We left Manistique at 6 am heading for Mackinaw City, about 75 miles. Again the lake was calm and Otto worked well. We had the lake practically all to ourselves....for the first 6 hours, we saw 1 fishing boat and this "salty". We passed this lighthouse on Bue Choix point and, nearing the Straits, the White Shoal lighthouse.

Nearing the Straits we could see the Mackinac Bridge from 14 miles away.

Instead of Mackinaw City, we decided to go in to St. Ignace. I would've liked to stay at Mackinac Island, but their docks were closed to the public because of some sailboat races. We arrived at 3 pm. and will settle for a walk later as it's pretty warm here ! Not sure what tomorrow will be--we'll have to wait and see what the weather brings.

We left Fayette at 6:30 am for Manistique, MI. about 55 miles. It was foggy, but predicted to lift by 8 am. It lifted in the harbor early except not on the lake, but the radar worked well.

But with the fog, there was virtually no wind so we had a smooth ride again !

Rounding the point on Poverty Island, we could see this abandoned light house.

At the entrance to the Manistique Harbor is this lighthouse, built of steel in 1910.

Manistique is largely a fishing town with logging operations nearby. There isn't much here, and even though we're docked in the town marina, there is no TV reception and few radio channels. The harbor master wasn't here when we arrived, but a couple of locals told us which slip was empty and helped us dock. Before the Mackinac bridge was built there was ferry service from here to Frankfort in lower Michigan.

There is a nice boardwalk along the lake which we took to the grocery store. We were told it was about a 1/2 mile---turned out it was 1 1/2 miles but manageable. Noticed the seagull perched on the bow of this old fishing boat on the way.

Tomorrow- Tuesday-we'll leave early again for our trip through the Straits of Mackinac to Mackinaw City on Lake Huron. This is about 75 miles, weather permitting. Should we need to, we'll go into Beaver Island.

Leaving Menominee, we had a nice ride up the northern part of Green Bay to Escanaba, MI. It was cool on the water, but very warm in town--upper 80's. This town has a very nice waterfront too with parks on both sides of the water. There is a little lighthouse behind the marina office, but we arrived too late to tour it. So, we decided to take the lakewalk to a little wagon that sold Gram's pasties. But on the way we talked to a couple of locals and each praised the benefits of living in this small town...safe for children especially. One preferred Gram's pasties, the other preferred Dobber's pasties. So, we decided to check them out...we bought one of Gram's pasties...a pizza one. Not one we would buy again. Then we took a taxi to Dobber's and bought 2 frozen ones there which are still in the freezer, so we don't have a verdict on those yet. While we were in Dobber's, we noticed the Trenary toast which both of remember our parents and grandparents having with their coffee, so of course we had to buy a bag of that ! It is good with coffee !

We left Escanaba early Sunday morning to go to Fayette. We would cross Little Bay de Noc and Big Bay de Noc in northern Lake Michigan. Again, despite the intermittent rain, the ride was a nice one (a nice ride is one that's not too bumpy), but we stayed dry in the bridge.

Rounding the buoy, we entered the channel to the Snail Shell Harbor which is a part of Fayette Historic Park. The company town was founded in 1867 to produce iron ore. The company owned the store and employed the doctor, vet, etc. Those charges were deducted from the workers' wages. When the smelting production stopped in 1891, the town was abandoned. The state DNR began a preservation of the remaining 22 shells of the buildings, with restoration of some. Entering, you can see the remains of the blast furnaces and the limestone bluffs surrounding the harbor.

We took the walking tour of the town...all of the buildings are open with informational displays in each explaining the construction, lifestyle, etc of the time. These first houses were homes to employees of the plant, the white house was the home to the superintendent and the doctor's home was still in the renovation stage. Note the stairs, which would suggest if the patient was seen at the doctor's home he had to be able enough to manage those !

The setting was beautiful with views of the lake on three sides of the town and trails through the woods. The following three pictures are of some more of the town buildings--music hall, company store--and the view of the harbor from the town site.

At the top of the hill was a visitor center with a large display of how the town looked when it was at its prime.

This was a very pleasant stop and we enjoyed visiting with the other boat people who were docked along side.

Menominee sights

When it was cooler, we decided to check out the marina facilities and the sights around town. First we headed to the boaters' lounge which was renovated from the old Water Works building.

Without a doubt, this is one of the best lounges we've seen if not the best in our entire loop trip. Not only was it immaculate, it was decorated beautifully. Just inside the door was this old floor scale which Bob checked out....I was afraid to!

Next we checked out the private toilet/shower rooms. There were 5, each named after a Great Lake, and decorated differently.

This was the entrance to the main lounge.........

and the eating area with a beautiful stained glass lighthouse. We enjoyed a complimentary breakfast of waffles before we left here.

This model ship was made and donated by a local artisan.

Here is the other part of the lounge with the TV. There was a computer station and library as well.

Another part of the sitting area with a large aquarium.

The lamps were all in a nautical theme and there was a lot of art work, knot boards, etc on the walls.




