8/24 & 8/25 - Friday & Saturday - Saugatuck, Michigan - Days 112 & 113
8/26 & 8/27 - Sunday & Monday - St. Joseph, Michigan - Days 114 & 115
8/28  - Tuesday - Michigan City, Indiana - Day  116

We were enjoying the artsy town of Saugatuck so much we decided to stay for 2 more nights.     After Skip & Barb left on Friday, we continued our browsing in the many art boutiques in the town, now with Dave & Joy on Maia who had arrived in Saugatuck, hoping to find new decor items for Rickshaw.     We settled on 3 wallhangings - one for the galley and another for the salon.    One particular art gallery had some very interesting furniture (which we don't need) custom made to look kind of like Cat in the Hat furniture.  On Friday evening, back on Rickshaw, we were able to sit out on our aft deck and enjoy the sounds of the local band playing
in the waterside bar, just 50 yards from our anchorage.    

The next day, Saturday, Jim wanted to finally go to a beach.   The one near Saugatuck is rated as one of the top fresh-water beaches in the country. The weather was perfect, but the hitch was that the beach was a few miles away, across a channel and on the other side of a very steep hill.     So our journey to the beach started with loading the 2 bikes onto the dinghy, taking the dinghy over to the small boat dock, offloading the bikes and pedaling to the chain ferry, loading the bikes onto the ferry, taking them off the ferry on the other side, then riding/walking the bikes up to the top of the very steep hill, then riding down to the beach.    The rest of Saturday was spent laying on inflatable rafts just off of the shore, and relaxing in the cabana we rented, catching up on reading, and just chilling out.  At the end of the day, we reversed the order of the journey to the beach, and landed back on Rickshaw, thoroughly exhausted.

The next 3 days were spent moving further down the Michigan coastline to get us into a better position for a 50 mile weather crossing to Chicago on Wednesday. Since we had not been in a marina since Leland, we needed to stay at least one night in a marina to give our battery bank a full charge.  On Sunday, we motored down to the marina in Benton Harbor/St. Joseph, MI where we spent a couple of days, before pushing on to Michigan City, Indiana on Tuesday.    The weather and waves were very accommodating for travel, which we were obviously very glad to get.     The  weather forecast for the crossing day, Wednesday, was 1-2 foot seas out of the northeast.    The next day, Thursday, the forecast changed significantly, showing 5-9 foot seas in the middle of Lake Michigan, so we definitely couldn't delay our crossing, although we had enjoyed the eastern side of LM so much we really hated to leave.
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We anchored one night in White Lake, spent two days in Grand Haven at the city dock, three nights anchored in Saugatuck, two days in Benton Harbor and one in Michigan City. We traveled a total of 144 miles.
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We bought this 3D metal wall sculpture for Rickshaw.
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A print for the guest bath.
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We enjoyed an afternoon at Opal Beach while in Saugatuck.
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Rickshaw tied to the city dock in Benton Harbor.
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The furniture in this really unique store looked like something from a Dr. Seuss book. The piece in the middle thal looks like three stacked peices was $6,000. But what a conversation piece!
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We bought this carved wood plaque for over the sink.
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Leaving Benton Harbor and heading out into Lake Michigan.
 
Monday - White Lake:  Day 108
Tuesday, Wednesday - Grand Haven: Days 109-110
Thursday - Saugatuck:  Day 111


After leaving Manistee, we took every opportunity to move south along the Michigan coast line while the weather remained somewhat favorable.    We left our anchorage in Manistee on Monday morning heading out the channel and towards White Lake, 60 miles away.   At our normal cruising speed of 7.5 knots, today was going to be a very long day.    The forecast of 10-15 knot winds out of the northeast with 1-2 foot seas was exactly correct, making the long ride reasonably comfortable for us.    Rickshaw has a pair of extra fins on the bottom which are the hydraulic stabilizers which dampen the roll from waves coming at us from our beam, or just ahead or behind of our beam.   They are not effective for seas coming directly on our bow or on our stern, so the most comfortable wave direction for us on our trip down the coast is anything but northerly or southerly. 

We arrived in White Lake after 8 1/2 hours, dropping the anchor in a pretty little cove surrounded by summer cottages peering down into the bay from high up on the hillside.     After the darkness set in, we took blankets and pillows out on the dinghy deck (where Ricky-Dink is stored), and gazed up at the millions of stars in the moonless sky.

