Cheboygan, MI

We left Drummond Harbor Yacht Haven after a lot of time spent deliberating the forecast on Tuesday, August 28. The winds and seas were projected to be higher particularly for our Great Loop colleagues who were heading to Lake Michigan. Out route seemed like it would be OK as the day progressed so we delayed our departure until noon and then set off.  The lake had one foot waves with short period swells to start which we were taking on the bow so it was relatively comfortable.  We made our way across the top of Lake Huron and as the day wore on the seas calmed because we were in the shadow of the mainland, hugging the east coast of Michigan and passing some of the lighthouses for which the Great Lakes are known.

By 5:30 we made our way into the Cheboygan River following a ferry into the harbor. After waiting for the 9 foot bridge to open we arrived at the municipal marina which was just a wall in the center of town.  We tied up next to that walk and a parking lot and a fellow cruiser mistakenly told us we could stay there for free with power and all!  Apparently he leaves before the attendant arrives the next morning to collect payment.  Jonny thought there might be a nicer place to tie up a bit further up the river and so we moved and found one next to a park and just under the pedestrian walking bridge.  It was a very nice location with an attractive gazebo and historic scenes painted on walls in the park (and the all essential restrooms nearby).

The next day we took a $5 shuttle bus to the ferry to Mackinac Island. On our way we passed under the bridge that when first built was the longest suspension bridge in the world.  The weather was a little cool and rainy but it was expected to clear by noon.  

We had a great time at Mackinac exploring a lot of the island on foot. The downtown area was busy with lots of shops,  restaurants, and horse drawn carriages.

We took one of the historic walks and went by the fort (but didn’t go in as we have seen lots of forts on this journey).  We went on to the Governor of Michigan’s summer home and lucked out.  It is only open on Wednesdays and this was the last Wednesday it would be open for the season.  The governor and his wife actually use it and it felt very much like a lived-in home. It was lovely with comfortably inviting seating areas around a cozy fireplace, a gracious dining room and a lovely sun porch. All these rooms had amazing views of the lake.  It was an 11 bedroom house but it didn’t seem so. Of course we did not get to see any of the second floor but we were assured that the governor and his wife used the rooms we were able to visit.  It’s the first time we had toured an historic home and felt that we could imagine ourselves actually living there. 

From there we took a scenic walk along the shoreline and saw several summer “cottages” with fabulous flower gardens and an amazing natural stone arch.

 As the rain stopped, we found a very nice outdoor restaurant for lunch looking out over the lake. 

Originally, we were going to rent bicycles and bike around the island after lunch but we decided to explore the historic areas on foot.  We walked through the less commercial parts of town, past historic churches, and forested areas.

Then we headed over to the Grand Hotel.  Jonny wasn’t up for spending $10 to walk onto their famous porch but Lynn was so she explored the resorts public spaces and reported back to Jonny.  

Lynn also wanted to walk through the part of town where the 500 or so permanent residents lived (to see how the other 90% lived)! Their homes were much more modest than the huge “cottages” that lined the shores of Mackinac.  We saw lots horses grazing and stables (some nicer than the residents’ homes) where the horses that draw the carriages are kept.  No cars are allowed on the island and surprisingly to us we saw no golf carts either! 

As we walked along a coastal road with some magnificent cottages we came again to the Grand Hotel.  There were no staff keeping people out from that side so we both walked in and Jonny got to see this iconic hotel for free!

At the end of the day, we took the ferry back to the town of Mackinaw where we killed some time waiting for the shuttle back to the marina by indulging in ice cream and coffee and wondering how so many fudge shops can compete and remain operational in two square blocks!  (Note that the town is spelled Mackinaw and the island is Mackinac but they are both pronounced Mackinaw.) We learned the interesting fact that Carl Fisher, one of Miami Beach’s founding fathers, was from this part of the country and was instrumental in building the Dixie Highway built that goes all the way from Mackinaw to Miami!

Once back in Cheboygan, we hit the local brew pub and grocery and had a light dinner before going to bed.

Our trip to Cheboygan and Mackinac Island turned out to be really fun, more so than we ever expected!

