Continuing South

Having turned to corner, so to speak, at the Mackinac Bridge did a lot to cheer me up. Even though I got beaten up again crossing over to Beaver Island, a southerly heading made me feel good.
First stop for September was in Ludington. One of Ludington's claims to fame is a coal fired ferry boat, the SS Badger, that runs from Ludington, MI to Manitowoc, WI a couple of times a day. You can smell the coal fire before you see the boat (I don't think that the EPA is happy). The couple on the boat next to me told me all about it.
They had invited me over for beers on their boat. And, we wound up walking into town for dinner. It's just amazing all the nice people that I've met on this trip.
After Ludington, I headed to Pentwater, MI. Soon after I tied in for the night, a gentleman stopped by my boat and asked if I was really doing the loop. I said yes and he invited me to come join a group of other loopers for "docktails" down at the other end of the marina. Fun group, one couple was from WV, over near Charleston. We talked and shared stories and drank.
I wound up having to stay in Pentwater for 5 days. The weather on the lake was terrible. One of the loopers went out on the third day and quickly turned around and re-docked. The waves, he said, were huge.
It turned out to be a good stop for five days. There is a grocery store in town. There is also a laundry. I took advantage of both There are also a couple of decent restaurants in town and I took advantage of them as well.
So, the 5 days turned out to be pretty productive, but the weather wasn't cooperating. It was the waves and wind on the lake that kept us in, but it was the cold and rain that made it unpleasant. And, then this happened -

August Recap

My little boat in the nearly empty Rock & Dock Marina

I started August in Grand River, Ohio and finished the month in Frankfort, Michigan. Visiting the Rock and Roll Hall of fame was definitely one of the high spots of the journey. Those two days on Huron (breaking the mast and crossing Saginaw Bay) were some pretty low spots. "That which does not kill us, makes us stronger." ~ Nietzsche

Fifth month cruising:
Cruised - 566.76 nautical miles
Burned - 79.24 gallons of diesel fuel
Spent - $251.61 (avg 3.175 per gal)
Marina Nights - 31
Anchor Out - 0
Free Docks - 0
Total Miles Traveled - 3,704.83

Onward to Leland and Frankfort

Leland Harbor Light

August 29-31, 2017
The weather cooperated for a couple of days, so I was able to move on down the west coast of Michigan. I hopped over to Leland. Nice little town. A little touristy, lots of T-shirt shops and adventure outfitter kinds of places. There is an historic area, Fishtown. Back in the olde days, it's where fishermen dried their nets, sold their catches, and generally took care of business.
I walked around a bit, did a little grocery shopping, and generally goofed off for the day.
As I crossed the parking lot headed back to the boat, I spotted a wallet laying open in the parking lot. I brought it back to the marina and the harbor master said that he knew the guy who lost it.
Another quiet night at another great Michigan harbor. I left early en route to Frankfort.
And, another 5 hour straight line kind of day. Not much to report. I got into Frankfort and tied in for the night.
The harbor master told me that there were a couple of good restaurants in town. One of them is a brew pub. That had my attention. I walked up into town, with a couple of other loopers, and found Stormcloud Brewing. I had an interesting hopped stout with a nice salad.
Walking back to the boat, I passed a restaurant named Dinghy's. I thought I'll try that tomorrow night if the weather continues to be bad. And, so it did.
The winds continued to toss the lake so, I stayed for a second night. It gave me the opportunity to get some laundry done. I also took a long walk around town and hit an ATM. It's a beautiful, quiet little town.

Frankfort Light built in 1912

I did go to Dinghy's for dinner. Let me rave about that for awhile. I had an unbelievably good deep-fried walleye served with an equally good coleslaw. I opted for the extra price sweet potato fries. The fries were the crispiest sweet potato fries I've ever had. They were served with an aioli. I can't say enough about how good this dinner was. And to top it off, they had a New Zealand sauvignon blanc.
That was the end of my fifth month on the loop.

