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.