 

Drummond Island, MI

We set off for our re-entry to the USA at 8 a.m on Monday August 27.  We were headed for Drummond Island, MI, a popular and convenient place to go through customs. We were anticipating that the weather would be worse the following day and we may not want to make the longer passage on Lake Huron under windy or stormy conditions.  By  9 a.m. we realized that the seas were comfortable enough that we could bypass Drummond Island and make a longer day’s cruise all the way to Cheboygan.  This would save us from the following day being a down day because the weather was expected to deteriorate.  We contacted Cheboygan to see if we could go through Customs there but it wasn’t possible. Jonny had already tried to go through the online process for Customs but because of poor connectivity we couldn’t complete the process.  Though we tried every possible alternative, we had to stay with our original plan of going to Drummond Island.  We arrived at the Drummond Harbor Yacht Haven at 12:15 and tied up next to an amazing vessel (more on that later).  Jonny went up to Customs alone because that’s what is required in Canada.  Shortly after, he called Lynn to join him which is required coming in to the U.S.

Because Lynn had awakened that morning with her eyes more swollen than ever, she decided to call her opthamologist who had offered to call in a prescription for a steroid.  It was a little complicated.  There is no pharmacy on Drummond Island but if the doctor called in the prescription to the off-island pharmacy by 1 p.m., the pharmacy would deliver it to the medical center that is just a mile and a half from the marina.  Dr. Rubin promptly called it in and both the pharmacy and medical center stayed in touch with Lynn all afternoon describing the status of the prescription.  By 4:30, Jonny took Lynn’s bike (having discovered that his had a flat tire) to drive through town to the medical center in this tiny community to pick up the prescription and stop at the grocery store to get a few items.

Our marina experience was enhanced by the discovery of some fellow cruisers who we had first met going through the locks on the Trent-Severn.  We enjoyed hearing about some fun adventures they had in the North Channel including meeting the couple whose boat was boarded by a bear!  

We were docked next to an amazing sailboat called the Huron Jewel.  This newly launched 78 foot gaff-rigged schooner was designed and built by an incredible boat maker named Captain Hugh Covert.  He has extensive experience building boats and this one was based on the design of a 19th century clipper-type Virginia pilot schooner.  He had just launched it with great fanfare and was just finishing up some last minute details.  It is available for day sails, windjammer cruises, weddings and other special events.  It was a very impressive boat!

That evening Jonny made perfectly grilled lamb chops and we ate them with some local corn-on-the cob and salad.  We spent the rest of the evening catching up with friends by phone.  When we were ready to go to bed, we realized that Georgio was missing again.  Lynn went out onto the dock with a flashlight.  Fortunately some boaters had just seen Georgio strolling down the dock and Lynn found him two finger piers down from Zendo sitting next to a similar looking trawler looking as if he wanted to climb back on.  Greatly relieved, she scooped him up in her arms, gently admonished him and brought him home, Yes, we know we have to keep a better eye on him!!

Cockburn Island, Ontario

We had a fairly long travel day planned on Sunday, August 26 and as we left Gore Bay Marina and got out onto Lake Huron at 9 a.m. it got pretty rough for a couple of hours.  Georgio was not at all happy and hid all day under the chair in the saloon nestled snugly between two pairs of shoes.  It finally calmed down and we had a pretty smooth ride the remainder of the day.

We had identified two possible destinations for our last night in Canada; one was among the Grant Islands, small little islands in the middle of the bay and another was on the south shore of a larger island.  Because of the southerly winds, we chose the latter option - Cockburn Island.  It was incorporated in 1881 and was once a thriving community with as many as 1000 residents.   The island attracts a couple of hundred summer residents a year and its full-time population is down to zero! We saw absolutely no signs of civilization from our vantage point.

After a long six and a half hour cruise, we anchored in the large wide bay of Cockburn Island there with no other boats at all. We had seen very few all day as we are in a quite remote part of O, Canada!   Jonny decided to take one last swim in these northern waters.  He didn’t stay in for long -  it was cold!!

Towards the end of the day, a tiny fishing boat entered the bay quite a distance away from us.  We thought for sure it wouldn’t stay overnight because it was so small, but there it was the next morning!

We had a quiet night onboard Zendo eating leftovers for dinner.  Unfortunately, we had to abandon the idea of eating on the aft deck and enjoying the pristine scenery because the flies were so bad. This was our last night in Canada after spending a total of 51 days in this gracious and. beautiful country! We were sad to say good-bye.

Gore Bay, Ontario

As usual, Jonny woke up early on Saturday, August 25 and when Lynn got up first at 6 a.m., her eyes were worse - more swollen and very itchy.  She went back to bed with a cold pack on her eyes and fell asleep until 7:30. Waking up looking like a prize fighter (minus the black and blue), she decided to find a doctor. But since it was Saturday,  no medical clinics were open.  But she called the answering service for the closest clinic in Gore Bay.  Their on- call doctor called back promptly and agreed to see her as soon as we could get to Gore Bay. So we pulled the anchor by 9 a.m. and were relieved that Gore Bay was still heading us in the right direction.

