Duluth, MN

We left Bayfield at 6a.m. bound for Duluth. I'll be really glad when we don't have to get up at 5 am.!!! On the way, we passed the Sand Island Lighthouse.


It was another uneventful day on the water--warm, little wind and waves. Unlike other days, we saw more boats--maybe 5 or 6.






We entered the Duluth Harbor through the Superior entry. As we neared Duluth, we heard that the parade of Tall Ships was going on at the Duluth entry and that another group would be going under the bridge about 3 pm. There were many, many small boats visible for quite a distance up the shore, so we thought we'd go in and watch them from inside the harbor.



This was the Pride of Baltimore entering the harbor...









and a view of the harbor and the fleet of boats with Duluth in the background.







The Sundew is the former Coast Guard ice breaker which was bought by a local and has been converted to a tourist attraction with rides, tours, etc.






There were hundreds if people on the shore, the piers and the bridge to welcome the ships.






Another picture of the harbor and some of the Tall Ships.

It is good to be back where we started. While we have boated in many places of our country, and discovering new destinations, there is something very special about being back on Lake Superior and familiar ports !

Bayfield

On Monday evening, this ship- the Denis Sullivan took people out for a ride.

We left early Tuesday morning with the plan to go to Bayfield in the Apostle Islands, weather permitting. Our alternate plan was Ontonagon, MI. Here we are approaching the western end of the Keeweenaw Waterway into Lake Superior.

As it turned out, it was a perfect boating day--little to no wind or waves, sunny and warm with puffy clouds. We saw only 3 other boats on the water for the first 9 hours...this was the tall ship, Europa from the Netherlands heading for Duluth also.

We passed the time reading, knitting and playing cards on the computer while Otto steered.

Here we approached Stockton Island in the Apostles with quite a few boats anchored. We elected to go into Bayfield because there was some severe weather approaching, possibly that night.

While in Bayfield, we played tourist. I shopped till I dropped, but bought very little. But it was fun to have the time to stop in all the shops. Bob walked the town. These two tall ships docked there for the night--the Niagara which is a replica of a battle ship. The other was the Roald Amundsen from Germany. We talked to a crew member who said that of the crew of about 21, 3 had begun the trip in Germany when it started in March. The other crew are people who sign up for however long they can commit.

Here is a view of Bayfield from the dock. The next day we took the ferry to Madeleine Island to spend the day. We walked the town which has changed a lot since we were there. There are newly paved roads including sidewalks and it is much more commercialized. We had a great fish sandwich for lunch at the Bay Street Tavern.

Houghton-Hancock, MI

We slept in today and didn't leave Big Bay until 6:30 am. You can see our empty spot along the wall...there was no more room at the inn last night. The 50 footer came in late and had to park at the gas dock.










View of the sandstone cliffs along Lake Superior........








Off in the distance are the Huron Islands....a group of about 7 outcroppings of rock - 3 of which are larger.









This lighthouse sits on one of the larger ones....we have talked about being lighthouse keepers sometime, but this place wouldn't be one I'd choose ! It's a long way up to it !





In Keeweenaw Bay there were sailboats out. This one looked especially pretty against the red sandstone cliffs.








This lighthouse is at the entrance to the Keeweenaw Waterway which is a canal that cuts through the thumb of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.





A view of the waterway as we entered.

There were many large beautiful homes along the waterway but this one was especially interesting. Nearby was an older farmhouse so we suspect this barn was part of that farm earlier. It had a nice dock on the water and a portable sauna close by.

Just a pretty sailboat with spinnaker which made Bob a little reminicent about sailing again.....

Here we were approaching Houghton-Hancock with Michigan Tech buildings on the left.

After docking, we found a nice restaurant to enjoy a Sunday meal followed by a walk over the bridge. When we were back at the boat, this tall ship which we saw in Sault Ste. Marie on Friday, went by. Someone has told us that there will be a total of 12 tall ships in Duluth from the 28th July to August 3rd. It will be interesting to see them all together--if there is a spot big enough for them !

Big Bay, MI

We had another long day-85 miles-today. We were bouncing around a little shortly after we left Grand Marais at 5 am. But it evened out and we had a nice ride with sun, scattered showers, some wind, some fog; just about every kind of weather. Here we are passing the sand dunes near Munising where the Pictured Rocks National Park is.

This outcropping of rock is called Granite Island. The Huron Mountains are in the background.

