Meet Mollie, Our New 2nd Mate 6-20-11

We left sunny Denver by car about a month ago with our 9 month old Border Terrier puppy, Good Golly Miss Mollie. We took a side trip through St. Paul and Bayfield to see friends and touch base on the way to our new launching homeport, Northport, on Lake Michigan. It was so good to see all of you and share the connection that keeps us close though we live so far away now.
Mollie is adjusting very well to the boating lifestyle and has staked out her favorite places: riding in the stern on her blanket enjoying the sun; stretched out on the settee and guarding the food cabinet so she doesn’t miss a meal. She loves to wake up Bob and this is no easy job. Swimming is a requirement for a live-aboard boat dog and here she is learning the basics.
Life aboard has changed some with the addition of all the doggy stuff and our 32 foot boat seems smaller but has a special chi with Mollie aboard. It’s been over 3 years since my old girl died and I am enjoying seeing life again through a dog’s eyes. I forgot how interesting the little things can be and how to live in the moment. Our boating plans are less ambitious this year (Northern Lake Michigan and the North Channel of Lake Huron) but will be filled with special little moments. Welcome aboard.

Lake Michigan Northport Coming Home 9-19-10

The last cruise of the season is always special as it has to sustain us through a boatless Denver winter. I wanted to make it extra special on this 23 mile sunny and calm trip from Charlevoix to Northport so I “fired” Captain Bob and took full command for the day—docking, setting waypoints, monitoring the GPS and paper charts, helm duty (ok—monitoring the autohelm) and having Captain Bob wait on me for a change. Maybe I will go ahead and get my Captain’s license.

We visited Northport in 9/08 at the start of our Great Circle Loop and remembered it as an unpretentious, charming, hilly port town similar to our home port of Bayfield on Lake Superior. Northport Marina has a very helpful staff (Marv, Martha and Jason) and the price is right at $15 per night after 9/15—the lowest price on the whole Loop. Northport has everything we need—Tom’s Grocery store, an Ace Hardware store, Wi-Fi at the marina and library, an indoor pool up the hill at Highlands, and the real reason we came back—Barb’s Bakery for the best cinnamon twists ever. Grand Traverse Bay Lighthouse and Leelanau State Park are 8 miles away. We looped with a lot of Michigan boaters and some have cottages near here and we were able to visit with Pat and Ted (South Shore), and Deb (Catrina), and hope to see Jack and Linda (Cynthia Faye and other Loopers in future summers in this area.

We’ve had a great season and will now be Great Lakes cruisers rather than Loopers. We look forward to exploring Lake Michigan and returning to the North Channel and Georgian Bay areas of Lake Huron for the next few summers. I will probably add-on to this blog and you are welcome back aboard in June, 2011.

Have a great winter and we look forward to following the blogs of our boating friends heading south. Let's stay in touch peggy8301@hotmail.com

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Lake Michigan Charlevoix 9-17-10

Waves and wind finally calmed down and the sun came out on 9/15 so we scooted the 54 miles down the Lake Michigan coast to Charlevoix. We were here in 9/08 just for an overnight, but this time with the time to spare and the 2 nights for 1 dock price sale, we are staying for 4 nights. This is a great stop with a very protected harbor that you enter through a canal onto Round Lake and can even explore further by entering Lake Charlevoix. The fountains in the foreground of the picture pulse with color and a sound track at night and I have a date with my girlfriend Terry on Tootsie to dance through the sprinkler next June. Hope it’s warmer then…..

There is plenty to do here in Charlevoix. The newly renovated harbor is right downtown so there is access to shops, restaurants, grocery store, parks and galleries. Cherries are big here and celebrated all over but the chocolate-covered, jalapeno-dipped cherry was a bit much even for me.

We took our bikes off the flybridge and used them everyday to explore---- Ferry Ave. runs along Lake Charlevoix and offers a number of parks; Lakeshore Drive goes along Lake Michigan and takes you to Boulder Park where you will find the incredible “mushroom” or “hobbit houses” designed by Earl Young. They are only found in Charlevoix and with their wavy roofs and diminutive whimsical size, they would be a perfect home for Frodo from Lord of the Rings; or take a 10 mile roundtrip bike ride out to Castle Farms. It is a remodeled 1918 model farm developed by the Loeb family who owned Sear and was used to test farm equipment. The cow barns and horse trough have now been converted to an amazing castle decked out with formal gardens, but the multi-tiered railroad caught Bob’s eye.

