Cruising Again!

Friday, August 24, 2012
Still in Mackinaw City, MI. Friday was a work day. Not in the way we were accustomed to but we worked none the less. Mike installed fuel senders on the engines to provide us with computerized fuel data. I cleaned and prepared the boat for our guests arriving later. Sandy and Del arrived around 5:30 pm. After welcoming our friends (so good to see you!), we all joined our looper friends for a potluck dinner in a room in the harbor facilities.

Loopers and FOL's

Del and Sandy enjoyed the discussions and found out, first hand, that their friends are not alone in this quest. Saturday morning Del made us breakfast. Have cooler - will travel. Lucky for us! 

Breakfast by Del!

We split up later, the guys went to the Corvette show and Sandy & I visited the shops. Dinner was at O'Reilly's Irish Pub. Sunday we toured around St. Ignace and then it was time for our FOL's, 'friends of loopers', to head back to Bay City. (Del, that still has me laughing!) Once again, we count our blessings at having such great friends!

Monday, August 27, 2012

Leaving Mackinaw City with fog rising.

At 7 am the Irish Attitude (finally) left Mackinaw City after a week in port. Three others departed also but with different destinations in mind. We headed through the Straits of Mackinaw, through Gray's Reef and on to Charlevoix. It's beautiful port that we had visited many times. There we were welcomed by the dockmaster Hal and assistant Pat. They certainly enjoy what they are doing and their spirit is infectious. Hallelujah also made port and we visited with Barb and Dave once we were settled in. I was exhausted that night and went to bed early. Fresh air will do that to a person!

Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Next port.....Leland. We left Charlevoix when the bridge opened at 9 am. It's not a long trip but a good midpoint before heading to the next southbound port. We crossed Grand Traverse Bay and got our first glimpses of the sandy shores of Lake Michigan. I love this lake! The marina has been updated. The docks and indoor facilities are top notch. No looper boats here but a couple from Davidson walking by had partially cruised the loop and ended up finding a place in FL to call home. Like one loop book says, "I want to live here." We toured 'Fish Town' and the other shops in Leland. Leland is more of an artistic community, not as 'touristy' as Mackinaw City. An amphibious car pulled in to the boat ramp and motored off. Twin props visible under the rear bumper! We visited with our dockmates and saw three otters playing in the sand near the rocky break wall. They were digging in the sand and rolling around. The night turned cool and had us heading inside. Tomorrow..... Frankfort.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012
The lake was like glass when we took off today around 8 am. Around the southern point near Frankfort and we had one footers. The waves picked up slightly as we traveled but never more then 3 ft. My course plotting is improving! We passed North then South Manitou Islands on our starboard the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore Park to our port. Legend tells of a mother bear and her 2 starving cubs leaving Wisconsin for the land of plenty (Michigan). Sadly, the cubs did not survive the swim and the Great Spirits turned them into the Manitou Islands. The exhausted mother bear lay on shore, wistfully watching where her cubs perished. She in turn became the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes. I noticed one area on the chart that marked the water depth at 888 ft.! That is the deepest water I have seen so far. We pulled into Frankfort Municipal Marina around 2 pm. After tying our lines we went to town and the first place we saw was a printing office. Loopers exchange calling cards as a way to keep track of who they have met. So far we had none to pass out. Our order was placed and will be ready tomorrow by noon! Thanks Amanda! We are getting the hang of this looper lifestyle! Frankfort is a nice town with many cute shops. After touring the marinas we went for a dinghy ride in the harbor around Betsie Lake. Gale force winds (35 mph) are predicted for Thursday and Friday. Wave heights of 6-9 ft. rising to 8-12. Yea, we're staying in Frankfort for awhile!

Taking it Slow and Loving It!

Our first week has taken us as far as Mackinaw City, Tip of the Mitt!  It has been slow going at only 8 mph.  We found out it is not only possible to go this slow but enjoyable. When first leaving the mouth of the Saginaw River we calibrated the auto pilot that Mike had recently installed. I have decided it is my favorite part of the boat! It allows us to plot our course and monitor it as we go. The freedom from the wheel makes for more relaxing cruising. Thank you Mike for all the effort and time you put into installing it!

At 7 pm we arrived at our first destination, East Tawas State Dock. 66 miles for our first travel day.  A boater passing by on the dock said "Hi", Mike replied in like. But wait.... is that Dave Tripp? They both did a double take. Tripp and Mike worked together for years and we had visited his sailboat, Chopsticks, in a marina near ours the last few years. What a surprise! After dinner we visited with Dave and Barb and their son Greg (from FL). They were heading to DeTour the next day. We left heading for points north.

Our location ended up being Alpena, 6:45 pm. (On our maiden voyage we stopped here and emptied what was remained in their fuel tank.... from last year!) We pulled in to fuel up but what.... no fuel.... again! Imagine that. Not to worry a delivery was expected by the next morning. Weather kept us in Alpena longer then expected but we were able to walk the town (in the rain) and even take in a movie! We departed Alpena at 9:15 and headed 58 mi. to Presque Isle. (We learned Presque means 'not quite an island'.) Strong winds made it rough going with the predicted 5 ft. waves turning into 8 into footers. By then we were already committed so we trudged along. We stayed 2 nights. Presque Isle Marina was a tranquil stop after our bumpy ride.  We were surprised to find a great restaurant at the end of the dock! The next day we walked out to the 2 lighthouses. We climbed the 123 ft. lighthouse, all 139 steps to the lookout. We departed Presque Isle on Aug. 19 and headed for Cheyboygan, MI.