This is Big Bay Lighthouse overlooking Lake Superior and Big Bay. We had never been here and it seemed like a nice quiet place, which it is. We are tied up to the wall but it does have a shower, bathroom and electric hook-up. I had hoped to walk to the lighthouse which is now a B&B, but it was too far. Instead we walked in to town which is about a mile away ( and up a steep hill). The town used to be a lumber mill town with the houses all built in the same style. Some have been improved and added on to; some have not. There is a camp here for handicapped children and Special Olympics are held there. Apparantly there are a couple of restaurants too but we didn't go far enough....at least the walk back was down hill.

Grand Marais, MI

We were up early to leave for Whitefish Point. Here were had cleared the lock at Sault St. Marie by 6:45 am.










This was a marker as were entering Whitefish Bay, and it was pretty foggy....but it was pretty calm, so that's good.

We met this laker in the middle of the Bay. Bob was sleeping.

We arrived at Whitefish Point at 11 am. and the weather was great--sunny and the lake was calm. We decided instead to go for Grand Marais...about 45 more miles as long as the weather was good.

Weather was still good with calm lake as we passed Crisp Point Light.
We arrived at Grand Marais at 4:30 which was a good 10 hour day and we traveled 82 miles. Weather may be good tomorrow morning but afternoon is iffy...we'll have to wait and see. This marina is just a long dock wall with bare essentials...but at least there's electric.

Sault Ste. Marie, MI

Today we had an "off the water" day. So we did some cleaning, laundry and shopping. We also had dinner with a couple (Jim and Peggy) from Naples, FL who are docked next to us. They live on their boat in the Detroit area during the summer. We learned they will be going to the Finnfest gathering which will be held for 5 days next week in the Canadian Sault Ste. Marie. Interestingly, Peggy who is 100% Finnish like I am, was born in Upper Michigan, also like me. And even more interestingly, she was born in a little farming community next to where I was born. We went to the same school but even though she was a year behind me, she remembered me! I moved from there when I was in about 2nd grade. We had a wonderful visit about our backgrounds, neighbors, the community, etc. This was unreal as neither of these communities really are towns....they are more of a crossroad with the school, 2 stores and a church at the crossroad. Who would expect this to happen????!!!
The weather sounds good for a "go" tomorrow to head for Whitefish Point. No communication there is likely....... That is pure adventure if you want to call it that !

St. Ignace, St. Mary's River, Sault Ste. Marie

Leaving St. Ignace, we passed on the north side of Mackinac Island. You can see the Bridge in the background. This lighthouse marked shoal near the LeCheneaux Islands. While I knit, Bob was really getting into the routine and is able to multi-task---here he is enjoying a book while watching Otto.

We intended to stop at DeTour, but because we were there early, and the weather was good, we decided to head up the St. Mary's River and stay in Sault Ste. Marie for a night or two. Here we pass the DeTour lighthouse.

As we start up the St. Mary's River, we meet this laker.

And still another one.........

Here we pass DeTour village and marina.

There are many islands along the way...all pretty.

This is Lime Island (Canada side of the river). It is now a campground but during WWll it served as some kind of battle supply place

Further up the river, we saw these two tall ships. They are heading for Duluth. There's supposed to be a total of 6 making the trip.

Here we are passing the Pride of Baltimore. We learned later that the crew on these ships is all high school students who are given the opportunity to get out of their environment (often from a bad one) for 3 months in the summer to share other experiences.

Here we are approaching the Bounty.

Note the kids up on the yardarm working on the sails !

This was an interesting church on the Canadian side with the steps going down to the water..........

As we get nearer to the Soo, there was still another tall ship......

And still anothe one--this one was called the Europa

Finally, here was the last one we saw just before we went in to the marina.

There is also a boat which offers tours of Lake Superior shown docked on the Canadian side of the Soo.

All in all, it was a nice day. We saw more boats on the water today than we did in the past five days ! But it was good to get to land as it was getting pretty windy the last few miles of the river.

After dinner, we decided to walk to the park to see the musice we were hearing. It sounded like it was right next door...not so, it was about 10 blocks away through a construction zone. But it was worth the walk. The music in the park that evening featured "The Saline Fiddlers", a group of about 25 high school students near Ann Arbor, MI. They played blues, county, celtic, etc. They were excellent. Apparantly this kind of music program was offered in the public schools to increase interest. From all appearances, it looks pretty successful. If you'd like to know more, check out their website at www.salinefiddlers.com.

Plan is to stay here a couple of days, do laundr, etc and hope the weather will be nice to cross Whitefish Bay.