Gore Bay, Manitoulin Island, North Channel 7-25-11

We arrived here on Wednesday, 7/20 surrounded by heat and humidity that just would not let go, so we decided to take the weekly rate option of $7.60 per foot. As attractive as the island anchorages are to us, it is more important right now to have electricity to blow 3 fans around to catch a breeze. The marina was recently refurbished with wide floating docks and a spacious bathhouse and HE laundry facility so we settled in quite nicely.

Gore Bay is a great town to visit with so much going on. There’s the Farmers’ Market on Friday and the weekend was filled with events (fish fry, rock concert) for the Mackinac-Manitoulin (MacMan) sailboat race. We attended a first rate production by the Gore Bay Summer Theatre of the Norm Foster play, Looking, which kept us laughing for days. We love going for long walks and here is a picture of the Gore Bay harbor from the East Bluff Overlook. You can also bike or walk about 2 miles on Lighthouse Road to the Janet Head Lighthouse. Jan Fletcher will regale you with tales about the keepers and how the whole Fletcher family adopted this lighthouse and has kept it going for 3 generations. The Gore Bay Museum is also worth a visit and don’t miss the air-conditioned art gallery. There was an Ecumenical service on Sunday which featured “ol’ time religion” music and camaraderie with a potluck lunch. I just love the hospitality of small towns in Canada. Even Mollie found a friend—here she is doing her puppy moves with Spike, an absolutely incredible German Shepherd/Husky mix who allowed Mollie to climb all over him.

We proudly fly our GLCC and Looper burgees and have met so many boaters though this. All are eager to share information about their favorite anchorages and tricky passages. This is a great place to reprovision at the ValuMart grocery store, the hardware store, 2 drug stores and pick up your needed charts at CYC Charters.

We would recommend Café on the Bay for lunch, but don’t even try to go to Gordon’s Lodge even though it is recommended in the Ports book and GLCC Harbor Reports. We walked over there with other boaters to inquire about dinner that evening and were met by a screaming, hysterical woman owner who demanded that we leave the property or she would call the police. Her demand was accented by a guy behind her, swinging a cane. Jack Nicholson in The Shining gave a warmer reception than we received here, and apparently the problems started when new owners took over the restaurant and resort. Just avoid Gordon’s and your visit to Gore Bay will be absolutely wonderful.

Meldrum Bay, North Channel, Lake Huron, Canada 7-19-11

We left DeTour Village on Tuesday, 7/19 on a very easy 40 mile cruise to Canada and phone customs check-in at Meldrum Bay on Manitoulin Island. We subsequently learned that you can apply for a Can Pass for Remote Area Border Crossing at www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca but there is a fee.

We are now in the western edge of the North Channel, which is framed by large Manitoulin Island on the south and the mainland of Ontario Province on the south with hundreds of islands sandwiched between. Meldrum Bay is the tiniest little hamlet with a newly constructed breakwater and a marina office and showers downstairs and comfortable boaters lounge upstairs. The docks are scheduled for an overhaul late this year, but until then, the harbormaster, Peggy, and her crew will get you securely tied-up to the old long pier docks.

Have lunch or dinner at the Meldrum Bay Inn where you will see this doll house garden. The Grover family also operates the General Store and if you’re lucky, fresh croissants may be available.

Les Cheneaux Islands, Lake Huron 7-17-11

There is only one picture but a story to tell. We left Mackinaw City on Sunday, 7/17 to continue through the Straits of Mackinac to Lake Huron and Government Island in the Cheneaux (aka the Snows) Islands. It was an easy 21 mile course on this hot, humid and windless day. Government Bay was recommended to us by a number of boaters as it has 4 sided protection, mud holding ground and a beach with a campsite. We are members of the Great Lakes Cruising Club (GLCC) and membership provides charts and harbor reports and Government Bay looked pretty good. We dropped in 13 feet with good holding, deep to shore, no rocks and a mile to the west shore—pretty perfect conditions.

Mollie loved the dinghy ride and had a great time at the beach retrieving sticks with a Springer spaniel. We enjoyed a lazy afternoon of reading, jumping into the 60 degree water as well as a delicious trout dinner.

We turned in early, but were awakened by a deep rumbling of thunder and a Marine Warning on our GPS. It indicated a wide band of T-storms with 30-40mph headed our way. We checked our anchor line which was solid and let out 20 more feet of scope for extra safety for an 8:1 scope. We readied our emergency equipment (headlamps, headsets, rain gear) and talked about strategies if our anchor broke free.