On Tuesday, the weather forecast remained good, so we pushed ahead down the coast again a short 24 miles to another popular tourist town, Grand Haven.   Grand Haven was a great stopover, especially since it offered one of our most favorite features, a free town wall, which gives us the security of being tied to a wall (instead of at anchor), good access to the town, and best of all, at no cost!   GH goes out of its way to make itself a great place to visit, with a nice downtown shopping strip, a great farmers' market on the waterside, and a nightly musical fountain show, which happened to be right in front of where we parked on the wall.     We decided to stay in GH for 2 nights, giving us a chance to stop and relax a bit.     There is a promenade along the town wall so throughout the day and early evening was a constrant stream of people strolling along the canal, many stopping by to ask where we came from and where we were going.   On the 2nd day, we were surprised to see Maia (whom we hadn't seen since Atlantic Highland, NJ 3 months ago) pull in, so we enjoyed catching up with Dave & Joy on Maia.    

Although Grand Haven was very nice, we needed to continue pushing south in order to make our goal of being either in Holland (20 miles south) or Saugatuck (27 miles south) by Friday morning, in order to meet Jim's sister, Louise, who was planning to drive over Friday from Detroit.    The weather forecast for Thursday wasn't great, predicting 10-15 knot winds out of the south, with 2-3 foot seas, also out of the south, i.e. on the nose.     Friday's forecast was slightly worse than Thursday's so we decided to make the jump down the coast, hoping to make it as far as Saugatuck, with the backup plan of stopping at Holland.     The ride was probably the worst we had had the entire loop trip, with the waves usually in the 2 foot range but with a few 4 & 5 foot waves hitting us right on the bow.    Rickshaw tends to "hobby horse" when pushing into waves on our bow, which made the 3 1/2 hour trip somewhat uncomfortable for us.    We had no concerns that it was too much for Rickshaw.   Our biggest concern was damage to either us or to the furnishings on the boat during the constant pounding of the bow down into the trough of waves.    Shortly before pulling into the Kalmazoo River, which was our entrance into the Saugatuck harbor, we received a call from Louise that she wasn't feeling well and would have to cancel her visit, which obviously was a big disappointment.    

When we arrived in the harbor, we considered our choices for parking Rickshaw.   The main marina was very expensive (over $100 / night for a slip).   We attempted to get a slip at another marina, which, we discovered after running aground twice, did not have enough water in the available slips for our 4 1/2 foot draft.    Our final choice was to drop our anchor in the middle of the harbor in 8 ft of water just off of the main town marina.     We figured that we were probably the only boat in the group of boats we had been buddy-boating with that would have chosen to travel today, so we were pleasantly surprised to hear Skip & Barb on Moor $tuff call out to us on channel 16 on the VHF, after pulling into the harbor at about the same time, having slogged down from Holland.    We enjoyed the rest of the day (Thursday) exploring the upscale, artsy town of Saugatuck with Skip & Barb, followed up by a delicious dinner in town, before getting back on Ricky-Dink to return to Rickshaw, who remained the only boat in the anchorage.
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Something just doesn't seem right when you see a sailboat planing under power ..........
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A catamaran coming in the Grand Haven channel.
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The Grand Haven beach and RV park!
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A morning's catch from one of the local charter boats.
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After watching the ballroom daning we walked out on the jettie to see the sun set on Lake Michigan.
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We watched the musical fountain two nights while in Grand Haven. Apparently they have several shows so we didn't see the same performance both nights.
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One of the more unique shops in Saugatuck has some VERY unusual furniture. This designer must have been a big fan of Dr. Seuss.
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Either a condo or apartment complex with a beach on the shore of White Lake.
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The lighthouse they call Big Red at the end of the sea wall in Grand Haven.
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The boardwalk along the canal. Grand Haven is a clean and colorful city which is very welcoming to the tourist!
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One evening Grand Haven had an orchestra playing big band music for ball room dancing on the waterfront.
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Saugatuck has a chain ferry to take people across the canal. The ferry is guided by chains that are submerged until the ferry pulls them to the surface as it goes across. So you don't want to pass too close or might snag the chains in your props - OUCH!
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More 'Dr. Suess' furniture and lamp!
 
On Tuesday, Joey & Holly needed to return to Northport, so we pulled out of the Mackinac Island marina by 9am, and shuttled them across the Mackinac Straits to Mackinaw City (pronounced the same with different spelling – go figure) where Joey had parked his car the day before.   After dropping them off, we continued our journey, passing under the Mackinac Bridge, which, at almost 5 miles in length, is the longest suspension bridge in the western hemisphere.    We entered the almost flat waters of Lake Michigan and headed southwest toward a very popular tourist town, Charlevoix, on the western coast of Michigan, 58 miles away.    We’ve noticed a change in the weather patterns in the past several weeks, with the warm and long sunny days we had in June & July being replaced by cooler mornings & evenings and the days getting shorter, and windy weather fronts moving through every 5 days or so.    Since Lake Michigan can be very rough (so much in fact that the government has ensured that there are harbors of refuge at least every 20 miles down the eastern side of Lake Michigan), our intent is to put as many miles under Rickshaw’s keel as we can whenever the weather is favorable.   With the winds typically coming out of the west, the waves fetching across Lake Michigan can easily build to over 6 feet by the time they reach the Michigan shoreline.

