Port-A-Gee

Port-A-Gee enjoyed a well-deserved winter's nap, and her crew crew spent the winter in Fort Myers.  Cap decided to go legit and completed a Captain's Licensing course.  He is now a US Coast Guard-certified Captain!  Congrats - but he was MY Captain all along. June 1, 2024  - Cap spent countless hours sprucing up Port-A-Gee, after our 14-month cruise, and she was ready to get back on the water.  It rained ALL DAY - we had to dig deep into our storage lockers to arouse our 7-year-old, never used raingear!  We made it through the 3 Illinois Locks (Dresden Island, Brandon Road, Lockport) without incident.  11 hours in the rain, and we finally arrived at Chicago Harbor's O'Brien lock for our measly 2-foot ascent to Lake Michigan. Burnham Harbor Our dear friends, Doug & Patricia were aboard Talisman at Burnham Harbor, and they had a lovely spaghetti dinner ready for us upon our arrival! June 2, 2024 - We bid farewell to the Crew of Talisman and th...

  SWEET HOME CHICAGO!! Since June, the Army Corp had been doing extensive maintenance that required the complete shutdown of (3) Illinois River Locks: Brandon Road, Dresden Island and Marseilles.  They opened as scheduled on 10/1/23 but asked pleasure boats to hold off for another 5 days.  Kim Russo, Director of the AGLCA, worked diligently with the Army Corp to coordinate daily lock throughs for Looper flotillas of approximately 16 for 24 days! Almost 300 Looper boats were scattered throughout Southwest Lake Michigan, with at least 75 in Hammond, IN; many that we have cruised/chatted with over the past year. We were scheduled with flotilla #5, locking through on Tues, 10/10//23. We spent 3 weeks going back and forth between home and Racine so we could put our hands on our grandchildren and prepare for life on land. We met our Reefpoint dock neighbors for next season - seems like a fun group. Thurs, 10/5/23 - Racine, WI to Chicago, IL (54.7NM) .  Cap's trusty weather...

Fri - Sat 8/25-26/23 - Detour Village, MI to Mackinaw City, MI (Mackinaw Municipal Marina) (39.7NM) Our buddy boats agreed on an 8:00 a.m. departure. We enjoyed a gorgeous day on Lake Huron via St. Mary's River.  Calm seas and sunny skies!! It was very exciting to see the Mighty Mac Bridge and lighthouses coming into view.   Mackinac Suspension Bridge As we got closer, we were thrashed around by the huge wakes left by the speeding Island Ferries. Port-A-Gee secured a slip in the Municipal Marina while our buddy boats stayed at the adjacent Strait's State Harbor. The Municipal Marina is the aforementioned ferry boats' port, so we were alerted to all departures with the blast of their horn. We walked around town.  It was pretty touristy, and kind of tacky, with LOTS of tee-shirt, ice cream & fudge shops.  It was kind of hard to find a good place to dine.  Mackinaw City has really benefitted from being the source of transport to Mackinac Island. The c...