By 11pm, the sky was ablaze with lightening all around us, the winds began to howl and the thunder monster was getting closer. We had 2 powerboats anchored, 1 was 200 feet to port and the other, 300 feet to starboard, and all boaters were on deck in ready mode. The west wind built 20-25-30 mph accompanied by horizontal, torrential rain. We were glued to our GPS Anchor Watch, compass and wind meter and shuttered when at 33 mph and a wind lurch, our anchor dragged 80 feet!

Bob started the engine to keep us in place and be ready to reset the anchor, but not in building 40 mph winds at midnight in a bay we did not know. We danced with the savage wind for an hour with Bob going slowly forward with each wind thrust backwards. The powerboat to port broke free of its anchor and was drifting perilously close to us as the boaters struggled to get up their anchor rode and lash their anchor and finally, after Herculean effort, pulled away.

Bob maintained a steady hand on the wheel ever mindful of the danger of the anchor rode getting tangled around our propeller if he went too far forward. We continued to drag a total of 200 feet, but by 1am, our anchor had reset in 12 feet of water as the wind started to die back down to 35-30-25-20-15. We breathed a sigh of relief, tested our anchor line and it was solid. We went to bed but not really to sleep just waiting for more to come. We learned later that the Chicago-Mackinac sailing racers were caught in the very same storm with one boat capsizing, killing two sailors and we pause to remember them.

And how did Mollie do during the storm? Mollie slept in her crate and did not even stir. What a great boating dog!!!!

Beaver Island, Lake Michigan 7-14-11

Here’s another island retreat where you are guaranteed to have a good time. We were headed out of Charlevoix on 7/12 to Mackinaw City about 15 miles out when the predicted winds and waves of 10-15 and 2-3 increased to 18-22 and 4+ respectively so we set an alternate course for shelter at Beaver Island and Paradise Bay. There is anchoring room in this beautiful harbor, but with a seasick puppy, we decided to go to a dock.

Beaver Island Marina is a private, bit rundown marina that takes reservations but has the phone number of the non-reservation, updated Beaver Island Municipal Marina in the official State of Michigan Harbor Guide--very confusing. Both are $1.18 per foot, and despite being duped into staying at Beaver Island Marina, we opted to stay for 2 days as the staff are very helpful, docks are lower, closer proximity to town, great local boaters and car rentals are available.

You notice immediately the Irish flags flying proudly on Beaver Island, the Gaelic surnames on the street and shop signs, the Irish music playing and everyone waving “Hello” to you. This is Michigan’s Emerald Isle with a dramatic connection to the Auld Sod and Arranmore Island in particular. An Englishman, John Charley, bought that island in 1851 and evicted his 163 Irish tenants that day, forcing them to emigrate to America and eventually to this island which reminded them so much of home.

Beaver Island has an even more colorful Mormon connection with a saga that rivals any script for the HBO series,Big Love. After the Mormon founder, Joseph Smith, died, his two disciples split with Brigham Young taking his followers to Utah and James Strang staying on Beaver Island and declaring himself “King.” It was a surreal life—dressing his second wife as a man and pretending she was his nephew, marrying three more wives and finally being assassinated.

Today Beaver Island is unspoiled, unhurried and unique with loads to offer. There are car ferries and airline service ($42.) from Charlevoix, 2 campgrounds and plenty of house rentals. The town of St. James is laid-back, not gaudy touristy and your provisioning needs are easily handled at McDonough’s Market and Powers Hardware Stores. Stony Acres is a great lunch stop.

You can tour the Maritime Museum and learn about the islands history as the greatest fishing ground for trout and whitefish until the lamprey eel in the 1950’s reeked havoc. The Toy Museum and Art Gallery was fun and we enjoyed its miniature garden and playhouse. There are miles of walking and bike trails and we liked the Gull Harbour area. We rented a Geo Tracker and toured 40 miles on narrow “boreen” gravel roads through the forest as well as Donegal Bay (see Mollie look for fish), Kelly Point, McCouley Point and the Beaver Island Lighthouse. We celebrated the end of 2 perfect days by the turquoise waters at Beaver Island Lodge.

We are putting Beaver Island on our annual Must-do ports on our way to the North Channel of Lake Huron.