Charlevoix

August 28, 2017
The crossing from Beaver Island to Charlevoix was a little bumpier than expected, but not as bad as the day before.
Charlevoix is a beautiful town and the marina there is first class. I got tied in a registered. I got the directions for the showers and men's room. The office staff also mentioned a grocery store within walking distance, so I got a refill of supplies.
I was walking back to the boat when I spotted a platinum AGLCA flag. I think I've said this before, but white flag is on the loop, gold flag is completed loop, platinum flag is two or more completed loops. The couple on the boat flying the flag invited me on-board for a drink. We talked about looping and boats and Charlevoix. They mentioned that they had had dinner at The East Park Tavern. Good steak! I had been craving a steak, so when we parted company, I walked the short way into town and treated myself to a ribeye steak. I also had a couple of All Day IPAs.
For late August, the weather was pretty cold and rainy. I stopped at a little shop and bought a lined, nylon jacket, close-out price twenty bucks.
The same couple invited me back for after dinner drinks on their boat. We spent a pleasant evening drinking whiskey and talking about our lives.

Cross to Beaver Island

August 27, 2017
On the 26th, I visited with my friends Gary and Sally. One of the sights we saw was the Mackinac Bridge. It is nearly 5 miles in length and is often referred to a Big Mac. Here is a picture of Sally and me with the bridge in the background.
On the 27th, with a full load of fuel and water, I headed out for Beaver Island. Not long after casting off, I passed under the giant suspension bridge.
It was to be a 40 mile run under pretty bad conditions. I was, again, being tossed around like a cork at a pool party. I was being thrashed so bad that at one point the dinghy came loose. It had uncoupled the bar that it was tied to and was hanging off of the end of the boat. The only thing to do was to go to idle speed and untie and unwrap the knots that the wave had made to my lines. It took me about 30 minutes (5 under calm conditions) to get the dinghy lashed back down.
I finally made it to Beaver Island. Nice marina, captain's lounge, WiFi, good showers. I was told that there was a really nice Irish Bar in town, The Shamrock.
So, I got all showered and dressed and as soon as I started to walk into town, the skies opened up. It poured all night. So, it was another can of chili night on the boat.
The weather forecast indicated high winds and high waves for the following day, so I figured that I'd get another shot the next day.
The weather, of course, fools me everyday. When I got up in the morning, the skies were cloudy, but there was little wind and not much in the way of waves.
There were two decisions to be made. 1. Go or No go. 2. Michigan or Wisconsin.
The decision was Go for Michigan. I headed southeast for Charlevoix, Michigan.
As I was pulling out of the marina, I heard on my VHF, "Farewell, Traveler". The lady at the marina was really nice and that made me feel good.

August 24 - 26, 2017

My journey up the east coast of Michigan continued with hops to Presque Isle, Hammond Bay, and Straits State Harbor. The water was alternately calm and rough, but nothing so rough as the crossing of Saginaw Bay. There isn't too much that I can say about this part of the cruise. Again, I was 2-3 miles off shore and cruising in a straight line for 4 or 5 or 6 hours.
I continue to be amazed by the marinas in Michigan. Again, all nice, well maintained, nice dockhands, and clean facilities. A concern of mine, early on, was the availability of diesel fuel. Just about all of these marinas had fuel.
My last day cruising Lake Huron was the 26th. I pulled into Straits State Harbor and was greeted by my friends from the RV park in Florida, Gary and Sally. I know that they'll read this, so I won't embarrass them. I'll just say that they are really, really nice people. It was great to see them again. They took me out to lunch. I had a pasty that was absolutely delicious. We rode around town a bit. The town is in the shadow of the Mackinaw Bridge and really touristy. People living above the bridge are Yoopers (from the Upper Peninsula -U-Pers) and people on the lower peninsula are Trolls. Under the bridge (get it?). Gary asked if I liked smoked fish. I said I did, so we stopped at a smoked fish shop. I bought a piece of smoked salmon and a container of "pate". The pate is cream cheese, onions, spices, and smoked whitefish blended together. That was really good, too. We browsed around an arts and crafts fair and all too soon, they had to head home.
I spent my last night on Huron sleeping soundly while tied to the pier in Straits State Harbor. Tomorrow, Lake Michigan.

Poe Reef Light

Hop to Alpena, Michigan

August 21, 2017
Well, I finally got a weather forecast right. The trip to Alpena was fairly nice. These harbors in Michigan are just great. They've all been clean and efficient. Alpena was no exception.
Lots happened in Alpena. I made a run to Walmart and got some shopping done. I went out for dinner one night (not particularly good ribs). I changed the transmission oil and while doing so, I broke the transmission dipstick. The gentleman running the parts/repair shop on site was really helpful, but in the end I had to glue the dipstick back together. I'm hoping that it holds until I can buy a replacement.
I also met a lovely couple on the boat across from mine. We drank wine on their boat (beautiful new boat) two nights in a row. We're now Facebook friends.

