Labor Day Weekend

Well we successfully crossed Lake Michigan from Frankfort to Sturgeon Bay.  I forgot to post up a couple pictures of Fish Town in Leland so I've gone back and updated the blog post with a couple pictures of it.  In the last post I also commented on the depth of the water at over 500 feet.  During the Lake Michigan crossing we reached depths over over 860 feet, nearly three football fields.  A picture of the screen showing depth is below.

Depth of 867 feet crossing Lake Michigan

We started early to cross and had all the canvas zipped up tight because it was rather cool so we decided to let the cats out to see how they would do.  Turner didn't care at all about having full run of the boat and resumed his normal place in the guest stateroom on the floor per the usual.  CJ however is ever curious and joined us on the bridge for most of the day.  His tail can spin in some pretty great circles as he tried to keep his balance on a moving boat standing on fiberglass that is slippery.  He can't sink is claws into it and was pretty helpless.  It was most entertaining for us to watch CJ for the first bit until he decided to just give up and lay down on the seat behind us.

CJ discovers the bridge during the crossing

The entrance off Lake Michigan into the channel at Sturgeon Bay is long and tree-lined as you can see from the picture.

Channel into Sturgeon Bay

The marina we stayed at (CenterPointe), a private one, was recommended by the Harbor Master in Frankfort and was it superb!  It had a fantastic club house, a pool, an amazing outside grill area that looked like the outdoor kitchen from a magazine.  There was a huge outdoor hearth for bonfires and there was even a big in-ground chess set to play on.  Each square of the board was a patio tile and the chess pieces were probably 2 feet tall.  The flowers were also very pretty there as was the grass.  A very nicely manicured marina.

Surgeon Bay is the home to Palmer Johnson Yacht builders.  We walked by where the big bay doors were open and the yachts inside being constructed were amazing.  The one being worked on was 170  feet.  It took up a building the size of an airport hanger.

Palmer Johnson Yacht in progress

We  were also able to attend a lake front Fish Boil in the evening.  What is a fish boil you ask?  I certainly had never heard of one before entering the Door Peninsula.  It all starts with a blazing bonfire under a kettle of salted water - 4 quarts of salt.  When the temperature is just right and the crackle of the first is just loud enough  the boil master adds a basket of potatoes and then onions to the kettle.  A few crackles later, the mild whitefish steaks (cod in our case), are delicately lowered in.  And just at the right moment, kerosene is tossed into the fire, exciting the blase and causing the water to boil over, dramatically carrying off the fish oil that has collected on top.  The food baskets are pulled out and greeted with a generous drizzling of butter.  The last picture below is a video clip of the kerosene being added to the fire for the boil over.  Click on it to launch the video.  Also - all the pictures on the blog can be clicked on to enlarge them for a better look.

  

Early stages of fish boil

The boil over

This morning we left Sturgeon Bay very early (6:30 am) because of such a long travel day, 9 hours.  Today we got to see our first sunrise because we started so early.

Sunrise leaving Sturgeon Bay

Once we arrived in Sheboygan, WI, we went walking on the boardwalk.  On the way into the marina we noticed a sunken boat with only the bow sticking out along the marina breakwall.  On the way back from our walk on the boardwalk the sunken boat was being towed in by another pleasure boater.  The first tow was just the hull.  The second tow was the deck of the boat.  Yesterday we stayed put in Sturgeon Bay for a day because 6-9 foot waves were predicted and I'm guessing the owner of the sunken boat didn't listen to the weather report for yesterday.  We stood at the boat launch for probably 45 minutes while we watched both pieces of the boat being brought in and getting loaded back on the trailer.  Interestingly enough, there were no authority type officials around.  No coast guard, no conservation officers and no police.  We noticed most of the boat's interior and also the engine was missing.  As soon it was on the trailer, it was gone down the street.  Not even a tie down.