Entrance view as we left the room....there was another larger room adjacent which had a large TV and several tables which appeared to be used as a meeting room.

Last, we took a walk around town which had many lovely old buildings. But as many small towns today, there were many empty storefronts.

We ended our walk at the sandwich/ice cream shop where all the locals seemed to come as well as many of the boaters.

It was well worth the visit to this town.

BACK TO BELLISSIMO

After a two year hiatus, we are back on BELLISSIMO. While bringing all the stuff on board to cruise is quite a job, we have to admit, it feels good to be back on the boat. Getting re-aquainted with the boat takes some time, but after a few weeks, it probably will feel like we never left it. The plan is to cruise up Green Bay into northern Lake Michigan and visit the places we skipped.

Our first leg is to Menominee, MI. Here we are leaving Skipper Bud's.

On this first day out, we had to get used to the trawler "roll" all over again. With the winds from the SW, we bounced our way until we got in the lee of the other shore. The weather is warm--in the upper 80's so we took a nap when we arrived. We'll walk up town to the historic district when it cools. Here is a picture of the approach to this area.............

So far, everything seems to be working well. But, it took me most of the 2 1/2 hour trip over to figure out how to do waypoints again. But, think I have it now !

Home to Wisconsin !

We left Frankfort at 6 am with a good weather forecast for crossing Lake Michigan. There were a few swells for the first part of the trip but that was okay. Then, all of a sudden, the fog rolled in and we couldn't see 50 feet. This didn't last too long, but when that lifted, here's a view of the lake....

Here is the entrance to Sturgeon Bay. A welcome sight.

Finally, here we are. Because I learned so much this time about handling the boat, these shirts seemed appropriate.

After 243 days, about 6600 miles, 102 locks, passing under hundreds of bridges, 4 canals, too many rivers to mention, a couple of nail-biting times (for me), a new engine, a new transmission, a new drive shaft, but most importantly, many more memories of places we went and people we met, our Great Adventure is over !

Start: July 28, 2007

Finish: August 5, 2008

North Channel to Crossing Our Wake

We spent a couple of nights at anchor in the North Channel where Darrell and Bob did some fishing again. We had another nice dinner of great small mouth bass.
At this anchorage, which was our last night there, Beth and I had picked out 3 possible anchorages. The guys chose this last one. However, when we got there, we found it was VERY small....first the entrance to it was barely visible, and then it was only about 20 feet wide. Our boats are 14 feet wide. Holding our breaths though, we made it in. The book had assurred us that once we were in though, it was plenty deep with plenty of room. Well, not exactly....it was deep enough in the middle but the whole space was only about 100 feet by 300 feet. The first picture shows Bob stringing a line to one shore which he tied to a tree.













This is a line to the other shore...with storms forecast, we didn't want to swing too much. Rather, we didn't have any room to swing !





This shows the entrance....leaving in the morning, we again held our breaths.







Before leaving though, the anchors had to be raised. Beth here looks like she's wondering what to do about the stuff on the anchor...and this was after they got most of the stuff off by dropping it down again !






She looks a little more relieved here !!! Bob and Darrell said that this anchorage will forevermore be known as "Beth and Margaret's anchorage"..





Here we pass a cottage within the US border near Drummond Island where we cleared customs...








This is a picture of Drummond Island Yacht Club where the Customs officers are located. We had to wait a little while because they didn't come on duty until noon, but once they came, we were cleared in just a few minutes.




Although we started our "loop" in Superior, we actually closed our loop when we crossed the St. Mary's River. This is about where the Coast Guard stopped us last year. This cruise ship was docked here now.





And, because we were so close, we went up to where this boat was on shore to see if any more work had been done on it since we saw it last....We think the entrepreneurs ran out of steam. It was supposed to be a Bed and Breakfast...





To celebrate, we bought some steaks and had Darrell and Beth over for dinner, including champagne of course. This is Bob and Darrell cooking---it was windy. Bob is in charge of the meat and Darrell is holding the umbrella.





Leaving the DeTour Marina the next day, we headed out into Lake Huron with the destination of Mackinaw City Marina.
The first lighthouse is the DeTour LH--I don't think I was able to get a picture of it last year as the water was pretty rough as I recall. Today it was very calm.








As we neared our destination, we passed Mackinac Island. This is a picture from a distance.






This lighthouse is at the entrance to the Mackinac Island harbor.








And of course, the Grand Hotel !!!








Across from Mackinac Island is Round Island which has its lighthouse too.







This is a view of the fort there on the Island. We have been there a couple of times so we didn't go there this time.







Our first sight of lakers...with a view of the Mackinac Bridge. It celebrated its 50th birthday this year.







We enjoyed Mackinaw City...it has a nice waterfront and the downtown is filled with shops and restaurants. Returning to Michigan, of course we had to get some pasties again !

Leaving, we had this wonderful view of the Mackinac Bridge.



From here we plan to go to Charlevoix (it turned out to be Leland), then Frankfort, MI. From there, we will cross Lake Michigan to Sturgeon Bay where we will leave the boat. Home soon !