September 5: Port Sanilac to Grosse Ile. 110 miles

Let me begin by making it clear--we did not plan to travel 110 miles in one day! Our plan was to get a slip at St. Clair to spend the night and come home on Sunday....

We started out with a nice breakfast in Port Sanilac. When we got out on the water we found it very calm again, no sailing today! As we neared Port Huron we saw more and more boats on the water--remember, we had some days when we did not see another boat all day!

When we got to the bottom of Lake Huron, going into the St. Clair River, Bill took the helm. This is a very turbulent area, and Erika and I are nowhere near the experienced sailor that Bill is... We could see about a hundred sailboats off in the distance near the Michigan shoreline. Bill said this is an annual race co-sponsored by sailing clubs in Port Huron and Sarnia. It is a local race on Saturday and a race to Port Sanilac on Sunday. They were moving at a snail's pace in the light air--I sure hope there is some wind for them tomorrow!

All of a sudden we were surrounded by powerboats when we got into the river--they were everywhere. It was like a culture shock after being out there all alone all week... We passed many upbound freighters along the way, and I called St. Clair harbor only to find out that they could not accomodate us... I called Algonac too: no room. We pulled into the St. Clair harbor for fuel, and made it in and out in a half hour, which is perfect since the Pine River bridge opens every half hour when needed... We passed by our old stomping grounds at Marine City-- Erika took some photos as we passed by our old church and the lighthouse while I went below and got a glass of wine... not a lot of good memories of the time in my life when we lived there.

Bill decided then that we would go for home. It was a very long day! We watched the sun set and the moon rise over Lake St. Clair on our way across. Once it got dark (as we were entering the Detroit River from Lake St. Clair) he took over and drove the rest of the way home. The Detroit skyline was impressive from our vantage point in the river, and he had the three of us on deck calling out approaching boat traffic and unlit buoys.

We got a lucky break as we were nearing Wyandotte--one of the Detroit riverboats (Diamond Belle) passed us and we followed her into the smaller channel along the Wyandotte shore. Bill called the Grosse Ile toll bridge operator on the radio, the bridge opened for us, and soon we were home. Almost midnight when we arrived. It was an awfully long day, and another motoring day--no sailing in this calm air.

It was a perfect sailing vacation except for the fact that we did not do much sailing! Now it's back to real life, laundry, grasscutting, boat cleaning... take the truck in for service, get ready to go to West Virginia Saturday.... I found this big guy in the back yard when I went out to cut the grass.

I cut the front yard first, and when came around the house to the back, he was in the yard again, with 3 does and a fawn....

September 4: Harbor Beach to Port Sanilac. 33 miles.

We started this day with a leisurely breakfast at a little place near the harbor, quite different from yesterday's very early morning leavetaking... We stopped and took a photo of Toby at the anchor outside a little museum on the way back from breakfast. We bought a loaf of bread and a 6-pack of bottled water and were on our way.

Bill steered us out past the Harbor Beach power plant, giving us fine views of the lighthouse and some fisherman on the way out.

Today was so calm that we did not even try to sail! Fortunately it was much shorter than yesterday... The wind never came up, so we never even removed the mainsail cover. That's the thing with planning a sailing vacation, or even in sailboat racing--you can't control the weather!

We spent some time cleaning up the boat, since we did not do that yesterday and the Harbor Beach marina is home to a large flock of Canada geese... need I say more?

When we arrived at Port Sanilac Bill called in on the radio for a boat slip... the harbormaster asked about the length and the beam of the boat... Bill had to repeat again that we were indeed 20 feet wide!

I walked half a mile to the library to try to post a blog, and found that they were ready to close. Neither the municipal wireless or the marina wireless both could download my photos... when I got back to the boat everyone was gone... I found them at the ice cream store, of course, should have looked there first!

Toby got a chance to play in the park with some other boys. He's been a real trooper on this trip--never a complaint about being cooped up in small quarters with mom, grandma and grandpa. I bought him a kid's cocktail at dinner and we played dots on the paper table cover. It was a fine end to the day. Our only regret is that we had to motor all day. I guess in the big picture that's not such a bad thing.

