Mackinac, Mackinaw, & all points between

Our marina in Mackinaw City is right next to the
former USCG icebreaker "Mackinaw".  You folks in
Louisiana don't know what an icebreaker is!

For all those wondering minds (I said “wondering”, not “wandering”), the eternal question is how to pronounce that island or bridge or city or straits.  All you students of history (yes, all three of you), will know that it is pronounced “Mack-i-naw”, which is the British spelling & pronunciation.  Prior to that, when the French held this territory, the French spelling with the “-ac” was used, but the “c” was silent, so it was still pronounced the same. Now, children, you’ve had your history lesson for today!  Consider yourself educated!

 

We obviously got away from Cheboygan MI, into Mackinaw City, but for the third day in a row, the wind was still 15 mph gusting to 20, and waves 2-3’ and filled with whitecaps.  But our boat takes the seas well when they are right on the bow, so even though we took a chance going out that day, we had an easier ride than it could have been.  And we made it to the state marina in Mackinaw City.

The Grand Hotel

So the first two days our boat is in the marina, we get back on the water when we head over to the ferry boat to take us across the straits to Mackinac Island where we do justice to the word “tourist”.  If you’ve been to the island, or read about it, you know that there must be 2 dozen fudge shops on that tiny place, and it seemed like we tasted most of them.  In fact, the islanders call the day tourists “fudgies” because that’s about all they do when they come over.

The Grand Hotel is still grand, with its 600' long balcony

 

View from the Grand Hotel cupola lounge of a
"laker" passing through the straits

We took our tours to learn a bit more about the history of the island.  On our second day, we brought our bikes to ride the 8 miles around the perimeter of the island, and thankfully, the road was all at lake level.  We found a nice restaurant for dinner to celebrate our wedding anniversary – married 45 years, to the same person!!

Enjoying our mint juleps at the Grand Hotel.
I wonder what the po' folk are doing?

Another highlight was going into the Grand Hotel (where they charge $10 a head just to wander around) for cocktails at sunset up in their “cupola lounge”, with a spectacular view over the lake, islands and Mackinac Bridge.  We originally planned to spend a night at Grand Hotel, but at $450 minimum per night, we realized that the money could buy us a lot of diesel fuel next week.

 

 

 

 

 

On the perimeter road, a rock arch formed when the
water level of the lake was as high as the rocks

Riding bikes around the island, we find these "rock sculptures"
along the beach

On Mackinac Island, no motorized vehicles are allowed, so it's
all horses and bicycles.  There were 1000's of bikes
parked along Main Street.

Sue enjoys her ice cream along Main Street.  Ya gotta be
ambidextrous to keep up with her!!

Flowers were everywhere on Mackinac Island

 

More flowers at the road leading to Grand Hotel

We went to a butterfly house on the island and watched the butter fly

With all the horses on the island, they need lots of hay.
And yes, it all comes out the other end!

This fancy carriage with the coachman dressed in top hat
and tails is for the guests of Grand Hotel (of course)

Special events on the island

 

I recognized this freight-carrying boat as the one
which ran from Sandusky OH way back in the 1960's

The next two days were spent seeing the sights of Mackinaw City itself.  We found the fish market that a boater in Cheboygan told us about, which had dynamite smoked whitefish, salmon & trout.  We toured Colonial Michilimackinac & learned more history of the area.  A pleasant surprise was meeting the local Harbor Host for the Loopers (AGLCA – America’s Great Loop Cruisers Association), who saw our burgee flag on the bow & offered to run us to the grocery.  It’s good to meet folks like John & Mary along our loop, who generally have completed their own loop, and now offer their services and knowledge to the current loopers.

And now we’re heading out Monday to points west and south.  As we travel under the Mackinac Bridge from Lake Huron into Lake Michigan, we first plan to stop at Beaver Island, which I hear has a very colorful history.  Then south to South Manitou Island to anchor for a night or two, and possibly meet up with my cousin & family if they can bring their boat to the anchorage.  Then westward to the Wisconsin shore for more remote anchoring.  Postings to this blog may become few & far between since internet connections will be scarce.  But if you don’t hear about us on the news, then we’re still floating right-side up!

Nearly to the “Top”

We’re almost to the farthest point north that we’re going to travel.  We’re already above 45 degrees north latitude, which is half way between the earth’s equator and the North Pole.  When we pass under the Straights of Mackinac Bridge, we’ll finally turn south for the next 1000 miles or so.

Expensive homesteads along the St Clair River
in Port Huron, right at the southern edge
of Lake Huron

We left Port Huron on August 21 after the cold front passed through, hoping to take advantage of a weather window to travel about 275 miles in 3 long (8-10 hour) days up to Mackinaw City MI.  As we passed under the Blue Water Bridge connecting Port Huron with Sarnia Ontario, we hit as much as 4 mph head current.  Since we only travel at 10 mph, it cut our headway by 40%.  All the water that flows from Lake Huron down into Lake Erie must pass through this narrow neck of water only a couple hundred yards wide.  From what I’ve read, slow sailboats sometimes have a heck of a time passing this spot northbound.