 We arrived in Charlevoix around 5pm, and motored under the drawbridge between the entrance channel and the main harbor to our anchorage in Oyster Bay.    Shortly after dropping our anchor, we got a call from Quest, who was in the Charlevoix marina, inviting us for dinner.   So we dropped Ricky-Dink over the side, and sped across the bay 3 miles, meeting up with Carl & Ricki on Quest, Mike & Kathy on Queen Kathleen and Joe & Edie on Seaquel, who we had never met before.    Shortly after 8:00pm, we decided we should return to Rickshaw before total darkness set in, so we made our way back to Rickshaw, returning Ricky-Dink to her cradle on the dinghy deck around 9pm.

After pulling the anchor up Wednesday morning, we motored back through the Charlevoix channel returning to Lake Michigan, and turned the wheel southbound, heading toward Leland, where we would wait out the front predicted to arrive Thursday, promising heavy rains and high winds.     We passed through the Leland harbor entrance around noon, and proceeded to our slip in the marina, awaiting Joey & Holly to return via his car.     We had originally hoped to give Joey & Holly the experience of anchoring out Wednesday night, but decided that experiencing heavy rains and 4-5 foot seas when they awoke Thursday morning might be too much for their first time, so we scratched those plans, and instead spent the day exploring the Sleeping Bear Dunes just south of Leland in Joey’s car, along with Joey & Holly.    The dunes are 500 foot high sand dunes which steeply drop down to Lake Michigan and are part of the National Park system. 

The weather forecast for Thursday morning proved to be 100% accurate, so we awoke in the marina to a downpouring thunderstorm and were rocked throughout the day and night by heavy winds, reaching 40 mph at one point.   The bad weather gave us a chance to catch up on a few chores and boat projects, including the repair of the washer & dryer, thanks to the receipt of a new water pump to Holly’s grandmother’s house, and the resolution of a problem with the fuel polisher.   Belinda spent the day verifying a successful fix of the washer by catching up on laundry (yea! No more water on the floor!), and exploring the quaint shops in the town between rainshowers.    Another problem that needed Jim’s attention was to diagnose the cause of the radar not communicating with the scanner mounted on top of the arch, 8 feet above the flybridge.    During one of the breaks in the rain, Jim unzipped the flybridge cover and started the removal of the radar scanner dome cover to check for any loose wiring that might explain the reason for the malfunctioning radar.    The dome is held in place by 4 bolts, of which 3 are easily accessible by standing on a bench seat on the flybridge.   The last bolt proved very difficult to reach so Jim attempted to extend his reach by standing on a very wobbly 15” stool, placed on top of the bench seat, which soon proved to be a bad decision.    As he stood up on the stool to reach the last bolt, the stool tipped over, sending Jim crashing down and planting the left side of his face solidly into the edge of the bench seat, resulting in an almost perfect circular deep-purple black eye.
He now bears a strong resemblance to Petey, on the Little Rascals (for those old enough to remember).

On Friday, Joey loaned us his car which enabled us the means to get out of the marina and do more exploring and to do some major reprovisioning from Walmart in nearby Traverse City, since our existing inventory of food and supplies had been severely depleted over the last month due to the 3 sets of company.     We invited Carl & Ricki along & decided to drive back up to Charlevoix for a quick reunion with Skip & Barb on Moor $tuff, whom we had not seen since mid-June in Waterford, NY, and Joe & Tara on Seabatical.     After the brief visit and a lunch stop, we headed back south in the car to Traverse City, loading up a basket with $250 in groceries at Walmart, and a few small purchases at West Marine & Home Depot.   We arrived back at the marina about 5pm, and quickly dropped off the groceries, before cleaning up and driving back north to Holly’s grandmother’s (Christie) “cottage”, in the exclusive community of Northport Point, where Christie spends her summers, away from her home in Houston.   We feasted on wine & a wonderful dinner prepared by Christie, watching the sun set over Grand Traverse Bay, following a golf-cart tour of the gated community before being returned to Rickshaw by Joey around 10pm.

The weather had finally broken Friday afternoon, so, on Saturday morning, we gladly untied our docklines from the Leland marina and headed out to the last island that we would visit for a while, which was the South Manitou island, 15 miles west of Leland.     The island is part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes national park, so is manned by two Park Service personnel, who live on the island full-time during the summer season.     Upon arriving in the eastern-facing bay on the east side of the island, we dropped our anchor in 25 feet of crystal clear aqua- green water, ate a quick lunch on the aft deck, before hoisting Ricky-Dink over the side to explore the island.    The bay is edged by white sandy beaches, which, together with the aqua waters, gave the appearance of being somewhere in the Caribbean, except for the absence of palm trees.    We beached the dinghy near the ranger station and walked up the beach to inquire what there was to do there.   We were told that we had just missed the last tour of the 150 year old lighthouse, but that we could be given a personal tour in about 30 minutes.     Bob, who worked for the Park Service until his retirement a few years ago, and who now volunteers to work for 3 weeks straight on the island, showed up right on time and gave us the personal tour of the lighthouse, explaining the history and the mechanics of how a lighthouse operates, including how a 120 watt light bulb can be projected through a Fresnel lens and be seen over 10 miles away.    Returning to Rickshaw early evening, we spent the rest of the evening being rocked to sleep in our anchorage.

