Major Kerfuffle

 October 4,2023

       After our sortie to the Superior side of the Upper Peninsula it was time to head back to Sault Ste Marie to catch a plane to Boston for our granddaughter’s first birthday.  The airport in The Soo is on the Canadian side of the city so dockage would have to be at Bondar Maria.  Unfortunately they have closed up for the season….or so we thought.   We called the Bellevue Marina just a bit further south and they said we could stay in Bondar but there would be no dockhands or amenities except bathrooms.   It sounded great to us since we were going to leave the boat anyway.

      Bondar is a nice marina, near some shops and restaurants.  We came into a slip which was too close to the public walkway, but another boat left  ahead and we moved over.  Unfortunately when the people go, the gulls and ducks move in.   Our dock was an obstacle course of poop.

      We found a cab to the airport and had no issues with our flights to Boston.  The weather for our stay was not the best but we managed to have great fun with the grands.   The birthday party was perfect and Lily truly enjoyed her first taste of cake and icing.   After about a week we flew back to Carolina to continue our exploration of the Great Lakes.   We planned on heading through the St.Joseph Channel to the north channel then on to Georgian Bay.  We were looking forward to seeing some new sights.  Unfortunately we received a phone call from the boat storage place in Ontario and they informed us - after  7 months of assuring us we had a spot- that we had NO spot in their storage.  This is an unthinkable situation for a boat owner.  We always start calling in January to insure that we have storage for the following winter.  Most places fill up by March.  This put us in a very bad position on a Friday before Labor Day.   We started calling every place that had indoor, heated storage on the Great Lakes.  The answer was no room in more places then I care to mention.  Finally we called North Shore Marina in Grand Haven, Michigan and got a positive response.  YEAH!!  Having to back track to Grand Haven ruined our plans for next year but I’m sure there is a silver lining.  We had been talking about staying longer in the lakes and going back to Superior.  Maybe this was a sign.  Needless to say, we headed back down St. Joseph Channel to De Tour Village to visit our land-based friends there and regroup for a trip back into Lake Michigan.

White fish dinner- yum!

      We, of course, went to the Mainsail to see Desi and we ran into Dave on the docks.  We only stayed one night and began our trek back to Grand Haven.   We decided to try and go to new towns on the way back.   Our first stop would be in Cheboygan, MI.  Last time through they were full and had no slips available.   This time the marina was basically empty. 

Cheboygan, MI lighthouse

     We are working against time now so we only stopped for one night here.   We did ride our bikes into town but their public pathway was tanbark and not appropriate for our bikes.  Unfortunately halfway home, Bob’s bike seat broke off.  We rode the rest of the way with me yelling, “Don’t sit down!” Or “Be upright”.  I don’t know what the people who we passed thought but we made it back to the boat.  A bolt had sheered off and it was an easy fix once we got to Carolina.

     Next stop was Mackinaw City on the southern side of the famous, five mile  long  Mackinac Bridge.

Again, we spent one night but because it was just a ten mile trip from Cheboygan we had lots of time to explore.  We decided to go to the Old Mac Point Lighthouse.  We had a good tour of the light and climbed to the lantern room.  What a view there was of the bridge.  They also set off the fog horn for us to experience how loud it was.  It was another fun and informative day.

Bob and me in the lantern room at Old Mac Point Lighthouse

Bob kicking the Old Mac Point Lighthouse

Big Mac

     Our next stop would be Harbor Springs, a small town in Traverse Bay.  We had tried to stop here on our way north but once again they had no available slips and, as it was in Cheboygan, there were lots of slips  this time.   We’re kinda getting the feeling that the season for boating is over. 

    Harbor Springs is another cutsie town like Charlevoix.    The town has a population of about 1200.  There are some very nice new and old homes along it’s streets.  We did a walkabout to take in some  of the sights.   This town didn’t have a maritime museum or many historical sights but it did have this unusual steam powered steel  pleasure boat. The boat is called “Aha”and was built by E. Shay the maker of train engines used for logging.

The “Aha”

Mr.Shay’s eight-sided home in Harbor Springs

     Our next port of call will be Leland.  Another new town to enjoy.  The population of Leland is about 410.  It sits on the shores of Lake Leelanlau and Lake Michigan..  I’ll tell you more in our next post.