The old lightship is now a tourist attraction in Port Huron

Our 3 days of cruising were all about the same, so here’s the “Executive Summary”.  After a cold front, the weather gets cold & windy.  We wore jackets & long pants – in the middle of August!  Haven’t done that in quite a while.  And the winds were generally west at 15 gusting to 20, which made waves in the middle of the Lake up to 6’.  The only reason that we could travel for these 3 days was because we were hugging the western shore of the lake to be somewhat in the lee, where the waves were only about 2’.  But we still had our share of rockin’ n rollin’, and lots of things inside the boat found their way to the floor.

The third day, we got underway from our anchorage long before the sun got up, trying to make Mackinac before the next cold front with severe thunderstorms got there.  Unfortunately, the storms beat us by about 3 hours, so we diverted to our alternate marina in Cheboygan MI.  CHEBOYGAN?!?  I had never heard of this place, but now I can’t say that!

A beautiful sunrise still turned into a snotty windy day!

Since we left Port Huron, the water has been a rich blue, and the clearest I’ve seen since we’ve been cruising.  When we anchor for the night, we can see the bottom 10-15 feet below us.  Sure would like to go swimming, but 60 degree water temps tend to spoil all the fun.

We’ll travel the last 16 miles to Mackinaw City when the winds die down, and spend a couple days acting like tourists.  Then we’ll make the jump into Lake Michigan & start south.  We hope to take a couple weeks visiting the Wisconsin side of the lake before passing through Chicago into the Inland River system of the U.S. of A.

North on the Detroit and St. Clair Rivers

Approaching the Ambassador Bridge (between
Detroit and Windsor ON), with smoggy
Detroit in the background

Coming off Lake Erie, we entered the Detroit River, and it was good to be off the open water onto something that gave at least a smittance of protection from wind & waves.  Of course, the down side of this river travel was that we had a 1.5-2.0 mph head current.  Since we only make about 10 mph when everything is going well and the stars and moon are all aligned, it affected our fuel economy and speed by 20%.

The Renaissance Center in downtown
Detroit, which was supposed to
revitalize the entire city.  HA!
GM also moved their headquarters here,
at least the original GM, not the
Government Motors company

 

 

 

South of Detroit, I was surprised to see so many industrial plants (some of which were still in production!).  On both the US as well as the Canadian side, it was just one plant after another for miles.  This place really took a hit when the economy went south.

We stayed at a marina to the north of Detroit on Lake St Clair, where my dad had taken us numerous times.  When Sue & I were last here several years ago, I got the marina information in preparation for our current visit.  We rented a car & went to the cemetery where my parents are buried & took care of their graves.  I was surprised that I remembered how to get there!



At my parents grave sites, north of Detroit

Leaving the marina on Lake St Clair, the marine life
is overtaking the human life!

We departed Lake St. Clair & headed up the St. Clair River to Port Huron MI, which is right at the southern end of Lake Huron.  We fought the current again, as we got a first-hand lesson of what happens when the direction of a strong wind is exactly opposite of the direction of a strong current.  We had 15-20 mph winds directly behind us, with 2.0 mph head current, which created sharp choppy breaking waves the entire 6 hour trip.  Had we not been on the river and had the wind on our stern, we wouldn’t even have been able to travel that day.

So now we’re at a marina in Port Huron, waiting for the weather on the Lake to die down.  The winds on the lake today were 20 mph gusting to 30, with waves up to 6’.  Now, we have been loyal members of US Power Squadrons for more than 10 years, and have religiously taken most of their boating courses, so we’ve learned that when the weather is that bad on open water, ya keep yer butt in port!

We hope to get underway tomorrow at sunrise to make a 3-day dash (at least as much as a “crawler” can dash) to Mackinaw City MI, about 250 miles away.  We’ll have 8-10 hour days, and plan to anchor at night, but we want to take advantage of the weather window.  As we leave this marina and travel the last 3 miles up the St. Clair River, we’ll run into head currents as much as 4 mph.  All the water that flows from Lake Huron down to Lakes Erie and Ontario, all passes through the narrow opening into this river.  As our friends who went through Hurricane Katrina all know, for a given flow of water, as you decrease the cross-sectional area, you increase the velocity. (Am I starting to sound like an engineer again?!?)

Nostalgia Week At The Islands

Bow on to Perry's Monument, just like we
did to the Statue of Liberty

We both had a fantastic week at the islands, visiting friends and family, and reminiscing many years of memories.

The last couple days of our stay were highlighted by our meeting up with Lynn & Kerm, a couple that we knew during the summer of 1966.  In fact, Lynn is from Strongsville OH, and her parents actually went to high school with Sue’s parents.  We told one story after another about how we all roamed the island over the years, and how the place has changed.

We took the boat out on Saturday for a tour of the islands and several “photo ops”.  As we cruised past the Club House end of Middle Bass, I blew the horn in the same pattern as the old “Erie Isle”, and since Kerm & I both used to work on that ferry boat in the 1960’s, he knew immediately who was making all the noise.