 View from Atop the New Lighthouse at  Presque Isle

Good seas landed us in Cheboygan County Marina before 4 pm. We had planned to head to Mackinaw City the next day but Mike noticed the a slow drip on the starboard side raw water pump.  Walstrom's Marine ordered a part from their affiliate in Habor Springs. The service manager said he lived near there and he would pick it up for us that night!  That is service!  The next day, my handy guy, changed out the pump and we were off to Mackinaw City.

Top of the Mitt - Mackinaw City, MI. - Tuesday, August 21. The trip up was calm and quick (well, I mean relatively speaking).  We decided to stay in the Straits State Marina but it is not very well marked on the charts. If we had not been here before it would have been difficult.  Once in, we fueled up and pumped out, our new routine. Only 6 of the 139 transient slips filled. It's a new marina, maintained meticulously but still not very populated.  It is only a few more yards from the city marina and the shopping district. Check it out!

The few boats that were here were mostly 'loopers'. We are the rookies having only come as far as Bay City. Joyce and Bill from Carried Away stopped by and said they heard we were doing the loop. We were puzzled by this as we had not yet flown our white burgee from the America's Great Loop Cruisers' Assoc. (ALGCA) It turns out they overheard our conversation on the radio with Crawdad. Crawdad was headed to Wheeler's Landing in Bay City, their home port where they are ALGCA harbor hosts. Carried Away invited us over for hors d'œuvres.  There we met Barb and Dave from Hallelujah who have their gold burgee, having already completed the loop once. A wealth of information was dispersed, I should have taken notes! Thank you, it was a great introduction to the friendship easily shared among loopers. We also met Marcia who is sailing Resolute. As the forecast worsened the next day, more boaters pulled in. We had a get together that evening. Down Time and Viking Star from our marina and Mary Frances IV from the city marina joined us. Mike was  pleased to be re-introduced to John from Mary Frances IV. Their paths crossed at work. Mike remembered the picture of John and Mary's boat from John's office. I was more surprised to find that they lived only 10 min. north of us in Shepherd! Finally, someone that new where St. Louis, MI is! The next day, Thursday, John took three of us to a grocery store in St. Ignace, across the Mackinaw Bridge. His hospitality in their home port was greatly appreciated! John was looking to unload his charts and we bought the whole lot. We now have a thorough collection (complete with notes!). A couple boats continued on today and 3 more loop boats arrived, Boreas being one of them. Fred came over and introduced himself. Mike knew Fred's name from work and knew their boat was from the Bay City area. Boreas had just 'crossed their wake' which translates to the end of the loop.

Bon Voyage!

Prologue

After more than 20 years of mental planning and 6 months of preparation, reality hit us at warp speed. Mike's dream to cruise "The Great Loop" was in sight. Talk was finally on the road to become a reality. I had bought into this plan at a much later time, unable at first to imagine it while I was still chasing our kids. Over the last 5 yr., Mike's plan began to grow on me too!

We purchased our 2003 360 Carver Sport Sedan in January, making weekly visits to her as she sat on the showroom floor. (Thank You!, Adam @ North Shore in Spring Lake, MI). We made our maiden voyage on our (yet to be christened) new boat. Mike and I brought her around the "mitten" with the aid of our friends, Bud and Janie Bender. It was a high speed adventure that took us 4 days. We encountered a few delays...6 ft. waves in Lake Huron, no fuel in Alpena and what we feared was a transmission problem in Harrisville. Luckily our engineer, Bud and Mike deduced the problem and for the cost of an 11 cent cotter pin we were off again. The staff at Harrisville Marina was very accommodating. We entered our home port in Bay City, MI with sirens and water cannons produced by our dock mates, the infamous A Dockers. It felt like it was fleet week in N.Y. harbor!

We had also listed our house in May and had an offer that same day, (Thank You!, Melissa @ Century 21). With our contents donated or sold, we were out in 6 wks! Mike and I moved aboard the "Irish Attitude", making her our new home. As our friends noted, we were houseless not homeless. As the saying goes, "Home is where your heart is". Friends were not left behind as we will keep them with us always.

We resided at Liberty Harbor Municipal Marina in Bay City, MI (our 8th yr.) while we finished work and prepared for an August departure date. By August we were car-less a more difficult reality for Mike to face than selling our house. Mike had not been without a vehicle since he was 16!

Our good friends, Sandy and Del would not allow us to embark on our adventure without a proper christening for the Irish Attitude. Is anyone up for a party? CAUTION: This event could take months to plan and days to complete! Participants must have hardy souls! Of course others assisted in the planning... Janie, Jill, Annie. First the boat had to be purified of the previous name. After a 24 hr. waiting period she was ready to be christened. But first, keeping with A dock tradition... We Must Eat! The gang surprised Mike and I with a Bon voyage party!

"A" Dock always does it up right!

The group then moved to our boat to finish the ceremony. With everyone taking part, traditional phrases were recited, champagne was poured over her bow and a branch of green leaves was presented for safe returns. Since she is Irish in name and spirit, a toast of Jamesons, provided by Tim Kelly, was in order. (This is a step up from the 'Killians' provided for our 27 footer!) The IRISH ATTITUDE was officially ready. How lucky we are to have our lives blessed with great family and friends, Thank you all!