From Port to Port to Port (Austin, Sanilac and Huron)

Port Austin Reef Light, 2.5 miles out is standing proud through the heavy air when we depart for Port Sanilac. This light was built in the 1870's and re-designed to it's current configuration in the late 1890's. Lighthouse keepers lived out there until it was automated in the 1950's. By the mid 80's the US Coast Guard wanted to tear down the lighthouse, but a group of locals came to the rescue. After forming an Association, they worked to raise funds and replace the roof, doors and windows. In 2012 the light was fitted with an LED. This year the Association received a small grant to work towards the completion of their vision of a habitable lighthouse that would allow citizens to experience for themselves what it was like to live in the lighthouse. If you are interested in participating you could join the work crews that go out on a regular basis from the State Marina!

After another few miles we give up on seeing what was described to us as "turnip" rock..I guess it's supposed to look like a turnip ?? Whatever that is...

By 10AM we are going to be heading more South than East...another sign we are getting closer to home.Our next Easterly adventure will be heading to Leamington to meet up with NCYC cruisers over Labor Day.By mid afternoon we are back at the same dock we had on the way North back in July. Dave, the harbor master greets us for what is likely the last time, as he's retiring next year and we are not sure what next year will bring for us. A short walk up the hill takes us to BlueWater for a great pizza and we note that football is already on TV at the bar. The pizza is worth every step up the hill and is we're told their fish is a favorite too. Port Sanilac offers two other great places to eat out...Uri's, which is above the boat store on the harbor and The Stone Lodge which we have visited on previous trips. This is one stop we do not cook on board!

The harbor entrance is very busy and a ton of fishing boats come in and out of here, especially when their is a tournament going on. I guess they were not reading the smaller signs posted :)

While departing from Sanilac on the way to Port Huron, we noticed a familiar boat...Don and Colleen,,,maybe? No, just a sister ship to their  Orangeburst Custom Built...boy do we have lot's of memories with those two!

A 9AM departure from Sanilac allowed us to pass over a de-masted schooner wreck at 10:10 AM with Lexington on our starboard beam. This triggered a need to get out a book about old shipwrecks on The Great Lakes. I would never have guessed that the first ever ship wreck was "The Griffon", a french boat, which sank in 1679. This would mark the beginning of a count that is now above 6,000 plus. It is said that in some cases, captain's who came to the lakes from ocean going vessels under estimated the power, fury and unpredictability of them.

The air is still heavy and as we approach  the bottom of Lake Huron, we spot a freighter heading under the Blue Water Bridge (An American/Canadian border crossing).

Ghost Ship

By 11:30, our speed over ground has gone up by 1 knot as we start to feel the pull of the St Clair River from Lake Huron. Regardless of the good speed we miss the opening of the Military Bridge on the Black River which  is just pass the PHYC and  the permanently opened RR bridge landmark. Boat traffic is crazy busy and we decide to hang out in the St Clair River for 20 minutes to await the opening.

Border Crossing

Busy area of the river just outside Port Huron

Northbound Freighter

Freighter Unloading

Under the Blue Water Bridge

Time to cross The Saginaw Bay

We layed in an extra day in Tawas as the weather did not cooperate with the weather forecasters.
As the day goes on I think the captain is wishing he had gone ahead, however I like that he sides with caution.  Not much to do but get some reading in due to the limited Internet and our abundant use of our Verizon 4G...we are almost maxed out for the month...this blog eats a ton of data :)
Wednesday the 20th of August...WOW, time is starting to wiz by and we notice more trees starting to change color.
 Early rise by Ron and I so that the boat can get washed of bugs and the heavy dew before departing at 8AM on an adventure to Port Austin. Seas have subsided and we encounter only a bit of rolling in the early stages of the trip along with the almost ever present fog this time of year.

Weather seems to be the same everyday now with the sun busting through the fog and clouds at about the same time as our bellies are calling for lunch feeding.
The crossing is rather easy and of course there is nothing much to see because land is too far off in the distance. The colors of the water are trying to stay steel blue until the sun dodges behind another bunch of clouds.
Port Austin fuel center is "manned" by two young ladies who helps us top off fuel and pump the heads. They are quite nice and like most of the dock personnel, are likely headed back to college next week. We easily help ourselves to our dock assignment as they are not very full. The news has not yet been widely spread about their new docks, great electrical and water hook ups.The newly designed parking lot and "out" buildings seem under utilized as well. I suspect that these docks will fill up over the coming years. The dock area we decide on is close to shore and has just opened in the past 60 days. Just up on the other side of the office is a park with beach and an open gazebo with many picnic tables...very good set up for a rendezvous, outdoor reception or family reunion.