Tomorrow we had planned to motor onto Kenosha, WI, however 4' waves are predicted from Milwaukee all the way down to Chicago by noon so we have changed plans and are only moving 20 miles tomorrow morning  to Port Washington.  Once we arrive, we will stay there until likely Monday as the high waves are predicted to last through Sunday.

Beautiful Michigan

Tonight is our last night in our birth state and the only state we've ever lived in - Michigan.  For me it is a mix of reflection of what lies behind us and anticipation of what lies ahead as I update the blog this evening.  We are currently in Frankfort, MI and plan to cross Lake Michigan to Sturgeon Bay, WI tomorrow.  Once we get to Sturgeon Bay we will stay put until Friday.  Happily the switching of the fuel intake lines in Mackinaw City fixed the fuel usage issue and we are level in both tanks for the first time since we purchased the boat.  I swear Bert is a genius!!!

The last couple days have been just beautiful in northern Michigan.  Pictures don't do the scenery justice.  It is breathtaking to see the shoreline of Michigan from the water.  We've had two great travel days with sunny skies and calm waters.  I can't believe how deep the lakes are.  At one point yesterday in Lake Michigan, the depth finder read 507 feet!!!!!  It boggled my mind to think how far down the bottom actually was.

I took a few pictures of the scenery yesterday as we moved from Mackinaw City to Leland, MI, which is also known as Fish Town.  It is a great little place on the Leelanau Peninsula.  In the morning when the sun shines across the water, it is like a very cold winter morning when the sun shines on the snow like diamonds.

Before we pass under the bridge - Still in Lake Huron

After we pass under the bridge - Now on Lake Michigan

Sun on the water in the morning looks like sparkling diamonds

Lake Michigan Shoreline

Fish Town in Leland

Fish Town in Leland

 Today we passed by both North and South Manitou Islands.  South Manitou has a visible shipwreck.  It is the SS Francisco Morazan (1922) which ran aground on Nov 29, 1960 and was declared a total loss.  We were about three miles away, but it was pretty impressive through the binoculars.  I've never seen a shipwreck above the waterline before, especially not this far out of the water!  Below is a picture I found on the Internet of it.



SS Francisco Morazan wrecked off South Manitou Island

Just three blocks from the marina is the Lake Michigan beach.  We got to stand in the sand and I put my feet in the water of Lake Michigan one last time as we watched the sun set over the Lake.  It was a perfect last night in Michigan.

Nomie at the beach

Lake Michigan Shoreline

A perfect Lake Michigan sunset at the beach

PS:  Last Thursday, 08-23-12, we saw Canadian Warship 708 in Fake Presque Isle Harbor.  I googled it to get a better picture.   This picture was taken on 08-24-12 in Port Huron and as of today, it is located in Cleveland, OH.  It was quite unexpected to see it tucked away in the harbor last Thursday.

Canadian Warship 708

PSS:  You might wonder why we are staying put for a day in Sturgeon Bay.  Well because we will be attending a fish boil on Thursday evening.  From what I've been reading fish boils are pretty famous in Door Peninsula and not to be missed.  We'll see . . . .

The Gnombe named "Nomie"

Bert and I were gifted a Gnombe last Sunday at the farewell picnic on the deck at Harbor Club.  The gnombe is your typical garden gnombe as described by Wikipedia: 

A garden gnome or lawn gnome is a figurine of a small humanoid creature, usually wearing a pointy hat, produced for the purpose of ornamentation and protection from evil sorcery, typically of gardens or on lawns.  Or in our case I guess for the purpose of protection from evils of the sea.

Nomie is a very special Gnombe with a great history.  As background, each year our boat club, Harbor Club, hosts a steak roast fund raiser.  Part of the fund raising is an auction where bidders bid on unknown contents of a bag or box.  At the August 2011 fund raiser, friends of ours Roger and Linda were the highest bidders on the garden gnome who we've since named "Nomie".   They cared for and protected Nomie for the past year, but determined that Nomie was getting sort of stir crazy just sitting at Harbor Club and he needed to go on the trip with us.  As such, Nomie was gifted to us and is now in our care.  Pictured below are Roger and Linda with us and Nomie. 

