Cruising to Lake Huron

 July 17, 2024

        It took us a few days to regain our east coast time zone, but we managed to get underway and up to Frankfort on July 1st.   We had reserved a slip at the municipal marina but about an hour out, the marina called and said that they had to give our slip to a disabled boat and they had no room for us.  We’re striking out on marinas this year!  We called a nearby marina and got a good slip with them.  We were a bit miffed at the municipal marina and I’m sure they will regret it.  The disabled boat was abandoned when we got there.  No one trying to fix it, no one on board, everyone had left and the boat ( an old rusty fishing rig) was just sitting taking up space.  Their loss, our gain.  We met some nice people at Jacobsons Marina Resort.  

Parade started with an antique hearse-🤪

Quite a turnout by the local women

Love these horses

The one and only piece of farm equipment 

       We watched the Frankfort Fourth of July Parade - not near the number of tractors and marching bands as Manitowoc had last year- and walked through the carnival and listened to some of the bands. Later in the  afternoon there was a boat parade that passed behind our boat.

Pretty little antique Chris-Craft

Nice flag!

        Katie and Dean, friends from our Texas Mariners Cruising Association(TMCA) came to visit the following day and brought lots of charts of the North Channel and Georgian Bay and had dinner at the Cabbage Shed with us.  We haven’t seen Dean in years.  It was good to sit and catch up with what he’s been up to.  

Dean, Katie, Clare, and Bob

      Due to some gorgeous weather, we left the morning of the 5th for Leland.  This is a good jumping off spot if you’re headed to Beaver Island which we were.  Last time in Leland it was the very end of the boating season.  The town was very quiet and the marina was only half full.  This time the town was full of tourists and the marina was at capacity.  It’s a very nice marina but they allow anyone who wants to walk the docks.   We were constantly fishing dock lines from the water where they had been accidentally kicked off the dock.  You had to wind your way through crowds to get to the restrooms.  It was a zoo.  We’ll think twice before going there during the season again.

Bob kicking the light

     We left on July 7 for Beaver Island.   Again we had beautiful weather and calm seas though a bit chilly.  We chose a slip at the North Municipal Marina.  It was bought by the city recently.  It was obviously not a DNR marina.  The facilities were lacking and the docks were in need of some repair.  

       We settled in and got our bikes off to take a reconnaissance ride around St.James, the village at the north end of the island.  We rode down to the Beaver Island Harbor light  so Bob could kick it then back to the town proper.  St. James has a population of 226.  

     Beaver Island was once home to a community of Mormons lead by James Strang.  Strang declared himself King of this community.  He even changed the name of the post office to St. James after himself.  He was murdered by disgruntled followers .  The name of the town has changed from Beaver Island to Beaver Harbor and back again to St. James.

     Beaver Island is 55.8 sq.miles and is the largest island in Lake Michigan.  The total population of  eager Island is 616.  The island is 13  miles long and 94% of the island contain large parcels of state land including Beaver Island State Wildlife Research Area.  At the most southern end of the island Beaver Head Lighthouse can be found.   Bob and I decided to see if we could ride to the lighthouse for a visit.

     We went from store to store looking for a free tourist map but none were to be had….except the waterproof canoe map the could double as a placemat for $17.99.😂😱   We finally rode to a gas station and bought a map for $5- for about forty miles of roads!!!   With water bottles in hand we started off for an all afternoon adventure.   Seventeen miles is nothing for us to ride but 12 of that was on gravel - I hate riding on gravel.   Needless to say, we made it to the lighthouse long before closing time oh but wait!  The sign says closed for painting.  You’ve got to be kidding!