Vashon Island Wedding 7-3-11

What is there about an island that stirs our imaginations, encourages us to dream and even to fall in love? Vashon Island off the coast of Seattle is such a place and the site for the wedding of our nephew, Kyle, to his beautiful bride, Kate. We all gathered to witness this happy day at the Point Robinson Lighthouse which nautical Olsens just had to climb. We were lavishly entertained at a Welcome dinner at the Vashon Island Yacht Club, and following the wedding, a reception at Kate’s parent’s home with a newly constructed party barn. We raised the roof with good cheer, great food, a fabulous band and “We are Family” kinship. With great accommodations overlooking Puget Sound, and side trips to Seattle and Mount Rainer, it truly was a fantastic wedding. Thank you so much, Kate and Kyle; Kate’s parents, Mike and Sarah; and my sister and brother-in-law, Maureen and Kevin.

Elk Rapids 6-26-11

We traveled 24 miles from Traverse City to Elk Rapids on 6/20 and stepped back to small town Americana at its best. In our 7 days here, we’ve had 5 days of rain and NOAA which usually forecasts weather in technical terms ran out of descriptions and simply noted “the ugliness continues.” However, Elk Rapids is a great port to be waylaid. The marina is the best of our Loop of 7,500 miles as evidenced by its friendly and very attentive staff, sparkling restrooms complete with fresh flowers, comfortable boaters’ lounge and all this for $1.18 per foot including great Wi-Fi and cable. There is yoga every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday morning at 7am in the Pavilion and Acoustic Sunset performances every Sunday night.

You can reprovision at the Village Market, and while you’re up there, have lunch at Pearl’s New Orleans Kitchen. You’ll think you’re back in bayou country with spicy Jambalaya and Gumbo, accented with Mardi Gras décor and a Blues downbeat. Siren Hall Restaurant also has a tasty and creative menu. You are bound to need something at Gil-Roys Got It Hardware store. Elk Rapids has cute shops and even has a movie theatre and we enjoyed seeing Water for Elephants on a rainy afternoon. There are great walking trails along Traverse Bay and the beaches here are dog-friendly. Mollie enjoyed racing, swimming and doing what terriers do best—digging.

We take sunny blue sky days for granted in Denver; here when the sun comes out for the weekend, everyone rejoices. We had a perfect alignment of weather, place and people. We attended the Art Rapids Art Show, the Town Hall Ice Cream Social and the Elk Rapids Yacht Club pot-luck dinner. We met so many boaters and felt so welcome here that we joined the yacht club ($20) as we will be here annually every June and September.

On 6/27, we headed back to Northport at the tip of Grand Traverse Bay. Our car is here so we can reprovision easily after we come back from my nephew Kyle’s wedding in Seattle. We love the Pacific Northwest and it will be a chance to sample another seaside area and see our family again. Mollie will be vacationing at Sun Dog Kennel which has couches and lots of TLC from Tracy.

Northern Lake Michigan Traverse City 6-19-11

It is good to be back on the water again!!!!! After a week’s worth of inside boat projects at Northport Bay Boat Yard (we recommend them highly) and some reprovisioning and more projects at Northport, we headed off on 6/14 to explore Grand Traverse Bay. This 35 mile long bay is grand indeed with its clear Caribbean blue water surrounded by rolling hillsides filled with cherry trees and vineyards. This is cottage country where Michigan comes to play and visit the quaint port towns of Northport, Sutton’s Bay, Omena and Elk Rapids. There are plenty of anchorages but since our dink is with the Dinghy Doc trying to find that pesky hole, we will port hop for awhile.

Traverse City commands a position as the “cherry” on top of the bay which is only fitting as it annually hosts the National Cherry Festival in July. From its Clinch Park shoreline complete with beaches, pavilions, a steam engine train ride and tall ships to the walks and bike trails alone the Boardman River, Traverse City is a great place to explore. This is a small city with a lot of vitality with loads of visitors to its shops (check out the bargain book section at Horizon) and restaurants. There are plenty of dog-friendly ones and Mollie liked searching for some tasty morsels.

The locals are very friendly and rightly proud of their town and many give credit to Michael Moore, the filmmaker, even if they don’t agree with his politics. He refurbished the State Theatre for his Traverse City Film Festival and now it is open daily and run by a non-profit and volunteers. In our six days here, we saw Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris (his best since Annie Hall and who knew Owen Wilson could act), the l960 classic Fall of the House of Usher ( no one does eyebrows better than Vincent Price) for only 25 cents and an encore performance of the Met Opera HD broadcast of Madam Butterfly.

The Balloon Festival filled the sky with color and created a party atmosphere in the park. We met so many great people and even reconnected with Loopers, Pat and Ted from South Shore and Jim and Lisa from Kismet. Lots of dogs here too and here’s Mollie with a basket full of Border Terriers, Elvis and Priscilla. We even attended the Grand Traverse Kennel Club and watched dogs show their stuff on the Canine Good Citizen test—do we have a lot of work to do!

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.