45°53′30″ N 84°33′16″ W

We left St. Ignace at 8:00am this morning & are headed to Little Shelter Bay on Drummond Island. This will be our last stop in the USA before crossing back into Canada tomorrow.

This passage is going to be very simple. After we left the marina & got out past the northwestern tip of Mackinaw Island, we stay on a straight line course for about 46 nm, then we “hang a left” into the bay where we will anchor for the night. The entire trip should take us around 6 1/2 hours. Chris is on watch for traffic & fishing nets.

Yesterday was a laid back day. It was windy & cool & there were several small rain showers. It was a good day to be on the dock. I spent part of the morning working on my laptop & Chris made another trip to the local grocery store for a few more provisions.

We had Our neighbor Bren over for dinner & Chris cooked some marinated ribs on the BBQ & corn on the cob. Delicious! While we were having our supper a local wedding party came onto the docks & had a photo shoot on the Viking ship. Now that will be something to remember through the years ahead!

After supper Chris wandered over towards the Viking ship to check them out & he saw a familiar sailboat on the same dock. Turns out that last summer we had met the owners, Ella & Bill while we were anchored in Wingfield Basin. They are from Minnesota & keep their boat “Vixen” in this general area & cruise around Northern Michigan & the North Channel every summer for their water oriented vacation.

Ella & Bill came over to Ananda to say hello & to see the boat. They have a friend who has a newer version of this boat & were interested to compare layouts. After the tour we settled down to discussing more important things. Chris introduced Bill to “the bad bird” (aka The Famous Grouse) & Ella & I discussed our ongoing battles with spiders & their droppings. I introduced Ella to the miracle of “Spray Nine” cleaner. She was not sure if the product was available in the US so I presented her with 1/3 full bottle of the stuff to take “home” & try out on their boat 👌

While we were visiting the Town of St Ignace put on a fireworks display in the harbor beside the marina. It went on for 15-20 minutes & was very impressive. Apparently the Town does this every Saturday evening during the summer. So if you are visiting or traveling through the area it’s worth staying around for.

Cheers & catch up to you again soon!

45°51′2″ N 84°36′57″ W

Today was a layover day in St. Ignace, MI. The marina here is very nice so it was no hardship at all to spend an extra day here resting a bit and catching up on chores.

Chris & I both did our laundries & we washed Ananda. Chris did the stern & the starboard side & I did the bow & the port side. I changed Ananda’s engine oil while Chris made an expedition to the local grocery store for a few more provisions. It all evens out. This photo shows me on the engine oil extraction pump. It’s an easy, but time consuming process to draw all of the oil out of the engine & get ready for the new stuff.

Vikings! As I have noted in previous blog entries, there are several tall ships in this area. Last week we saw an American tall ship & a Norwegian Viking ship headed out of Sturgeon Bay, WI to Green Bay City. Both ships were an impressive sight. Then we saw them again when we were in Green Bay City.

Yesterday when we arrived in St. Ignace we saw the Norwegian tall ship “Draken” in the marina. This boat is amazing. It is the largest Viking vessel in existence today. The size & scale of her is a sight to behold.

If you have an opportunity to see her at one of her stops I encourage you to make the effort. You will be happy you did.

Portside Neighbors. Yesterday I made a blog entry about our starboard neighbor, Bren. This afternoon we met our portside neighbors Chris & Diane aboard their 36′ Catalina sailboat named “Gunkholer”. Chris & Diane are from Kalamazoo, MI & they have been sailing the Great Lakes for many years. They bought their boat new in year 2000 & it still looks like new today. Chris & Diane were kind enough to come aboard Ananda & give us some tips on good anchorages to head to during our passage back into the North Channel. It’s great to meet new people & to share experiences.

Cheers!

45°52′2″ N 84°42′55″ W

We are now at at very nice marina in St. Ignace, MI. We also stopped here about a week ago on our way to see Bo & Molly.

There is a very interesting boat in the slip beside us. Chris & I were having a wind-down drink on the Lido deck (i. e. Ananda’s aft steering station) & we invited the Captain to join us for a drink & to gam a bit with us.

If you have not heard of the term “gam” before, it basically means boaters getting together & telling stories of their adventures.

Anyway, a gentleman named Bren is the Captain of this boat & he is from Maine. Bren named his boat “Tjaldur” which is Scandinavian for “Oyster Catcher”. He told us that he used to live & work in Alaska. He admired the small fishing boats there & patterned his boat and chose the name after them.

Bren built this boat entirely by himself in his backyard. It took him 5 years to build & now he is doing the Great Loop trip in it. The Great Loop is basically a boating trip that involves traveling waterways from the Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico. “Loopers” (as the travelers are often respectfully called) will travel the Hudson River into the Erie Barge Canal, through the Great Lakes (Erie, Huron & Michigan) down to Chicago & then into the Mississippi River & down to the Gulf of Mexico. Then they cross to Florida & go up the Intercostal Waterway & on to the eastern Atlantic US states. They can also travel the along Canada’s east coast &!the St. Lawrence River as part of their loop. There is no set starting or end point. You start wherever you are & basically travel the waterways in a “circle” until you arrive back at your starting point. Depending upon your schedule & your resources, you can do the loop in a few months or it can take you over a year to do it.

Bren has a beautiful boat & he is on an amazing adventure. I asked him when he planned to complete “his loop”. He did not know for sure. He said he will know when he gets home. I’m envious.

Fair winds & many happy adventures Bren!

45°48′58″ N 84°45′44″ W

We are getting ready to go back under the Mackinac Bridge & we are now in Lake Huron waters.

We are now only a few nm from our destination today: St. Ignace, MI.

It has rained a bit today but not enough to cause any problems with our passage

Here’s what the trip looks like on our chart plotter

And here’s what it looks like face on. I think we’ll get under it ok!

Cheers everyone!

45°7′44″ N 85°36′44″ W

Our original destination today was Beaver Island but a short while after we entered Lake Michigan (from Green Bay) the wind picked up very strong straight into us & that meant that we would be in for a very rough ride for the next 8-10 hours. We considered our options & decided to head towards Northport Harbor. A wise decision for us. As soon as we changed course the ride got a lot better. Today we covered just under 90 nm in about 12 hours.

We arrived in Northport around 7:30pm. The marina is packed so we are docked in a bit of an “overflow” location.

The moon is just about 1/2 full tonight. Very attractive. Tomorrow we head for St Ignace.

We use a little iPhone app to help us with the weather & wind. It has proven to be quite reliable so we check it a few times a day & then I take a screenshot of the last “visit” to the site prior to going out of cell phone service range. That way I don’t have to spend a lot of time writing notes or trying to remember what the forecast was. Here’s a screenshot of the forecast for tomorrow for our passage to St. Ignace, MI.

Cheers!