Exploring on bikes we pass some old buildings that no doubt had more exciting tenants when they were built. One in particular is an old school gym that some in town are wanting to tear down and re-use the beautiful bricks to build something new. Of course the locals who went to school there have other ideas. With no electrical or plumbing, it now sits empty and useless. I have not checked out the town history, but have discovered the original town was SW of it's current location. We've been told there was a huge fire that burned the original town to the ground.

 No day would be complete without a trip to the beach...we went to three different areas of town for beach access and found that they all were very different. One was home to the seagulls, one to the geese and the last one looked to be used as a launch area for kayaks. 

The shoreline is riddled with large boulders which keeps the wave runners and tubers out past the harbor entrance. The geography therefore is best explored by kayaks and paddle boards...both of which you can rent just up the creek. Ron and I took the dinghy up the creek past the rentals and maybe another quarter mile before we had to turn around due to the shallow water and high concentration of seaweed.

  Bear get's a photo op when the Coast Guard breaks for a bite to eat.

After dinner on board we often get to see this view no matter which marina we go on the East Coast of Michigan.

 :)

Long Lost Tawas

A day in Harrisville...state park and beach.

The tall trees at the park protected us from the rain.












 We have bypassed Tawas Bay on our previous two voyages for different reasons. It's time to stop and see what's happening in a place where we have had some good times but is a bit out of the way. Ron's somewhat daily discussions with his brothers confirms this as brother #2 Jim (and wife Carol) will join us there for dinner. They are in Cheybogan filling up their beautiful boat along with Zot Yot (Tom and Trina). Flamboyant (Gary, Cathy and son Troy) are topping off their tanks in St Ignace because of the amount of time it takes to service the big boats. They obviously move at a much faster pace as they will travel hundreds of miles in the same time we'd do tens of miles. Tom lovingly reminds us of this in his own special joking manner :)
 They are all safely tied up by early evening and we head out for dinner on foot. Barnicle Bill's is our destination which was a great choice. The wait staff was friendly, the choices were many and a wide assortment of food from fresh salads and pizza's to broiled fish, chili, and burgers were delivered hot to the table. Night caps were enjoyed on Shy Fox and the next morning they are all off to their homeport of Grosse Point YC. Darn it!!! I was so busy visiting that I forgot to take photos :(
Oh...I almost forgot to share our photo's of the 10 mile bike ride to the tip of Tawas Bay and back...my memory is slipping.

.We tried to catch up with Mary and Gary Gmeiner at Tawas Bay YC...but the avid sailboat racers finished their club race and went back out for an afternoon sail on their new boat. Ron takes note that the tree colors seem to be changing already!? It's only mid August.....

This tip of Tawas Bay was under water many years ago and the lighthouse provided guidance for the many ships carrying lumber out of this area.

  Cannot decide which Lighthouse pic to use...so, here are the faves..

 On Monday I join Cindy Mullen and husband Chuck for a visit to her home and studio just a few miles awhile. She does beautiful jewelry work with chunky sterling and beachglass.She and her husband moved here after many years of living on board their boat and travelling to all parts of the world. They have many great stories to tell and I am delighted to hear some of them and look at the photos on their walls that is a gallery of their very active lives together. Thanks for everything Cindy! Including a homemade meal at a "real table" with 4 chairs that wasn't moving. A tasty sangria to top off lunch AND a stop at the grocery store for heavy items including bottled water, pop, and wine delivered to the end of the docks! Glad I bumped into them yesterday while trolling the docks!

Time To Move

 It was good to wake up this morning with activity on the docks. Seems the last 4 days all boaters have hunkered down in their boats coming out for showers, quick walks, and lunch or dinner at Portage/PIYC.  This morning there are wheel carts of gear, food and other supplies being loaded and boats rapidly departing from the marina.
By 8:45 we are out to the red can buoy where there were 8' waves less than 48 hours ago.  We turn to starboard and head towards our destination of Harrisville, MI. Most of the other boats heading out today  will make the right turn as well. Heading North this time of year is unusual as the season is already winding  down for the fair weather sailors. We heard stories of ice in the marina's slips through May and even some into June this year. Cold and windy weather forecasts we are seeing for Mid- September indicate an  early pull out date for many of the vessels as well. Sure hope they are wrong!