It was a dreary day and drizzled a little as we made the two hour journey across the bay.  Fortunately, the crossing was fairly smooth so Georgio wasn’t traumatized.

Gore Bay is an attractive village (population 900).  We tied up at the dock, checked into the marina and called the doctor who could meet us right away. 

The medical center was only two blocks from the marina (how convenient can you get)? The doctor, who was both professional and personable, confirmed the original diagnosis (allergic reaction) and proscribed stronger antihistamines.  The pharmacy was another block away right around the corner from the “ healthy” restaurant recommended by the doctor as a good place for lunch.  We picked up the prescription and another umbrella  (it was still raining) and headed over another couple of blocks to the  restaurant which was closed.  So we strolled through the small village, bought a few staples at the local grocery store and finally found a restaurant near the marina for a quick lunch.  Jonny relaxed with a couple of Guinness’s. On the way back to the marina we stopped to buy some locally caught  smoked fish.

Back at Zendo, we actually napped after trying to read our books.  Jonny did some extensive trip planning since we would be leaving Canada in a couple of days, sad as that is for us!  Lynn updated the blog and we decided that we weren’t hungry for dinner so we spent the rest of the evening reading and relaxing,  Actually, Lynn couldn’t believe that Jonny didn’t check out the local brew pub that was just down the street from was our marina.  Maybe now he’s coming down with something?!

Corker Island, Ontario

We left our magical anchorage at Baie Fine at 10 a.m. on Thursday, August 23 bound for the Benjamin Islands.  On our way we made a stop at one of the North Channel’s main towns called Little Current.  They had good fuel prices so we topped off our tanks and walked across the street to have lunch at the Anchor Inn.  Little Current is a cute little town (population 1,500) and the biggest one on Manitoulin Island which forms the southern boundary of the North Channel.  The town obviously caters to boaters with a long town dock and many services available. The Main Street is only one block from the docks so everything is within easy walking distance of the harbor.  After lunch we stopped for the obligatory ice cream cone and then walked about a half mile to the local grocery store to pick up some odds and ends.

From there, with the helpful assistance of the dockhands, we took off for the Benjamins.  After reviewing several potential anchorages, we chose one at Crocker Island which was next to the Benjamins group.  The charts showed that it had a cove that provided the best protection from southerly winds. When we arrived in that lovely cove we couldn’t believe that we were the only boat there and remained so for the entire night!

Jonny cooked a fantastic dinner of NY strip steak with sautéed mushrooms, onions and peppers and swiss chard accompanied by an excellent bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon. It was a very special dinner in an absolutely pristine setting.

Our anchorage was so pleasant that we decided to stay a second day.  We woke up on Friday morning and each went for an extended paddle.  Then we packed a picnic lunch and set off on the dinghy to explore the Benjamin Islands.  We rode over to beautiful, rocky South Benjamin Island where we found a deep cove (with a sailboat anchored and elaborately tied to the nearby rocky boulders).  We tied the dinghy to a tree and climbed the boulders to get a 360 degree view of the island group.  Spectacular!  We ate our picnic lunch on a large flat rock bed and basked in the sunny day. 

Leaving our picnic spot, we dinghied a little more around the islands seeking and finding the bright metal rings that are anchored into rocks here and there providing boaters with the ability to tie up to shore.

When we returned to our private cove, we were disappointed to find our anchorage “invaded” by four other boats.  We should have expected as much because the weekend had arrived!

The only small downer was that Lynn had awakened that morning with a very swollen and itchy eye.  Thinking it was just a bug bite, she didn’t give it too much thought except that as the day wore on it got worse and was spreading to the other eye.  On Friday morning she called our friend who is an ophthalmologist who thought as we did that it was an allergic reaction and she advised Lynn to take an antihistamine.  

When we returned from the dinghy ride, Lynn took it easy applying ice packs to both eyes and Jonny paddled over to Crocker Island to see if he could find some blueberries which are supposed to be in abundance around here.  He returned empty-handed.  Apparently blueberry season had passed.  That evening, Lynn made a yummy chicken curry and we made it an early night.

Baie Fine, Ontario

Our long awaited trip to the Georgian Bay came to an end on Wednesday, August 22 as we left Killarney (population 600!) to begin our passage through the North Channel.