Roger, Linda and Nomie

Nomie spent all last week riding on the bridge with us but poor Nomie had a bad Wednesday afternoon and ended up face down rolling around on the floor of the bridge during the Saginaw Bay crossing.  He needed a harness just like we did.  He is now back on guard on the bridge and is pictured below with the Mackinaw Bridge in the background.  Periodically throughout the trip, look for Nomie in our pictures.  You never know where he might be.

Nomie with Mackinaw Bridge

We've had a wonderful weekend here in Mackinaw City and got to visit with two friends from my former workplace on Friday night.  Both Dutch and Dan were gracious enough to stop by and say hello when they were in the area.  It was great to see both of them.  Saturday, Bert's uncle Dale and aunt Lucille rode their motorcycle up from Roscommon to visit for the day.  They were kind enough to pick up an alternator for us in Cheboygan.  Bert had replaced one alternator before we left, but the second one quit working on Friday.  Happily the new one is installed and ready to go.

There also has been a fuel usage issue driving Bert crazy.  Overall fuel consumption has been what was expected, but one diesel tank is emptying at a rate of 4:1 compared with the other side.  Saturday Bert changed the big fuel filters in an attempt address the problem.  However, while he was working on changing the filters he discovered something very interesting about the fuel lines.  To make a long story short, diesel engines don't use all their intake fuel and some gets returned back to the tank.  Well Bert discovered that the intake fuel hoses were crossed.  He expects this is what has been causing the problem, likely from day one when the boat was assembled.  Today he disconnected them and switched them around as they should be.  Tomorrow he'll know if the problem has been solved once we are underway again. 

The picture below is facing the stern of the boat so Port (red) is on the right hand side.   As you can see from the picture of the fuel filters and lines below, the green one is now correctly on the left (Starboard) and the red one is positioned correctly on the right (Port).  I swear Bert is one of the smartest men I know to be able to figure things out on the boat and fix it.  Kudos to Bert!

Each fuel filter has a hose on the right had side.  This is what was crossed to the wrong sides.

Monday morning if the weather is good, we'll leave Mackinaw City and head for either Charlevoix or Leeland.    As a side note, I was able to get out on the bike this afternoon for a 16 mile ride on the North Central State Trail which is the old rail road.  Pictured below is a bit of Michigan "up north heaven" away from all the hustle and bustle of Mackinaw City tourism.  I even got to see a couple deer cross the path.

Starting to relax

What an amazing week it has been so far.  As mentioned previously, we were in Port Huron on Monday night.  Getting to River Street Marina required passage through two draw bridges.  I've never used the marine radio before so it was a new experience to call the bridges and request passage on the first afternoon.  Since then, I've gotten better and proper radio protocol this week and I am doing my best to use it as we call into each marina for a slip assignment each day.  Proper radio usage will become more important later in the trip when we enter locks and approach other draw bridges on the journey.

On the way out on Tuesday morning, I took pictures of both the 7th Street and Military Street bridges as they raised for us.  Once through the two draw bridges, almost immediately we passed under the Blue Water Bridge to Canada and then out into Lake Huron.

7th Street Bridge

Military Street Bridge

Blue Water Bridge

The rest of the day up to Harbor Beach went very, very smoothly until we got to the actual marina.  We had been warned that Harbor Beach was silted in and that the State of Michigan had no funds to keep the marina dredged.  Well we got in and out but at one point on the way into the marina, we had a soft grounding on the bow of the boat in about 3' of water.  We need 5'.  After stalling the port side engine three times in the silt, on the forth attempt, Bert thrust us immediately into reverse and got us unstuck.  Whew!!!!  Once free, we filled with diesel and then they put us way out at the end of the dock and the light from the CITGO fuel sign was our "moon" for the evening as we sat at the table for dinner around 9:30 pm.  As you can see we were bigger than the fuel building.  The marina is practically deserted due to the water level and we were happy to move on Wednesday morning away from Harbor Beach.