Ron had allowed for a 6 hour trip today but after getting out into the following seas I think we'll clip some time off of that prediction. This is an example of where Ron's previous sailing skills come in handy on a power boat. Skippers need good focusing skills to anticipate the waves and take advantage of the energy they hold to push the boat past it's normal speed.  Calling out our boat speed, I hear many 9's and 10's and I see a huge smile hidden behind his eyes.

By 9:30 we pass Voyager, a sailing vessel that left ahead of us but I doubt we'll catch the other boats who can run much faster than we do. Chatter on the marine radio suggests that most are heading to Tawas and beyond, however, as we are not in a rush to get home, we'll stop to enjoy what we missed in Harrisville on the way up.
Remembering fishing nets at this point on the lake, we start a sharp lookout for them. Flags were spotted  just as we passed Thunder Bay heading toward Sturgeon Point. After spotting another flag closer to shore we find ourselves clear of the hazard. The flags are hard to see today in the 2' seas rising from a fresh  North/NorthWest wind offshore.
The shoreline provided me with two opportunities to add more lighthouse pictures to the collection. The first we passed was Middle Island Light.

 Later we put Thunder Bay Lighthouse on our rear starboard quarter.

Rain is in the forecast again tomorrow, so, after docking we unloaded the bikes for a short uphill run for fresh produce at the local IGA. Big salads to go with our charbroiled steak is on the menu.....sure hope we can  shed a few of these extra pounds we've added before our next doctor's visit! Oh well....you only live once!

Presque Isle Harbor Refuge

Looking ahead at the forecast, Captain Ron decided Presque Isle would be a great spot to get "stuck". Predictions are for cold and rain, then sunny and very windy out of the NW.
Our run from Roger's City to PI is only 18 statute miles and is pretty uneventful. We requested a west facing dock assignment and snuggle in for the night and not sure how many days.
After a quick lunch Ron and I hoisted the bikes from Goose and headed west which is opposite what we've done in all of our past trips here. The road took as past the shores of the beautiful North Bay on our right.

Later we came upon a small park by the range lights that is not well used just beyond on our left.

We followed the path to the beach from here which is more travelled and a swimming area is roped out. The water is crystal clear and the potential is noted for some rock hunting tomorrow. We took the opportunity to take pictures beside a sculpture built as a tribute to the late lady front range light keepers.

Afterward we followed the road again west taking left turns whenever we could staying close to the bay where boats had been moored. This took us to another beach area

that is open to locals and transient boaters just after passing the local cemetery.

We spent time at both places which made for a great afternoon of stretching our legs followed up by lamb chops for Ron at Portage Restaurant on site at the marina.






The next day I was able to venture out on my own. I prefer beachglassin' and exploring alone as I can take my time and get lost in my own space. I was rewarded with many Petoskey Stones and this nice thick piece lavender glass. Glass is not plentiful here so I was thrilled! You can tell its old because of the rounded thickness and the this original clear glass is changing colors from the UV rays from the sun.

I also stumbled upon some kite boarders enjoying the wind at North Bay.

After another day of cold windy weather we finally got two hours of sunshine and temperatures finally in the 60's, so, we took advantage and went to explore the Old and New Lighthouses as well as the North Beach Area where the original fog signal once stood proudly. The old one was built as a harbor entrance but as shipping increased, ships were still running aground at the end of the peninsula. Money was appropriated in 1870 for the construction of the new 109' lighthouse that could be spotted from both the North and the South. 

1840's Harbor Entrance Lighthouse

New 1870's Peninsula Lighthouse PI

Glad to get off the boat for awhile and get some history lessons. Learned a lot and had fun too !

Boneless, skinless chicken packed with calories anyway...comfort food was in order as the "crew" discussed mutiny.

 Every evening around 6PM we saw this family swim along the rock jetty  that protected us from the winds of  Lake Huron. Mama reacted to getting hit by a wave with this dance move.