We went to the beach and caught the wave action on Lake Michigan. Loopers are so tired of this lake with its unseasonably early wind and weather that they are calling it “Lake Misery.” It is definitely more ferocious than when we were here in 9/08. As we prepared to leave for Northport on 9/19 with good weather, Looper friends were trying to make distance to Frankfort or beyond. I watched them leave, wished them well but are glad that we are staying here in this area. Sometimes you have to leave home to discover that the best is right here.

Mackinaw City 9-13-10

With the wind and waves continuing on Lake Michigan, we delayed our departure and switched from cruising to touring mode here in Mackinaw City. This town of 900 is positioned well to handle the throngs of tourists who swarm here all summer to visit the princess port, Mackinac Island, right across the Strait. Mackinaw City is more practical, spells its name like its pronounced, and offers ferry service, hotels, shops, restaurants and has more fudge stores than bars.

The State of Michigan has developed a first class, reasonably priced ($1.03 to 1.19 per foot) marina system every 20-30 miles along Lake Michigan; Mackinaw City has two—Mackinaw Municipal Marina and the new state-of-the-art, State Harbor Marina with floating docks and wind turbines. We found lots of stuff we needed at Shepler’s Marine Store, and we are even thinking of doing inside boat storage with Shepler's Shipyard next year to be closer to the North Channel and Mackinaw City is a great place to spend a few days.

Mackinac Bridge or “Mighty Mac” is the 5 mile long suspension-type bridge which connects to Upper Michigan, Yooperland. The bridge defines the skyline and is nicely complimented by the shoreline paths and parks. You can tour the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse and/or step back in time with a visit to Colonial Fort Michilimackinac. Bob was here 50 years ago when there was only a cannon. Over the years, archeologists have unearthed and Michigan has reconstructed almost the entire fort.

Winter is long here so I thought I would include a picture of the icebreaker, USCG Mackinaw, now dry docked and open for tours. Our thoughts are now turning to tucking in Baby Grand for the season in Northport, 75 miles away. Our season is slowly coming to a close.

Mackinac Island 9-12-10

Sometimes a place transports you and Mackinac Island is it. Just like in the 1979 movie, Somewhere in Time, with Christopher Reeves and Jane Seymour, based here at the Grand Hotel, romance is in the air. The weather was perfect for hiking and biking the island trails for 2 days as well as enjoying the gardens and ambience of the Grand Hotel for lunch. You can explore Fort Mackinac, take a carriage ride or marvel at the blue water through the lens of Arch Rock. So much to see and do…we will be back…

Lighthouses of the Straits of Mackinac 9-10-10

We left DeTour Village on a bright calm day without weather for a change. These lighthouses (DeTour Reef, Barton Reef, Mackinac Island, Round Island and Old Mackinac Point Lighthouses) dotted our scenery and served as chart markers, but have been lifelines to sailors in the past.

Mackinac Straits is the narrow passage between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, is filled with reefs and shoals; add storms and fog and it is a recipe for shipwrecks. These lighthouses marked the reefs and channels, sent out a beacon of light and helped steer ships to safety.

Life expectancy for a Great Lakes sailor in the 19th century was only 7 years, and with 6,000 shipwrecks from 1878 to 1898 alone, it proved to be more dangerous than the job of a whaler in Nantucket. Their memory is honored and preserved in the Straits of Mackinac Underwater Preserve. Check out www.michiganpreserves.org/straits.htm

North Channel Drummond Island and De Tour Village 9-9-10

This is a 2 flag day for us: we come back to the USA and the red, white and blue through customs on Drummond Island; and we really earn our gold burgee for our Great Circle Loop for the 2008-2010 trip. We will not be going back into Lake Superior this year, but we were here in De Tour Village on 9/12/08 at the start of that Loop, and crossed our wake here today after logging 7,315 miles. We know we’re back in familiar waters as the ore freighters are on parade and they definitely have the right-of-way.

We are quietly reflective today compared to our other Loop milestone of technically completing the Great Circle Loop in the Chesapeake on 6-27-09 (see archive article, It's Been a Grand Adventure). Since that accomplishment, we’ve really slowed down, savored the moment and have broken-up the final leg into segments. It has been less stressful, and more fun in many ways than the fast-paced Loop schedule. Going only 300 miles in 3 months allowed us to really revisit our roots, relatives and friends in New Jersey, New York and Vermont last summer and fall, and this spring. Slowly cruising the Chambly, Rideau and Trent-Severn Canadian canals this summer, and then exiting into the Georgian Bay and North Channel areas of Lake Huron has been the highlight of our entire Loop.

We went to the De Tour Botanic garden today as we did on 9/12/08. Here are a few of the images from there: a Passage Keeper, a Sea Memorial and a Window on the World. It captures some of how we feel today—thankful that we could make this passage, and mindful that it has definitely given us a new window on the world.