Overnight Dock at Harbor Beach

On Tuesday on the way to Harbor Beach, I started practicing some of my navigation skills plotting course, marking time and distance.  I also started practicing using the hand bearing compass to identify navigation aids on land.  Happily, the skills I learned in Power Squadron are coming in handy and my calculations are working as expected.  I am the redundant back-up system to the high tech electronics on board with my paper charts, plotting tools, pencil, paper and calculator.  These new skills came in handy on Wednesday.

Wednesday we crossed Saginaw Bay.  We had been told to cross early, but we didn't get a very early start. The course we had chosen was a straight shot to Harrisville, but about an hour in we decided the waves that were coming from the port side were really rocking and rolling us too badly.  I used my paper chart and estimated our location in Saginaw Bay and we changed course for a more direct route to land and then followed the shoreline up to Harrisville.  I was glad I had been plotting so carefully on paper as it made the on the fly adjustment easy and we came back to land 19 miles later pretty much exactly where I wanted us to be.  This adjustment added an hour to our travel but helped us to take the waves more into the bow, but we still spent about 3 hours total rocking and rolling like crazy.  Bert and I both decided we needed seats with harnesses.  We hung on to our seats the entire trip and just watched everything go askew onto the floor.  Both CJ and Turner (the cats) got sick, a candle got broken, the shoe rack tipped over, both refrigerators flew open and their contents rolled around everywhere.  What a mess.  Fortunately, once we turned and started following the shoreline we had trailing seas and the ride was once again smooth so I could clean everything up pretty much before we arrive at Harrisville for the night.  Getting more latches for things that dont' have latches is on the list for this weekend in Mackinaw City.

Once we arrived in Harrisville, I put on my tennis shoes and went for a 4 mile run and Bert came with me on the bike.  It was nice to get off the boat for a bit.  The outboard motor for the dingy had not been mounted to Bert's satisfaction before we left and it had been tossed around on the trip so we decided to take the time to mount the outboard mount in Harrisville.  This required disassembling the bed and headboard so Bert could climb in under the swim platform to put the nuts on the back side of the bolts while I was on the swim platform tightening the bolts.  Picture below of the finished project.

Outboard Motor Mount attached on the swim platform

Today was a calm ride up to Presque Isle and we arrived right around 2:00.  This is the first day that feels a bit like vacation as I sit on the aft deck updating the blog.  It is calm and peaceful and just beautiful here.  The water is very clear.  There are a few other "loopers" here, one with a gold burgee indicating they have completed the full loop already.  Tonight we got a nice dinner out in Presque Isle with Jean and Linda, which are Dutch's wife and sister.  It was very generous and we appreciated it greatly.  Tomorrow we press onto Mackinaw City if the wind stays calm.  We are again aiming for an early start so we can arrive in Mackinaw mid afternoon.  Once in Mackinaw City, we will stay the weekend until Monday morning.

Success

Yesterday was a successful day for us!  The weather was just perfect and the day went so smoothly.  We pulled out of the markers of Harbor Club North for the last time at 9:59 and arrived in Port Huron at just about 4:15.  To get to the marina we had to go through two draw bridges which open on the hour and the half hour.  Bert had us backed into our slip and tied up with shore power on by 5:00.

Our friends Jill and Warren also brought their boat up for the evening and it was a great comfort to see familiar faces on the dock when we arrived.  We had a very enjoyable evening not only with them, but with some additional friends that live here Jan, Norm and Bill.

As a side story, many folks gave us wonderful parting gifts on Sunday for good luck and well wishes.  Each one of them we will treasure.  Jill and Warren gave us this beautiful piece of artwork that they had made for the boat.