Alpena's "Little Red"

After two days of being on hold due to weather, I was finally able to head out for Presque Isle.

Fear!

August 20, 2017
The run from Port Austin to Lewisville was about 40 miles. I set out at about 0930. The forecast was for 5-10 kt winds and waves of 1.to 1.5 feet. That seemed to be within bounds.
I was about 3 hours out when the wind started to kick up. And along with the wind came the waves. I tried to keep a course into the waves, but that course essentially had me going away from my destination. I tried, for a brief time to head into the wave, but the boat was taking a beating. Changing course at all was a really scary thing to do. I wound up surfing the waves.
I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life. The waves now were at about 5 feet (and I may be underestimating). As a wave would pass by, the stern was lifted up. The wave would increase my speed, sometimes up to 14 kts. As it pushed the boat forward, the wave would push the stern to starboard, so much so that I feared broaching. I had to steer hard to starboard to keep the boat upright. Then, as the crest of the wave passed I'd have to center the rudder to keep the boat on course. And, when I say on course, I really mean on a course that would keep the boat from capsizing. I was miles off my intended course.
I steered on like this for nearly 5 hours. It's one thing to get scared, it's entirely another thing to fight the weather and the waves for that length of time. I pulled into Lewisville thoroughly shaken. Thoughts of abandoning the trip had crossed my mind.
I can admit, now, that Lake Huron completely intimidated me. It was all I could do to drag myself out of bed the following day.

Jump to Port Austin

August 16-19, 2017
Tony came with the new water pump and had it installed  by 1330. We did a quick run up and I cast off my lines and headed to Port Austin.
The run to Port Austin was only about 26 miles. Fortunately, it was uneventful. I am pleased to report that the mast did just fine and the water pump works as intended. Both of those items had me really worried, so it was a load off my mind.
I wound up having to spend 3 days in Port Austin. The weather turned really bad, lots of wind and rain. I mostly stayed on the boat, but I did get out to do some grocery shopping at the little market in town. There was also a Farmer's Market on Saturday the 19th. Kind of fun.
The weather report for the 20th seemed reasonable so, I charted a course for Lewisville. In Michigan terms that's from the tip of the thumb to the middle knuckle of your index finger.

Recovery

August 16, 2017
So, the nice lady at Beach Harbor Marina gave me a business card from Dirty Hooker Diesel. She said that the owner was a really nice guy and did a lot of work on boats in the marina. She also said that I could call him anytime. So, on a Sunday afternoon, I called the owner, Tony, and he said he'd be over later on in the afternoon. Sure enough, he arrived about 3p.
I probably forgot to mention that the fresh water pump for the engine had developed a serious leak. That, too, was causing me a bit of concern. The first order of business was to remove the pump. He said that he'd try to rebuild it and that he'd send somebody over on Monday to re-rig the mast.
I spent a quiet night in the marina. Michigan has a really great marina system. It's run by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. There is, or is supposed to be, a marina about every 30 miles all the way around the state. I wound up taking advantage of many of them. Anyway, I got a call from the shop and found out that they couldn't rebuild the pump, a new one would have to be ordered. And, the body guy from the shop would be there later to take some measurements.
To make a long story short, measurements were taken, braces were fabbed up, and on Tuesday, a guy from the shop re-erected the mast and fastened it down. The bad news (sorta) was that the pump wouldn't be in until the next day (Wednesday).

The metal bars (port and starboard) now secure the mast.

One of the women working at the marina offered to take me into town to do some grocery shopping. I got a few things I needed and we returned to the boat. The interesting part of shopping was that the town's grocery store was a gas station. And, as the woman said, "Pretty good grocery store for a gas station, eh?"
When I got back from shopping, the guy in the boat next to mine asked me over for a beer. I'm not normally an IPA guy, but Tom offered me an All Day IPA from Founders Brewing. Delicious! Tom is a diver. Dry suit, mixed gas, deep diver. So, we spent part of the afternoon talking about diving and  the great number of pristine wrecks that dot the bottom of Lake Huron.
Wednesday afternoon, Tony showed up at about noon with the new pump under his arm. The pump itself is easy on/easy off, but it was an expensive pump and the shipping was fairly expensive. Not that I'm complaining. Tony did great work and for him to have come out on a Sunday and then do the job himself was amazing.
As soon as the pump was installed, we gave it a quick run up and leak check. Everything was good, so with my newly affixed mast and new water pump, I shoved off for Port Austin.