This was the view I saw every day from my Grandmother's home

At South Bass Island, someone made a home out of a freighter bow section

 

The famous park bench from 1966 was still there!

Outside the Town Hall, the memorial bricks to my grandparents

 

Awaiting the start of the Barbershoppers

Of course, the other highlight of our final days was going to the Barbershop Quartet entertainment Saturday night at the Town Hall.  Even though the groups performed each year at Middle Bass, Sue & I haven’t attended the event since the summer we met in 1966.  This year there were at least 20 quartets during the 2-3 hour free show.  For the finale, 130 past & present Barbershoppers came to the front for a loud & strong couple of songs.  Need I say that we thoroughly enjoyed the evening?

This quartet was the life of the evening

About the only negative this past week was the fact that the green algae blooms have returned to Lake Erie for a second straight year.  The water was green enough that we couldn’t go swimming at all.  (Must be due to all those dastardly pleasure boaters dumping their black water tanks overboard.  It just couldn’t be due to fertilizer run-off or municipal waste discharges!)

See, Jeanette, the buoy IS marked on the chart!

All good things come to an end, and our return to the islands did also.  On Sunday we left the marina to again pass the Club House end of Middle Bass, where Lynn was on shore taking our photo.  We continued west past Rattlesnake Island, almost going to West Sister Island, to find and photograph the Battle Buoy.  On September 13, 2013, to commemorate the 200^th anniversary of Perry’s Battle of Lake Erie, a reenactment was held at the location of the original battle, and a buoy was placed.  Of course, I had to see it, since last summer we located & photographed the buoy marking where Francis Scott Key observed the attack on Ft McHenry outside Baltimore Harbor.

The same gallon of water where the Battle of Lake Erie happened in 1813!

A big boy exiting the Detroit River onto Lake Erie

Detroit River Light

The downbound ship channel of the Detroit River

 

 

So now we’re traveling north to Mackinac Island.  We’ll try to make up some time during this week, and then stay a couple days visiting Mackinac.  We still need to be off the Great Lakes right after Labor Day

Where It All Began – Middle Bass Island

On the way to the islands, we pass Cedar Point in Sandusky.
That day, we didn't need their roller coasters, because
we were rolling in the 3' broadside swells

We’ve been at Middle Bass for almost a week now, and the place is just filled with memories.  We’ve visited most of the old haunts, and most of the relatives and friends who are still in the area.  Been back & forth several times to Put-in-Bay to see my cousins & to go up Perry’s Monument to see some beautiful scenery.

 

 

 

It's important to have current navigation
charts!  I guess this 1952 edition that my
Dad kept, is kinda old

 

 

 

But even on our chartplotter, loaded with the current
navigation charts, the two docks still say
"Keummel Fish Co", which was my grandfather's
business, and which ended in the 1970's

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The famous (or infamous) Lonz Winery at the main dock
on Middle Bass, along with the Miller ferry boat

 

Several of the highlights of our visit so far:

The Kuemmel mini-reunion



We had a mini-reunion of the Kuemmel Krewe from Put-in-Bay and my sister Carol from Michigan, when a distant relative brought her son & family to PIB and MB to meet our side of the Kuemmels.  Marilyn’s grandfather Kuemmel was the first of our ancestors to emigrate from Germany to Lake Erie, and then sent word back to Germany to MY grandfather that “the streets are paved with gold” and he needs help with his businesses.  And, of course, we tried to fill in more leaves on the family tree.

With our Kuemmel relative, who is avidly following our blog

My grandparents grave sites at the island cemetery

The restored one-room school house, where my father
attended grade school in the 1920's, and where my aunt was later
the school teacher

Glacial grooves cut into the limestone rock on the island

 

Several weeks ago when I had made marina reservations to stay at MB this week, I just picked some dates.  Then I found out that the Perseid Meteor shower was this week.  Thinking back to that week of 1966 (yes, 49 years ago) when Sue & I first met at Middle Bass, it was also the week of the Perseid Meteor shower.  Then the coup de grace for this week is finding that the Barbershop Quartets are coming to the island to perform this Saturday.  Would you believe that the week we met during 1966 ended with the Barbershop Quartets singing that Saturday?  Guess where we’re going to be this Saturday night?

We’re meeting up tonight with a couple who owns a cottage here, originally from Strongsville OH, and whose parents grew up with Sue’s parents in Strongsville.  I already stopped to visit with another islander who, as a child, was babysat by my mother the summer that my mother met my father on this island.

It’s amazing how many memories can be crammed onto such a small island!

Some of the Victorian cottages, built in the 1880's

 

The brig "Niagara", a replica of O.H. Perry's flagship,
was at Put-In-Bay.  We had just seen it a couple weeks
ago in Erie PA

The Niagara, with Perry's Victory and International
Peace Memorial National Monument behind it

Looking up the side of the 352' tall
Perry's Monument

The view of Put-In-Bay harbor from atop the Monument

The Lake Erie Islands looking north.  We could see over
30 miles to the Canadian shore

Sue at the park bench on Middle Bass,
where we "got to know each other", 49 years ago