September 3: Harrisville to Harbor Beach. 85 miles

OK. We knew this was going to be a long day.... We left Harrisville before 5 AM. Erika was driving, steering by the stars (our course lined up well with Orion's belt). Bill and Toby were sleeping below, and Erika and I saw the occasional shooting star--probably leftovers from the meteor showers earlier in the month. It was very calm and quiet (except for that blasted boat motor). We watched the moon set, and the sun rise...

After 2 hours I releived her at the helm, and when the sun came up the wind came up too! Yay! We put up the main sail and the screecher, shut off the motor and picked up speed. The rest of my 2 hour shift we had enough wind to sail, which gave us high hopes for the rest of this day. Bill took over at 9:00, and I went below and climbed back into bed. About 20 minutes later I heard him start the motor, and that was the story for the rest of the day.

There was not much to see out there--blue sky, blue lake.... one freighter in the morning when I was driving. No other boats in sight all day, no land in sight most of the day. We turned at the weather buoy about 50 miles into the ride... you can see how calm it is out there. Have you ever seen Lake Huron so placid???? I haven't...

We arrived at Harbor Beach after 5 PM, tied up and walked to town for supper. We walked and walked, which was a good thing after our 12 hour confinement, and found our chosen restaurant not up to par. So we walked back to the main street and had a great dinner at Al's. On the way back to the harbor we saw bats, and Toby had a fun time howling at the moon, with another kid (not in our sight) howling back... guess you had to be there.

September 2: Alpena to Harrisville. 33 miles

This was rather a tough day. It was beautiful and sunny, and very calm. The air was calm, the water was calm.... so we motored most of the way. It was only when we got close to Harrisville that we were able to shut down the motor and put up the sails. It was my turn to drive at the time that we put them up, so I got to bring us to the mouth of the harbor, then I turned the tiller over to Bill to bring us in.

The problem with motoring on a sail boat is that there is just a small motor, meant for pulling in and out of docks and harbors. It is small and loud, especially to those of us who enjoy silent sports! Not fun to motor all day, and not what we want to do.

Tomorrow is our longest day--we have to do 70 miles whether we want to or not. It is supposed to be in the 70s and sunny, with a 5-10 MPH wind when I checked this morning.... We can sail this boat in that kind of wind.... we just can't sail in dead calm (like today). Hope for the best...

Toby, the budding scientist, is enjoying this trip--he uses the binoculars to scan the horizon frequently to let us know of any coming hazards. He found some great fossils in Alpena, and is checking out the Harrisville rocks for more of the same. After he releases them from the rocks, his mother identifies them... He reads a lot too, so it has been pleasant for all of us.... not once has he asked "are we there yet?".

September1: Presque Isle Harbor to Alpena. 48 miles

We were able to sail most of the day, which was better than we expected... The weather report told us we were going to start out with calm air and then have it right on the nose for the rest of the day. Instead we were able to sail along nicely for the first 3 hours, and then had to motor-sail for about an hour and a half when the wind was indeed a headwind. But as we neared Alpena we were able to sail the last 20 miles, at some points scooting along at 11 MPH. (if you're a power boater you are laughing right now, but if you sail you'll wish you'd been with us!).

We passed by the remains of a wrecked freighter about midday, but other than Bill skimming very very close to a buoy there was not much to see out there. Lots of deep water.... When we arrived at Alpena we saw this guy sitting on the dock near the Coast Guard Auxiliary boat, and there is a Great Lakes Research boat docked next to us. Erika liked that...

Toby conked his head again today. We are getting a bit worried about him--the day we put in at Rogers City he hit it pretty hard (and the boat was not even in the water yet!) drawing blood... Erika closed it with a butterfly, and we went on our way. Yesterday he hit it twice on the boom, and today he climbed over me and lost his balance and conked himself again... how do you get a kid to be more careful? We keep checking his pupils and alertness, and putting ice on as needed... What else can you do?