Sunday’s weather continued to be favorable for travel, so we took advantage of the calm seas and winds to make more progress down the Michigan coast.    Our hope was that, by the end of the week, we could be near the bottom of Lake Michigan to meet up with Jim’s sister, Louise, and her husband, Bob, who could drive over from Detroit for an overnight visit.    The next weather system was predicted to be at mid-week, so we wanted to make as many miles as we could while the weather cooperated, in order to be that far south by the end of the week.    The best destination for Saturday was decided to be Manistee, 51 miles down the coast, so we pulled up the anchor at South Manitou island early Sunday morning, and motored down the coast, passed many more sand dune cliffs lining the shores of northern Michigan.    We arrived in Manistee by 5pm, passing through 3 drawbridges, and into a marina where we took on 660 gallons of diesel, which had been consumed since we last filled up in Brewerton, NY.    After doing major damage to our credit card at the fuel dock, we crossed over the bay, and planted our anchor in 20 feet of water, just off of the small boat ramp.
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A freighter just passed under the Mackinac Bridge. The Mackinac Island lighthouse to the right.
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Jim and Belinda made to the top of the first dune - just behind Joey and Holly.
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Joey and Holly on the dunes with Glen Lake in the back ground.
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As expected - these are the idiots who can't read. If you look closely you will see the only way these people can climb back up is on all fours. It will take them hours - this dune is VERY STEEP!!
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This is the view of Grand Traverse Bay that we enjoyed while dinning at Holly's Grandmother's cottage on Northport Point.
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The water in South Manitou Island Bay made us think we were in the Caribbean - we only needed palm trees.
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We could see Rickshaw anchored in the bay from the top of the lighthouse.
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Sunrise in bay.
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As we headed south from South Manitou Island towards Manistee, we got one more look at Sleeping Bear Dunes.
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The first dune in Sleeping Bear Dune National Park.
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Jim, Holly and Joey made it to the top of the second dune, Belinda is trailing behind.
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Joey standing at the top of one of the steepest dunes. A warning sign was posted warning people NOT to go down the eroding sand dune and if rescue was required a fee will be charged.
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Skip, Belinda, Ricki, Carl, Barbara and Jim. Thanks Tara for snapping this.
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It was very windy at the top of the lighthouse!
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The lighthouse from the bay.
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Jim's black eye
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The draw bridge opens on request in Manistee - great, no waiting!
 
Aug 11th-13th, Sun-Mon, Days 99-101: Mackinac Island

We arrived in the Mackinac Island marina midday on Saturday, and spent the rest of the day catching up with other loopers who had waited out the high winds over the past few days here and waiting for Woody & Carolyn to arrive via ferry from the mainland.  Mackinac Island was one of our favorite stopovers in the entire trip.   It amazed us to realize that the residents of Mackinac Island have managed to build magnificent homes, and live day to day on this beautiful island without relying on any automobiles, since no motorized vehicles (except for EMS vehicles) are allowed on the island.    The only modes of transportation on the island are bicycles and horses, so any inbound supplies are received at the main dock and off-loaded onto horse-drawn wagons for distribution across the island.    I guess if you live here long enough, you eventually get used to the smell of horse poop which seemed to be everywhere along the streets.    The maintenance department does a great job of trying to keep it cleaned up, but the smell of it permeated the air, making the entire shopping district resemble a town 100 or more years ago.   

We spent our last hours with Woody & Carolyn on Sunday exploring the island via bicycles, circling the islands via the 8 mile bike path.    We completed our circumnavigation by lunchtime, so we said goodbye to Woody & Carolyn around 2pm, and began getting Rickshaw ready to receive our next set of company due on Monday, Belinda's son Joey and his girlfriend, Holly.    Later in the day, we squeezed in a visit to the Grand Hotel, which is the famous upscale $400/night hotel featured in the movie, Somewhere in Time, overlooking the Mackinac Straits.

