August 30, 2023
When last we communicated, we were headed to St. Ignace on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This port is a short ferry ride from Mackinac Island. We tried without success to secure a slip on Mackinac but People book well in advance for the privilege of being on the island. Since we maintain no schedules on our craft, this makes reserving a slip in advance impossible. But not a problem for us in the least. We love ferry rides too!
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| We had a nice ride both ways on the ferry |
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| Ferry to Mackinac with our bikes in the back |
We arrived in St. Ignace on the 9th of August. We took our bikes off the boat and rode around to get the lay of the town. It is obviously the poor step-sister to Mackinac surviving only by ferrying people out to the island and selling souvenirs for less than on the island. We found the ferry terminal on our ride about and decided we would buy tickets for the 10th and spend the day. The tickets for Bob and I came to $104 and then they charged us for our bicycles too. An extra $18/ bicycle. This was still a deal because renting bikes on the island was by the hour and much more than $18. I don’t know how the family behind us - two adults and 4 kids all with bicycles managed to pay that.
The trip to the island was uneventful and they could unload and reload the ferry in about 10 minutes. The ferries ran constantly all day long. Along with the ferry people arriving, there was a small cruise ship in port off loading about 290 passengers for a day of touring. Needless to say there were lines for everything and the roads and shops were all crowded.
We opted to ride our bikes around the island first then go see sights we hadn’t seen on the bike ride. The best laid plans- everybody off the ship or ferry that didn’t have a ticket for the horse drawn carriages rented a bike to ride around the island. The trail was a disaster waiting to happen. Hundreds of people who haven’t ridden a bike in 15 years wobbling down a gravel path. Luckily, most were only in it for the first few miles then they gave up and turned back. The circumvention of the island is about 8 miles. Once we passed miles 3 and came to a slight hill, we lost the crowds. We really enjoyed stretching our legs and getting the blood pumping. It was a beautiful day.
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| Waterfront marina from the fort |
After our ride around the island we found a nice bench to eat our picnic lunch on. The prices in the restaurants were out of this world and the waits to get in were almost an hour. So glad we brought some food. Next we investigated the horse draw carriage rides. The lines there were longer than at the restaurants. We decided to visit Fort Mackinac instead. As luck would have it, they were preparing to fire one of the cannons so off we went to watch - with a hundred of our nearest friends.
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| Fort Mackinac history |
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| Missionary Bark Chapel |
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| Block house at Fort Mackinac |
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| Firing the cannon(very underwhelming) |
If you head out the back gate of the fort there is a lovely shaded path that will take you right to the Stone Arch. We enjoyed our walk and saw very few people up here on the spine of the island. There were no commercial businesses to entice spending.
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| Arch Rock |
We had a fun filled day and made it back to our boat by 4pm. We were planning on departing the next day for De Tour,MI - one of our favorite stops on the U.P. We left St. Ignace early the morning of the 11th and arrived in De Tour around noon.
Last year we were in and out of DeTour at least 4 or possibly 5 times. We were regulars at the local pub/restaurant called The Mainsail. We were looking forward to seeing the owner/chef/bar tender/ busboy Desi. We walked up after checking in to let her know we were back in town. It felt like a homecoming. Desi remembered us and let us know we were welcome back in her establishment. We sat at the bar for a maneuver schlook and Bob struck up a conversation with Mike at the other end of the bar.
Mike had been telling Desi that he was going to Hessel for the Les Cheneaux Antique Wooden Boat Show. Bob and I wanted to go this year (we missed it last year) but needed a ride. Bob asked Mike if he had room for two more in his car. Unfortunately, he did not but he told us to take his Jeep that was parked in front of his house, keys in the ignition. Score one for Bob. This was too good to be true!
The next morning we rode our bikes to Mike’s house and sure enough the Jeep was there waiting. We drove west along the lake down highway 134 to Hessel. This is a really big boat show that people come from all over Michigan and surrounds to see. Hessel was the site of the first ChrisCraft dealership. Chris Craft boats are everywhere among the Les Cheneaux Islands. You literally can’t spit without hitting one. Then there are the boats brought in by owners from out of state. There were over 100 beautiful old, wooden boats in attendance. This was a smaller show than usual because it was the first one since the pandemic. We spent about 3-3.5 hours ogling. It was an overcast, cool, and windy day but the turn out was still spectacular. On our way home we stopped at the grocery and filled in a few gaps in our provisions.
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| Chris Craft beauty |
We had dinner at The Mainsail that night and said our goodbyes to Desi. She suggested that we could move up there and be full time customers but we declined.(I’ve read how much snow they get!!) we then walked down to Mikes for a nightcap with him and his wife and a group of locals. We had a wonderful evening listening to their stories and getting many of our questions answered. All in all a great time. Now we really feel like we are part of DeTour.