It is a long strip of water that runs for 70 miles east-west from Killarney to Thessalon, Ontario.  The channel’s waters are relatively quiet because Manitoulin Island protects the northern coast of Ontario from the wilder waters of Lake Huron.  The North Channel has some of the oldest rocks  in the world with many of them over 3 billion years old!  It is far less developed than Georgian Bay with fewer and smaller villages and only occasional cottages scattered here and there.  We made a leisurely departure from Killarney Mountain Marina because we had a relatively short cruise to the amazing Baie Fine.  The day was quite cool in the low 70’s and windy but we spent most of the cruise on an inside passage.  

We crossed Fraser Bay to get to the long narrow passageway that led to an outstandingly beautiful cove.  The passage was narrow and lined with white quartz cliffs and fir trees on both sides.  It is reported to be the closest thing to a fjord in North America.  It was so dramatic that Lynn spent much of the seven mile passage standing on the bow soaking in the incredible scenery. 

When we arrived at the “pool” (the end of the passageway leads to a cove), we found six boats already anchored there.  Some were tied up to trees and we decided to go in as far as we could and set the anchor.  The fellow in the sailboat closest to us dinghied over to advise us to tie up our stern to a tree which we gladly did. 

Then we took the dinghy to a small dock that led to trails in the surrounding parkland.  We hiked to a famous watering hole on Topaz Lake.  It was stunningly dramatic - a small lake with turquoise water surrounded by huge rocky outcroppings and forested shores.  If it was just a little warmer, we would have gone swimming in the crystal clear waters.  A few people were hanging out on rocks and a couple of young men were jumping into the water from high cliffs on the nearby shore.  We stayed for awhile enjoying the outstanding scenery - one of the prettiest places we’ve been on this whole trip!

We then hiked to another lake, Artists Lake - also pretty but filled with marsh weeds and nowhere near as nice as Topaz. 

Back at Zendo, three folks who we met at the lake responded to our invitation to come by and see Zendo as they were interested in buying a trawler.  Two of them were from Deerfield Beach, FL and the others on the boat were from the Midwest and had sailed these waters before.  We had a nice visit and later on just relaxed in the quiet of this anchorage and basked in the beauty of a magnificent sunset. 

Killarney, Ontario

We woke up by 5:30 on Tuesday, August 21 so we could leave early due to the weather forecast.  We wanted to make it to either an anchorage or all the way to Killarney if we could.  That way we would be in a good place when the higher winds that were forecasted for the following day occur.  It turned out that our night on anchor was very calm. We climbed onto the dinghy to to untie the two lines that secured us to the shore and pulled anchor by 6:45.

We headed across Lake Huron and had a very bouncy ride for the first hour until we could make a turn and have the waves on our quarter.  During this rough passage, the table in the saloon toppled over even though it was secured by bungee cords and the oven door flew open and all the pans tumbled out.  (We hadn’t secured things as well as we should have). Georgio was very uncomfortable and had two accidents probably because it was too rough for him to make it to the litter box in time.  Lynn held him closely during much of this passage. 

Finally, after about two hours we entered the inside passage of Beaverstone Bay and a most beautiful portion of our journey.  There was negligible boat traffic and very few cottages lining these shores.  We passed a couple of lovely anchorages we could have chosen to stay at but we pushed on. 

We cruised on to Killarney which meant crossing one more short section of open water which we did in 30 minutes without any trauma.  We arrived at Killarney Mountain Marina by noon. This was a very attractive resort-style marina that looked a little like a mini Montebello but we actually liked it better - it was more casual and laid back.

We walked around the grounds and into the the tiny town of Killarney where we stopped at a fish and chips joint for lunch.  We sat out on a picnic table overlooking another marina and as we were finishing it started to sprinkle.

Upon returning to Zendo, Lynn walked up to the local laundromat to wash the towel that Georgio peed on.  There was a free laundry at the marina but only one washer and three people were already lined up to use it. It was a very rainy afternoon.

We had originally made dinner reservation at the marina’s restaurant but we didn’t care for its ambiance so we cancelled and Lynn made a delicious dinner of sausage and peppers with the unique lamb-rosemary sausage Jonny had purchased at the butcher in Toronto.  Jonny did some more trip planning and after dinner we walked up to the marina’s attractive cocktail lounge to hear a singer who has a big following in this part of Canada. He was actually very entertaining singing mostly songs made popular by Canadians.  It was definitely a fun evening.  The lounge was designed around a huge central open fireplace but it was prohibited from being used because of the forest fires that have hit this part of the country this summer.  Fortunately for us they have abated enough so we are not prevented from seeing areas we had planned to visit.