Gift from Jill/Warren

Jill/Warren with us before we leave Port Huron

Today we are onto Harbor Beach which is 59 miles away.  Bert estimates it will take us 8-10 hours today due to the current.  We travel at about 10 mph but with the current against us we actually only get about 6 mph in the river until we reach Lake Huron.  Today we will pass under the Blue Water Bridge.

Leaving Harbor Club - looking back

Leaving Harbor Club - forward facing

Two freighters we passed in the shipping channel

The time to go has arrived

Well the day has finally come when we start our big adventure.  Today will take us from our home port at Harbor Club North to Port Huron.  Bert estimates 6-7 hours today.  There is quite a bit of preparation still to do this morning to be able to pull out from Harbor Club for the last time so this blog entry is a short one.

Yesterday we had a wonderful farewell party on the deck with many friends and family.  A big thank you to everyone who came to see us on our last day.  More about this wonderful day later.

Our Friends

Our Family

Only a few days to departure!!!

It is hard to believe Bert and I are now only a few days away from our targeted departure day of Monday, August 20th.  Bert has been extremely busy for months getting the boat ready to go.  One huge project, the new electronics were completed very late on July 31st.  Well actually very early on August 1st as he worked until about 1:45 am bleeding the power steering after installing auto pilot.  The electronics were tested on August 1st when we did a nice afternoon cruise with nine of our friends.  Eleven of us enjoyed a beautiful day on the water cruising up the Clinton River for lunch at Crew's Inn and also doing a tour through Metro on the way home.  It was a perfect day on the water with our friends and for that we are truly grateful.

As I write this post, Bert is putting the final touches on the engine room maintenance with an oil and filter change.  This is not a small task as each engine requires 8 gallons of oil and the generator also requires a gallon of oil.  I will be very relieved when 17 gallons of used motor oil has passed safely through the mid stateroom, down the companionway, up the stairs, over my salon carpet, up another set of stairs and is off the boat later this afternoon.  Last week we did a shopping trip to the Cummins dealer in Mt. Clemens to purchase 17 gallons of oil as well as other required maintenance items.  Over the past week, he has changed the belts, water pumps (sea pumps), fuel filters, batteries, battery boxes.

A big thank you to our friend Mike who helped get the new batteries from the car down the dock to the boat and also get the old batteries out of the boat, down the dock and into the car last week.  A second big thank you to Bert's cousin Bill who helped install the new batteries yesterday afternoon.  Each battery weighs over 150 lbs and four of them were purchased and installed.

For those of you not familiar with sea pumps, periodic maintenance is required, which includes impellers as well as some other bits and pieces.  Maintenance kits for sea pumps are either minor or major.  Upon inspection, Bert determined major maintenance was required as it appeared sea pump maintenance had never been done in the 13 years of this vessels life which means the sea pumps have to be removed, rebuilt and re-installed.  One sea pump is easy to access, however the second sea pump is very difficult to access.  Bert works better at night so late on Tuesday evening, Bert re-installed the rebuilt sea pumps and I took some pictures of the hard to get to job.    Bert had to remove the built in vacuum system and fit through a hole that is 12 inches by 13 inches and then once inside, he had to be bent over sitting Indian style and work under the stairs that transition from the salon to the companion way.  Not an easy task as you can see from the pictures.  Once the job was complete, I shot a short video of Bert re-emerging through the vacuum system hole to give folks an appreciation of the difficult task.

View from the hole in the stairway

Installing rebuilt water pump

What have I been doing while Bert has been working so hard?  I've been getting the rest of our affairs in order to not only go on a four month journey, but also to relocate to the Gulf of Mexico.  My last day of work was last Thursday and while I will miss CenCorp and my colleagues greatly, I am excited about our upcoming adventure.  Below is a picture of the department on my last day.

Financial Accounting Group

With all the required boat projects nearly complete we can now turn our focus to finalizing our affairs here in Michigan, provisioning the boat with supplies for departure and saying "see ya'all later" to our friends and family over the next couple days.