On August 13th we left for “The Soo”. We decided to go up the St. Joseph Channel which is a bit longer but much more scenic and with no lakers or footers(big cargo ships) to be concerned about. We had a reserved slip at the George Kemp Marina in Sault Ste Marie, USA and we’re looking forward to being back in the Soo. We had planned on staying two nights but the wind gods spoke and told us we better take advantage of the next couple of days or we’d be stuck for a bit. So our best laid plans for a visit in the Soo were thwarted. We walked uptight USPS to mail some things to our grandkids and finally decided that we should go. We finally got under way around noon heading for White Fish Point home to the Lake Superior Shipwreck Museum.
I need to refresh memories here. Once we passed under the Mackinac Bridge (Big Mac) we were back in Lake Huron. Once we pass through the lock in Sault Ste Marie we will be in Lake Superior.
White Fish Point is a very small community and their harbor of refuge is even smaller. There are 8 slips total and 4 are reserved for the fishermen. When we arrived there was one slip left. Boaters from the boats on either side came out to help us dock. We had seen all these boats in the Soo and realized that we would all be traveling together for a number of days. We only spent one night in White Fish, we’ll go to the museum on our way back through.
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| Docks of White Fish Point |
Next stop is Grand Marais, population 1300. We arrived in Grand Marais on August 15th and docked in the harbor of refuge in downtown. We would only be here one night to we got off the boat and walked the town. We went to the hardware for some bits and bobs then on to the Pickle Barrel House for a quick look. It was built for the creator of the Teenie Weenies - a comic in the Sunday papers. It’s a cute little “cottage” that you can stay in if you want.
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| Pickle Barrel House once owned by William Donahey creator of the “Teenie Weenies” |
Our next stop is Munising. Not much bigger than Grand Marais but in a much more protected stop and the gateway to the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. We were hoping to get a chance to take the guided cruise past the rocks, We actually sailed past the Pictured Rocks coming into Munising but we had no idea what we were looking at. Weather kept us here for 2 days.
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| East Harbor Light(retired) |
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| Munising Front Range Light |
I know I keep saying weather which is an all encompassing term. We have not had terrible rain though we have had a few days that were wet. Most of the weather I’m referring to is wind and sea state. When the wind blows on Lake Superior it has a lot of fetch. Miles and miles of fetch and it doesn’t take much to stir up 6-7 ft. waves. We don’t venture out in weather like that. We look for days with winds less than 10mph, gusts less than 20mph and waves between 0-1. We’ve learned that the winds kick up and make waves after noon most days so an early start can almost assure you smooth water for at least 3-4 hrs. We try to take small hops so we can do them in that time range. I guess some would call us wimps but we prefer not to become another shipwreck in the lake.
I’m not exactly sure where we struck up our friendship with Ken Merryman but I know we were in DeTour, Sault Ste Marie, White Fish Point and Grand Marais with him. It was in Munising that we finally got to talking and asking him about his boat and all the equipment he was carrying. Ken spends his summer on his 1947 Owens hunting for shipwrecks in the Great Lakes. He is a member and I believe founder of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society of Minnesota. They are a non-profit trying to create 3D models of every shipwreck in the Great Lakes. They use photogrammetry to make the 3D models and make them available to the public on their website 3dshipwrecks.org . Please visit the site and take a look. They're doing amazing work and it’s all done by volunteers like Ken. Needless to say, we have run into Ken a few more times since Grand Marais.
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| Ken Merryman’s 1947 Owen - shipwreck hunter |
We bought tickets for the Pictured Rock Cruise but when the time approached so did the wind. Before boarding they informed us that there were 4-5 foot waves outside of Munising Bay where we would be going. They offered a full refund if we didn’t want to go. We took the refund. All of you reading this may not know that Bob gets seasick when the waves get too big. We didn’t want to chance that. We’d be back this way in a week and try again. We left Munising on August 19th for Marquette, the largest city on the Upper Peninsula at 20,600 inhabitants. Marquette was a nice stop with lots to keep us busy. Bob had prescriptions filled at there CVS, so our first order of business was to ride to the pharmacy to pickup his drugs. It was a10 mile round trip and tired us both out. There are hills on the UP.
The next day we visited the Marquette Harbor Light and the Maritime Museum. It was trying to rain but we decided to continue onto Presque Isle and ride around the peninsula. This ride took us about 12 miles. You ride along the shore of Lake Superior for almost all of the ride. Really beautiful. We got back to the boat just as the rain set in.
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| 3rd order Fresnel Lens from the Marquette Lighthouse |
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| Hard hat dive suit used by early shipwreck hunters |
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| Bob at the Marquette Lighthouse |
I’m sure you’re tired of reading this by now, so I shall stop here. We are undecided as to where to venture next. We have a first birthday party to attend in Boston in a couple of weeks . The weather is getting more dicey and the days are getting shorter and colder. Look for the next blog in a couple of weeks. Till then, enjoy your adventures.
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