It will look nice when they finish

      They were not kidding.  We sat and drank our water and watched the workmen painting the tower.  Now we had the ride home to look forward to.   We had traveled south on the Kings Highway the turned east onto Hannigan Rd.  Did I tell you that the gaeltacht(Irish)fishermen from other communities on Lake Michigan drove Strang’s followers from the island and retook their homes.  For years afterward conversations were still carried on in Ulster Irish.  Now we would continue on Hannigan Rd. Up the west side of the island.  This gravel road would bring us to the Big Birch reported to be the oldest birch tree in Michigan and the Big Rock as well as Tara’s Meadow.  We did stop at the Big Birch but we were pretty tired of riding on gravel and wanted to find some nice smooth tarmac and our boat.  In total we rode over 35 miles - most of it on bumpy gravel roads.  No speed contests were won.

Biggest birch I’ve ever seen

      After all that hard work we decided to go out for dinner. After showers and a cool drink we headed out.  You guessed it, back on the bikes for a ride into town.  We had a nice dinner at The Shamrock and went to bed early.  

        The following day we left for Mackinaw City - this is not the famous island but a city at one end of the Mighty Mac (Mackinac Bridge which does not go to the island !).  We tried out a new municipal marina and we’re pleasantly surprised.  Strait States Harbor is by far the best Michigan DNR marina we’ve stayed in.   At $1.48/ ft.  you really can’t go wrong.   We rode our bikes around parts of town we hadn’t been to before and rode to the grocery store.  OMG don’t complain about food prices!!  Grapes were $5.99/ lb., sprite was $3.99/ 2 liters…..needless to say we did very, very little shopping here.  

The biggest hotdog I’ve ever seen- is everything bigger in MI?

Mighty Mac (Mackinac Bridge) at night

       Our next stop was one of our favorite places on the Great Lakes, De Tour Village.  DeTour is a village of about 263 souls.  It is situated at the confluence of the St. Mary’s River( Lake Superior) and Lake Huron and less than a days boat ride to Lake Michigan.  A very centrally located spot.  The North Channel begins just a few miles to the east and beyond that is Georgian Bay.   We love this community for many reasons but mostly for the friendly people.  Last year John threw us the keys to his Jeep and said to take it to Hessel for the boat show.  This year Dave gave us his truck so we could get to Cedarville for some special marine lightbulbs.  Then there is Desi.  She owns and runs the best restaurant in town, The Mainsail.  We have eaten and drunk there more times than I can count.  The first visit she snapped back at Bob when he asked if her soup was really homemade.  I’ve loved her ever since.  

      We took our usual slip and spent a couple of days connecting with friends and eating Desi’s excellent whitefish.  We waited out some rainy weather and celebrated our 45th anniversary there.  I’m not sure if we’ll ever be back there by boat, but we will be back, somehow.

Dave’s loaner truck-thanks Dave!

Anniversary dinner with Desi

Sign in The Mainsail

Goodbye DeTour Village

       Our next leap is up the St. Mary’s River to Sault St. Marie.   This is an interesting trip because all the ships coming off Lake Superior have to come down the river and through the DeTour Passage.  The laker and footer watching is the best here.  We only passed one ship heading south and were  never over taken by any.   When we got to The Soo we pulled into George Kemp Maria to get fuel and a pump out then we crossed the river to the Roberta Bondar Marina where we had reserved a slip.   This marina is in Canada so a call to the Canadian Border Services Agency to check in.  “Q” flag is up and we easily obtain our cruising permit.  Down with the “Q” and up with our courtesy flag.  We are now free to leave our vessel.

“Q” flag down, courtesy flag up! We are official.

     We have been to the Soo numerous times in the past two years so sightseeing is kind of a moot point.  They do have a very nice bike trail along the edge of the river of which we take full advantage.  We will also do a big grocery shop here in the Metro grocery.  It’s like going to Food Lion in New Bern.  

     We have a couple of dock mates that are quite interested in heading up to Lake Superior.  They inform us that the Canadian Lock is closed for the season for repairs and we will have to use the big U.S. locks if we wish to go up.  We’ve managed to avoid this our last three trips up but I guess we need to put on our big boy pants and go for it.   Hopefully all will go well and I’ll write you from Lake Superior in our next blog.

Till next time- Bob and Clare