Labor Day weekend is celebrated here in Canada also, but spelled Labour Day. It marks the official end of summer vacation, but the weather is getting quirky. We have had the most amazing summer of really hot weather but that door is slamming shut now with clocking winds forecast for 20-30 knots, +6 foot seas and temps dropping into the 50’s for the holiday weekend. Great Lakes boaters have to be very patient and wait through all of this as usually warm and calm weather does return but when?????
We really wanted to spend more time anchoring out but with the above forecast, we journeyed west and north through the islands to the McBean Channel to Little Detroit Narrows marked with a range marker and then into the Whaleback Channel and east to Spanish. The town of Spanish is at the mouth of the Spanish River and is marked with a wind turbine and has depths of 4 ½ to 5 feet due to river runoff so larger boats with deeper drafts never make it here.
Spanish has a newly developed, government-sponsored town marina with a multi-million dollar 4 season complex including a restaurant, fitness area, lounge, high-speed internet, trail system and laundry. Unfortunately, it’s losing money now and is for sale for a cool 2 million. We’re the only transients here and with the awful weather forecast, even the local boaters have stayed home for the weekend.
Here are pictures of Spanish Marina complex and the Discovery Trail taken before all the weather hit. I had time to do some teak deck work—notice that the rear cockpit decks are stained and mottled from all the tannin rivers and 100 locks we’ve transited through this summer. I was able to bleach the side decks which are now brighter and not as blemished.
When the rain, wind and cold hit for 3 days, we read, finally updated this blog site on the high-speed internet and fired up the oven for a few great meals. We’re monitoring the weather and hope that summer comes back soon.
We really wanted to spend more time anchoring out but with the above forecast, we journeyed west and north through the islands to the McBean Channel to Little Detroit Narrows marked with a range marker and then into the Whaleback Channel and east to Spanish. The town of Spanish is at the mouth of the Spanish River and is marked with a wind turbine and has depths of 4 ½ to 5 feet due to river runoff so larger boats with deeper drafts never make it here.
Spanish has a newly developed, government-sponsored town marina with a multi-million dollar 4 season complex including a restaurant, fitness area, lounge, high-speed internet, trail system and laundry. Unfortunately, it’s losing money now and is for sale for a cool 2 million. We’re the only transients here and with the awful weather forecast, even the local boaters have stayed home for the weekend.
Here are pictures of Spanish Marina complex and the Discovery Trail taken before all the weather hit. I had time to do some teak deck work—notice that the rear cockpit decks are stained and mottled from all the tannin rivers and 100 locks we’ve transited through this summer. I was able to bleach the side decks which are now brighter and not as blemished.
When the rain, wind and cold hit for 3 days, we read, finally updated this blog site on the high-speed internet and fired up the oven for a few great meals. We’re monitoring the weather and hope that summer comes back soon.