After Joey & Holly drove up from Northport (near Traverse City) where they were visiting Holly's grandmother, they parked their car at Mackinaw City (on the mainland), and caught the morning ferry Monday morning, and arrived on Mackinac Island around 11am.   We spent the rest of the day touring the island by bike (again) and by dinghy, taking Ricky-Dink out of the marina and around part of the island, which afforded us a magnificent view of the island from the water.    That night, we treated Joey and Holly to a wonderful dinner at the restaurant "The Woods", which resembled a large hunting lodge, buried deep in the interior of the island.    Getting to & from the restaurant is a major part of the experience, since the only way to get there is via horse-drawn carriage.    It was a somewhat magical experience to travel through the tree-lined paths, in the woods, in the dark of the night, on a carriage drawn by two draft horses.   We filed away in our minds a promise to someday try to bring our grandchildren back here.
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There were many Looper boats already in the Mackinac Island Marina when we arrived - so a docktail party was the best way to share experiences and float plans.
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Our last dinner with Woody and Carolyn on the aft deck of Rickshaw. Our view was like a postcard picture of the Mackinac Island homes that lined the harbor.
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One of the many beautifully landscaped hotels on Mackinac Island.
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Since the marina didn't have a laundry we had to bike the guest sheets and towels to the laundry at the other end of town to get ready for our next company.
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Holly enjoying the cruiser bike along the shore line of Mackinac Island.
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The natural arch as seen from the bike path.
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We were delighted to catch up with Tara from Seabatical again.
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At the end of of bike ride with the Pierces we were treated to these colorful kites floating in the air above the colorful flower baskets that lined the main street.
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The Grand Hotel - it has a huge front porch for people watching, it has fantastic views from beautiful grounds but inside it isn't as elegant as the Grand Peabody Hotel in Memphis.
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Joey and Holly on their first Ricky-Dink ride.
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Joey and Belinda on the bike path along the Mackinac Island shore.
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We get one last view of the Grand Hotel and a ferry boat as we sadly leave Mackinac much too soon.
 
Aug 6th, Monday, Day 94: Georgian Bay to South Benjamin Islands
Aug 7th, Tuesday, Day 95: South Benjamin Island to Oak Bay
Aug 8th, Wednesday, Day 96: Oak Bay to Whalesback Channel
Aug 9th Thu, Day 97 Whalesback Channel to Drummond Island - USA
Aug 10th & 11th, Fri-Sat, Days 98-99 Drummond to Mackinac Island, MI

After the winds subsided Monday morning, we were finally able to leave the security of the Gore Bay marina and head out with Woody & Carolyn back to one of our previously visited islands in the North Channel.   Our destination was somewhere in the Benjamins.    Since there was still some moderate winds forecasted for Monday night from the south, we chose a very popular bay on the north side of South Benjamin island which we hoped would give us some shelter from the winds and waves.  Throughout the day, several boaters echoed our choice of an anchorage by coming into the bay and dropping their hook.    By the end of the day, the bay had over 30 boats spending the night.    This bay was surrounded by large granite rocks and several large hills which sloped down to the water’s edge, inviting us to come to shore & walk up to the top of the island, which of course we did, via Ricky-Dink.   We also took a dinghy tour of the bay and around the point at the corner of the anchorage.  Unfortunately, we seem to have been getting a daily weather pattern of  light rain and threatening clouds, so our venture via the dinghy was cut short when ominous clouds started forming on the horizon.   

On Tuesday, we left south Benjamin Island and headed northwest to meet up with another buddy boat, Hallelujah, owned by Dave & Barb Reinken, which is also a Defever 44 and very similar to Rickshaw.   We motored up to Oak Bay, and by mid-day, were securely anchored a  hundred yards from Hallelujah.   After eating a quick bite of lunch, we dropped the dinghy into the water and took an extensive cruise around the surrounding waters, past a youth group camp, where there were several First Nation teenagers paddling kayaks in and around the marsh grasses which lined the banks of the bay.    After returning to Rickshaw, Woody, Carolyn & Jim toured the immediate area in borrowed kayaks from Hallelujah.   Afterwards, we invited Dave & Barb over for dinner on our aft-deck and were entertained by Woody on the guitar, featuring sailing and western songs.

Wednesday’s destination was the very scenic Bear Drop Bay in Whalesback Channel, further west along the northern shore of the North Channel, some 20 miles away.  We said goodbye to Hallelujah as our paths diverged, and we motored into the narrow and shallow channel into Bear Drop, with Belinda and Woody on bow-watch keeping a keen eye for any shallow rocks in the uncharted entrance.  We were pleasantly surprised to find the very popular anchorage virtually empty, so we picked an ideal spot in the middle of the bay, before taking our exploratory dinghy ride around the bay followed by a circumnavigation of the island.    Approaching Rickshaw, we stopped for a quick visit with another boat, White Star, which was a mint-condition 1987 Valiant sailboat.   Gar & Helen from Toronto on White Star mentioned that they had enjoyed Woody’s concert which carried over the bay the night before in Oak Bay, where they were also anchored, so we invited them over for a repeat performance by Woody that night, which they eagerly accepted. 