North Channel Town of Thessalon 9-6-10

With the trio of strong clocking winds, cold temps (we don’t have a built-in heater) and rain with t-storms continuing here in the North Channel, we made the reluctant decision to leave the town of Spanish for the town of Thessalon instead of anchoring out on this holiday Monday. There were no boats in sight as we traveled east through the Whaleback Channel and Blind River Bank. We saw lots of anchorages that we want to try next year—Bear Drop, Long Point Cove, John’s Harbour—the list is endless here.

Our boat is a Grand Banks trawler and we joined the Great Lakes Grand Banks Association (GLGBA) a few years ago but have been too busy Looping to do much with them. On a whim, Bob sent an email to Linc North, a GLGBA member, newsletter editor and resident of Thessalon, that we would be coming into the Thessalon marina. Linc was there to catch our lines and whisked us away to his stunning home overlooking the harbor. We were wined and dined with a fantastic partridge and wild rice dinner, topped off with his wife, Shirley’s amazing apple rhubarb pie. What a gracious couple and the only thing Linc is requesting from me is a newsletter article—that’s a deal.

Thessalon offers a harbor with good protection, use of loaner bikes, a lighthouse-inspired marina building with a boaters’ lounge loft with complete kitchen. There are shops, a grocery store, hardware store, restaurants (Tina’s On Main is good), LCBO, parks and an ice arena that is gearing up for some serious hockey. You can tell a country is serious about hockey when it depicts hockey on their $5 bill—not pros, but kids playing. You got to love it! Speaking of money, we have been accumulating oodles of coins as Canada does not have $1 or $2 bills, but has these denominations in coins. We are hunched over carrying all these coins around, and Canadians tell us that’s why they all use knapsacks for wallets. I took $50 in coins up to the municipal office to pay the marina bill as the boat was listing from all the weight.

The last picture illustrates our boat name better than any explanation. With a name like Baby Grand, we usually get asked—“Are you musicians?” or “Do you have a baby grand piano onboard?” “Of course,” we say, “It’s just a little hard to get it out of the rear locker.” The real answer is that our Grand Banks 32 foot boat is the smallest model made by Grand Banks, hence Baby Grand. Here that point is illustrated next to Bonnie Banks, a 49 foot Grand Banks, owned by Floyd and Maggie Lewis who also came into Thessalon to visit with Linc and Shirley.

This is our last stop in Canada. We crossed the border on 6/13 and have been welcomed everywhere we’ve travelled. It is a beautiful country, filled with amazing people who really want you to have a good time here. I’ve been reading Richard Ford’s novel, Independence Day, and could not agree more with his character's observation: “The best all-around Americans, in my view, are Canadians. I, in fact, should think of moving there, since it has all the good qualities of the states and almost none of the bad, plus cradle-to-grave health care and a fraction of the murders we generate……”

Canada—see you next summer, eh.

Blog Has New Features Finally 9-4-10

You asked for a more user-friendly blog and we’ve finally had the time, high speed internet and, more importantly, got around to reading all those pesky small print instructions on Blogger to figure out how to do it. I thought that I would do this in Denver during our 5 month hiatus, but I never got around to it, or learning French either. But today, with the wind and rain howling outside here at Spanish, it was a great yin-yang activity to do together. Many of you tech heads already know how to navigate these changes but for “my people”, I am adding the following:

Starting at the bottom of the blog page on www.babygrandadventure.blogspot.com , you will notice a more useful archive. My 260 entries since 9/08 have only been archived by weekly dates which is not very helpful and I can’t even find my own stuff—when were we in Marathon??? Now the weekly dates have the blog titles noted so you can find entries by title.

Want an even easier way to find an area, subject, name etc.-- use the Search This Blog section with a keyword. I had great fun with this and was amazed at all the pirate entries. You will find this new section in the second section from the top of the blog page.

Now for the absolutely most amazing added section—Locate Baby Grand which is featured prominently now in the first section of the blog. I do not pretend to understand it, but it links my blog with Google Earth and is routed through the AGLCA (America’s Great Loop Cruising Association) Looper Locator website. You can download Google Earth if you don’t have it already and see a satellite photo of where we are.

You can also click on Track This Boat in Google Earth and see our entire trip this summer and we will be adding the track for our entire Loop. Zoom in and out of our hot air balloon icon and you will see the satellite photo as well as interesting photos of the area. I played with this for 2 hours, and even though I’ve been to all those places, it was a whole different perspective. Enjoy.

North Channel Town of Spanish 9-3-10

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.