Other than the occasional injury (I conked my head on the boom today too) we are doing very well. Not too thrilled about tomorrow's forecast--we may be nose to the wind again, but we'll take it as it comes. Any day on the boat is a good day!

August 31: Rogers City to Presque Isle Harbor. 23 miles

I got a text message on my phone last night... Mike sent a photo of his motorcycle on our boat trailer. That is very good news indeed, since his driving it downstate like that will save me 10 hours of driving when I get home. Where there's a will there's a way! Thanks Mike!

We slept in again this morning. That sure is a change for me after hardly sleeping at all on the bike trip. We walked to the bakery and had a snack and coffee and left Rogers City around 10:30. We knew it was going to be a short day today, so it did not matter what time we left. On our way out we could see 4 lake freighters lined up for Calcite loading. We started out with Bill driving, of course, but I drove for a long while after we were underway. I was driving when Toby took the photo at left--Bill told me to aim between the right and middle freighters... Erika drove today ,too. This gave Bill a chance to program the GPS and make small adjustments to things.... he's the skipper, but he likes a break now and then...

We had a fair northwest breeze most of the day--we set our course out of Rogers City and did not have to make any changes for hours--really we did not jibe until we were in sight of Presque Isle harbor. That's a rare day sailing! We are docked now; at this harbor there is a store and a restaurant and free wireless. Bill and I bought some food for tomorrow, which looks to be a long day on the water, and Erika and Toby walked to the lighthouse to look around. While they were there they learned that the old Presque Isle lighthouse is thought to be haunted. The History Channel and Discovery channel have both investigated and could not disprove the allegation. So at dusk, Toby, Erika, and I walked to the 37th set of pier railiings and looked toward the old lighthouse... and it lit up! There is no electricity in the lighthouse, and no lightbulb or lamp. But we saw it light up at night, so there it is.

What a great day!

August 30. Still at Rogers City

We stayed the night in a warm dry room as the wind and rain kept on. Unfortunately, when we checked out at 10 AM it was still very windy, cold, and rainy. This is NOT what we expect in August!

We drove the rig to the parking lot at the harbor and parked tail to the wind, then began the procedure for raising the mast. It was already up when Bill's brother Mike arrived to pick up the truck and trailer, giving us an extra hand for putting Troika in the water and unloading the truck. Mike even donned one of our Tilley hats--doesn't he look like a sailor now? (he is a power boater in real life).

It all was quite uneventful, which was a blessing consindering the wind and rain... after launching and tying up at our dock we all went to lunch and then Mike went on his way. He offered to take the rig downstate to our house if he can figure out how to attach his motorcycle to the boat trailer. That would surely save me some time next week, when there is only a matter of days between getting home from this trip and leaving for West Virginia.

We stayed "in"on the boat all day Saturday, since the weather was so bad, and Surprise!! We all got along just fine. (That's not always true when 4 people are in such close quarters). We got a ride in a courtesy car to go to dinner, which was very nice (the dinner and the ride).

The wind howled all night, and it got down into the 40s, but we were cozy in our boat. This morning it was still a bit chilly, but the rain has stopped. After walking to breakfast we finished rigging the boat and arranged for another day here. The wind is still pretty strong but is supposed to be milder by tomorrow, so we plan to leave out in the morning.

August 28: At Rogers City, boat in tow

Here we are at Rogers City. By the time we arrived it was too late to launch--harbormaster gone for the day, rainy and getting dark...

So we left Troika on the trailer and got a room. I took the photo from the balcony. Tomorrow is supposed to be north winds, 20 knots (15 MPH) with waves 4-6 feet on Lake Huron, so we will likely launch and stay put. Sleep on the boat and sail away on Sunday, when it will still be rainy, but calmer.

Bill and I are going to the hot tub, while Erika and Toby chill in the room. Gotta be flexible with plans on these trips.....