We had been keeping close attention to a forecast for gale-force winds that were
supposed to be moving into the area by Thursday night, so when we woke Thursday morning we considered our options for where to stay that night, and decided to push for Drummond Island, 56 miles away, which is the port of entry for boats re-entering the US, so we could be in a marina and wait for the storm to move through.   Coincidentally, at exactly the same time as our chartplotter moved from the Canadian charts to the US charts,  the ipod selected the next song in the shuffle list & John Denver started singing "It's good to be back home again" over the boat speakers.   After a long day on the water, we arrived in Drummond at 4pm, cleared customs, and headed to our assigned slip, which unfortunately was very exposed to the incoming north winds that were beginning to build.  We swapped our 5/8” docklines for the larger 1” docklines and tied Rickshaw to the windward dock in 7 places trying to hold her close enough to the dock to enable us to step off and on Rickshaw without much difficulty.     In spite of our extra security, when we awoke on Friday morning, after hearing the wind howling throughout the night, Rickshaw had moved 2 feet from the dock due to the constant pulling and slacking of the docklines.      
 
Since we were pretty much certain to be staying in the marina for a couple of days,
Woody & Carolyn took the opportunity to retrieve their car in Sault Ste. Marie, where they had dropped it off almost a week before, and bring it back to  Drummond.  At this point, the weather forecast did not look promising.   We had hoped to be in Mackinac Island Saturday night, but the weather forecast indicated that the weather system that was producing the high winds was supposed to last until late Saturday night, making the hope that we would be in Mackinac before Sunday not very promising.    While Woody & Carolyn fetched their car, Belinda took advantage of the downtime to catch up on laundry, while Jim wrestled the washing machine out of its closet to diagnose the source of a water leak that had appeared during the last washing cycle on-board.     The washing machine has been a huge advantage on-board, allowing Belinda to wash clothes every couple of days, and not spend time at marinas waiting for machines  on-shore.     
 
When Saturday morning arrived, we received an updated weather forecast, which predicted light rain, winds around 15-20 knots, with 2-3 foot seas, between Drummond and Mackinac, 40 miles away.   Even though the forecast was not ideal, we decided that we would push to Mackinac, which would keep us on schedule and allow us to be in Mackinac on Sunday, which was predicted to be a sunny & warm day.   So after a quick run to the grocery store in Drummond (thanks to Woody’s car), we pulled away from the Drummond marina at 11am, with Woody & Carolyn to catch up with us in Mackinac 5 hours later.

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Carolyn and Belinda out on the fore deck.
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Belinda on bow watch. Not all rocks are as obvious as the one off the port bow. Some rocks are that big but just inches under the water. Ouch, we don't want to hit one of those!
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The South Benjamin anchorage we had to share with too many other boats. But it was beautiful surrounded with granite rocks. We hiked up the rocks to take this picture.
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More of the rocks that created the bay for our anchorage.
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It's not fun all the time. Belinda's swabbing the deck after raising the anchor. We sure do miss Al sometimes.
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This is the pink granite we hiked on -
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Hallelujah in the foreground and Rickshaw in the back. They are sisters - both 44' DeFevers.
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Sunset in Oak Bay.
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Woody going in for a swim.
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Jim helping Carolyn at the helm as we head towards our next anchorage.
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Jim, Belinda and Carolyn - waiting on Woody to board Ricky-Dink for a gunk-holing trip.
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Barb and Dave Reinken from Hallelujah going on a dinghy ride with us.
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Woody and a Canadian beer!
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Woody playing Buffett and cowboy songs for us and Barb and Dave from Hallelujah.
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Belinda at the helm navigating a tight rocky channel.
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We named this rock Gilbraltar.
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Another evening concert by Woody with Gar and Helen from White Star.
 
Wed Aug 1st, Day 89 - Clapperton Island
Thu Aug 2nd, Day 90 - S. Benjamin Island
Fri Aug 3rd, Day 91 - Croker Island
Sat & Sun Aug 4th & 5th, Days 92 & 93 - Gore Bay

Since it had been a few days since our last marina, we needed to stop in the first town on Manitoulin Island, Little Current, for a few groceries and a pumpout before proceeding to another anchorage.    Manitoulin Island is the island that defines the southern border of the North Channel, separating Canada from Lake Huron.    It is noteworthy being the largest freshwater island in the world, with many of the inhabitants being members of the First Nation tribes.    After the 3 hour stop in Little Current, we headed for our anchorage for the night, Clapperton Island, where we arrived just in time to have a quick dinner before the sunset.  