Disaster!

As I sit and write this, I am tied up safe and sound about 100 miles from Chicago. The trip continues. The boat continues. I continue.
I'm picking up my story from August 12, 2017.
After a pleasant stay in St. Clair, I left there en route to Beach Harbor, MI. I don't know if I read the weather forecasts wrong  or the weather just changed over the first 3 hours of cruising. Suffice it to say that the weather wasn't what I thought it would be. The winds rose as did the waves. I was being hammered by waves that I estimated to be 4 to 5 feet. And, they didn't seem to come in a predictable pattern. I was being slammed so hard that I put on my life vest and secured my portable radio to the chest strap.
I tried navigating into the waves so that I could quarter them and get a bit more comfortable ride. Unfortunately, that heading was taking so far off course that I'd never reach my destination. I tried going with the waves. That was better, but I was still getting hammered.
The pounding continued to get worse when suddenly there was a tearing sound and a giant thud. That was followed by bashing sounds on the roof of the cabin. I slowed the boat and moved into the cockpit so that I could see the roof. The mast had been torn free from the roof and was smashing itself onto the roof.
I grabbed some lines and climbed out onto the starboard side of the boat. I lashed the mast as best as I could to the handrail on the roof. Then, I climbed out onto the port side and repeated the procedure. Needless to say, I was pretty frightened.
I had to reduce my speed to minimize the bashing on the roof. I contacted the marina and told them I would be late. My contact there said that she would wait for my arrival.
The voyage continued. But, I did have to slow twice more in an effort to secure the mast to the roof.
After what seemed like endless hours, I finally arrived at Beach Harbor and tied in for the night.
Adding insult to injury, it started to rain. So, I had to secure a tarp over the roof in an attempt to keep the area as dry as possible.
The folks at the marina gave me the number for a local shop where I might be able to get help.

Canadians/Canadiens

I needed to change the oil on the boat. It needs to be changed every 150 hours and it was slightly overdue. I had the cover to the engine up and was beginning to work on removing the oil. I wound up talking to the guy in the boat next to me. I asked if he was a diesel guy and he replied that he had just retired from a 35 year career with Caterpillar Canada. So, I related the story of what had happened to me on the way up the river. He explained that the engine would only run to fuel flow. Then, he asked when was the last time the fuel filters were changed. I had never changed the secondary filter and the primary was changed about 500 hours ago. He said that that was likely my problem. Change the filters now. And, change the primary every time the oil is changed and the secondary every other time.
I spent the next several hours changing the oil/oil filter and the primary and secondary fuel filters. Runs like a charm. I am ever grateful to him for his advice.
Later that same day, I met a group of Canadians from Windsor. We talked about boats, traveling by boat, the great loop, Canada, and the USA. And... oh, by the way - they fed me beer. They came over to my boat and we talked about it and more about the loop. Later that evening, they invited me to join them, but, unfortunately, I was tired and just getting into bed, so I declined. I felt bad about that.
Next day, I was up and ready to go. The draw bridge only opened on the hour and half-hour so I made to out at the 9am opening. I had several more miles of current fighting on the St. Clair River. But, I finally made it onto Lake Huron. A couple of hours cruising got me to Lexington, MI.
I pulled into and got tied up at Lexington State Harbor. I started to walk over to the office to get registered and I hear, "Jack!" It was the Canadian crew from St. Clair Marina. After registering, I got invited to drink more beer (they forced me, what can I say?). The crew had heard that there was a concert in the park adjacent to the marina. A group called Taylor Tucky was playing.
Several of us walked over to the park, some stayed at the boats (you could hear just fine from the boats). There were also a couple of food trucks there.
One of the trucks was from Wimpy's Place a local restaurant, just a brief walk up from the marina. I had a couple of cheeseburgers. I thought they were pretty good. The band was pretty good, too. Country, not my favorite, but they were really into it and put on a good performance.
We walked back to the boats and drank more beer, imagine that.
Nice folks and more proof that Canadians are the nicest people in the world.

PS The wife of the gentleman who helped be diagnose the engine is French Canadian. We chatted for a bit after I had done my engine work. She was surprised that I was doing the loop by myself. She called me, "loup de mer". She asked if there was a similar phrase in English. I was a little stumped. Literally, it means sea wolf, but I think she meant something more like old salt or sea dog.