suspended their Loop last fall and stored the boat at Drummond Yacht. They were at the fuel dock, heading out to resume their trip. Last time we saw them was a year ago at Winter Harbor in NY.
We used the courtesy car (Suburban) to drive the crews of Kayak, Journey & Port-A-Gee the 2 miles into town for Dinner at Northwoods and ice cream across the street. Cubs eked out a win against Diamondbacks! But D-backs took 3 of 4.
Mon, 7/22 - Drummond Island to Government Bay, Les Cheneaux Islands - (28.2 NM). Perfect sunny day with flat seas! We set our anchor, and Kayak rafted off our starboard.
Journey arrived several hours later, and we all dinghied around the bay and hung at the beach.
Kayak & Port-A-Gee enjoyed a potluck dinner and chatted until the skeeters drove us in for the evening. We had a restful sleep under a silvery full moon. Cubs Beat Brewers!
Tues, 7/23 - Les Cheneaux Islands - It rained all day. Our plan of taking the dinghy over to Cedarville was cancelled. The 3 Looper boats stayed buttoned up all day - it was actually nice to just enjoy the quiet solitude of the anchorage. Later, Brian grilled bacon cheeseburgers, and we spent the evening enjoying the company of John and Kim aboard Kayak.
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| Journey |
We exited through the cottage-lined channel, peering into boat houses to spy beautiful, old, restored wood boats. It was a little lumpy on Lake Huron, but only 20 miles to get to St. Ignace.
Since we were there 12 days earlier, we suggested dinner at Buoys. Kim, John, Leanne & Walt all agreed. The food is really good as well as the solo performer serenading us with his guitar. The porch overlooking Lake Huron was breathtaking.
Kim & John met us at the Farmer's Market, and then we enjoyed a farewell dinner Mackinac Grill. Much of our discussion was about future adventures together - can't wait!
Fri, 7/26 - St. Ignace, MI to Petoskey, MI (47.4NM). By 8:00 a.m. Kayak was heading north back to Gitche Gumee, and we were heading South to the Grand Lac. Journey left about an hour after us, heading to Northport. They were on a mission to get to the Illinois River by the 1st week of August.
Of course, the Might Mac gets recognition - this time we went under heading South:
Petoskey is about 10 miles off Lake Michigan into Little Traverse Bay. We saw lots of sailboats, homes and resorts, it is a bustling city. We secured Port-A-Gee in her slip for the night - but had to move over 2 slips the next day, because Michigan DNR reservation system is bad!.
The walk to town was an experience in itself. Through a lovely park adjacent to the marina, past beautiful flower garden, and through a tunnel - with a PIANO! Out the tunnel to town.
Sat., 7/27 - Petoskey - We were invigorated by the beautiful day in an exciting city. I headed for the Little Traverse Wheel Way for a wonderful 3-mile run. The wide, paved path hugged the Bear River. It was beautiful and mostly shaded. Brian chose to walk the residential neighborhood for his 3-mile walk. We compared notes later, and he thought the town was reminiscent of New England.
We showered and headed back into town. First stop on my list was the Perry Hotel, which a history with Earnest Hemmingway. As we walked by the hotel, the Petoskey City Trolley was stopped, and the driver invited us in. It's a free approx. 1-hour ride that took us further than our feet could. We really enjoyed learning about Bay View. It is a seasonal neighborhood - open May - October that initially was only available to members of the Methodist Church.
From the Trolley, we spied an active ball field, next to the marina, and agreed to return after our tour. After one more spin through town, we enjoyed a local brew at Beards Brewery. Then we headed over to the ball field to watch the D21 Men's Softball tournament - what fun! Brian was rooting for the Visiting Team, Tiffany's, and I took the home team, Lightening. Tiffany's won by 2 runs.
Summer Olympics: Men's 4X100 Freestyle relay take GOLD!
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This was our second visit to Leland, it's a quaint summertime town. I did laundry while listening to the Cubs take the series from the Royals. Then we walked over to the Cove Restaurant for a yummy whitefish dinner.
Mon, 7/29 - Leland, MI to Frankfort, MI (35.7NM) - Weather & seas changed several times. The day started out sunny with big rollers, then the skies got very dark, but we only got a few sprinkles, then a big rainbow, then the rollers started flipping over into white caps, then rollers again.
We came into the harbor under cloudy skies and lots of humidity and took on 110 gallons of diesel.
Fog started to roll in off the lake. We met sail boaters from ReefPoint, they sailed Journey over and are continuing north.