On Thursday, we headed toward the Benjamin Island group, keeping our attention on the less than favorable weather forecast, which was indicating 20-25 knot winds out of the north, making an anchorage with some protection to the north very preferable.    We tucked into the bay on the south side of South Benjamin Island, barely able to anchor in the lee of the island, just outside of the effects of the winds and the waves coming in around the point.    Even though the waves were still felt at our anchor spot, we decided to drop Ricky-Dink off the side and explore the bay and the nearby shallow rock strewn channels.    Picking our way through massive granite and quartz boulders, through channels not wider than 15 feet, we idled slowly by a couple of sailboats pressed against the rock walls, kept in place by ropes tied to rock-climbing pitons, secured into the cracks in the granite.   We came out on the opposite side of S. Benjamin and discovered a beautiful beach with crystal clear water where we beached the dinghy, and gave Jim a chance to take a quick swim in the very chilly water.

Our plan on Friday was to reconnect with Joe & Tara on Seabatical, which would allow Al & Dawn a last opportunity to say goodbye to Joe & Tara before disembarking from Rickshaw on Saturday.    We settled on the bay at Croker Island which was a horseshoe-shaped lagoon surrounded by tall outcroppings of pink granite ringing the anchorage.   Our decision to stop at Croker Island was coincidentally shared by several other boats, including Marc's Ark & Blue Heron.    We climbed to the top of the 50 foot tall dome that overlooked Croker Bay, and gave us a 360 degree view of the bay and the surrounding waters.     After our hike, we had an impromptu happy hour get-together on the beach with several of the boaters, which would most likely be the last time we would see most of them until at least Mackinac or further down the Michigan coast.

Saturday was a sad day for us, because this was the day that we would have to say good-bye to our wonderful friends and guests for the past 2 weeks, Al & Dawn.  We motored from Croker Island 15 miles to Gore Bay, where they had dropped their car off 2 weeks earlier, and, after availing ourselves of Al & Dawn's car to go to the grocery store, gave our goodbye hugs and kisses to our good friends, promising to stay in touch and re-unite with them sometime before the end of the year.    We spent the rest of Saturday and Sunday morning cleaning and getting Rickshaw ready for our friends from Memphis, Woody & Carolyn, who were scheduled to arrive around noon on Sunday.    Although our original plan was to depart for an anchorage Sunday afternoon, high winds kept us in the Gore Bay marina on Sunday night.
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A couple of sailboats, sheltered by the rocks, at anchor off South Benjamin Island.
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The water is so clear in this little cove.
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Jim going out for a swim.
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Rickshaw at anchor off South Benjamin Island. Note the mast behind the rocks where the sailboat was secured to the granite rocks.
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We found this little cove with a beach tucked in between some rock outcropings.
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The view from the top of the rock on Croker Island.
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Who would have thought, back in May of 2011 when we first met in Norfolk VA, that we would reunite on Georgian Bay in August 2012. L to R: Jim, Belinda, Al, Tara, Dawn and Joe.
 
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We started at the end of the Trent Severn Waterway in Port Severn on July 20th and entered North Bay on July 31st in Frayser Bay.
 
Fri  July 27,  Day 84:  Bustards Islands
Sat  July 28,  Day 85:  Bad River
Sun  July 29, Day 86:  Covered Portage
Mon  July 30, Day 87:  Baie Fine
Tues  July 31, Day 88:  Frazer Bay

After leaving Wright’s Marina in Britt, we motored further northwest along  the Georgian Bay coast towards a remote group of islands called the  Bustards, where we anchored along with Marc’s Ark, Quest and Blue Heron  in a tight little anchorage between Strawberry Island and Tie Island.    Once we’re satisfied that our anchor is secure, we deployed Ricky-Dink  over the side, and took an exploratory tour of the several islands separated by narrow channels with steep rocky walls.  

On Saturday  (7/28), we pulled up the anchor and headed further north toward Bad  River, which is a lagoon down a narrow and shallow channel, which  required Belinda & Dawn to maintain a watch on the bow to alert us  of any granite boulders hiding just below the surface.     Channel  markings are only occasionally present, so the absence of navigational  buoys and daymarks does not necessarily mean safe waters.    One of the  highlights of Bad River is a chute of water that feeds into the  anchorage basin and squeezes between 20 foot walls and into the  lagoon.     So, the “thing to do” here is to run the dinghy almost full  speed through the 15 foot wide mini-canyon pushing the dinghy against  the 5 knot current, which we did (of course), which was a nail-biter,  especially since the water level is reported to be 14” down from last  year.     Then, to turn around, this time with  the current, and shoot  out of the canyon back into the lagoon, at an accelerated speed above  which Ricky-Dink has probably never  experienced.
 
