August 4, 2022
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| Morton Salt warehouse with salt waiting to be shipped, on the St Clair River |
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| Sign welcoming boaters to Port Huron |
We left Algonac Harbor Club on July 22 at a decent hour. We knew we had to fight our way north against a 1-2 knot current. We had reservations at the River Street Marina on the Black River in Port Huron. The marina is stretched out along the banks of the river. Slips or wells, as they’re called here, are perpendicular to the bank. We had a pleasant trip up the St. Clair River though a bit slower than usual due to the current. If you look at a map, you’ll see that all the water from Lake Huron and Lake Superior slouches through the St. Clair River into Lake St. Clair then on into the Detroit River. That’s a lot of moving water.
On our way north we passed two tall ships heading south to Detroit. It’s always exciting to see these old beauties on the water.
Look at all those gun ports!!
On their way to Detroit
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| Fort Gratiot Lighthouse |
Blue Water Bridge into Canada
Port Huron is a town of about 30,000. Because this is a bigger town, there are a few more attractions for us to visit, like the Fort Gratiot lighthouse. It was built in 1829 and stands near the entrance to the St. Clair River . It is also the oldest lighthouse in the state of Michigan. We rode our bikes to it and climbed all 94 steps to the to.
We also visited a the Light Ship Huron and learned more about how treacherous the waters of the Great Lakes can be. We began to question our decision to come here but not for long. We are learning that the weather patterns are different on these lakes and require careful watching.
In between all the touristing, we managed to put a few new miles on our bikes. The ride along the river was beautiful as was our weather.
One rather steamy day we walked to the local movie theater to see ,”Where the Crawdads Sing”. We enjoyed the movie but we’re disappointed to find that it had not been filmed in North Carolina. We were homing for a peek of some familiar terrain.
All I all, Port Huron was a good stop. It was a very nice marina with good showers and facilities. We managed to get an Amazon packaged delivered there which is always a plus. Now we were ready to try our hand at entering Lake Huron. We had been warned by many that the current was very strong and we should hug the Canadian side to take advantage of the backwash until the bridge. We have always timed our travels to move with the current but in this case the current runs only one direction all the time. And it’s fast. Between 3-4 knots on an average day. Our boat runs at about 8.5 knots so this could be a slow trip.
We were up early on July 26th. We had a long day ahead of us so we planned on making the 8:15a.m. 7th Street and Military Street bridge openings. We made our opening then turned left into the St. Clair River. The current was 1-2 on first entering but by the time we got to the Blue Water Bridge it was up to almost 5 knots. Carolina was making about 3.5 knots. It took us about an hour to travel the 3 miles to the entrance into Lake Huron but we made it. Now we are into our third Great Lake.
Lake Huron is the second largest of the Great Lakes and the fourth largest lake in the world by surface area. At its widest it is about 5 miles across and averages about 193 feet in depth. Water flows from Lake Superior and Lake Michigan into Huron then out to Lake Ontario. This is a big body of water.
Our next stop will be Port Sanilac, a small village (pop. 620) on the western shore. It was first called “Bark Shanty” as it was originally a lumberjack settlement. There is an octagonal lighthouse here but it is no longer open to the public.
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| Port Sanilac Lighthouse is now anAir B’nBfrom what we hear! |
The Port Sanilac Marina is a privately run establishment. This is a rare thing on the shores of the lake. The state of Michigan own a majority of the marinas as ports of refuge. In fact there was a state run marina beside this one. Chester and his wife have operated the marina for a number of years. He retired and was enjoying the life of Riley when his daughter who had taken over decided to circumnavigate the globe with her husband. Chester was back at work with a couple of month. His daughter and family are in Figi preparing for their last leg to New Zealand where her husband calls home.
We rode our bikes around and took a lay of the land. Many places were not on Tuesday - just not enough foot traffic. We rode to the local grocery and picked up a few things but the prices were very high…7.95 for a small box of oatmeal. We planned our sightseeing for the next day and retired to the marina pub for a maneuver schlock.
Port Sanilac Marina
Blue Water Inn
On Wednesdaywe did boat chores in the morning waiting for the Sanilac County Historic Village and Museum to open. We had ridden past the museum and village the day before and it looked interesting. Needless to say, we were their first customers of the day. The docent, Kathy, was quite friendly and more than happy to fill us in on local legend and lore. The main house was the home of Dr. Joseph Loop and his family. The home was built in 1872 and reminded us of our own historic home. We mentioned that we lived in an older home and we were invited to take the back stairs, basement tour or normally open to the public. It’s a lovely old home. Along with this building there was a general store, schoolhouse, church, stable, fish/hunting camp and a few other out buildings. This spot is easily missed by tourists which is a shame. It’s a very nice little museum.
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| Pretty flowers! |
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| Bob and his trusty steed! |
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| An anchor for our front yard. |
We left Port Sanilac on Thursday morning hoping to make it to Caseville but knew there was a chance we’d not make it because of weather heading our way. We had Harbor Beach as a bailout of necessary. Well , it was necessary. The wind started to build and it was spitting rain. The marina said they were all booked up so we would be anchoring. There were two boats there before us and they were positioned so we had plenty of space. Unfortunately the bottom of this anchorage was covered in weed. We put our anchor down and waited. As the wind picked up we started to drag. We crossed our fingers and hoped the anchor would catch but knew that the longer she dragged the more weed there would be fouling her. We eventually had to pull the anchor back up. With me at the helm and chain out and Bob on the bow with a machete. It was an extremely painful process for both of us. I’d put 120 feet of chain and we had to clean weed off at least 100 feet of that. We cruised the anchorage looking for a less weedy area and finally found a good spot. Again we dropped the anchor and this time it seemed to set. Within 30 minutes the marina called us and offered us a slip. That was a no-brainer. We upped anchor and tied our selves to the dock for the duration of the blow.
Weed, weed everywhere!
The following morning, July 29th, we left for Caseville about 30 miles away. The town of Caseville is bisected by the Pigeon River which is where the state run marina was located. We had a primo slip. We were right in front of the office/restrooms. We had boats on either side that were seasonal renters and they spent weekends on their vessels. Being this was a Friday, the marina was hopping. All the weekenders were there gearing up for a party weekend. We got the bikes off the boat and took a quick tour of the downtown area. The population of Caseville is about 770. They had maybe two traffic lights and as many restaurants. We planned on staying two nights waiting for more settled weather to make the run to Harrisville around to the other side of the mitten’s thumb.
Saturday morning we decided to try out Walt’s Restaurant for breakfast. The day before we were sure it was a victim of COVID, but heard it was still a going concern. Going was putting it mildly. It was booming. There was a wait list for a table!! I walked back to add our name to the list and was accosted by an older gentleman sitting at a large round table with 2 other gents. He invited us to sit with them and share our stories. It was a win-win. It turned out that Mike worked for the restaurant as a supplier and had a standing reservation at that table. We sat and talked with the every changing cast of characters that joined the table. What a treat. We heard life stories, saw pictures of kids and grandkids, heard all the local gossip and had an excellent breakfast. From Walt’s we walked over to the Farmers Market and picket up some berries and cucumbers for the boat stores as well as a handmade spalted maple bowl . We rode from there to the hardware and dollar general looking for a few things then spent the rest of the day on board.
Spalted maple bowl
Sunday we left for Harrisville in Saginaw Bay….on the other side of the the thumb. I’ll continue that story in our next blog.
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