Tues, 7/30 - Frankfort, MI to Sturgeon Bay, WI (CenterPoint Marina) (50.8NM). Shortest distance across Lake Michigan. Due to the forecasted fog all day, we planned on staying in Frankfort. We slept in, delaying our daily ritual of coffee and weather checks. Most of the fog was removed from the forecast, and the seas were going to be VERY favorable. We said, "Let's Got"! Man, oh man, did they get it right! We did encounter some fog, and there were a few spots where we blew the horn, but 90% of the passage was with a couple mile visibility. Obviously, we ran the radar the whole way, and we never picked up a bleep.
Back to CenterPointe -Slip #1 right next to all the amenities - sweet!
Gold Loopers, Wendy & Hal were in the marina aboard Patriot. Wendy reached out to us on Nebo to invite us to for docktails. They hail from our home port in Racine. They were heading to Gore Bay for the Grand Banks Rendezvous.
It was a very hot, sunny day. We enjoyed the pool with about 4 other folks. Gotta love marinas on weekdays!
Summer Olympics: Artistic Gymnastics Women take GOLD!
We dropped the dinghy, put the motor on, and headed out into Sturgeon Bay. The clouds grew dark, the wind picked up, and it became very uncomfortable in our tiny boat. We opted for the pool for the rest of the day.
We love CenterPointe Marina, but we really returned to go to Kitty Oreilley's Irish Pub for their cob salad, featuring bacon and brisket. - YUM
Summer Olympics: Katie Ledecky takes GOLD 1500m Freestyle
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| CenterPointe Marina / Sturgeon Bay, WI |
Thurs., Aug 1, 2024 - Sturgeon Bay, WI to Port Washington, WI (93.2 NM). Early departure- leaving the marina by 6:50 a.m. Started out with super-flat seas on a partially cloudy day. 3.5 miles until Sturgeon Bay dumps into Lake Michigan. All is well. We smiled and acknowledged our good fortune.
A couple miles out, and we start seeing a thick line of clouds/fog on the horizon. Everything to our starboard was clear and we had good visibility all the way to shore. The fog bank crept closer until it consumed us. We had about 1/8-mile visibility in every direction. Cap announced our presence at the top of every minute with a 5-second blast of the horn. We put on our life jackets.
The radar was showing blips of boats all around us, but we couldn't see them! We assumed they were fisherman. Cap reduced our speed and continued with the horn. I stood in the cockpit and scanned, scanned, scanned - but the vessels on the radar were not to be seen or heard. Then we'd get rollers indicating the wake of a nearby boat - that we could not see. This went on for about 2 hours. Until my prayers to the sun finally cleared the fog and revealed the sea and shore ahead of us. PHEW!!!
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| Lake Michigan Fog Bank |
Then the clouds pushed the sun back and sprinkled a steady rain on us until we reached Port Washington Harbor. We stopped at the fuel dock and took on 130 gallons of diesel before heading to our slip.
The sun and rainclouds fought for dominance all afternoon. We walked into down to see familiar sights, and decided on the newest addition, Inventor's for a few cold ones and an early dinner.
The crew of Journey crossed their wake in Holland, MI - Congrats Walt & Leanne, it was a pleasure following, and sometimes joining you along the way!
Huge storm lit up the marina with lightning strikes and thunder booms. Cubs come from behind, walk-off win against the Cards - Whooo Hooo!!
Summer Olympics GOLD: Fencing, Swimming, Gymnastics & Rowing
Fri, Aug 2 - Port Washington - It was hot and humid, we took the steep uphill walk to a great overlook park featuring breathtaking views of Lake Michigan. It was too hot to do anything, so we enjoyed the afternoon listening to the Cubs beat the Cards!
Dick, the former owner of Port-A-Gee, and he was delighted to see that we've maintained her as well as he did. Later we had a lovely dinner with Dick at Tangled Root. It was a delightful evening.
The Lion's club had a beer tent and live music in the park, so we stopped by for a few songs before retiring for the evening.
Port Washington is a great stop that shouldn't be missed!
Sat., Aug. 3, 2024 - Port Washington, WI to Racine, WI (40.8 NM). It was a perfect summer day, warm temps, sunny skies, and mild seas. We kept the throttle at 1600 RMP to savor the last miles of our trip. Our slip was waiting for us, with all the lines set up for as we left them. Our dockmates jumped up to greet us - it was good to be home.
We walked over to see Noah, Zimin and their 3 beautiful children. We were former dock neighbors at Reefpoint - their Searay and our Cutwater. It was great catching up.
We'll spend the rest of the summer in Racine entertaining friends and family - maybe taking day trips to Milwaukee or Kenosha.
We've listed Port-A-Gee for sale! She's a great boat, and we enjoyed every minute on board. Looks like RVing might be in our future! Stand By!
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