On Sunday morning, we awoke early and headed out in order to hook up with Joe & Tara on  Seabatical, further up into the North Channel in a beautiful anchorage,  called Covered Portage, on the far side of Killarney, Ontario.      Entering Covered Portage (or as the French call it “Portage Couvert”), we were surrounded by 100 ft. cliffs of sheer granite rimming the  emerald green waters, where we shared the bay with an estimated 40-50  boats.     After lunch, we embarked in Ricky-Dink for a tour of the bay, and beached the dinghy on the innermost shore and went on a very steep  hike/climb up to the top of the rock cliffs overlooking the bay.    Since we only have a few days left with Al & Dawn, we want to make  the most of the time remaining and see as many bays and anchorages as we can.     We’ve noticed that as we go north, the water is getting  clearer and the shores are mostly pink and gray granite, accentuated  with pine & other evergreen trees.   

The next day, Monday, we depart for Baie Fine, which is a narrow fiord north of Covered Portage,  approximately 10 miles long by ½ mile wide.     At the end of the fiord  is a very small anchorage called “The Pool” which is advertised to be  large enough for a half-dozen boats.   When we arrived at The Pool (via  Ricky-Dink, since we anchored in the main body of water in Baie Fine),  we were surprised to find about 2 dozen boats squeezed into the anchorage.    On shore, there were several trails to take advantage of,  so the 6 of us (which included Joe & Tara) took a 2 mile hike up to  the top of the ridge where we enjoyed our lunch at our destination, Topaz Lake, which is a crystal blue/green lake reported to be over a  hundred feet deep, surrounded by steep striated granite.    Some of the walls are not so steep to provide steps to enable a smooth entry into  the very brisk water.   In other places, it is possible to maneuver  around the boulders and stand 20-30 feet over the water, looking almost  straight down into the breath-taking pool below where some (including  Jim, Al & Tara) leap out and over the rocks below and plunge into the icy pool.      After our hike back to Ricky-Dink, we returned to the mother ship, Rickshaw, after dropping Joe & Tara off at their  boat.   After a short period of changing into dry clothes on Rickshaw,  we invited ourselves back onto Seabatical for happy hour cocktails and  snacks before returning to Rickshaw for another wonderful dinner on the aft-deck.     

The next day, Tuesday, we motored a short 11 miles, to a small horseshoe-shaped cove at the end of Frazer Bay.   So far on our  Great Loop adventure, we’ve seen rain or even rain clouds only a couple  of days.    But, in the past few days, we’ve had more overcast days with brief periods of downpours.    So we have to time our passages and our  dinghy excursions carefully and some days, elect to only go short  distances      Even though the water has been getting clearer the  further north and west we go, in this particular anchorage, the water is so clear we can see the bottom 15 feet down perfectly.   So clear,  in fact, that during a dice game, Farkle, on the aft deck with Al, Dawn, Tara  & Joe, when one of the dice bounced off the table and over  the toerail of the boat, we could easily see the die sitting on the  bottom 10 feet down, landing with the number 2 face up.      After our  brief dinghy exploration, which was cut short by ominous rain clouds  building on the horizon, we taught Joe & Tara how to play Farkle on  our aftdeck, and then ended the day with a chilly swim/wash down off the swim platform, before feasting on Belinda’s famous crabcakes while  watching the full moon come up over the eastern shoreline.

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Lots of seaplanes in this part of the world. Not a lot of roads but plenty of landing strips!
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Here is the 5 knot current we had to push thru to get up the creek in Ricky-Dink.
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This is what we found up that creek - another waterfall.
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The inner bay at Covered Portage or Portage Couvert in French.
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Going into Baie Fine was like entering fiords.
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At the end of Baie Fine is the trail head for a hike to Topaz Lake. And at the end of the hike here is the view!
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We were all anxious to get into the amazing water, but once Belinda saw the look on Joe's face......she decided it was too cold for her.
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Belinda and Jim - all grins after a great afternoon of hiking, picnicking and swimming with Dawn, Al, Tara and Joe.
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Jim having a root beer float on the aft deck.
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Sunset in the Bustards. Quest is a silhouette on the right.
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We decided to explore up the right side of this creek. Notice the waterfall on the left side.
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While passing through Killarney we found this red building with sea plane sitting in emerald green water quite picturesque.
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Ricky-Dink tied up at the end of the inner bay while we took a hike to top of the rock in the left photo.
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A very pretty rock outcropping in Covered Portage.
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Rickshaw sitting at anchor in Baie Fine.
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We all hiked down the rocks (Belinda needed a little crutch) to get to the BEAUTIFUL TOPAZ colored water. Our cameras could not do the water color justice.
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Jim, however, was not afraid of the cold water or the rocks. Here he is - in mid air with the red trunks on - jumping in.
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Joe and Tara, from Seabatical coming to visit via their dinghy.
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The ominous clouds the cut our dinghy ride short.
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Poor Joe! We made him believe that his dropping the die overboard would put a permanent end to all Farkle games. So we made him jump in to retrieve it from 10 feet below. Not until he returned with the die did we let him know we actually had 12 more on board.