Mackinaw, Cheboygan, RC and through to Presque Isle

August 7th,  Mom's Birthday Day takes Wild Goose II under the Mackinaw Bridge and into St Ignace for a quick stop. Silly thought...anyone know if Linda Grime recovered her sweater from here? We could pick it up for her.

North End of The Mackinaw Bridge

fish nets?

 What an engineering marvel for the day!

Leaving St Ignace we were passed by all sorts of ferries which kept us rocking on the boat, however, it was a great spot to take photos. Wonder if John Glanville would like this route for Sysco?

The Round Island Light from this angle was pretty interesting and much more dramatic than I anticipated.
 I hadn't seen this lighthouse since 1997 from shore after a Mackinaw Race (and victory)! Wow...memories abound...Gloria Schebil always there to greet the boat with a case of cold beer, a weary crew
of great people including Monica Mooney, The Disboro Family from Vermillion, Scotty and even Gordy who had to sit the race out after hurting his back. I remember flying home from the race on an airplane piloted by Mike Johnson... only to get home and remember car keys AND house keys were left in my gear on the boat....seems so very long ago.

Beautiful Grand Hotel

Proud Fort Mackinaw

The park adjacent to the pier and beach in Cheboygan (on the river) is a perfect spot for visitors to welcome us.

Not sure if  "fido" is chasing us or a butterfly. Either way his owner was patient to let him frolic.

Cheboygan County Marina was in full swing upon our arrival. Many boats of all sizes are forming a lose line up in the river as they wait for their turn for fuel and pump outs..weekenders add to the festivities. Boating is live and well! We however, are in a state of shock as we listen on the marine radio as a boater calls for help and broadcasts a diver down and unresponsive on a nearby shipwreck site 105' below the surface. The broadcast is straight forward and we sadly listen to developments. Not just as divers, but as human beings near this persons' age, we can only thank God for our safety and cannot imagine what his family will go through. Totally overwelmed, I think Ron went back to  place long ago buried when he did body recoveries for a living. We say a little prayer.

 Once we are tied to the docks for the night we discover a boisterous group of boaters enjoying a day of games and a huge pig roast up near the clubhouse....all you can eat just 25.00 per boat....just think how many crew members you could feed! It's an annual event if you are planning a trip in the future....worth a stopover.

Wondering if these are the remnants of an old dock from the hey day of the lumber industry somewhere around the 1890's.

It is said that there was 12 acres of sawdust and wood chips so high here that you could not see over the top  of the pile to the lake where tall masted schooners were waiting to transport the lumber East to fuel the construction trade. There were as many as eight mills running at one time from this Lake Huron harbor of Cheboygan.

Roger's City here we come.....getting harder not to think about our home port on Lake Erie right now as we turn E/SE to begin our progression down the mitten. The water is still as deep blue as it gets and looks cold. This fact is verified by the temperature gauge on board..still in the 60's. Too cold for these old bones to take a dip. Roger's City is another quick stop as we want to get closer to Presque Isle and safe harbor for the long term forecast is not looking good. We pass  "Grey Eagle", a sailboat from NCYC with an unhappy crew aboard as the have sailed only three hours since departing a week ago. Huelsburgs will be in for a treat when this weather shifts. They seem to love wet, cold, and windy....true sailors they are! It was good to see them.

 While discussing dinner plans, after $189.00 spent at the grocery, we decide to eat out at The Water's Edge Restaurant again in RC :) :). It was so good on our trip up we couldn't resist. After a nice dinner we watch the end of an 19 inning game between Toronto and Detroit with the owner and chef. Watching TV was a treat. Nice thing about not having a vehicle is that when we shop for groceries or go out to dinner, we get exercise too. We peddle against the wind along the shore back to the boat.

Heading to Presque Isle this morning bright and early. Good news for the sailors who have had no wind,  the weather forecasters are predicting wind and waves from the NW building over the next few days. I would bet that in the last 10-14 days we have seen only a handful of sailors even attempting to sail. This reminds us why we found our trawler. Even if there was wind, most often up here it is not unusual to see motoring sailboats due to the direction of the wind as well.
The sun is barely shining on the horizon of fishermen who are happily battling with steel head and lake trout to fill up their "boxes".

These guys and gals are a hardy bunch getting out on the lake while the moon is still dominant in the sky and then after a day in shore, they head back out while the sun begins it's descent for the evening and we begin our star gazing including a full moon.